George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary – Page 59

Cranes, Warbler & Flycatchers

After a morning errand I waited for the rain to subside a little before heading back out to Reifel for an update on the Sandhill Crane nest. Unfortunately the news was not good. The second chick did not hatch successfully or survive.

On the brighter side the surviving chick made its first swim from the nest to the bank of the pond. As luck would have it I just missed that, but was in time for the climb out.

After the successful ascent,

… the adults promptly started feeding it worms and other tasty morsels.

After watching the Cranes I decided to check for some Western Tanager that had been sighted. While I had no luck locating them,

… there were still good numbers of Wilson’s Warbler around.

This one singing and posing briefly in amongst the trees and bramble.

Then something else caught my eye low in the trees, a flycatcher. I managed some quick views with the binoculars and then a couple of shots. Unfortunately it did not sing or call, which can make identifying these small empids difficult. At least for me anyways,

… but I believe this one to be a Hammond’s Flycatcher. Then I spotted a larger flycatcher that was moving along the tree tops and snags. Given the horrible back lighting at first I could not identify it. Following it along the trail the lighting improved somewhat,

… and I was able to identify it as an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

While the photos are not great, it is a new addition to my life photo list. Just after this it did start to clear up a little, but it was after 4:30 pm and time to leave.

Just for fun on my way out this Red-winged Blackbird singing in the marsh.

Sandhill Crane Chick Hatches

The countdown is over for the arrival of a chick at the Sandhill Crane nest at Reifel. While there were signs of it getting close yesterday with cracks in the egg, the word first thing this morning was it did not hatch until sometime overnight. On getting to the nesting site,

… the adult female was resting quietly.

Then the moment we were waiting for when she stood up and ruffled her feathers.

Our first good looks at the new arrival.

The female left the nest for a brief walk,

… returning to tend to the chick and the nest.

The adult male was also present and circling the nest the whole time.

After the female finished her chores,

… the male took his turn to incubate the remaining egg with the chick peeking out. The chick eventually took cover under his wings. There was a visible hole in the second egg, so it should not be long before it hatches.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Having seen Black-headed Grosbeak at a couple of different locations recently, and wanting to try for better photos, I headed to Reifel as the odds would be better there. There has been a few of them around usually frequenting the east dyke trail.

The adult males are quite distinct with their orange, black and white colouring.

The females are not as flashy and both will share in nesting duties and feeding young.

After getting them foraging on the ground, this male posed nicely for me in a tree.

While at the sanctuary this afternoon I also checked on the Sandhill Cranes. It is almost time to start a nest watch with the eggs due to hatch in the next few days.