October Already !

Well, once again, I'm late updating, but I have valid reasons. Not only have my wife and I finally moved into a beautiful new home , complete with a lovely big yard, I also managed to jinx myself by boasting that I'd not had a bad cold since moving to Canada way back in 2002. Well of course, I ended up with the flu , which stuck around for nearly 10 days ! As it turns out , almost everyone I have spoken to, knows someone who has had this particular nasty bug during September, or they had it themselves.

Anyway... The birds and animals are still out there doing their stuff. Whooping Crane's have just recently been spotted at Muskiki Lake. A buddy of mine just spotted a rare Parasitic Jaeger at Redberry Lake, while another friend in town had a beautiful Yellow-billed Cuckoo show up in his back garden, and we still have a few migrants trickling through our yard.
The leaves are all in gorgeous Fall colours, the winds have gotten crispier and cooler and the mornings are now chilly but there is still a lot to see and enjoy out there.

Here are some new photos...

Red Squirrel - This cute little fella was enjoying sunflower seeds I was feeding him, at Pike Lake Provincial Park recently:



Gray-cheeked Thrush - Not as common as Swainson's or Hermit Thrush, these are a real treat when they show up in your backyard :



Tennessee Warbler - Here's a fall-plumage bird from the backyard :



Cooper's Hawk - I recently found a number of juvenile birds near Cosmopolitan Park here in town :




Red-breasted Nuthatch - this inquisitive little bird was foraging on the ground and not upside-down on a tree trunk for a change :



Orange-crowned Warbler - Another from the old backyard :