Migration is on.

 Spring is arriving on wings. Today we drove out to Stony Plain to pick up the exhibition pieces and were told that my crochet sculptural Spirit Vessels garnered a lot of attention. Outside the Centre was a carving that is being remodelled by a chickadee. It looks like tape was placed over a previous hole but this wee fella is not deterred in the least.

 Heading south from Stony Plain we came across Tundra Swans and canvas backs. There were also Mallards, Coots, Canadian Geese, Buffleheads and Redheads on the marsh. Most were too far out of range for my 300 prime lens, this image is greatly cropped. Many of these swans have a yellow mark at the base of their bill near the eye, click on photo to see image large.

 Next we headed south to Clifford E Lee Nature Sanctuary and had a few White-fronted Geese fly overhead while we walked the boardwalk. There were Canadian Geese, mallards and one male shoveler on the pond. The wind blew up though luckily we were on the edge of a passing storm so we only got hit with cold raindrops for a short period. The ground is dry and dusty here already as there was lack of snow for moisture this past winter. Rain is definitely needed.

 Overwintering butterflies came out of hibernation and were flitting about in the warm sun once the winds passes us by. Milbert's Tortiseshell.

 Song Sparrows are heading north, there were a group of about thirty. Being secretive ground birds that spend time scratching under fallen branches in the leaf litter looking for bugs and seeds it took awhile to get a clear photo.

 A comma butterfly, saw two today.

Blues were sky dancing in the warm sunlight, twirling upward together then flitting about granting a happy moment when one settled for a moment.

 White-winged Crossbill, male. I love how they hang upside down.

 Male White-winged Crossbill, a special winter visitor.

 Black-capped Chickadee are daily visitors coming to collect black oil sunflower seeds. We always buy seeds and suet from the Wildbird General Store in Edmonton. We discovered years ago that being seed specialists they are very fussy and that cheapo department store seeds are a waste of money as the birds just toss them to the ground. 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch are also regulars, they love the suet put out for them in winter. We are lucky to have a nesting pair in our spruce tree so its boughs are always busy with the chatter of family life year round.

 Boreal Chickadee are sometimes winter visitors, we don't get them often so they are a delight when they come to gather bugs and grubs hibernating in the spruce trees.

 Boreal Chickadee.

 White-winged Crossbill, female, these we had never seen in our neighbourhood till this last week. We were happy to watch both the Red and the White-winged Crossbills forage at the tree tops and on the ground.

Red Crossbill, male.

House Finch, male. House finch come most days as they also enjoy the black oil sunflower seeds. I've noticed lots of singing lately and the males are feeding the females, spring courting bonds start early.

 Common Redpole is another sporadic visitor to our yard. They come for seeds from the Paper Birch tree in the back yard. This one though seemed to enjoy the company of the Crossbills and was foraging amongst them under the coniferous trees.

 Common Redpole

Birding delights in our own front yard.

With excitement I share with you a gift granted to me, the winter birds that blessed us with their presence this past week. The temperature warmed greatly above zero and as the snow melted flocks of birds we had never noticed in our area arrived to gleam seeds from the cones of the fruitful spruce trees that sport a bumper crop of cones way up top.

There are seven White-winged Crossbills in this photo, but if you can spot five you are doing well as they blend in so fine. The interesting thing I've noticed is this is a mixed flock, there are also Red Crossbills, see below photo. 

The red birds are the males, the yellow greenish birds are females.

Male White-winged Crossbills.

 In The Birds of Alberta book it says they rarely flock together, so I guess we were really given a gift. These birds stayed mostly in the tree tops. Two days later they were back, this time many were feeding on seeds dropped to the ground. 

Crossbills top mandible (jaw, beak) crosses over the lower one. The beak is specifically designed to pry into coniferous cones to gain access to the seeds within. What a wonderful experience to watch this female White-winged Crossbill pry out seeds by jabbing her thin curved beak up under the lip of the cone and wiggle her head back and forth pulling out seeds.

Unique specialty designs of nature these birds are, you can clearly see the beak crosses over itself. Got this shot as the bird hopped under the window I was shooting out of.

Female White-winged Crossbill.

While the females were prying seeds from fallen cones the males were a lazily picking seeds from the ground.

I believe this may be an immature male as his coloration is more orange than red.

Mature White-winged Crossbills were elusive as they took flight at the slightest noise so I was lucky to get this clear shot of one on the sidewalk.

Male Red Crossbill, notice no wing bars and softer coloration.

Female Red Crossbill posing on the gutter just above where I was standing. A female flew down and landed two feet away from my head, I held my breath in awe, a gift to behold close up. She peered into my eyes, cocked her head, then took to the air. sigh.

Where the melting snow puddled in the gutter the Crossbills took turns bathing.

May you enjoy the gift of these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

Final Irricana post of birds and critters

Our final morning in Irricana produced a drizzly morning mist fog as in a surreal dreamscape, it was beautiful soft and grey, though slightly chilly and the birds were fluffed against the cool breeze that kept them grounded.

 The clay-colored sparrow sang no matter what the weather was doing, sporty bird he is.

 The chipping sparrow priceless expression makes me think he may be grumpy about the rain.

Wet Warbler in a soft rosy hued drizzle.

 During spring a lot of chase happens on ponds across the county as males defending their females chase off interlopers or chase their females.

 Shorebirds flight, take notice as there is a Phalarope amongst the smaller birds.

 On the drive home we take backroads and came across a large pond and as we had seen only one other vehicle on the highway we stopped for our lunch by the pond. It looks like Muskrat had the same idea.

We ate while listening to a froggie choir, nothing like dinner and a musical.

 American Robin, I love how the beak of the Robin turns a brilliant yellow for a short time in spring.

 Bees at the pussy-willows. Though there were plenty of bees at this clump of bushes I've seen very few in the City this year so far.

I leave off with another frog, isn't it beautiful.

May we all walk softly upon this earth and care for her in a gentle and kind way. All the beings, mammal, bird or bug are our relatives in the big circle of life. We are all community and must go back to relating as community for if one is endangered, we all are endangered.

More birds from Irricana area and fox

 Willet?

 This bird had no concern for me. As I stood still it ventured closer though it did assess me at one point and must have deemed me as of no threat. Being about twenty feet away when I decided to return to the truck I slowly backed up till I was at the pavement before turning. When I looked back I was happy to note the bird was still feeding.

 Marbled Godwit flight. I spotted this bird lift off from the marsh in the distance and luckily it flew closer heading to the field. I quite like the soft blur of the landscape behind the Godwit.

 Ibis sunset.

 White-faced Ibis foraging in flooded roadside ditches. An excitable moment to say the least as I've only seen these colorful birds from a far distance at Frank Lake a few years ago.

 Amazing iridescence these birds possess. I'm now wondering how best to represent them in paint. May have to consider doing a large 3x4 foot canvas. Oh ya, another winter project coming up, but for now its camping and birding, time to gather reference and enjoy being in the field watching and soaking in the essence.

 Have no idea what this bird is, but it flew above the campers every night chattering and making a fuss. I must have taken about fifty photos but as it flew so fast and being dusk this was the best shot the camera could capture. 300 prime lens and extremely heavily cropped as this bird was quite a ways up.

 Red-winged Blackbird female? 

I have never seen one with such bold markings before, hence the questioning.

 Another special surprise, a Swift fox hunting in the pasture, behind to the left a duck pair can be seen.

 We watched him or her catch and eat a few rodents before trotting off with one in its mouth. I figure it must have a den in the area.

Say's  Phoebe

Even though I have many bird books its sometimes its hard to figure out who's who. I am thinking  Kingbird though the underside looked quite cinnamon rather than yellow.

 Savanna Sparrow. Such a lovely wee bird.

 Hawk. 

 Another who am I; this one was very difficult to spot, I saw the garbage and peered through my lens to see what it was and behold, saw the bird. Solitary Sandpiper identified by John, thank you.

  Chipping Sparrow in the rain.

 Clay-colored Sparrow all puffed against wind that blew cold on this drizzly monday morning.

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