Yesterday's treat - a Bobolink

Four days ago, I was lucky enough to catch sight of two Bobolinks flying and chasing each other. These birds are rare in Alberta, though I did see one on 27 June 2014. No chance for photos during this very brief sighting. Then yesterday, 15 June 2016, i went for a short drive to my 'usual' area, SW of the city. My main reason for going was that I won't be able to go again today or tomorrow and I wanted to know if the baby Mountain Bluebirds had now fledged.

Yesterday, I saw maybe 5 of these Bobolinks. They were on the far side of the road (of course!) and I'm amazed that my camera focused on such small objects from such a long distance - it doesn't, usually. Each time a car or truck went by, the birds took off for a few seconds, but then returned. I drove down the road and turned around, hoping to get a better view, but they had disappeared and never returned.

"Perched on a grass stem or displaying in flight over a field, breeding male Bobolinks are striking. No other North American bird has a white back and black underparts (some have described this look as wearing a tuxedo backwards). Added to this are the male’s rich, straw-colored patch on the head and his bubbling, virtuosic song. As summer ends he molts into a buff and brown female-like plumage. Though they’re still fairly common in grasslands, Bobolink numbers are declining." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bobolink/id

"The Bobolink inhabits Canada's grassland and agricultural areas from the interior of British Columbia to the east coast. Relative to 1970 levels, this species has shown a large decrease across most of its range, with the exception of the Prairie Potholes Bird Conservation Region where populations have changed little. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed the Bobolink as Threatened in 2010 (COSEWIC 2010d). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada."

www.ec.gc.ca/soc-sbc/oiseau-bird-eng.aspx?sY=2014&sL=...

Checking on three different pairs of Mountain Bluebirds, one pair seems to have disappeared. Another nesting box still has babies in it and I was so happy to see that they had not left home yet. One of the babies had its head and part of its body peering out of the hole and I was expecting it to fly at any moment. That didn't happen, though I suspect it will happen either today or tomorrow, which means I will miss them fledging. While I was there, I could see and hear Dad calling. He wasn't feeding them, and I think he was trying to encourage them to leave the nest.

At the third box I stopped at, I had never seen either the female or the male with food in their beaks, so I was beginning to think that maybe they had no babies. Then yesterday, the female was around the nest box and seemed to become excited. She flew up to the high electricity wire and the male flew in to join her, bringing some tasty insect which he fed to her. I like to think that maybe there were eggs in her nest and that one had just hatched. Who knows?

No owl to be seen on this trip, but I did see a couple of my 'usual' Wilson's Snipes. They almost always give plenty of photo opportunities, for which I am always so thankful. I was already out of the car yesterday and when one flew to a fence post just down the road, I slowly walked till I was close enough. These birds can spook very easily, so it was a weird feeling to have nothing between it and me.

Oh, and near the start of my drive, I saw a Skunk run across the road ahead of me! I pulled over and got out, hoping to see where it went down the embankment. Unfortunately, it had disappeared into the long grasses. If I remember correctly, this was only the third Skunk I had ever seen in the wild.