It was just after sunrise and the junior Merlin’s were already busy performing their aerial acrobatics and chatting about it … loudly! KEE KEE KEE! This young one was very proud of its feathers and wanted to show them all off! #Birds 🪶

Horned Grebe babies learn how to dive and hunt very quickly. In the marsh I’m watching, they seem to catch mostly leeches or dragonfly nymphs. This junior grebe has just surfaced with, and subdued, a dragonfly nymph that will soon go down the hatch! #Birds 🪶

Some of our evenings lately have been cool enough to produce some morning fog. Marshes are always magical places but the fog brings such a quiet beauty! As the sun came up, this female Redhead duck greeted it with an exuberant wing flap! #Birds 🪶

Less than a month ago, this little unit was a black ball of fluff with long legs and toes. Now this junior Sora is completely independent, can even jump/fly, and is VERY serious about hunting aquatic invertebrates and other insects! #Birds 🪶

KEE, KEE, KEE is the sound of our summer right now! There are 3 baby Merlin’s here that have fledged and are practicing aerial manoeuvres and hunting for themselves. They are also YELLING about it! This juvenile Merlin had just chased a grackle and then zoomed past telling us all about it! #Birds 🪶

Early morning on the marsh and Grebe is already dressed and wearing the latest in aquatic plant fashion! This Horned Grebe has babies to feed and has just finished diving among the plants to look for food! #Birds 🪶

This little one first visited our yard a couple weeks ago. Dad brought Junior in and showed him various trees etc. Now this baby Hairy Woodpecker is here multiple times a day and he/she tests ALL the trees and branches! Tap, tap, tap … baby Hairy is learning the ropes!

They are now fending for themselves and are exploring all the reed beds in the marsh. This baby Sora is a few weeks old and is very serious about hunting! They prefer early mornings and this one was slowly checking all the spots for breakfast snacks!

A great thing about marshes are the concerts. Mostly it’s the birds and they perform best in the spring, but occasionally the mammals get involved too. He was shy, and stayed in the reeds, but today Muskrat played a few tunes on his recorder! Or maybe he was eating a reed. Hard to know🤣 #Mammals

Hunting! This goes back a week when the adult Soras were still actively feeding their babies. It was early in the morning, and this male Sora was taking a slow walk through the reeds looking for bugs and aquatic invertebrates to feed his babies.

I saw a female redhead duck chased by grebe from this marsh 3 times this year, but I never heard or saw her land. Turns out Redhead ducks are stealth nesters! And the female does it all! I saw movement on the edge of a reed bed and after a while, they all piled out! There’s always one mom! #Birds 🪶

There have been at least two Sora chicks hanging together in the same little reed bed. A week ago, they were all black. This is one of those chicks today, 7 days later. They are now all brown and have lost the red knot on their beak they are hatched with. They are now feeding themselves. #Birds 🪶

This was 7 days ago. This young Sora chick was probably only a few days old and already out exploring the reeds and looking for food. At this stage, the parents were still feeding it. I will post another image shortly, taken today, 7 days later, of what I believe is the same chick. #Birds 🪶

It’s stripy baby season in many of our marshes! This Horned Grebe spends most off his time running off interlopers in his marsh, but when his chicks hatch they get his full attention. One adult sits on the remaining eggs and the other feeds the babies that have hatched. More in alt text. #Birds 🪶

The dragonflies and damselflies seem to be the favourite bird snack this year, and the Soras are getting in on it too! This male Sora was foraging around the marsh edge and as soon as he filled his beak with snacks, he usually ran back to his chicks to feed them. But this time, he flew! #Birds 🪶

Soras hatch their eggs over a period of time so there are chicks of varying ages running around. Thanks for the info Janet! This chick was doing what Soras do best, forage in the reeds! Its brown feathers show it’s a bit older than the mostly black ones. And the red on its beak is gone. #Birds 🪶

This is one one of the youngest chicks from a few days ago. Sora chicks are pretty much all black when they first hatch and then become more brown throughout the summer. The male Sora had just popped out of the reeds and baby was instantly right by his side posing identically! #Birds 🪶

“ excuse me sir, you have a little somethin’ somethin’ on your beak you might want to wipe off” So many birds are very busy right now catching insects to feed their babies. This American Robin had caught so many Damselflies and/or dragonflies that they barely all fit in his beak! #Birds 🪶

This time of year, adult Soras spend a lot of time finding food for their babies.They love aquatic invertebrates. They see them from above and then snatch them with their beak. But when the big juicy ones are a bit deeper, there’s nothing to do but throw dignity to the wind and go ALL IN! #Birds 🪶

We temporarily interrupt the Sora posts for an important public service announcement - “Baby Downy Woodpeckers are adorable!” All baby downy woodpeckers, and Hairy’s, have red on their heads. As they grow older, females lose the red and the males have it move to the back of their head. #Birds 🪶

Most of the Sora feedings seem to happen deep in the cover of the reeds. But this time, mom, I think, decided to distribute the snacks out in the open! #Birds 🪶

The adult Soras are very busy right now. The little babies can, and do, find some food themselves already, but the adults still provide a lot. Dad was hunting the marsh edge and caught a bug. He needed to cross an open bit of water and it’s either run, swim or fly … he chose flying! #Birds 🪶

They enjoy being buried in the reeds but sometimes there are small gaps! It looks like school is in for these chicks as they soak up all of dad’s Sora wisdom! What these baby Soras were really hoping for were snacks! No snacks this time, it really might have been a teaching moment! #Birds 🪶

A couple days ago, they were deep in the reeds, like moving shadows with a hint of orange. But this morning one decided to explore and popped out of the reeds for just a bit. This is a baby Sora, and as it dashed to another reed clump, those little wings helped for balance! #Birds 🪶

Every morning, before going about their business, Soras check themselves in the mirror to make sure all the feathers are in good shape. Or it’s also possible that this Sora was hunting aquatic invertebrates which they love to eat! Either way, you look fabulous little Sora! More in the Alt. #Birds 🪶

Redhead ducks dive under the water to feed, and like other diving birds, they need a run before they get airborne. This female Redhead had just landed in the marsh and, you guessed it, the horned grebe enforcer had issues! She is running at top speed here as she gets ready to lift off! #Birds 🪶

Initially, this jackrabbit was in the long grass with just its ears sticking up into the light. But not for long. This White-tailed Jackrabbit had important bunny business to attend to elsewhere! #Mammals

Imagination & interpretation required! I glanced to my left and there were 2 Soras. She stopped in the, long for Soras, grass and he jumped on top and they began mating. If you zoom in you can see her back … check where his feets are. Mating Soras is not something you see every day! #Birds 🪶

Is synchronized flying an Olympic event? This Canvasback pair has definitely been practicing and is sure hoping to make it to the Olympics … or at least the other end of the marsh! #Birds 🪶

Cormorant posting? Here’s a cormorant taking off from a prairie marsh.

Janet Hill@saskajanet.bsky.social · last mo.

Cormorant posting? Here are a lot of Cormorants roosting after dark on cables crossing the South Saskatchewan River. They all face in the same direction. Bonus moonlight reflection 🪶