Bird Watch February

Nelson started off our February 2018 bird watching competition on the 1st by bringing home this shot of a Downy Woodpecker female. He said it caught his eye in flight and he was able to follow it to a small copse of trees where he took the photo.

Downy Woodpecker, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

A few days later, I caught this Downy Woodpecker male perched among the frost-covered axils, or flower buds, of our Siberian Elms. When I look at this image, I think of apple blossoms instead of frost though.

Downy Woodpecker Male, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

If you're ever driving down a prairie road, I'm sure you've seen those small birds that seem to wait until you get to them before flying out of the way. In the winter around here they're usually Snow Buntings, with Horned Larks coming in the spring. This year the Horned Larks didn't migrate, so we had flocks of both. Although similar in size and shape, the colouring is very different . For example, the Horned Lark has a distinctive yellow throat that I like to compare to an egg yolk or tennis ball when describing it.

Horned Lark, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

I was quite surprised to find a Horned Lark in one of the images of Sharpies I was checking for this post. Although you can't see the yellow throat much due to the low-light level on that day, the image gives a good indication of the size difference between the Horned Lark and the Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

Those other birds you often find on the prairie roads are Snow Buntings. I was pleased when Nelson managed to take a photo of a couple of them because it's not often we see them sitting still. I believe the photo was taken either through his windshield, or reflected through his side-view mirror.

Snow Buntings, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

Our resident sparrows hang around the Cotoneaster bush close to the mixed bird feeder when they're not sleeping in the barn loft. They like the cotoneaster because it offers protection in case a hawk or such comes marauding. If I find the sparrows scattered around the yard like sentinels, I know they're staking out their territory, so I grab my camera and check for visiting birds.

But if the sparrows are clustered together in the poplar or apple trees, I know that danger lurks. This was the case when I saw the House Sparrows perched in the Weeping Birch. I grabbed my camera and scooted outside, but only caught the barest glance at a small hawk before it passed over our large spruce trees. A few minutes later, the sparrows were back at the feeder and all was calm once again.

House Sparrows in Weeping Birch, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

I've often read and heard that suet feeders help the birds get through the winter because of they gain energy from the suet. This was our first year for this suet feeder which we hung outside my office winder. I must say I was quite disappointed when our resident chickadee only sought out its treasures once in awhile, and the redpolls ignored it completely. Some days the redpolls would eat the swelling axils of the Siberian Elms, acting like binge eaters who wouldn't get another meal for weeks.

That all changed on Feb 21 with warming temps when the redpolls discovered the suet feeder. It seems our birds prefer to peck at the softened suet instead of chipping away at it.

Redpoll, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

As for our resident Black-capped Chicadees, they hold their own where the suet feeder is concerned, after all, they found it first. They also make regular trips to the Niger, or Nyjer, seed feeder and then hide the seed under bark and in tree crevices for cold weather days. The chickadees also chip away at the peanut wreath, the only bird we've seen use it.

Black-capped Chickadee on Peanut Wreath, RM Montmartre, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

So far no blue jays have found our peanut offering, but we'll keep watching for them.

Images and Pins of the above photos and more of the wildlife we saw in February can be found on our Pinterest boards:
Photos: Birds 

Photos: Wildlife

Bird Watch January

Although Saskatchewan's winter weather is miserable this year due to the bitter and prolonged cold, we experienced more wildlife at Draper's Acres than we've ever noticed in January.

For instance, on January 4th I spotted this Sharp-shinned Hawk perched at the corner of the shelterbelt where he was looking out over the field and slough. I took a couple pics through the window, but my camera wanted to focus on the bare branches and not on the hawk on the other side of them. I returned to my office and was surprised several minutes later, when he appeared outside my office window where he perched about ten feet from the suet feeder. Smart bird. Yet I was relieved when he left empty-clawed about fifteen minutes later.

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

This year we've been blessed with 3 resident Black-capped Chickadees and half a dozen Common Redpolls along with our 18 or so House Sparrows. The sparrows are very territorial and kept setting up guards all around the yard when the chickadees and redpolls first came along, but the newcomers were very persistant.

The favourite food of the House Sparrows seems to be the regular mixed bird seed which they share with each other until it nears the bottom of the feeder. Then they become sparring sparrows.

Sparring House Sparrows, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Common Redpolls are an exciting addition to our daily views. Previously, they've stopped by a couple times throughout the winter, but this year we see them in the Siberian Elm shelterbelts, poplars, and apple trees. Once in awhile they'll land near the sparrows, but their favourite feeder is filled with black sunflower-like niger seeds in the middle of the yard.

Common Redpoll, Male, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Common Redpoll, Female, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The Black-capped Chickadees are a blessing as we love to walk outside and hear the familiar melody of this little winter bird. The chickadee is always on the move, either collecting seeds to hide, or looking for them when the niger feeder is empty. On inclement days it spends time digging bits of peanut from this wire feeder which makes me wonder if he's after the protein or oil content in them.

Black-capped Chickadee and Peanut Feeder, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The chickadees don't appear to like the suet feeder, but work at getting seeds out during the warmer days, supposedly when the suet is softer.

Black-billed Magpies are constant throughout the year and will make 2 or 3 nests in our yard during the summer. During the winter we'll see them every so often, but I thought it was wishful thinking to find one checking out the nests on January 16. I managed to get a nice shot as it flew from one nest to the other.

Black-billed Magpie in Flight, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

This post only includes birds sighted at Draper's Acres during January 2018. Once past our fences, we spotted several owls and a flock of snow buntings as well as deer, moose, and coyotes.

Pins for the above images in this post can be viewed on my Photos: Birds Pinterest board.

Nature Watch March 2017

We're playing post catch-up at Draper's Acres with some photos we took in March of this year. I'll start off with this photo of a Sharp-Tailed Grouse taken by Nelson while out-and-about on March 5.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Southeastern Saskatchewan, March 5, 2017

On March 8th, Nelson was greeted by a special sunrise called a sun dog, a rarity this year. It was also a milder winter and although we received a good amount of snow, it wasn't all at once. With the mild weather, what snow did fall melted and blew away so there wasn't a huge buildup like other years.

Sun Dog, Southeastern Saskatchewan, March 8, 2017 at 7:37 am

A week later, Nelson saw a herd of White-tailed deer trotting across the prairie, but it was this shot of three of them with the breath-taking sunrise in the background that caught my eye.

White-tailed Deer, Southeastern Saskatchewan, March 15, 2017 at 7:04 am

Meanwhile, back at Draper's Acres, I took dozens of shots of this Black-capped Chickadee this winter but he moved so fast while searching for food among the evergreens that I only managed a couple decent photographs. With that speed, I figure he deserves his chance to shine on our blog.

Black-Capped Chickadee, Mar 19, 2017, Montmartre, SK

On March 24th I saw a coyote running across the southern part of the field where it rises out of our small valley. The light was horrid at noon on that dreary day, but here's what I saw . . . from our living room, looking through the longest zoom on my P520 Nikon, the coyote had an ethereal quality as it crossed the stubble near the top of the rise with nothing but sky behind it.

Coyote, March 24, 2017, Montmartre, SK

The wind was playing havoc with the air currents between the coyote and the trees on the southwest corner of our land when the coyote crossed that portion. By that time I was standing on my porch and it stopped to get a look at me before continuing his trot to points west.

Coyote, March 24, 2017, Montmartre, SK

While washing dishes the next day, I looked out the window and saw a mouse darting out of a snow tunnel near the feeder stand. He latched onto a food particle, spent a couple minutes devouring it, then darted back into the tunnel. A small flock of migrating juncos landed and then hopped about feeding on dropped seeds. During one of the rodent's forays, I snapped this shot to use as a size comparison between the two amicable species.

Dark-eyed Junco and Mouse, March 25, 2017, Montmartre, SK

March 26 was a Sunday which gave us the chance to check out migrating waterfowl in the sloughs along the way. We saw Canada Geese and Mallards, and a special treat in the form of a regal pair of Northern Pintails.

Canada Goose and Northern Pintails, March 26, 2017, Mutrie, SK

A few hours later, I saw a Downy Woodpecker on the power pole beside this feeder full of Niger seeds. She spent some time on the side of the pole, and up near the top, and then finally flew down and latched onto the feeder. She hung there and ate for a long time while the feeder swung in the wind like a pendulum.

Downy Woodpecker, March 26, 2017, Montmartre, SK

After supper of the same Sunday, we saw the first American Robin of the season. I played with the settings to mute the branches in the photograph so that the robin as well as the caption were more visible, and then I explained how I did it on my photo blog.

American Robin, March 26, 2017, Montmartre, SK

European starlings usually come through this time of year in a mixed flock with Robins, Red-wing Blackbirds, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, but this year a small flock of about half a dozen starlings were by themselves. They came on the worst weather days and so I didn't get a photo of them, but because they are so unusual, I'm providing a photo I took of one two years ago:

European Starling, April 2, 2015, Montmartre, SK

Flocks of snow geese also came through, flying high above our heads, including this fabulous formation taken by Nelson.

Snow Geese, Southeastern Saskatchewan, March 29, 2017

During March we also saw:

• A Hawk in a blizzard on Mar 3
• Another Coyote on Mar 20
• Tree Sparrow on Mar 26 
• Mallards on Mar 26
• Moose on Mar 28
• Horned Lark on Mar 29
• Red-winged Blackbirds on Mar 30
• *Black-billed Magpies
• *House Sparrows

* Year-round residents at Draper's Acres


From our photo files, it appears that the migrating birds arrived one week earlier than last year, but it was a weird month as you'll see when the next Nature Watch post goes up here at Draper's Acres. We hope you'll check it out.