Manitoba - Carman, Fort Whyte, Stephenfield Park 21 April – 28 April 2011
A good week of birding.
Our list has grown substantially.
Have seen three flocks of Snow Geese in the past week. One flock flew over town and I heard them honking for the first time. They have quite a different honk than the Canada Geese.
Trail is finally drying and I am now able to go in my sneakers rather than rubber boots.
Stephenfield Park was closed due to the road being flooded. We walked through the bush to the lake from the park gate. It was a wet walk. We did see an Owl about 40 feet into the bush high in the trees. It was moving from tree to tree quite quickly and we soon lost sight of it and were unable to identify it.
Lots of gulls on the lake, which is mostly ice. Saw some Mallards and a large flock of ducks at one end of the lake which we think may have been Mallards.
On the way home we saw a Great Grey Owl roosting in a tree close to the highway. A little further on I saw a large bird on the ground at the end of a windbreak. I would swear it was a Ring Necked Pheasant, but I don’t think they are in our area. It never moved so I am wondering if it wasn’t a yard ornament.
The Kingfishers have returned this week. There are two of them in the same small area of the river as last year. They certainly are wary and eagle eyed little so and so’s. I tried hiding by some trees, and waited for over half and hour. One landed at the top of a tree a few hundred feet down the river and stayed there. The other landed in a tree about 100 feet from me but there was a large tree obstructing the view. I finally gave up started to move, both Kingfishers took off, I then hid by another tree figuring they wouldn’t see me on their return. I was right, after only a few minutes one of them flew by and landed in a tree about 50 feet away, but was obstructed by a stand of trees. I ever so slowly edged my way out of my hiding spot, it of course saw me before I saw it and it was off. It must have just seen a portion of me, like maybe my shoulder, through the stand trees. It was just as frustrating as last year. I think the only way I’m going to get any kind of a picture of them is if I use a hide.
Carman/Stephenfield Park sightings:
Blue Jay
Pileated Woodpecker
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Dark Eyed Junco
Chipping Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Great Grey Owl
Owl (unidentified)
White Breasted Nuthatch
Snow Geese
Mallard
Fox Sparrow
Merlin
Downy Woodpecker
House Finch
Purple Finch
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
Hawk (unidentified)
Crow
California Gull
Chickadee
Canada Geese
Franklin’s Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull (Maybe, was at a distance)
Wild Turkey
Hoary Redpoll
Brewer’s Blackbird
Fort Whyte Center sightings
Mallard
Downy Woodpecker
Common Grackle
Red wing Blackbird
California Gull
House Sparrow
Chickadee
Canada Geese
Fox Sparrow
Common Goldeneye
A good week of birding.
Our list has grown substantially.
Have seen three flocks of Snow Geese in the past week. One flock flew over town and I heard them honking for the first time. They have quite a different honk than the Canada Geese.
Trail is finally drying and I am now able to go in my sneakers rather than rubber boots.
Stephenfield Park was closed due to the road being flooded. We walked through the bush to the lake from the park gate. It was a wet walk. We did see an Owl about 40 feet into the bush high in the trees. It was moving from tree to tree quite quickly and we soon lost sight of it and were unable to identify it.
Lots of gulls on the lake, which is mostly ice. Saw some Mallards and a large flock of ducks at one end of the lake which we think may have been Mallards.
On the way home we saw a Great Grey Owl roosting in a tree close to the highway. A little further on I saw a large bird on the ground at the end of a windbreak. I would swear it was a Ring Necked Pheasant, but I don’t think they are in our area. It never moved so I am wondering if it wasn’t a yard ornament.
The Kingfishers have returned this week. There are two of them in the same small area of the river as last year. They certainly are wary and eagle eyed little so and so’s. I tried hiding by some trees, and waited for over half and hour. One landed at the top of a tree a few hundred feet down the river and stayed there. The other landed in a tree about 100 feet from me but there was a large tree obstructing the view. I finally gave up started to move, both Kingfishers took off, I then hid by another tree figuring they wouldn’t see me on their return. I was right, after only a few minutes one of them flew by and landed in a tree about 50 feet away, but was obstructed by a stand of trees. I ever so slowly edged my way out of my hiding spot, it of course saw me before I saw it and it was off. It must have just seen a portion of me, like maybe my shoulder, through the stand trees. It was just as frustrating as last year. I think the only way I’m going to get any kind of a picture of them is if I use a hide.
Carman/Stephenfield Park sightings:
Blue Jay
Pileated Woodpecker
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Dark Eyed Junco
Chipping Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Great Grey Owl
Owl (unidentified)
White Breasted Nuthatch
Snow Geese
Mallard
Fox Sparrow
Merlin
Downy Woodpecker
House Finch
Purple Finch
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
Hawk (unidentified)
Crow
California Gull
Chickadee
Canada Geese
Franklin’s Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull (Maybe, was at a distance)
Wild Turkey
Hoary Redpoll
Brewer’s Blackbird
Fort Whyte Center sightings
Mallard
Downy Woodpecker
Common Grackle
Red wing Blackbird
California Gull
House Sparrow
Chickadee
Canada Geese
Fox Sparrow
Common Goldeneye
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