Straggling Chipping Sparrow

Here is the extremely late, winter plumage Chipping Sparrow that we found at the Forsburg Farm near Gardiner Dam last week.
Usually, Chippers depart our area by late September !
I wonder if it'll still be hanging around in time for the bird count next week...

House Finch

Here is a male House Finch that was in a back alley close to President Murray Park yesterday :

White-winged Crossbills at President Murray Park

Today, I foolishly braved minus 19 degree conditions to see what was hanging around President Murray Park and some nearby back alleys.
I hoped to find the Varied Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet and Brown Creeper, but none of those made an appearance during the 2 hours I was there.
I did however get a fleeting glimpse of a female Pine Grosbeak ( I still think this is the same bird I found awhile back).
I also had some nice binocular views of feeding White-winged Crossbills, intent on eating pine seeds.
Here is a full list of what I found plus a couple of photos :

House Finch - 15+
White-winged Crossbill - 20+
Pine Grosbeak - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 5
Black-capped Chickadee - 6
Black-billed Magpie - 2
Merlin - 1

White-winged Crossbill - Once again, these proved extremely hard to photograph, seeing as they were at the very tips of the spruce trees for the most part :

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Here is a Sharp-tailed Grouse that we found in Danielson Provincial Park last Saturday.
I've yet to see a Partridge in a pear tree, so this will have to do for now :-)

Northern Mockingbird

Yesterday morning I accompanied friends from the Saskatoon Nature Society on a trip to Gardiner Dam and surrounding areas.
I have been joking a few times this year and on past years , that " we might get a Mockingbird " on this or that trip, as very occasionally one will venture north from its home in the United States and linger in our Province for awhile.
Well, today I got my first ever Mockingbird :-)
It just goes to show that even on a bitterly cold, snowy day in December , you can still add to your life, and year lists !

Here is a photo of the bird, followed by a list of all the species seen..



In all, we found 29 bird species this trip, and also met up with a porcupine at Danielson Provincial Park that seemed to be missing quills and fur from its backside.
I will be posting more photos from this trip later .

Species list:

Canada Goose
Mallard - a flock of several 1000s of birds north of bank, flying around
Scaup species - 4
Bufflehead - 2 female
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser - 3 female, 1 male
Common Merganser - 1 or 2
Gray Partridge - 1 covey north of Broderick
Sharp-tailed Grouse - several at Danielson Provincial Park
Bald Eagle - 16+
Golden Eagle - 1 at Lake Diefenbaker above dam
Herring Gull - several
Glaucous Gull - 1
Rock Pigeon
Great Horned Owl - near Broderick, also Coldwell Park
Snowy Owl - North of Cutbank and another near Broderick
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 at Cutbank
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird (see above)
Chipping Sparrow - a very late bird and the other highlight of the day
Snow Bunting - several flocks
White-winged Crossbill - a couple at Danielson Provincial Park
Common Redpoll- several small flocks
House Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Here's another one from Pike Lake taken last month :

Birding The Nisbet Forest

Yesterday morning I set out with a friend to the Nisbet Forest , about 80 mins north of Saskatoon.

Once again I was treated to spring-like weather and the wind was almost non-existent.
There were many criss-crossing animal tracks on the ground , including Coyote , Fox , Squirrel, Snowshoe Hare, vole and Weasel.

Here is a list of the birds found :

Pileated Woodpecker - 1 bird made a quick fly-over us.
Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 male & one female
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 male
Boreal Chickadee - 2 heard
Gray Jay - 5
Blue Jay - 1
White-winged Crossbill - small flock of 10 flying overhead
Redpoll Species - small flock of around 20 flying overhead
Evening Grosbeak - 1 calling bird flying over
Pine Grosbeak - 5-6 birds flying over
Common Raven - 6
Black-capped Chickadee - 2 heard
Black-billed Magpie - 3

Here are three new photos ( click to see full size )


Gray Jay



Black-backed Woodpecker



Red Squirrel