Evening Grosbeak – Page 2 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

On the cool side, but a great afternoon for a walk. On arriving at Reifel I heard there were some Evening Grosbeak and Common Redpoll seen earlier in the day. On heading out the east dyke trail where they had been seen, it was not long before I located the Grosbeak. They were not in a great spot for photos, but while watching them I noticed another flock of birds active on the lower inside trail.

It was a good sized group of Pine Siskin. While higher up initially,

… they did make there way down to some lower branches.

It has been a few years since I have managed any shots of the Pine Siskin.

So I quite enjoyed this moment with them cooperating while feeding on the catkins.

Then the Evening Grosbeak made their way to a slightly better location,

… and provided a chance for some photos.

The Evening Grosbeak were busy feeding on some of the remaining Pacific crab apple. After they moved on it was time to find the Siskin again. If the Common Redpoll were around, chances are they would be mixed in with them.

There were a few Common Redpoll mixed in with the Siskin when I relocated the flock. Unfortunately they were not quite as cooperative and this is the only decent shot I managed. Nonetheless, a great afternoon to be out and about enjoying it all.

With most of the shore bird migration behind us now, it is time to change gears. This started with the last post focusing mostly on water birds. Despite the grey and drizzly weather the last few days I have managed a few walks. They have been to Reifel where there have been some interesting song birds worth giving a try. One bird that has been seen off and on for a few weeks now is a White-throated Sparrow. Unfortunately I have yet to locate it, so I turned my attention to some of the regulars.

Lots of White-crowned Sparrows around,

… including immature birds. One change of pace,

… was this Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco. In this part of British Columbia we are most likely to see them at this time of year.

The Oregon Dark-eyed Junco is what we are used to seeing here most of the time. The other bird I was hoping to see was the Evening Grosbeak that had been sighted.

While I did manage to locate and photograph it, the location and lighting were not the best. The bird itself was looking a little bedraggled as well.

Of course there is never any shortage of House Sparrows. This species was introduced to North America from Europe and are referred to as Old World Sparrows.

While similar in appearance and behavior, they are a different family from the other New World Sparrows. Another change of pace while watching sparrows,

… was a couple of Hermit Thrush mixed in with them foraging on the ground. Continuing to scour the mixed groups for the White-throated, something else caught my eye.

This odd colored Fox Sparrow, perhaps partially leucistic.

This is how I would normally expect them to look. So while nothing too much out of the ordinary, a couple of interesting finds.

Tag: Evening Grosbeak

Siskin, Grosbeak & Redpoll

A Switch To Song Birds