Yes, yes, YES!

Eight or nine years ago, I was out with a group of birding friends somewhere (?) outside the city, and we saw a Bobolink far in the distance, at the top of a very tall tree. You needed a scope to see it, but I was in such awe at seeing such a beautiful bird - one that I'd never heard of before - that I never even thought of trying to get a photo of it. I've never seen this uncommon (in Alberta) bird since ...... until yesterday!!

Yesterday, my oldest daughter came down for a few hours, and after she left, I decided I would drive a few of the backroads SW of the city. At the last moment before turning round and heading home, I remembered that someone had seen a Bobolink in that area fairly recently, so I decided to drive a little further than planned. Imagine my excitement when one of the black birds I checked out (and there were MANY along all those roads!) turned out to be not a Red-winged Blackbird or a Brewer's Blackbird, but a beautiful Bobolink! I only got a distant view, but I was so happy just to see it and to get any photo at all.

"Perched on a grass stem or displaying in flight over a field, breeding male Bobolinks are striking. No other North American bird has a white back and black underparts (some have described this look as wearing a tuxedo backwards). Added to this are the male’s rich, straw-colored patch on the head and his bubbling, virtuosic song. As summer ends he molts into a buff and brown female-like plumage. Though they’re still fairly common (Note: uncommon in Alberta) in grasslands, Bobolink numbers are declining.

Bobolinks are small songbirds with large, somewhat flat heads, short necks, and short tails. They are related to blackbirds and orioles, and they have a similar shaped, sharply pointed bill." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bobolink/id

This is a long weekend for some people here in Canada, as Tuesday, 1 July 2014 is Canada Day. Can't say I want to promote a beer commercial, but I thought this one was kind of neat. Please don't drink and drive at any time, but the roads will most likely be packed and crazy the next few days!

youtu.be/t41wNkGvJ9k

Posting my "daily three" late this morning (just before noon, I think), having slept late after getting to bed at a ridiculous time (around 3:00 a.m., I think) this morning!