The joys of winter birding

Yesterday was a cold but beautiful day. Went on a three-hour walk at Votier's Flats, Fish Creek Park, in the morning, and we saw some good birds, including several of these beautiful Pine Grosbeaks - this one is a female, while the males are red. I think the back view is the best angle, with those black and white wings. We were very lucky that three of them flew into a Saskatoon bush near the path, as usually we see these birds at a great distance. Other birds we saw were two very distant Bald Eagles, a juvenile Northern Goshawk, a Wilson's Snipe, a Pileated Woodpecker, an American Dipper, plus all the usual.

From Fish Creek Park, I went straight to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. I don't usually go "chasing" after a rather more special bird that has been reported, but I will sometimes do so if it's an owl : ) Someone had photographed a little Northern Saw-whet Owl there recently, so I thought it was worth going to see if there was any sign of it. Ha, no there wasn't, but instead I found myself staring into a big, round, yellow eye, deep within a Spruce tree. Yep, a Great Horned Owl.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Grosbeak/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Grosbeak

12:00 noon : Hold Your Clicks a Moment .....