Says Phoebe, Savannah Sparrow (20140504) A very dismal day in May

Well, what can I tell you, it is Sunday morning and heavy wet snow dominates the weather. No light today, and I debated even doing the walk this morning, but when you sign up you make a commitment. All the ice was off the resevoir so the birds had the whole water surface to travel on, and avoid any close encounters with us walkers. Our first opportunities were with some sparrows on the shore.

The Whitecrowned sparrows were mixed in the a pile of Savannah's.

Most of the rest of the walk was uneventful, we did manage to scare up a Yellowcrowned Kinglet but it would not allow photo's. As we hit the top of the trail we found this mystery sparrow that might be a Vesper.

Getting back to our starting spot another Savannah allowed an approach.

Next was a Say's Phoebe to be spotted. I was anxious to get better images than I did last week, but the light was even worse!  I did manage to get a couple of acceptable action shots.

It was managing to find a little something to eat, or so it would appear.

Grab a bite then take a look around to see if there is anything else right here.

Nothing here, so flit over to a new area and start hunting again.

Locate a landing spot, and set down:)

I'll finish up the images here with a last Savannah sparrow.

Well that was the end of our Sunday morning walk. I headed out with Tim to do a little exploring on some new potential property. On our way out of town we spotted a common loon on the shoulder of the highway. There was a truck parked nearby so I didn't bother to stop, automatically assuming people would know what to do with an injured bird. Yim suggested that perhaps we should turn around and make certain everything was properly in hand. When we returned there were several people around the bird and one was waving a jacket in front of its face. They didn't seem to understand the stress that they were putting the bird under. I quickly threw my fleece jacket over the bird and we put it in a cardboard box. We called the Cochrane wildlife rehabilitation centre to confirm that they could and would take the bird. They were able to do so, we took the bird up and dropped it off. We met Cleo and Ken, and were provided a short tour. Cleo seemed to think that the loon was in good shape and would be a candidate for release in pretty short order. In handling the bird, as briefly as I did, I was absolutely amazed at how warm the feet were. They had to be 100+ degrees F. I was very comfortable with leaving the bird in the company of these people. We all need all the good Karma we can create!

Turbo