Before church on Sunday, a parishioner ran in and asked me, “Did you see the flock of robins in your yard?”Yes, I had. The day before, sometime between lunch and dinnertime, about a dozen robins arrived in my front yard. The berries on the tree that fed the Cedar Waxwings all winter was the lure. Many of the berries were on the ground and they proved to be a feast for the robins. Later that day, we had a wet spring snow storm, which covered the berries and caused the robins to move on. So cool to have them stop by for a visit on their way north.

After church, another man asked, “Did you see the Pintails south of town?” Not I had not. After lunch I zoomed out to the area and found a large flock floating around–Pintails are a new lifer for me. Everyone here says that the Pintail is the tastiest duck of all, but I dont’ plan to verify that anytime soon!

Fuzzy shot of pintails. This would be a great time to learn how to use my camera!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canada Geese: in the last 48 hours I observed hundreds of pairs just standing there on the ice or in a grain field. It seems part of the mating thing. Perhaps she is saying, “if I am going to sit on those eggs, you better plan to keep the nest clean and help with some of the other chores”. I see plenty of geese that a gal could choose from, so maybe they are negotiating at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More negotiating geese

We had a late winter storm which made for another gray day, but lots of birds: above is a Red-Tailed Hawk circling over a farmstead.

Snow geese in huge staging flocks. They are passing through. Blue and Gray Geese (different race of Snow Geese) are mixed in. Most likely the flock includes Ross’ Geese and White-Fronted Geese, but I cannot distinguish them from this distance (super zoom to get this photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow Geese taking off again

Large flock of Canada Geese taking off in the distance

ND farm, early spring

 

 

Anyone home???

Large noisy flock- close to a hundred in one tree. Some kind of blackbird?????

More of the fat and melodious birds, in a tree, near a shoreline

 

 

Typical Prairie Pothole (pond). These are all over. Those that have melted some have the wetland birds. Each seems to have a different kind.

 

 

 

Unknown, any ideas?

 

 

Red Wing Blackbirds are back in abundance

unknown to me

Mallards and friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This are just the ones I could photograph. I saw many others. At one point, I pulled over and 4 different flocks were overhead, at different heights, comprised of different birds. At first I was frustrated because I could not photograph and/or identify all the birds. Decided to just sit back and enjoy.

Tomorrows blog: dozens of bald eagles and seagulls at Long Lake Wildlife Refuge. The day was sunnier and the photos not always so dreary!