Sunday 8 July 2012

50km + Alberta Part 2

Another 50km bike ride around Waterloo county this morning netted 3 new birds for my county year list.
A Marsh Wren occasionally singing at Grass Lake, 4 Greater Yellowlegs and an American Black Duck at Hespeler Mill Pond. I'm not sure if it was a domesticated duck or a very early migrant.

Other highlights included:
-10 adult Sandhill Cranes flew into Grass Lake - I was pretty happy with this sighting until my girlfriend texted me to say she had seen 2 Whooping Cranes today...

-plenty of shorebirds at Hespeler Mill Pond!!! Wow, am I ever excited about that. I counted a minimum of 21 Lesser Yellowlegs and the 4 Greater Yellowlegs, along with 6 Least Sandpipers. If water levels remain as they are, this place is going to be awesome for shorebirds later into the season. The only problem is that it's hard to see the small sandpipers because of the grass and lily pads...


Anyway, here's another bombardment of photos from last weekend in Alberta:

Mountains :)

Black bears and people getting a bit too close...

Bald Eagle:

Mountain Bluebird - on a mountain of all places:

Golden-crowned Sparrow:

Flower with a nice view:

I've already posted this, but I thought it was worth re-posting:

At the top of a mountain:

Looking down the other side:

We ran into a flock of 3 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches on our way down the mountain:

Mountain Bluebird:


And a short video of the trip down the mountain: