Great Day for Raptors

Yesterday I traveled south of Saskatoon in overcast & rainy conditions with 2 friends, for almost 2 hours. I had heard good things about Raptor sightings in between Rosetown & Elrose from my friend Marten and wanted to see for myself.
It was a long journey but very worthwhile !

Here's what was seen :

Red-tailed Hawk - 39 in total ! at one point there was a pair on a
power pole every 2 k or so. Stopping on the high highway was pretty scary , so we opted to just ID them as we were driving.

Rough-legged Hawk - my first of the year - 4 birds including a very dark phased individual.

American Kestrel - 5

Merlin - 1

Snowy Owl - 4 on the way home . Including a great look at a male.

Great Horned Owl - 2 on the way home

Western Meadowlark - new for the year . 5 birds including one singing
already.

American Robin - 1 at Harris.

American Tree Sparrow - 2

Mountain Bluebird - 1

European Starling - 35

Canada Goose - 150

Green-winged Teal - ( new for 2008 )1 male among many Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail ( new for 2008 ) - 65 + in a slough east of Elrose

Horned Lark - 9

American Crow - 12

Common Raven - 6

House Sparrow - 20

Here are a couple of photos :

Snowy Owl



Rough-legged Hawk - not the closest view. This handsome bird was way out in a field.



...and the first Western Meadowlark of 2008

Weekend at Prince Albert National Park

Setting out on Saturday morning , my wife and I accompanied members of the Saskatoon Nature Society to Prince Albert National Park , home to some Northern species of birds and animals not found locally.
Weather-wise, it could have been better the first day, but we still managed to find a respectable 28 species on the first day, including 2 Pileated Woodpeckers at Little Red River Park ( the first time I've seen this species at that park )
Unfortunately, the only Owl seen on Saturday was a lone Great Horned Owl on the highway back in the Saskatoon area .
This was a different matter on Sunday when my Wife and I accompanied our friends Marten and his wife Regina to Montreal Lake, were we found and successfully banded 3 out of 5 Northern Hawk Owls.It was fascinating to learn that the females will make a shrieking sound when they hear a male close by.
I was hoping to see a Spruce Grouse over the weekend as they tend to stick to one area of the Park, and I missed out on seeing a co-operative Male on Saturday afternoon, and then tried unsuccessfully again on Sunday afternoon. My prize finally came on Monday morning when I found a handsome Male sitting 10ft up a lichen-covered Jack Pine on the Boundary Bog Trail.
Leaving on Monday afternoon we added another 6 species to our list on the way home .
Here's what was seen , followed by some new photos :

Canada Goose - many scattered in fields
Gray Partridge - 3 on the way there
Ruffed Grouse - 15 along the Narrows Road on Monday
Spruce Grouse - 1 Male at the Boundary Bog Trail on Monday
Bald Eagle - 5 in total could be seen soaring from the Boundary Bog Trail
Northern Harrier - 1 flying low on the way there on Saturday morning
Red-tailed Hawk - 2 on the way there and one sat in a tree on the way home
American Kestrel - a surprise to see this fly out from an old barn on the scenic route on the way home on Monday.
Merlin - one sat on a power line on the way home on Monday
Ring-billed Gull - a few flying over the city on the way home
Rock Pigeon - a few scattered near grain elevators on the way home
Great Horned Owl - one on the journey there
Northern Hawk Owl - 5 along the Montreal Lake road on Sunday
Downy Woodpecker - 1 Female within the park on Saturday
Hairy Woodpecker - A pair on Sunday on the Boundary Bog Trail
American Three-toed Woodpecker - 1 Male on the Narrows Road on Monday
Black Backed Woodpecker - 1 at Little Red River Park on Saturday
Pileated Woodpecker - 2 at Little Red River Park on Saturday
Northern Shrike - 1 along a dirt road west of the highway on the way home
Blue Jay - a few at the park
Gray Jay - 25 or more in various areas of the park. On Monday they were very abundant
Black-billed Magpie - many scattered in various places
American Crow - several in varying places on the way there and back
Common Raven - many in varying places on the way there and back
Horned Lark - a lone bird along a dirt road west of the highway on the way home
Black-capped Chickadee - a few scattered in various parts of the park
Boreal Chickadee - 2 ( heard only ) I'm surprised we didn't see more of these
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 at Little Red River Park
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1 at Anglin Lake
European Starling - 3 on the journey there
Bohemian Waxwing - a flock of around 60 on the way home
Common Redpoll - many at little Red River Park and within Prince Albert National Park
Evening Grosbeak - at least 12 at the Waskesui town site and another 15 or so within the park.
House Sparrow - a few on the journey there

Mammals seen :

Red Squirrel
Coyote
Pine Marten - My wife and a few lucky others got a brief glimpse of one
Mule Deer
White-tailed Deer
Snowshoe Hare
Elk

Here are some photos ( click to enlarge )

Spruce Grouse





Ruffed Grouse




Gray Jay




Evening Grosbeak



Northern Hawk Owl



American Three-toed Woodpecker



White-tailed Deer

Bluebirds and a bold Skunk

Despite a cold and bitter wind on Wednesday morning, I went for a little drive out to Beaver Creek with a friend straight from work .
Another friend who reads this blog informed me of some Mountain Bluebirds that had just arrived in that area , so I was hoping to find some and got lucky by finding 4 in one place and 3 more a bit later on.
Unfortunately they were very skittish and were quite a distance away for a decent photo , so I just enjoyed the fact that I'd found them and hope to get some photos another time.
There were not too many species around , probably because of the 25k gale that was blowing, but still, the Sun felt nice and warm .
Here's what was seen :

Red-tailed Hawk - a lone soaring bird . ( New for 2008)
Mountain Bluebird - 7 ( New for 2008)
American Crow - 2
Common Raven - 6
Black-billed Magpie - 19
Horned Lark - 8
European Starling - 3 at a farmstead
Black-capped Chickadee - 3
Common Redpoll - 12
Bohemian Waxwing - 45
Rock Dove - 3
Canada Geese - 25

I was hoping I'd see a mammal of some kind , as that always makes the day extra special, so I was extremely happy to find this Skunk on the way home . He certainly wasn't afraid of us , and I'm lucky he didn't decide to let rip with a blast of spray at me !

Horned Larks

This morning my friend and I took a drive out along a seldom used road and looked for Horned Larks that have been slowly trickling back into the area since last weekend .

It was a beautiful calm day without any wind, so you could clearly hear them singing.

Horned larks are often inquisitive enough that they will sit still and allow a car to roll up alongside them, or sometimes they will fly right across the road like a kamikazi pilot , almost colliding with the windshield, so we drove fairly slowly with the windows open and just enjoyed the songs .

Here is an adult male in full song :



And a female :

Porcupine's & Partridge

Well, it sure looks like Spring has finally sprung !
This is the time of year when the snow melts, everything turns to slush and the birds seem to get louder & louder first thing in the morning.
I've had a nice couple of days birding over the weekend and again on Monday.
Saturday I spent a couple of hours hiking around the riverbank , walking even further than I usually do, and ending up right near Circle Bridge where I flushed 3 Gray Partridge from the side of a hill as I looked down at the cracking ice that would soon disappear and merge into the waters of the South Saskatchewan River.
On the way back I watched as 3 American Crows ( early arrivals maybe ) were mobbing an adult Bald Eagle near the Weir. It appeared to be eating a large fish high up in the confines of a tree and then soon took off down towards Goose Island . It was way too far for a decent photo unfortunately.
Another highlight was a lone Common Merganser and 3 Canada Geese on the water.
On Sunday my Wife and I went for a little afternoon drive and happened upon 2 Porcupines both in the area of Patience Lake . One was on the ground eating thawed out grass and another was stripping bark from a tree about 20ft up.
We also saw an adult Northern Goshawk and a few newly arrived Horned Larks along the roadside.
On Monday I went out with a friend and we too saw a Northern Goshawk close to Blackstrap Lake that made a very fast swoop across the road in front of us, 18 more Gray Partridge , 70+ Horned Larks , a pair of Great Horned Owls and 3 Canada Geese flying over the old Regina Highway.

Here are some new photos :

Porcupine - The one on the ground looks like it was fairly young . While the other one paused from its chewing to peek at me from behind the tree branch :





Gray Partridge - I managed to catch this flighty bird in full stride before it took off :

Four Ravens born in the Winter

I received an email this week alerting me to a sighting of an active Raven nest close to St.Pauls Hospital here in the city.
Once at the site , we could see the nest about three quarters of the way up a tall Spruce tree.
At first it was unclear how many young were at the nest, but on further inspection , 4 healthy fledglings were counted.
Interestingly, the parent birds were already constructing a second nest under the existing one ! I don't know if they expect to have more young or are just adding an extension :-)
This is a very early record for breeding of this species in Saskatchewan. , 2 months earlier than a previous record.
Apparently the eggs hatched sometime in mid-January , so those Ravens were incubating eggs in some pretty horrible weather.
From my only decent vantage point , the Sun was glaring right at me , and the reflection bouncing back off a glass window didn't help matters , so photo opportunities were pretty dismal. At least you can make out the four young . One of them is pretty well fed as you can see . Both parents were keeping watch on the roof of a nearby building.

Sleepy Waxwing

On the 28th of February I looked out of my bathroom window ( one of my favourite viewing spots ! ) and was surprised to see a Bohemian Waxwing asleep on our clothesline .
I took 2 photos towards some harsh sunlight with my old Fuji camera and some fill flash ( as it actually focuses closer than my Canon )

Here it is awake for a few seconds :



Then it went right back to sleep again :