More Icterids – Bullock’s Oriole and Western Meadowlark Bullock’s Oriole male In the spring posting we looked at three of the family known as Icterids. Those three were Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Today let’s turn our attention to two more Icterids, namely...
Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird One and perhaps two of today’s birds are probably familiar to you, the other might not be. They are all blackbirds, members of the Icterid family, a group comprising (in our valley) these two, as well as Western Meadowlark and...
You might suppose that wintertime is not a good time for a bird that spends its life near running water, but in fact this species is able to survive in icy cold water, and manages to feed even under riverside ice. The rather nondescript appearance of the American Dipper belies its amazing...
At this time of year, when so many of our colourful summer breeding birds are winging their way southwards for the colder months, it is a pleasure to turn our attention to birds that stay here year round. This time let’s focus on our three species of nuthatch, White-breasted, Red-breasted, and...
Don’t call them Seagulls! When we live in a valley with a number of lakes, large and small, as well as ponds, riversand creeks, (not to mention large landfill sites), we are bound to see gulls. Non-birdersoften refer to them as Seagulls. But we have no sea anywhere near us here! Gulls are foundall...
In our spring posting we took a close look at the three species of Grebe that spend their entire year here, changing plumage into breeding ‘duds’ each spring. Today we’ll focus on the two species that migrate here to breed during our summer. These are the Western Grebe and the Eared Grebe. Western...
Two small falcons – Merlin and American Kestrel Peregrine falcons are probably the best-known of all falcons and we do see them occasionally in our valley. But we are much more likely to see one of the smaller falcons, Merlins and American Kestrels, especially in fall and winter. Let’s take a...
More Icterids – Bullock’s Oriole and Western Meadowlark In the spring posting we looked at three of the family known as Icterids. Those three were Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Today let’s turn our attention to two more Icterids, namely the Bullock’s Oriole...
Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird One and perhaps two of today’s birds are probably familiar to you, the other might not be. They are all blackbirds, members of the Icterid family, a group comprising (in our valley) these two, as well as Western Meadowlark and...
You might suppose that wintertime is not a good time for a bird that spends its life near running water, but in fact this species is able to survive in icy cold water, and manages to feed even under riverside ice. The rather nondescript appearance of the American Dipper belies its amazing...
At this time of year, when so many of our colourful summer breeding birds are winging their way southwards for the colder months, it is a pleasure to turn our attention to birds that stay here year round. This time let’s focus on our three species of nuthatch, White-breasted, Red-breasted, and...
Last summer I introduced you to our largest flycatchers, the kingbirds, Eastern Kingbird and Western Kingbird. This year let’s look at other flycatchers that also come here in summer to breed and raise their young on abundant insect food during the warmer months. Some of these are usually found at...