WINTER FINCHES #3: EVENING GROSBEAK

A few years ago you could walk around Pinawa on a winter morning and nearly always be within earshot of a flock of Evening Grosbeaks. Their numbers have declined in recent years, as they have in much of their North American range, but they are still a familiar sight at feeders and boulevard trees around town. I like to use recent photos as much as possible for these articles, but I had to dig into my spring collection for these two shots showing the difference in plumage between the sexes (greyish female on the left, deep yellow male on the right) and the big, seed-cracking bills in profile.

A PERENNIAL FAVOURITE

Judging by the frequency with which it appears on greeting cards and folk art of all sorts, the Black-capped Chickadee must be one of the best known and most liked of Canadian birds. Always plentiful on our annual Christmas Bird Count, this species can be seen in small flocks anywhere in the forest, though it is most numerous in the vicinity of feeders. Chickadees are agile birds, often hanging upside down as they glean insect eggs and other tiny morsels from trees, shrubbery, and sometimes around windows and eaves. At feeders they fly back and forth, selecting individual sunflower seeds and pecking them apart on a secluded perch, often accompanied by nuthatches. This one was visiting a feeder at the Opapiskaw campground in the Whiteshell on Christmas Eve last year.

WINTER HUNTER

Roadside hydro poles are always worth watching for raptors mostly hawks in summer and (in much smaller numbers) owls in winter.It was a treat to find this Snowy Owl near Lac du Bonnet last Monday (December 11th). Adult male Snowy Owls are almost pure white, while females and young males have varying amounts of blackish flecks and