Category Archives: birds

  A standing person who faints, falls over. Maintaining one’s balance requires constant muscular adjustments. Maintaining one’s balance while standing on one leg is even more difficult. Consequently, many people have marvelled at the sight of a heron napping as it … Continue reading →

  The Spotted Sandpiper is widespread along the shores of lakes, ponds, and rivers. It also has the unusual characteristic of a sexual role reversal. The female is larger, sexually aggressive, and polyandrous — that is, it mates with multiple males, … Continue reading →

  Our summer residents include two species of bluebirds: mountain and western. An April posting delighted in views of the Mountain Bluebird. We are near the centre of its breeding range, so we see both those that are migrating past us as … Continue reading →

  Four months ago, I posted a picture of a hawk in the genus accipiter and turned to my readers to help identify it. The sentiment was that is was a Sharp-shinned Hawk, rather than the larger Cooper’s Hawk (the other … Continue reading →

  The Red-winged Blackbird is common year round to the south, but seasonal here where the arrival of its bubbly song heralds the return of spring. They are then mainly found around marshes where they eat seeds and insects. The … Continue reading →

  The goslings finally hatched. Three weeks ago, I posted a picture of a goose sitting on a nest.  Since that time, the nest has been frequently checked from a distance to see if the goslings had arrived. During all … Continue reading →

  There have been spotty observations of hummingbirds around the region for a couple of weeks, but it wasn’t until yesterday that visits became frequent enough and weather became good enough that I managed pictures. Unexpectedly, there were two different … Continue reading →

  Enough said.

  Ospreys return to the same mate and same nest year after year. It is striking that at the beginning of each season, new sticks must be added to the nest, seemingly independent of the integrity of the established nest. Why this … Continue reading →