Winter Bird Summary

This post is a summary of the winter birds photographed by us in March 2018 and since it was a late spring this year, we still had lots of snow.

Midmonth as I was heading home after a trip to town, I spotted a Sharp-tailed Grouse high in a stand of trees. I pulled over and shut the car off since there wasn't any traffic and I didn't want to scare the sharpie away. With my window down I managed to get some excellent images and video.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Once the sharpie got used to my quiet presence, it proceeded to eat the tree's buds. I don't know what type of tree it is, although aspen comes to mind. In this position, the sharpie reminded me of a dinosaur, so it got my imagination going - I mean, you show a writer something unusual and the creative juices flow. 

Sharp-tailed Grouse, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

After a few minutes, the first sharpie was joined by a second one, which must have been hiding nearby. Soon after, they both flew away.

On a frosty morning on March 14th I was out taking pics of the rising sun which was just coming up at the end of our long driveway when I had the impression that something was sneaking up behind me. I turned to find small birds at the top of the power pole which is located in what we call the island in the centre of our farmyard. 

Snow Buntings, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

I had never seen Snow Buntings this close as they generally fly in large roadside flocks like Horned Larks, but that's what came to mind as I stared up at them. They stayed for several minutes as I snapped some shots of them, and then turned to take pics of the sun, then back at the birds, then back at the sun, etc. As soon as I got inside I confirmed these birds are indeed Snow Buntings. What a treasure!

Snow Buntings, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

For the first time ever, I noticed Horned Larks in our farmyard pecking under the feeder where the Redpolls glean. We were in the afternoon throes of a winter blizzard at the time and I believe they didn't realize where they had strayed. 

Horned Lark, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Downy Woodpeckers were seen throughout March, although the female was sighted thrice as much as the male which has a red patch on the back of his head.

Downy Woodpecker, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Near the end of the month, the female discovered the peanut wreath and spent several minutes pecking away. I'm not sure why she didn't like it, or perhaps she assumed all the shells were empty, but I didn't see her at it again. 

Downy Woodpecker, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The Ravens are still hanging around and seem to have paired off as I saw 2 pairs on opposite ends of our quarter. One pair seems to have settled in the slough to the south because I heard - for the first time ever - the distinct sound the female makes when she's in her nesting stage. 

Common Ravens, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

The Black-billed Magpie only visited to snatch pieces of the Ancient Grains Tortillas we'd put out. Once the tortillas were gone, so was the magpie. 

Black-billed Magpie, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Throughout the month Black-capped Chickadees continued to hide their seeds one day, and go look for them on another day. As I've tried to show what seed they were eating, I'll show this one taken on a very frosty morning where the chickadee searched among the branches, darting out of the way before it got caught beneath a shower of rime. 

Black-capped Chickadee, RM Montmartre, SK, Mar 2018. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Nelson was in the right place to capture these Grey Partridge at dawn on the 17th. Also called Hungarian Partridge, there were only a few in the flock but they looked stellar in the morning rays.

Grey Partridge, Southeast Saskatchewan, Mar 2018. Source: Nelson Draper

On March 20th Nelson spotted a Snowy Owl on a power pole but it took to flight as he approached and then settled in a nearby field. This ended up being our last Snowy Owl sighting of the season. 

Snowy Owl, Southeast Saskatchewan, Mar 2018. Source: Nelson Draper

Redpolls and House Sparrows made up the last of the feathered blessings we witnessed in March 2018. Photos for both of these birds can be found on the previous two posts.

Pins for most of these birds can be found on our Pinterest board Photos: Birds.

Wildlife Watch February

February 2018 started off with cold temps in the minus 20's to 30's and stayed that way until the final week of the month. The hope was that we'd get over the cold stuff and begin to enjoy warmer days. The cold temps also meant there wasn't much variation in the wildlife we see in our area. In fact, we didn't see anything other than birds until mid-month.

On Feb 17, Nelson spotted a Red Fox travelling in a stubble field. Nelson pulled over and grabbed his camera. The fox stopped as well and looked around. 

Red Fox, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

And then the fox lay down and closed its eyes. Of course, this allowed Nelson to get some really great shots of a Red Fox,. It seemed unusual behaviour, but then I remembered last November when another Red Fox stopped to pose as our vehicle approached it. We'll post on this behaviour as we catch sight - hopefully more - of these beautiful creatures. 

Red Fox, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

A week later, we had just left home for church and as we crested the first hill we spotted a coyote running across the field. There we were on the hill, with the sight of our house behind us, and a coyote to our 10 o'clock, which meant he wasn't a half mile from our house. I zoomed in to get the shot, and then had to crop it further to get this grainy image.

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

On the same day, we spotted four Mule Deer while driving home after church. This first image appears to show a healthy, pregnant doe.

Mule Deer, RM 125 Chester, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

Within the same herd, there is a marked difference in the hair texture between her and the two in the next image, although I don't know if it's due to age, wind, or health, but these two have a scruffy look. I'm thinking they're younger because they don't have the elegance of the first doe, although all appear pregnant and/or well fed.

Mule Deer, RM 125 Chester, SK, Feb 2018. Credit: Anita Mae Draper

On the final day of February, Nelson spotted this Moose crossing the road ahead of him and had time to pull over while it lumbered into the bush. He captured this shot of the young bull who was wary, but didn't rush headlong into the cover like some do.

Moose, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

As Nelson zoomed in, he caught sight of the protruding antler buds and took this great shot. This is the first time we've captured a bull moose at this stage of life.

Moose, Southeastern Saskatchewan, Feb 2018. Credit: Nelson Draper

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

Photos: Wildlife

Photos: Birds 

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.