CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography
Birding in British Columbia, Canada
The highlight of a brief walk this afternoon,
… was this Killdeer juvenile.
Here taking a brief timeout along the edge of the pond.
Then moving off to continue foraging.
While the juvenile was wondering around on its own, the adult was roosting on this log.
It was calling continually and occasionally displaying an alert posture. The adult eventually rejoined the juvenile once it was on the opposite edge of the pond.
New arrivals still continue to show up.
While some adult birds are still tending young,
… others are starting to moult. Bird feathers get damaged and the process of shedding the old to make way for the new is called moulting. Not all feathers are replaced at once and this can occur more than once during the year.
In the case of this Mallard you can see the new primary and secondary flight feathers growing in. This adds some literal meaning to the idiom “sitting duck” when you cannot fly. For this reason some water birds will stay in large groups for safety while moulting.
While I have been seeing adult Great Horned Owls recently, no sign of any juveniles. Early in the year it almost looked like the pair frequenting Reifel might nest in the sanctuary again. This did not happen with the duo likely nesting in the Alaksen National Wildlife Area next door. This afternoon at Reifel I got my first glimpse of a juvenile for this season.
It was not in a good location for photos, obstructed by branches and with some difficult back light. None the less, it was finally fun to see one. At least its eyes were wide open because of the crows harassing it. All the ruckus is what got my attention in the first place.