Reifel January 3rd

[Chris]

Headed out to Reifel today with the parents. The target was Saw-whet Owl and a Barred Owl, which both of have been seen in the last week. We didn't manage either one but still saw a lot of birds. First, I spotted a Western Grebe in the water as we were going on Westham Island bridge. There were tons of Mallards greeting us as we drove up and parked. In the water near the gift shop were Mallards, American Wigeons and four Shovelers. I only spotted one Black-crowned Night Heron where they normally roost. Here he is, but the branch is in the way.



There was a Cooper's Hawk in the tree which was attracting some attention from birders. I saw him three times (I assume it was the same one) throughout our travels. Here is a picutre of it along with a Song Sparrow.





We walked along the Eastern Dyke where we saw Chickadee's Kinglets, a lot of Sparrows and ducks. There wasn't as many Wood Ducks or Green-winged Teal as we normally see. Out on the ocean were a few Snow Geese, Common Mergansers and Dunlin. Here's a picture of a Pintail.



Walking along one of the paths my Mom spotted Cedar Waxwings. I looked in the flock to see if there was any Bohemians but there weren't any. Here's a bad picture of one.



The last highlight in the park was a Peregrine Falcon who almost got some blackbirds.

As we were driving out in one of the houses just outside of the park there were three Ring-necked Pheasants. I managed to get some decent pictures of them as I leaned over and snapped a few while I was in my car. They are such a fantastic bird and I haven't seen one in a couple of years so that was nice as well.






Here is the list of species that were seen. Not all were seen in the park, instead I have shown where they were seen.

Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ring-necked Pheasant
Western Grebe (in the water going across the bridge to get to Reifel)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Sandhill Crane
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
American Kestrel (on the highway)
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Northwestern Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark (on Westham Island)
House Finch
House Sparrow

[Dave]

Thanks for sharing the report, Bundy! Too bad you missed your target species but you picked up some nice photos instead!

Thanks for sharing,

Dave

[Wetlander]

Tough luck on the Owls, Chris, but I'm envious of that night heron!
Still haven't got to Reifel...