The Shrike

 This morning I went on a short walk to Belwood Lake to look for some more winter birds and was rewarded with an obliging Northern Shrike that allowed me to snap a few photos.  I was quite happy with the shots that I got.

My first few shots show that this shrike was feeding on something, possibly another bird.  Shrikes are a predatory songbird that eat rodents, small birds, and insects.  They have always been a favourite winter bird of mine, as they are very active and allows doing something interesting.  The dense scaling on the breast and faint mask show that this is a young (first winter) bird.

After finishing its breakfast, the young shrike flew to a less obstructed perch.

Other birds of note included lots of redpolls, pine siskins, and two more Pine Grosbeak! So far I have only had young and female birds.  I am still waiting on my bright red male grosbeak!

Winter Finch Round Up!

 This fall we have been blessed with an abundance of winter finches arriving from the boreal forest.  I have never seen these species in such abundance this far south!  In the past couple of weeks I have tallied nearly all of them, with the exception of Red Crossbill, which I am still on the hunt for!  Pine and Evening Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Common and Hoary Redpoll have all been located within my 5MR (5 miles from my house)!  It sure makes local birding very exciting.

I have managed to snap a few record shots of these species, although I would like a chance to get better shots of these species in the coming months.

Below are a few of the shots I managed to get.

Pine Siskins

Pine Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeak

I have enjoyed birding from my backyard as well, and have seen large numbers of Common Redpolls almost daily over the past week.  Backyard birding works particularly well with a new baby in the house!

With large numbers of redpolls around, I was on the hunt for a Hoary!  The rarer of the two species.  I was fortunate to find a female exilipes Hoary Redpoll right behind my backyard, and I fired off a few shots with my lens sticking out the door.  Note the paleness of this bird, limited streaking on the rump and undertail coverts as well as the very small beak.

I have also photographed a few other birds in addition to these specialties!

Pileated Woodpecker couple

Rough-legged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Canada Goose from above

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Herring Gull

Rough-legged Hawk