Boat launch birds

With the weather heating up again there have been no walks and with various chores and appointments, no canoe trips either (maybe tomorrow)....so the only sightings have been during brief sit downs at our boat launch....it makes one wonder just what one would see if you could just sit there by yourself all day long!

We'll start with this, which when I spotted it...asked myself...what the heck is that?  Well as it turns out it what it usually is about this time of year....a juvenile Brown Headed Cowbird.  This is a species where the female lays her egg in another species nest and leaves it up to the new species to raise the youngster, usually to the detriment of the other chicks as the cowbird tends to be larger and more demanding.

A bark from my dog drew my attention away from the above to...

this...a Ruffed Grouse that had come up out of the bush on the water side....

and was quickly sneaking its way across the open part of the boat launch.

the Song Sparrow was in its place....another further over on the other side where I could hear it, but not see it.

this morning when I looked out there, did a double take because....

straight out there was this Red-necked Grebe.  If you recall we had first seen this (or another) of these grebes while out canoeing and it was noted then that this is a species that has not been seen in this area, this time of the year before.  Now I know that the bird has stayed around and wasn't an accidental over night stay.

there are quite a few Barn Swallows still around...this male was picking up nesting material again...something I've noticed before...they seem to be in nesting mode for as long as they are in the area.

this Pine Siskin was down there all on it's own which is a little unusual, they are normally in large flocks or often mixed in with Goldfinch.

with the water receding, the Great Blue Heron are showing up...of course the young ones are fledged and out on their own now as well which increases the numbers.

I've noticed several hummingbirds, most had been Anna's, the ones we now have year round, but this particular one is a Rufous Hummingbird....either a female or one of this years youngsters as the males are long gone, in fact they seemed to have left 2 or 3 weeks before their usual time which is the end of June.  Females and young are usually found until early September.

of course the American Robin's are still here and enjoying the water...

and then I saw this....not sure what it is...could be a California Gull although last year about this time we saw some Caspian Tern....what ever it is...it means that birds are on the move!  Have been hearing reports of shorebirds in the Okanagan so, maybe soon!