GHOs, Meadowlark, Merlin, MBB (20140403) A South east run with Lincol

Well today there was supposed to be sun, but the clouds would not let us see it. It has been pretty dismal the last couple of weeks. I have been out but not posted shots because they were pretty poor, due to either heavy snow, heavy cloud or both! I haven't had Lincol out since he returned to town so with the forecast we thought we might have a great day. Here is our first GHO nest that we could shoot this morning.

I was very surprised to find all the Rough Legged Hawks. On the day we probably found 50-60 RLH's.

Don't you just love those bland grey skies? Tough, tough light conditions for shooting. This next RLH is a more typical colouration for these birds.

Our next GHO nest  is quite high up and tough to get a clear shot of.

This next nest is a lot closer but is on the south side of the road, so it will be tough to get good shots later on. Today the light worked to our advantage.

It is rare to find two RLH's in this tight a proximity down here in the winter.

On our way home we happened on this Merlin. According to what I've been told this is likely a male. He was just finishing a meal when we found him.

So we started to see a little more colour the closer to home we traveled. It was terricif to find our first Western Meadowlark of the year. The breast colour really brings on the promise of spring.

As we swung through the territory where Dan and I found the fox a couple of weeks ago we were greeted with some birds that defiitely mean spring to me.

This is the first couple of days that, inspite of the weather and clouds, I have hope that we will be seeing lots of colour in the next couple of weeks. So get ready for some terrific outings to come.  If you have any doubt, talk to the guy on the post.

That session wrapped up our opportunities for the day. We did find two Snowy Owls today, this is the latest in the year that I have seen them in this area. I gotta tell ya, I am looking forward to the return of the birds and grass.
Turbo