Common Redpolls

It's 10:30 am on 2 February 2016, and there are only two new photos from contacts showing on my Contacts' page. That seems very strange.

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 1 February 2016, when I spent the day east of the city with friends Sandy and Debbie. We were hoping to see a few owls and ended up seeing three species, which was quite a treat – a distant Snowy Owl that was perched on a round, white tank of some sort on the ground, an extremely well-hidden Short-eared Owl and an equally well-hidden Great Horned Owl. Pretty useless for photos, but lovely to see. We were also treated to a beautiful Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a power pole along one of the backroads.

Not much in the way of other birds, other than endless Black-billed Magpies, a few Ravens and a large flock or two of dainty Common Redpolls. The latter are usually almost impossible to photograph, they are so fast and constantly on the move. The photo I've posted today is a messy shot and poor quality, but these little Redpolls, with the red spot on their forehead, do look rather cute hidden among a tangle of thin branches.

"As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/id

The day was a mix of sun and lots of cloud, but very pleasant. It was interesting to see how some areas had quite a lot of snow on the ground, but others had the golden stubble showing in fairly bare fields. The odd barn or two offered a few photo opportunities, too, of course.

Many thanks for driving us on this outing, Sandy! Thank goodness that you love driving and that you have a vehicle in much, much newer and better shape than mine or Debbie's : )