Finally
The sun’s warm rays
Brought bursting colours to branches
Soon
The small winged creatures
Will blend in nature’s colourful canvas
Springtime!
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Category Archives: Birds
Backyard Birding – Pt. 3. White-Throated Sparrow
I heard this little guy before I saw it… Then, the flying bark chips from the flower beds gave its location away. The gardener in my household was not impressed. Hilarious.
This delicate, colourful, elusive bird stayed for a little while. Winged delight!
Backyard Birding, Pt. 2 – Yellow-Rumped Warbler
I spent hours watching a couple of yellow-rumped warblers flying around playfully from the chokecherry tree to the walnut tree, tirelessly. I hadn’t seen these little feathery creatures around our backyard in past years; maybe I just wasn’t sufficiently attentive. Everything about them—their colours, their flight patterns, and their musical songs—conveys a joyful, happy, carefree nature. What a treat!
Backyard Birding, Pt. 1 – Wood Ducks
Plenty of backyard visitors as the days warm up and the trees green up. This wood duck couple was literally “on the fence” about settling here. They eventually flew away to find something better suited to their accommodation needs, like a nearby lake shore.
Keeping an Eye
On the fly…
Tyrannus tyrannus
An eastern kingbird
Tyrant of the neighbourhood
Its eye on the fly
Yellow Belly
I seem to recall, from watching old western movies, that calling someone a “Yellow Belly” was a poor way of making friends… Why, then, did we use the term for a bird of the woodpecker family? Because it does sport a yellow belly.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Haiku
Perfect hole a nest
Cacophony of little ones
Your ruffled feathers
Wink!
This is the last of the winged visitors I met at the Indigo bookstore. This beautiful monocled great grey owl has been taken in by the folks at the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre after he was hit by a car. The collision injured his left eye, which had to be surgically removed. That didn’t stop him from keeping a close eye on me.
This is the largest of the owl family, with a wingspan that can reach 152 cm. I’m told that its size is somewhat deceptive, made up mostly of fluffy and broad feathers. It is rather lightweight.
Peregrine Falcon
I met this 11-year old peregrine falcon at the Indigo bookstore, of all places. We could tell, from her loud squawking, she was very happy to come out and meet with the other bookworms. She suffers from cataracts (who would have thought birds get these too?). The nice folks at the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre look after her.
If you like peregrine falcons, you might enjoy watching a livecam from a rooftop nest, here in Winnipeg. Charming…
What a cutie!
I had never seen one of these before. This probably explains why:
Where mice and other small mammals are concerned this fierce, silent owl is anything but cute. One of the most common owls in forests across northern North America (and across the U.S. in winter), saw-whets are highly nocturnal and seldom seen.
This little owl is a northern saw-whet owl, a patient at the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre near Winnipeg, Manitoba (actually in St. Adolphe). I met her, two other patients (peregrine falcon and great grey owl) along with great volunteers from PWRC at the Indigo bookstore—who would have thought, of all places—while I was there for a book signing.
Hawaiian Spotted Dove
Hawaii Spotted Dove
Hawaii Spotted Dove
Watching quietly
Still under the morning sun
Picture perfect day
Bright eye, unflinching
Softness on the edge of flight
Stayed just long enough
A palm for a perch
Bright spots and subdued colours
One fleeting moment
