Nice weather doesn't last forever, and today was cloudy and chilly. Sigh.
Gray sky-watch photo of the day.
Luckily, the first animal that I photographed (I first saw swallows but didn't take pictures) was a Muskrat. It was busy eating and didn't notice me.
Such a cute-looking aquatic rodent. It noticed me when I turned the bike, and gave me the anterior view of it. That's my cue for leaving it in peace.
Then I watched this Great Blue Heron trying to catch a meal.
Haven't seen this Red-tailed Hawk in a while. I am glad it's still around.
As I slowly biked home (while avoiding Snow Geese droppings), a Northern Harrier was on the horizon hunting.
While searching for the Muskrat along the edge of the ditch, I noticed there was something off about this particular duck - mainly because of the bright color. I took some shots and looked through my field guide. They are Cinnamon Teals - Anas cyanoptera (I am assuming the one swimming beside it is the female). I haven't seen this bird before, so I am very happy with the find today. Even though this species is found throughout the American West, southern British Columbia is its most northern range, so I guess it's not common for us to see it. Lucky me!
As I approach home, a female Northern Flicker was calling loudly. Rain tomorrow?.
4 comments:
Cinnamon Teal is a very good one for there.
Your pictures show a keen eye. Great work!
Lucky indeed. I got intriged by the title as I've a few daysd ago photographed an ordinary teal and that one looks very different to this one. This one has more of the mallard shape. Very beautiful. The muskrat I now recognised as something we call bisam rat. Obviously the same species allthough this American cousin might have some slight variations.
Rain here this morning.
Earlier we had the pheasant in our yard ... right under our bedroom window in fact ... munching back on some of the left over seeds from yesterdays Junco and Thrush feedings. The poor thing is looking for a mate ... for a year now. It is an escapee from someone's farm so there are do ladies to be found. I feel like buying one for him!! Then we could have lots of little pheasants around. He survived the winter so it is possible it seems.
Hugh - Thank you very much for your kind comment.
Tarolino - A Bisam Rat? That must be in Finnish - now I know what to call it when in Finland now, thanks.
Cicero Sings - Pheasants!? How exciting. You must take some photos to show us.
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