Incoming Canada Geese

 Canada Geese

A Rusty Blackbird

Nesting pair

Assorted Birds Today

I went for a little drive around the area today and found lots of birds paired up and getting ready for the nesting season

First of all were the Sandhill Cranes found in a field.

Then came a couple of Tundra Geese, always nice to see!

Mallards in the sun are always nice.

All in all not a bad couple of hours spent in the wild!

Have a great day!

Early Birds on the River

 The last few sunny days have been spent on the river tracking the incoming geese and other birds. I did manage to get Geese and some Mallards between snow, storms, fog and bad lighting. There were lots of Canada Geese and quite a few Mallards

Some Geese were content to graze

The Mallards were content to try to get a mate.

Hey, look missy, a duck march just for you.

Sleepy geese must have been up all night flying here.

A little bit of open water is appreciated.

Mixed Bag

Today was the first day in a week without rain! I came across a few things of interest.

The first was this slightly (well very) pregnant Whitetail doe. This is the normal time of year for the fawn (s) to be born. She is very, very close! I did see another doe with a gangly thing running to keep up across the field. I figure that one was maybe 2 days old.

 A couple of mallards were in a small slew which was grossly over flood stage. They were not in any hurry to move, even with Daphne eyeing them up.

 I found a couple of Killdeer along a sandy spit. When they sit, they are very hard to spot

 They blend in very well

 Unless, as shown in the next two photos, they flop around and do the broken wing act to get me away from the nest. I didn't look very hard to find it.

Its good to back out sleuthing around.

Life is good! Right?

Enjoying the Sunshine!

After a week of miserable cold weather, fog, snow and rain, I was able to get out and about. The geese are pairing up and starting to look for nesting sites. I did manage to get  a LOT of photos on the river.

 I will keep it down to eight

 Here are a couple of shots of the back end of some Tundra Swans flying over. This year I am going to try to get more wing shots of birds.

 This guy misjudged and did a hard landing.

And a Female Merlin!

River Walk

Besides the header change, here are a few of the "big game" shots taken today. Had to get a walk in today because we could have 5 to 10 cm of snow hit us over the next few days. The chipmunk was busy filling his cheeks with grass seed

 He was hard to pick out when he got in the grass. Daphne wanted a piece of him, but was on the leash.

 There was only one goose on the main river. The Sand Hill Cranes have been cruising over at about 3 to 5000 feet in big Vs of about 150 birds

 This Mallard hen either found something good in the mud, or was beached.

Snow! Not ready for it!

Fall is Coming! Too Fast

It seems that every time I go out, the signs of an early fall get to me. The Bohemian Waxwings are flocking up and decimating the berry trees.

 The Bees are getting pollen from the late blooming thistles. Not many wildflowers are still in bloom.

 Here are a few pin cherries the birds and bears haven't got to yet.

 The mallards are flocking up and appear to be getting ready to go. One good sign that spring may take a while is that the male mallards are still up north. Great idea that, head north, eat drink and party all summer while the missus raises the kids!
 Honey bees are still very active around the garden

 The Pileated Wood Pecker is still digging out grubs.

What say, am I wrong in predicting an early fall? 

Finally!

After 167 days of being below 0C or 32F, we have crossed over, I hope. It was +10C today and I got out with the camera to see what has developed on the river.
There were lots of Mallards hanging around and taking it easy. It almost looks like they have paired up already.

There were plenty of drake Buffleheads also with just a few females.

There were a lot more Canada Geese also. They are definitely paired!

This one was displaying some territorial behaviour!

Its not an iceberg, just left over ice in the river.

Two Common Goldeneyes.

 Across the river was a flock of sea gulls resting up with two guardians

All in all, it was a great hour!