George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary – Page 49

Marsh Wren

One of the sure signs Spring is on its way …

… the Marsh Wrens are singing like crazy.

A little overcast today, but at least it was not raining. Probably the reason for the smaller number of people at Reifel for a Sunday afternoon. Apparently they had good numbers yesterday with the sunshine. Helping out on the trails again there were a few Northern Saw-whet Owls along with a single Great Horned Owl to show visitors. None of the owls were in vulnerable spots, thus not requiring steady attention by the volunteers.

While making my way out along the outer dyke and west marsh area I caught a fleeting glimpse of a sparrow working its way along below the trail deep in the bramble and bushes. What got my attention was some noticeable rufous colouring. Could it be my nemesis bird, the elusive Swamp Sparrow. I continued working the area, but could not relocate the bird. While doing this I spotted an American Bittern at the edge of the pond. It to quickly disappeared into the reeds, so at this point I was not having much luck with anything. As I continued to scour the trail for the sparrow the bittern flew back in to the area of wind flattened reeds next to the new viewing platform.

Finally a chance to get some shots of something and much to the delight of a few visitors that had been waiting since I had mentioned seeing one to them.

Likely the same bird that has been frequenting this spot for a few weeks now.

At this point it was getting too close for my lens, but I had nowhere to back-up to without loosing a clear line of sight. Not often you complain about this with an American Bittern. So I just sat back and enjoyed along with the others visitors that continued to come by. Occasionally I would break away to search for the sparrow, but never relocated it.

Northern Saw-whet Owl & Pintail

It was still overcast when I headed out, but the wind was fading and the rain holding off. There was only a handful of people at Reifel. This can be a good thing in terms of it being quiet and a good chance for photography. Unfortunately it was just as quiet on the birding front with the ponds even being devoid of much activity. While walking the east dyke trail I checked in on the usual Northern Saw-whet that is most vulnerable. It was present again this afternoon, but initially had its back to me. Just as I was about to continue it slowly turned around and seemed to be watching the song birds on the trail.

This provided a brief opportunity to photograph this little beauty awake and with its eyes open. It then casually turned back around and went back to sleep, with a big thank-you from me of course. The other trails were not turning up much so I checked the inside ponds. The problem being the overcast skies were not providing the right light to generate nice reflective colours on the water.

The closest I got to what I was looking for was this shot of a Northern Pintail. So, not having much luck finding the right reflections/colours,

… you settle for a fun shot like this Wood Duck pair. While these perching ducks are quite at home in the trees, they are equally adept in pillaging the feeders.