DARE TO BIRD

I went up to the beautiful Kootenay  Region of BC to join the BCFO 2 day Field Trip in Creston. The trip was led by Gary Davidson and Paul Prappas and it was fantastic. Craig Sandvig helped out heavily as well with his very skilled ears. We had a fantastic time and I made 3 lifelong friends in them in the process. On Day 1 in Creston and we got 110 species! We birded Leach Lake, Wilson and Kootenay River Rds and Duck Lake and we got some good birds including Forster's Terns (incredibly close views of them diving for fish and perched right by us), Black Terns, Bobolink, Gray Catbirds, Over 40 American White Pelicans, Wild Turkey with 7 Chicks, Clay-coloured Sparrow (and Lark Sparrow before Creston), Black-chinned and Calliope Hummingbirds, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Veery, many Northern Waterthrushes, Bullock's Orioles, Tundra Swan, Lazuli Bunting, more Least Flycatchers than I've ever seen, Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Say's P...

I went down on my somewhat annual WA trip to see foxes. I went a little earlier than normal this year so that I could see the kits while they were still small. Saw 8 adults and 5 kits during my visit in all phases of Red Fox: Black, Silver and Red. It is always magical to be surrounded by foxes but especially Kits and to see the family dynamics. All these foxes stole my heart forever! - Photos: Melissa Hafting

Thanks to Larry Cowan and George Clulow for coming up with the idea of the Young Birders Hats! The kids absolutely love them! It's nice to feel part of a group and with these hats it gives all the kids that feeling of recognition. These hats are given to those youth who have been awarded a BCFO Young Birders Award! Read about the Awards and recipients HERE Here are the new spiffy hats and Bridget looking great as she sports one! These new hats look great! - Photos: Sheryl Spencer

Ilya and I went down to bird South-Eastern Oregon because we heard so many great things about it, especially the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We were also eager to photograph Sage Grouse up close, as we have both only seen them at distant leks through a scope. We started out in Southern Oregon. We knew that Cabin Lake Campground was best in August to see Pinyon Jays but since they would be a lifer for both of us and since we were heading to Malheur anyways, we felt we might as well try. Boy were we glad we did. We saw quite a few birds there, it was very hot and we both have never seen so many Ferruginous Hawks and Sage Thrashers in one place! In one road we counted over 15 of each. After Cabin Lake Campground we stopped at Fort Rock State Park and saw many good birds including nesting Prairie Falcons. We had close views of many raptors including Golden Eagle and Swainsons Hawks. Here is some of the species we saw in Southern Oregon in the Fort Rock area: Eur...

I was blessed to go to a Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek. The location of the sensitive Lek cannot be shared since they are the endangered subspecies and too much disturbance could cause them to abandon the lek. All these photos were taken with use of a photo blind so that the grouse could not see me and were not disturbed. You can see from the video how close they walked in front of me which would never be possible if they could see me. They are notoriously impossible to get close to at the best of times. It is always one of the most thrilling experiences to watch these grouse display. They are one of the most stunning and threatened birds of the prairie. I watched some males squaring off to fight and display for females. The fights can get messy notice the blood on the beak in some of my photos. I was able to see a couple of female and male birds mating on the lek as well. I slept overnight at the lek because I had to setup my blind the night prior before the grouse arrived. I was up ...