Stumbling on Young Prairie Merlins - Saskatchewan

I'm happy to be heading out of town in a few days — to a great degree because of the birds and flowers I know I'll find. Last July, at this retreat, I stumbled over (or, to be more precise, under, with a little help from a fellow birder) a pair of young Prairie Merlins.

Prairie Merlin, loudly asserting its right to be above me.... ©SB

Prairie Merlin   ©SB

Our variety of these small, fierce falcons is lighter than other Merlins — All About Birds has some pix for comparison... Ours, the Prairie subspecies of Merlins, has white and pale brown markings.

And, for the record, these young Merlins (or maybe there's only one, photographed on different days) were okay flyers, although they preferred to sit on their branches and squawk at me.


What are these?  Merlins (Prairie subspecies).

Location: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: July 22 and 17, 2014. 

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Young Eared Grebes on mother's back: near Herbert, SK

The Eared Grebe floats through the reeds at Francis Lake, near Herbert, Saskatchewan, and we count the young grebes on her back... Two, we think, until someone later looks at the images and says, "Three!" And yes, there are three tiny bird faces, three sets of dark eyes, and three red-striped beaks. She swam with the baby birds for a while, then wriggled her wings, and when that didn't move them, finally dove to set them free.

Eared Grebe with three young on her back. (The third is nestled low.) © SB

This shallow lake, a broad water-filled dip in the fields, is home to many of these oh-so-decorative birds, the "most abundant Grebe in the world." (All About Birds.) It also hosts a wide range of ducks, geese and other water-loving birds. 

A road leads straight across this lake — #612, over my map's unnamed blue that birders call Francis. We drove slowly and waited out the pick-up trucks and grain trucks that barrelled by. Our windows rolled up until dust dissipated, we watched the birds. (It was a great side trip from the TransCanada Highway.)

Eared Grebe rushes across the pond to feed its young birds. ©SB

Feeding time for the Eared Grebe.  ©SB

What are these?  Eared Grebes.

Location: Francis Lake, north of Herbert, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: June 25, 2015. 

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