George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary – Page 62

A Ducky Day

Daylight saving time.
Did you remember to change the clock on your camera along with all the others today?

With the next storm front delayed, it meant there was a slight break in the weather today. Unfortunately it was still fairly windy and on the cool side. Being Sunday, I headed out to Reifel to help on the trails. From a birding perspective, it is still fairly quiet at the sanctuary. Wanting to stay out of the wind, the display ponds provided some waterfowl opportunities.

First up was this male Greater Scaup,

… followed by a female.

Next up were some male Northern Pintails,

… busy strutting their stuff as spring approaches.

Then the smaller male Bufflehead,

… whose head is iridescent in the right light.

The inside sloughs had some Gadwall,

… and Northern Shoveler.

To finish the afternoon off, a couple of portraits.

This female Wood Duck,

… and her male counterpart that were hanging around near the entrance.

Squirrel & Sharp-shinned Hawk

A chance arose to get out for a walk this afternoon. As there were still some showers off and on, I headed to Reifel where the trails would afford some cover if required. After arriving something entertaining caught my eye before I even left the parking lot.

While my focus is usually birds,

… this squirrel was fun to watch as it dangled amongst the branches eating berries.

As for birds, I was not finding much along the east or north dyke trails. About half way along the centre dyke while scanning back over my shoulder I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk off in the trees I had just walked by. It did not take off after I stopped, so I slowly worked my way back to where I would have a clear shot through the branches. It remained on its perch once I stopped again.

As you can see from this shot it was watching me,

… but soon went back to scanning the tree line. A pleasant surprise to have it stay put, but at this point it was just me and the bird.

After I managed a few shots, a young family was approaching along the trail. I motioned for them to be quiet and pointed out the hawk to them. They caught a brief glimpse of it in the tree, but this was too many people and it flew off to the north. None the less, they were as happy as I was to have seen it.

Sharp-shinned & Red-tailed Hawks

This afternoon’s walk was to Reifel. While admiring the Black-crowned Night-Heron in the usual trees just beyond the entrance, something a lot smaller caught my attention.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk was roosting in the tree just above the herons. It was carefully watching the song birds around the feeder at the entrance.

A few times it suddenly launched and swooped in on them, returning unsuccessful. On returning to the same place a little later there were now two in the same area.

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest accipiter, not much bigger than a Robin.

I have seen them here recently, but usually as they go streaking by through the trees. A pleasant change to have them sit still for a short while. Especially since it has been almost three years since I last managed a shot of one.

At the end of the afternoon and as the sun was starting to go down,

… the young Red-tailed Hawk showed up again in the trees around the ponds.