Migrating Bird Watch March

We were blessed to see so many birds in March that we've created a separate post for migrating and new birds. Although we're experiencing an extremely slow spring thaw, migrating birds are showing up, albeit in much fewer quantities. 

The first migrating bird sighting of the season was on March 16th as I headed toward Francis, SK. My head swiveled from side-to-side to catch any dark spot on the sea of snow. And then I saw it - the long neck of a Canada Goose. All alone, it sat on the snow-covered field a short distance from an equally covered slough. I didn't see its mate anywhere, which left me wondering if it was injured and had fallen behind the flock. 

Canada Goose, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

In case you can't see it in the middle of the above photo, here's a close up...

Canada Goose, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

A few hours later I was on my way home and heard loud honking through my car window. Slowing, I opened my window and caught this Canada goose flapping and honking in a frenzy. I was a miles west of where I'd spotted the lone goose earlier and this one was headed in that direction. I have no idea if this was the mate, but clearly it was in panic mode. I stopped for photos a few times along my route and by the time I passed the stop I'd seen the first Canada Goose of the season earlier, the field was empty. 

Canada Goose, RM Francis, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

On the same stretch of road, I spotted the first Western Meadowlark of the season! I hadn't expected to find a meadowlark ploughing through a snow-covered ditch and so it caught me by surprise as I drove past. After turning around, I drove slowly back, past the way I'd come, to see if I really had seen one. The ditch was empty. Yet still hoping, I pulled to the side of the road and waited with the window down. And then I saw it on a bare patch of ground, striding back and forth and calling out. I've never heard one call before and was left with the impression that it had crash-landed in the snowbank and was now letting the others know where it was. No melodious singing for this meadowlark on this day. 

Western Meadowlark, RM Francis, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

The next day was St. Patrick's day, which I don't celebrate because I'm Scotch and Finnish, but I was having a party at the end of the day after spotting a new bird to add to my Life List. You see, while doing dishes, I noticed the sparrows hiding in the big poplar tree. When the sparrows aren't sleeping in the barn loft, they're hanging around the mixed bird feeder near the cotoneaster or potentilla bushes. When new birds visit, the sparrows go on guard duty around the yard. The only time they hide together in the big trees is when danger lurks. Since I couldn't see an intruder from the window, I went outside and looked around. Suddenly, the sparrows all flew behind the house. A few seconds later they all flew back in a rush and spread into the shelterbelt. 

Before I could blink, a small hawk sailed in low from behind the house and flew out of the yard past the hedgerow before it perched in the high branches of the trees at the end of the driveway. I raised my camera and got off a few shots without making out the species due to the  extreme low light level of the overcast day. I was quite surprised then, when I uploaded the images to my computer and realized I was looking at a Merlin - my first ever sighting, and one for my Bird Life List. 

Merlin, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

A week later while on our way to church, Nelson spotted a large bird of prey sitting in a group of trees alongside the road. Although it looked like a hawk, its beak confirmed it was an eagle. It pointedly ignored us for over a minute before flying past our car. 

Bald Eagle, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

Not going far, it landed in a nearby group of trees where I continued by photo shoot. This isn't our first Bald Eagle sighting of the year, but this young one is the closest capture of 2018.

Bald Eagle, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

On Mar 29th I was going through the bird pics of the day when this next image caught my attention. I added my signature and was about to file it with the other pics of Redpolls when I spotted the thick beak. Redpolls have fine yellow and black beaks, not thick finch-like ones. 

House Finch, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

I took a closer look at the other photos for the day and when I saw this next one I clicked on my bird identification app and pulled up finches. Sure enough, our visitors of the day were House Finches. 

House Finch, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

House finches have a greyish-brown cap with red around it, whereas redpolls have a red cap. The following photo clearly shows the red cap of one of the Redpolls which wintered here this year. You can also see the different beak styles, as well as the breast markings. 

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

Although Southeastern Saskatchewan is known to have Ring-necked Pheasants year-round, they usually stay close to the USA border where they are North Dakota's state bird. Nelson thought he was seeing things on March 17th when he spotted one, but then it disappeared into the bush. He took pictures of the area anyway. Good thing, too, because once the image was uploaded to the computer we spotted the tail sticking out of the ditch where the pheasant had taken refuge. 

Ring-necked Pheasant Tail, Southeast Saskatchewan, Mar 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

Closer inspection showed the pheasant hiding behind the brush where he was almost camouflaged into obscurity. Gotcha! 

Ring-necked Pheasant Camouflaged, Southeast Saskatchewan, Mar 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

Pins on most of the above images can be found on our Pinterest board Photos: Birds

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.