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.
Reifel was the destination this afternoon. There was not much happening on the inside trails except for a Great Horned Owl. While nice to see, it was not in a good spot for photos. So I made may way to the outside ponds with shore birds being more prevalent these days. There was a flock of Western Sandpipers present, but too far off.
A couple of Killdeer were in a little closer,
… and provided a couple of photo ops. There were both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs,
… with this group of Greater Yellowlegs catching an afternoon nap.
Then a small group of Semipalmated Sandpipers showed up.
A couple of them coming close enough for some shots. Long-billed Dowitchers were the only other shore bird species observed. While watching the sandpipers the resident Sandhill Crane family made an appearance.
They worked their along the outer ponds with the adults taking to short flights,
… but junior is not quite there yet.
The juvenile has certainly grown since my last photos.
It will not be long before this one is flying.
Last entry was about the sock (Bushtit nest), this one is about the ball.
The Marsh Wren nest was another I wanted to try and capture.
These woven balls or domed nests are contructed mostly of reeds and grasses and lashed to the surrounding plants.
Another small bird that puts a lot work into their nest.
Of course all this hard work deserves a time out for a little song.
Other birds from today were this Killdeer.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere.
Two to three weeks yet before there will be any action here.
But some new arrivals have started showing up.