Chickadee, Vireo + Kinglet

A little breezy and overcast, but at least it was not raining. There was also a half decent crowd when I arrived at Reifel to help out this afternoon. There was not anything out of the ordinary reported from the morning,

Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco

… and along the east dyke trail it was mostly regulars like this Dark-eyed Junco.

Gadwall
Gadwall

Hard to walk around Reifel without spending some time with the waterfowl. Today it was this Gadwall.

Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee

Along the inside grassy trail I found a pair of Black-capped Chickadee busy excavating a nesting hole in an old Birch snag. While watching them a beautiful Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler was flitting about overhead, but would not come lower and cooperate for a photo.

Later in the afternoon along this same stretch I notice several Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the trees along the east dyke trail. Once I had made my way over there,

Hutton's Vireo
Hutton’s Vireo

… I was delighted that the first photos I took were of a Hutton’s Vireo.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Next up was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet I originally came over to get. Both these species are usually quite busy and can be challenging to get photos of. They are also quite similar in appearance and this was a good opportunity to see them together for comparison.

White-throated Sparrow

The weather definitely had an impact on the number of visitors at Reifel this afternoon when I showed up to help out on the trails. The continuing snowfall was also keeping a lot of the smaller birds busy looking for food.

Golden-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow

This Golden-crowned Sparrow gave me a long look. Even they were approaching people looking for hand outs.

White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow was active in its usual spot near the entrance,

Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco

… and this Dark-eyed Junco struck a nice pose on a snowy log. A fun day trying to get some of the little ones in the snow.

Song Birds & Blue Goose

At Reifel today, on this Thanksgiving long weekend, there was a half decent crowd. It was overcast with light showers persisting most of the afternoon. It was fairly quiet on the birding front,

Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco

… so I was starting to watch some of the fall regulars such as this Dark-eyed Junco. Then to make things a little more interesting,

White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow

… I spotted this White-throated Sparrow. That was the excitement for the sanctuary, but things picked up again on the way home. I got flagged over on Westham Island by Brian, a fellow volunteer. In with the Snow Goose flock were some dark morph birds.

Snow Goose
Snow Goose

One that stood out was this Snow Goose with some of the marking of a dark morph.

Snow Goose
Snow Goose

There were a couple of juveniles,

Snow Goose
Snow Goose

… along with this adult dark morph Snow Goose. It was an interesting variety of Blue Goose to end the day with.