Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: bird's egg

Yesterday, 24 May 2014, my youngest daughter treated me to a wonderful day out with our cameras. It was a birthday treat, one day early as today is the annual May Species Count, which I always take part in. I knew I would have to limit my driving and be cautious about not taking too many photos, thanks to my very painful arms and shoulders. We went SE of the city, to a familiar spot or two, and we were lucky with certain birds, but not with others. A pair of Great Horned Owls were where we had hoped they would still be, but I'm sure they will be fledging before long. I had hoped to find a White-faced Ibis to show my daughter – various friends had been seeing and photographing them from fairly close. We bumped into friend, Greg, at the birding blind, and I had just told him that I was hoping to find an Ibis. I had barely got the words out when Greg swung round and pointed way up, saying: “You mean, like that one?” I'm sure I would have missed it. So, at least my daughter saw one, even if it was a distant bird. Thanks, Greg! When we were walking at Frank Lake, my daughter found this tiny bird’s egg, resting on one of the low boulders that line the edge of the gravel road. I daren’t go on the Internet and search – too many clicks, which I’m not supposed to be doing. I wonder if it belongs to some kind of Sparrow. After driving along a few of the backroads, we then went to the Saskatoon Farm for a delicious lunch and to wander round the greenhouses and gift shop. A weekend day is not the best time to go – or should I say that a weekday would probably be quieter? So many people were out enjoying a warm, sunny day before the coming rainy days (it rained a bit yesterday evening). Thanks so much, Rachel, for such a great day spent with you, and thanks for everything else, too.

Friend, Sue, very kindly invited me to go along with her a few days ago when she did her Mountain Bluebird route just west of the city. The majority of the boxes had Tree Swallows nesting in them, but some were occupied by Bluebirds. A few boxes were completely empty, some had a nest, some had a nest with eggs, some had a nest with a tight little pile of babies, and a couple had an adult Tree Swallow along with the eggs. And one box contained a nest of House Sparrow eggs, which are cream, white, gray or greenish, with irregular brown speckles. This one was being held by Kristin. It takes quite a bit of time to check and record all these boxes, and I respect all those who volunteer to have a route of their own. The House Sparrow nest was removed from the box as Mountain Bluebirds need as much human help as possible in order to protect their numbers.