Eastern Phoebe with fishing line

This is NOT my main photo (on Flickr) for today, so should not show as my main one - my photo of the female Common Merganser and her four babies is supposed to show as my main (better) image! The babies are so cute : )

Yesterday afternoon, 11 June 2017, I decided to join a few friends for a walk in Weaselhead. No rain was forecast, so I thought I had better make the most of it. We were hoping to see the three species of Hummingbird, but the Rufous stayed hidden. We only had a very distant look at a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a very fleeting look at a tiny Calliope Hummingbird, when it flew past us like a huge bumblebee, and disappeared from sight. Still good to see them,, though.

We saw two Merganser families - such a delight to see. One Mom had four babies and the other had eight ducklings. I have added our leaders' list of species seen, in a comment box below.

We were pleased to see a pair of Eastern Phoebes in their usual place. One of the birds had a piece of fishing line in its beak. It is such a distant photo, so the quality is poor, making it impossible to enlarge and be able to tell if it was caught or just being carried to perhaps add to their nest. The bird kept flying around and the fishing line stayed in place. I do hope the the nylon line had not got tangled around the bird somehow. Fishermen need to be far more careful and not discard any unwanted line - wildlife pays the price! Simple enough - just take it home with you!

"One of our most familiar eastern flycatchers, the Eastern Phoebe’s raspy “phoebe” call is a frequent sound around yards and farms in spring and summer. These brown-and-white songbirds sit upright and wag their tails from prominent, low perches. They typically place their mud-and-grass nests in protected nooks on bridges, barns, and houses, which adds to the species’ familiarity to humans. Hardy birds, Eastern Phoebes winter farther north than most other flycatchers and are one of the earliest returning migrants in spring." From AllAboutBirds.

As well as birds, we saw quite a few species of wildflower. There were so many beautiful wild Roses in bloom.