Evening Grosbeak male

I'm not sure how I managed to get such a close photo of this very handsome male Evening Grosbeak, lol! Happy, though, that I came across this photo that I hadn't posted before. Taken SW of the city, on 28 May 2017.

What a great day our group of four people had on that day, taking part in the annual May Species Count. We travelled in just one car, which worked out well.

On the 2016 May Species Count, we had been unable to find a Great Gray Owl, but I drove back to the area two days later, and found two of them. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken of them, each owl is just as exciting as the very first. So, it was a thrill on 28 May to see one of these spectacular owls. It was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't.

While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe.

One of the places we stopped at was friend Barb's acreage, where I had been eight days earlier. That day, we had seen beautiful Evening Grosbeaks and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Purple Finch, etc.. On 28 May, there were fewer birds to be seen. It was amusing to watch a Tree Swallow who caught our attention, when she kept flying to her nest box and tried and tried to get a huge feather through the small hole. I don't know if she eventually succeeded later.

By the end of the long day, we had seen 72 species! Amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired!