Blog – Page 81 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Phalarope & Owl

Another beautiful summer afternoon to be out volunteering a Reifel. It was a decent crowd for this time of year with a couple of pleasant surprises. First up in the outer ponds,

… were three Wilson’s Phalaropes. They appeared to be juvenile birds,

… and this would be on the early side to see them arriving. Of course some of the usual suspects were around.

Like this Great Blue Heron roosting in a conifer. The other surprise came at the end of the day.

A juvenile Great Horned Owl snoozing away the afternoon. This was one of two, likely from the local pair that nested in the Alaksen National Wildlife area.

Osprey

Happy Canada Day!

Last year on this day when visiting the Osprey nest there were chicks and lots of activity. As I had not been out in a while I stopped by today,

… and was saddened to see the nest empty. It would appear this pair will not be successful in raising any young this year. This will be the third season in the six I have been watching this Osprey pair it has happened.

One of the adult birds was present on an old snag overlooking the nest,

… busy eating a fish. Hopefully they will return again next year with better results.

Barn Swallow

Something else has been keeping us busy of late,

… a new kitten. Now that he is feeling right at home, hopefully a little normalcy will return to our lives.

With this in mind I managed my first outing in a couple of weeks. I made my way out to Reifel to help out on the trails. The beautiful long weekend weather must have drawn people elsewhere as there were not the usual Sunday crowds. It was quiet on the birding front as well. Fortunately I did manage to find some action along the outer dyke.

Some recently fledged Barns Swallows were lined up along a branch,

… and still being fed by the adult birds. Always fun to capture this activity and I was fortunate to get all four juveniles with their mouths open at the same time.