On arriving to volunteer at Reifel this afternoon there was a Belted Kingfisher along Robertson Slough. It did not stick around when I got out to walk the driveway. This is the first one I have seen in a while. Carrying on I reached the the parking lot the same time as a couple of bus loads of people. Still, it was not overly busy on the people front. Birding wise it remains fairly quiet. There was an adult Great Horned Owl being harassed by Crows near the picnic area which did not stay long. While walking the outer dyke checking the handful of shorebirds in the ponds I noticed a Phalarope in with some Yellowlegs. It was all the way across the pond and to far off for me to properly identify. I decided to head to the blind off the centre dyke trail to see if I could get a closer look. By the time I reached the blind, the Phalarope was gone. As a consolation, there was a Barn Swallow family roosting on some branches just outside one of the blind openings.
This is one of the juvenile Barns Swallows. Only problem being the opening is too small for my lens to shoot through and resulted in a soft photo which I tried to correct. From here I headed back to the tower area.
The Lesser Yellowlegs I noted earlier was in a slightly better spot for a photo this time. Then came word of another Great Horned Owl along one of the inside trails.
This one being a juvenile with the lack of large broad ear tufts of an adult and still somewhat fuzzy head. This young bird also seemed to be favouring its right eye.
I look forward to seeing the young owls each year. The adults have been nesting in the area for many years now. To finish the afternoon off, one of the Swainson’s Thrush came in and scolded the young owl for a short time. Of course it did not want to pose nicely like the owl and remained tucked away in the branches. A quiet but not uneventful afternoon.
