Muskrat Swimming at Sunset in an SK Slough

When we drove out at sunset to see the water birds in a nearby slough, we saw as well a small animal slicing through the water — a muskrat, its whiskers reflected in the glassy blue surface with the sky.

Swimming Muskrat, with face and whiskers reflected in blue.  © SB

When we drove back past the water, the sun was sinking and in the darkness, we saw a movement along the shore. This time, the muskrat's tail was above the water as it glided out of sight.

Muskrat swimming along the shore of a slough.  © SB

What is this? A Muskrat
Location: Slough, near Regina, Saskatchewan
Photo date: May 24, 2016.

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Yellow-headed Blackbirds in Slough near Regina SK

Yellow-headed Blackbird, on reeds near Regina, SK  ©SB

Yellow-headed Blackbirds creak and dart among the reeds at a slough not far from my house in Regina, Saskatchewan.

On a recent drive, I listened to their rasping screeches and croaks, and realized that far more Yellow-headed Blackbirds were singing than I could see.

But those I could see were beautiful, their vibrant yellow, gold and amber feathers shining in the sun, their black suits, stark and sombre.

The males, that is.

The females are more subdued in colour, a blurry yellow with brown, the better to blend in the reeds and mud in the nest.

(I've only seen females in early spring — perhaps before their actual nest sitting?)

And as for a slough, that's a natural water-filled area, more shallow and reed-filled than a lake.

Female Yellow-headed Blackbird, in the slough  ©SB

Yellow-headed Blackbird ©SB

What are these?  Yellow-headed Blackbirds

Location: Slough north of Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: May 25, 2012. 

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Black Terns: Moulting and Defending

The Black Tern screeches at me © SB.

The Black Terns who watched me pull over beside a Saskatchewan slough today may have thought I had baby birds on my mind.

(I had no thought of nests. I left the car only to try to take pictures of Smartweed, a pink native wildflower.)

Several Black Terns screeched across the water and circled low above my car — and my head — again, and again, and again, their mottled feathers bright in the July sun.

Only when I saw these photographs did I realize that at least one was carrying a large dragonfly in its beak. Food. Perhaps for itself, or for a fledgling.

I first saw Black Terns at this slough several weeks ago, when members of this breeding colony still wore their sleek black and gray distinctive feathers. Already, these terns are moulting, loosing black in belly patches as they change into their winter under-body white.

Black Tern with Dragonfly  © SB

What are these?  Black Terns  

Location: Near a slough, north of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo date: August 10, 2012.  

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