Birding in Squamish

On our BC road trip we stopped overnight in Squamish and had a few hours to relax and do a bit of easy bird spotting.

We saw several White Crowned Sparrows along the river along with The Spotted Towhee and Violet Green Swallow near town.

During our drive throughout BC we also saw numerous Turkey Vultures overhead and on Mount Washington we spotted the Gray Jay (Whiskey Jack) and Dark Eyed Junco.

In Comox we got lucky and spotted two Bald Eagles at the marina.

And in Kelowna we saw the Spotter Sandpiper and Rufous Hummingbird.

Gopher Time!

Calgary's inner city gophers hangin' with their human neighbours.

Fish Creek Bird Spotting

Another great day out today with 10 new birds added to our list!  A small storm water pond just beyond the Fish Creek visitor centre had no less than 15 male Wood Ducks, quite a few Mallards as well as Bufflehead Ducks, American Wigeon Common Merganser and Goldeneye.

Clay-colored Sparrows were everywhere in the grassland and easy to spot if you stopped long enough to watch for them, otherwise you'd pass right by only hearing them.  Bank Swallows were seen overhead along Fish Creek.

Further down near the boat launch we had several amazing new spots, the Baltimore Oriole, Western Tanager, Brown Headed Cowbird, Western Wood-Pewee and a Belted Kingfisher.  There were also a number of Red-winged Blackbirds, more Bank Swallows and Bonaparte's Gulls.

Great Horned Owl in Okotoks

Great Horned Owl

An accidental bird watching day as we went for a stroll along the river in Okotoks today when there in a tree right along the pathway was a newly fledged Great Horned Owl chick with mum or dad hanging out in a tree just behind.

As they were totally not bothered by us we were able to get right under them for a few snaps and enjoyed watching them for a little while.  Our presence was barely acknowledged by the adult but the owlet kept a wary eye on us.

Stopping by a nearby pond in the early afternoon we also had a quick spotting of the Northern Shoveller and Killdeer as well as three new birds for us; the Spotted Sandpiper, American Wigeon and Blue Winged Teal.

The pond was also being frequented by a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds and a pair of Canada Geese with chicks.

McGregor Lake AB

Another cold windy day out bird watching and some really nice spots and new birds for our new Canada journey.  :)

Along with a Northern Harrier spotted from the car on the way to the lake we saw Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Cinnamon Teal, Eared Grebe and American Avocet.

We had good views too of the Red Winged Blackbird and American Robin.

And just as we were leaving we spotted Killdeer in the campground hanging out with the Prairie Dogs.

We did see 3 more birds of prey on the wing but unable to identify and a few ducks probably missed because we couldn't stand the wind long enough to stay out!

Chestermere AB

Bufflehead Duck

Our first day out this year bird watching on a cold rainy Easter weekend!

But we saw a few new birds on Chestermere lake including the Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Canvasback and Lesser Scaup.  We also spotted a Sharp-tailed Grouse in a nearby field and closer to Calgary a Bald Eagle overhead near the Bow River.

Unable to get a photo today due to weather but this image from MrTinDC sets the mood on the lake today perfectly.

Shawnna

Potteric Carr

Photo by Johnson Cameraface

Spent a few hours at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve today and were lucky enough to spot a Merlin circling overhead but not lucky enough to get a glimpse of the Bittern that we could hear very close by.

Another new bird spotted though was the Gadwall.

Despite a lack of new birds spotted though it was a fantastic location and a great day out for a nature walk.

Shawnna

New Bird!

It's been tough to spot new birds in the neighbourhood but we found a Merlin hanging out at a nest box on a farm in Markington today.  Not sure if it's actually nesting or not as we didn't have time to hang out and wait but it was a nice spot nonetheless.

Shawnna

Birding in Portugal

Finally after many months of busy schedules we've got two relaxing weeks in Portugal's Algarve and several days spent bird watching.

We added a new bird almost daily and found several good spots for some great bird spotting.  Even without a scope we racked up 73 total birds with 20 brand new birds for us.

Avocet, Spoonbill, Black-winged Stilt, Crag Martin, Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Winchat, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-eared Wheatear, Common Waxbill, Blue Rock Thrush, Sanderling, Thekla Lark, Fire Crest, Little Owl, Rock Bunting, Grey Plover and Ring Plover.


Shawnna

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

We've been seeing a lot of these lately now that we know what they are!  We spent a beautiful morning at Staveley today and although it seemed quite quiet on the wildlife front we had several close looks at the Sedge Warbler.

There were quite a few Grey wagtails on the far pond as well as 2 Snipe, another bird for our list!  There were 6 juvenile Shelducks, about a hundred Greylag geese, a couple cormorants, heron, a swan family and a ringed plover.

We saw many dragon flies and hawkers but are not knowledgeable enough to identify them, easily 4 - 5 different species spotted though.  We also saw a vole running along the footpath in front of us which quickly dove into the undergrowth and proceeded to swim away through the reeds.  Was this a water vole? 

Shawnna

Summer bird watching

The past two months have been really busy and so our bird watching endeavors have been pretty low key.  But we've been practicing to spot birds amongst the dense leaves of summer and enjoying all the baby birds spotted on the water.

Today was a short trip to Thorpe Perrow where we saw 2 clutches of young Little Grebes, a dozen juvenile mallards and a group of baby Tufted ducks.

Yesterday we stopped in at Fountains Abbey at the large pond nearest the deer park.  Not as many birds here now as there usually is but a selection of the typical residents with juvenile Black Headed Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Moor Hens, Greylag and Canada Geese and a few Mallards.  And the Jack Daws were braving the busy cafe eating area to scrounge for crumbs.

Last weekend we stopped in at Marshfields Reserve, just in passing, not expecting the size of the place once we got out and started walking around.  There were loads of birds and young on all the ponds.  Definitely a place we'll go back to and spend more time.  Spotted maybe a hundred Mallards, a pair of Great Crested Grebe, Swans, Greylags, Moor Hens... we didn't get to all the ponds though.  We also saw Chiff Chaff zipping about in the hedgerows.

On the weekend before this (June 29th) we stopped by Nosterfield late in the day and though the water line was low there were plenty of birds.  Nothing new for us but we did get some really good close views of sedge warblers along the path and the baby Great Tits were out and flitting from bush to bush.

Shawnna

Le Camargue

African Sacred Ibis

A holiday to the south of France this past week gave us just one day of bird watching and we opted for the Parc Ornithologique just outside Avignon and recommended to us by local friends.

The inner estuary is a haven for flamingos and we saw plenty of those along with several types of heron nesting on small islands.  Smaller birds were harder to spot but we identified a Cetti's Warbler among all the sparrows.

And lastly, just before leaving while sitting at the cafe overlooking the water we spotted an African Sacred Ibis.

Shawnna

Kettlewell to Arncliffe

We repeated our walk from earlier in the year up over Old Cote Moor and back from Kettlewell.  It was a glorious sunny day and busy on the paths but we managed to see 3 new birds for our UK list, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Common Sandpiper.

Shawnna

Little Grebe

Spring Day at Staveley

Sedge Warbler

It's been a few weeks since we've been able to get out bird watching, just too many other chores getting in the way! 

But a few weeks back we did spend a morning at Thorpe Perrow Arboretum where we spotted a Little Grebe on the ornamental pond.

Today though we went back to our local reserve and encountered a whole new range of bird song.  The water birds weren't plentiful but we were treated to 2 warblers, Sedge and Willow alomg with the Lesser Whitethroat and the Blackcap.  There were also Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins all flitting over the water for insects, making it easier to spot the differences in flight.

Shawnna

Spotted locally...

The weather has been keeping us mostly indoors that last few weeks, so our bird spotting days have been low key with local walks and watching our bird feeders.

We added Fieldfare to our list a few weeks ago when driving up our road we saw a small flock overhead in the trees.

Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush were visiting the feeders during the worst of the weather, fabulously at the same time so it was easy to spot the difference!

And today's walk at Fountains Abbey resulted in 3 new birds for us bringing our tally to 88 birds each. Spotted were a Goosander, Sparrowhawk and Redwing.  We also saw several Gold Crest and Great Tits along with about a million Crows.


Shawnna

Looking for a Hawfinch

We got up extra early this morning to get to Sizergh Castle at the recommended time for spotting Hawfinches only to spend hours cold and hungry waiting patiently for them to show themselves. 

We got there just before 8am.  The first ones there.  Keen and dedicated!  A couple hours went by and the crowd expanded.  Finally someone had a quick sighting in the distance but the bird disappeared before anyone got a really good look.  By 10:30 most people had given up.  I went for a walk just to warm up my toes!

When the cafe opened we opted to sit indoors for a nice warm cup of tea and a scone.  Then Andy saw someone pointing at a tree and rushed out while I continued to enjoy my tea.  And missed the only decent sighting of the morning as one lone Hawfinch perched on a tree top for 30 seconds.

So my day was a little disappointing while Andy was pleased as punch.  Apparently I'm just not dedicated enough!

There were lots of other birds though.  At least 50 Chaffinches, 3 woodpeckers, loads of various tits, Bullfinch, Siskin and over the fields we saw 5 Buzzards.  And best of all for about 15 min after arriving we had 2 Jays bouncing around the trees.  While we had seen them before in our last garden (visiting for the peanuts) we hadn't seen them just 'out and about'.

Shawnna

Nosterfield Local Nature Reserve

Another bitterly cold morning as we made our first trip to Nosterfield and walked to each hide to check out the views over the ponds.

Definitely need a scope here!  All the birds were well on the other side of the ponds.  The hides are fantastic though and we'll be back soon.

One new bird spotted despite not having a scope to hand and that was the Ruff.


Shawnna

Fowl Weather

The plan today was meant to be an outing to the Saltholme RSPB site.

We had to be in Darlington first thing anyway.  But the weather in the area made it a rather risky trip on the roads with snow already causing problems on the roads first thing, so we opted instead for our more local stop at Staveley and we were rewarded with two more ducks to add to our now growing list!

Goldeneye and Scaup were our new birds with lots of Teal, Wigeon and Tufted Ducks also present.  We also got a much better sighting of the Short-eared Owl thanks to our brand new binoculars.


Shawnna

Sunny Scarborough

Enjoyed a beautiful day out to the coast today with glorious sunshine all day.  Bird watching was a little less successful than anticipated but wasn't hard for us to add 6 new birds to our list. 

We made two stops at Burton Riggs but it was pretty quiet.  Canada and Greylag geese, Wigeon, Mallards, Tufted Ducks along with a few Black Headed gulls were about all that was there.  Possibly some sort of Plover but we didn't get a good look.  And on the 2nd stop we noticed a White-Fronted Goose in with the Greylags.

At Scarborough Meir we were treated to a Red-Crested Pochard, a Mandarin and a few Pintails.  There was a great collection of birds here today, all hanging about to get a free meal.

On the coast we saw mainly Herring and Black Headed gulls, but a few Redshanks, Dunlin, Curlew, Oystercatchers, Grey Heron, and a large number of Wigeon on the water.

 Shawnna