Category Archives: birds

  Mobbing in birds is an anti-predator activity in which smaller prey mob a larger predator by cooperatively attacking or harassing it. It is usually done to protect offspring. Behaviour includes flying about the predator, dive bombing, loud squawking and … Continue reading →

  It has been an unusually good year for Trumpeter Swans (but a poor year for irruptives). As a result, the opportunity has arisen to catch the trumpeters in less common situations. In this case, it was face-on activities.  Some … Continue reading →

  One of the most spectacular things to see a swan do, is for it to stand up in the water and spread its wings. They don’t seem to do this very often, but I wondered what triggered the activity. … Continue reading →

  We have two indigenous species of swans here: Tundra and Trumpeter. But, neither species lives here permanently because they winter to the south and breed to the north. We see them frequently as they pass through, for they are … Continue reading →

  Swans do not make their home here. They live to our south in the winter, and to our north in the summer, but they pass through this region twice a year in transit. Indeed, as they come through in … Continue reading →

  Now is the time to see the Northern Pygmy Owl. Well, we have it year round, so why select now to see this daytime hunter? Well, for most seasons, it hangs out at higher elevations, a mountainous area that … Continue reading →

  This is the time to see a variety of juvenile birds flying around. They are as large as adults and they haven’t migrated yet. Further, they often look different from the adults. And, they are sometimes different in other … Continue reading →

  We have many ground-feeding birds and many migrants, but some are rather uncommon. I encountered two of them yesterday: a Horned Lark and a Lapland Longspur. Mind you, I strikingly misinterpreted them initially. As the longspur often kept rather … Continue reading →