Chipping Sparrow!!

.

Just popping by to say hello, check out my New Years (okay, day after new years) visitor, a Chipping Sparrow!  First time I've seen one of these cuties later than JUNE!  Looking over my records, that seems unbelievable, but all my sightings are reported for only May and June!  How odd...  This little one threw me for a loop, for sure!  Caught my eye in a bunch of House Sparrows, but couldn't get good looks, just the red cap, a line through the cap, and light beak.  My first thought was Juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow, second was American Tree Sparrow, it wasn't until I saw that eyeline that I realized it was a Chipper!  Pretty cool, and a darn good start to the year!

That House Sparrow on the other side of the feeder looks freakin' HUGE!



S/he was quite active.  Got chased by the House Sparrows a fair bit, but always came back.  Stay warm, little chipper!

And yes, the feeders have been refilled! 

.

A Columbine

.

Nothing to say, but have a flower!

.

Peacocks at the zoo

.

Lots of Peacocks (they're actually Indian Peafowl, males are called peacocks and females peahens) at the zoo, but it's usually hard to get a look at that big, beautiful fanned tail!

But we had good timing, or just good luck, there were a lot of vocal males all over the place, and lots of displaying going on!

They're fearless - everybody loves 'em!

.

Zoo wildlife

.

Going to the zoo isn't the most intrepid thing ever!  But Assiniboine Park Zoo has some neat wildlife amongst the fences. 

Lots of tree stands, and some fairly large treed areas.  Saw a good few crows, and heard a lot of other birds that I couldn't identify. 

This is Pearson Memorial Pond.  A very pretty little spot. 

As any park-like area, lots of Canada Geese around!  Time for the half-grown babies!

A real neat surprise was this Swainsons Hawk near the Elk enclosure!  It looked like he picked up a ground squirrel but dropped it...

Speaking of ground squirrels (Richardsons Ground Squirrel, to be precise), they were EVERYwhere!  This little guy raced right up to the stork (Saddle-Billed Stork), got this far, took a good luck, and scurried back under his rock!  Smart move, little guy!

This little guy was hanging out near the Cougar cage.  Just chillin', havin' a snack!

This guy's home was near the Bison.  Looks to me like he's saying "hey you kids, get offa my lawn!"

.

A couple of Manitoba birding links

.

A few links about birds and birding in Manitoba for you!

Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

Piping Plover Guardian Program

Nature Manitoba. Lots and lots of stuff! This is my favorite page - photos of the rare-for-Manitoba birds!

Nature Manitobas book store. I heartily recommend "Finding Birds in Southern Manitoba" and "Pelicans to Polar Bears", both of which I use constantly in trip planning. The big "Birds of Manitoba" is just as wonderful. Just very big. VERY much worth the bucks though!

Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas

Falcon Cam of the Peregrines nesting on the Radisson in Winnipeg. There are two tabs on the top - click on "Brandon Cam" to check out the birds nesting on the McKenzie seeds building in Brandon.

Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project. They tend to the falcon cams!

The Manitoba Birds list on yahoo. Mostly reports of sightings and also updates the provinces lists (Winter list, year list, etc).
.