Backyard Bird Count Day 2

As planned we set off today to count birds at the Deroche slough.  Started off by driving down the west side, for some reasons a great many photos I took today were 'fuzzy', partly due to the dull light and the fact most were taken from an idling diesel truck - not a good combination, so I don't have too many photos....

this one of a male Gadwall turned out....there were a lot of Gadwall ducks, also Ring-neck Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Merganser, Mallard, etc.  

The exciting find for the day was....

this Northern Shrike!  A species you can go years without seeing and this is the second one we've seen in the last couple of weeks.

The other side of the slough was very quiet....we couldn't do the usual drive down the dike as there were trees down across it....remnants of the freezing rain I guess.  

We stopped at one spot and spotted this....

Great Blue Heron posing beside a stashed canoe....

and another little hooked billed bird...

this American Kestrel on a wire....

were also a few....

Trumpeter Swans and if you look close there are some Mallard and Ring-Neck Ducks hiding in the grasses.

After returning home took a damp walk over to 

the log bay where there wasn't much of anything except some Red-wing Blackbirds in the tops of the poplar trees.

Not sure where we will head tomorrow.....but wherever it is, will report what, if anything, we find.