‘Tis the season of family gatherings. ‘Tis the season of road trips. ‘Tis the season of watching nature from the window of a car.
On this season’s jaunt, only birds were seen (no mammals)—seven pictures below.
Irruptive birds are not regular seasonal migrants, but ones that come south only every few years. On this drive, I saw three irruptive species, all finches. The first to be seen was also the least common: White-winged Crossbills.
Only seen a bit more frequently is the Pine Grosbeak. As with the other finches, it was seen consuming gravel from the roads (grit apparently aids in digestion).
The final finch seen feeding on the road was, curiously, the most frequently seen one: the Pine Siskin.
Four Bald Eagles were seen, but this one was the only sub adult.
A Pileated Woodpecker was seen hunting on a tree below one of the eagles.
This is one of two Red-tailed Hawks seen.
Nearly missed, because it was so small, was a Pygmy Owl.
WOW! Awesome outing Alistair. I’ve seen only one flicker and today a black capped chickadee.
Well done, Alistair ! ! Some special awareness there to capture some of these winter friends 🙂
Alistair,
More wonderful pics-did you take them all on the same day,and where did you find the gravel eating birds?I usually see them only at higher elevation,
Peter
Peter, the crossbills and the grosbeaks were on the road between Retallack and New Denver; the siskins were on the pass north of Duffey Lake the next day. So, yes they were in high country. Yet, I have seen this behaviour with grosbeaks near Krestova, so there seems to be some versatility, although usually I too see it in the high country. I wonder why?