Local rarities still here !

Taking place throughout America and Canada,over this long weekend is the Great Backyard Birdcount, where feederwatchers, casual observers and nature enthusiasts tally up every last bird they see in their yard , out on their travels or on field trips . This data is then used to determine bird population declines or increases , migration and other habits.
On Friday my friend and I decided to try and cram as much birding as we could from 8am till 2pm and try to bump up the numbers for Saskatoon, and the province as a whole.
We managed a respectable 23 species and were happy to find the Northern Hawk Owl still at Aberdeen, 2 Saskatoon rarities, the Townsend's Solitaire at Lakeview Park and the Northern Cardinal still visiting the yard of the Bowerman House downtown.
Other highlights were Pine Grosbeaks and Sharp-tailed Grouse at Pike Lake and a Bald Eagle perched over the river within the city.

I manged to get a couple of photos despite the pretty poor weather in the morning :

Sharp-tailed Grouse



Northern Cardinal