My Saturday Bird this week is the European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola).
Originally considered a member of the Thrush family genetic testing has shown it is a member of the Old World Flycatcher family.
This individual is a male photographed at Hurleston in southern Cheshire, England in late winter. The birds head and back will soon start turning darker as it changes to summer plumage to attract a mate.
My Saturday Bird this week is a portrait of a Greylag Goose (Anser anser).
This individual was photographed in the mid 1980s when most of the Greylag Geese in the U.K. were feral birds associating with Canada Geese and other wildfowl species. Recent population numbers for the species across Europe show a dramatic increase, possibly due to climate change affecting their migration patterns.
The bird is at “The Mere” on the edge of the town of Ellesmere in Shropshire, England in winter.
My Saturday Bird this week is continuing series of bird species photographed in winter.
This is a White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) photographed in Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Saskatchewan, Canada at the same time as my recent Pine Grosbeak and Evening Grosbeak posts.
A resident of woodlands across North America. The species is non-migratory with adults normally staying on their territory year round.
This week for my Saturday Bird I am continuing my recent theme of birds photographed in Saskatchewan in winter.
This is a male Evening Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertinus) a member of the finch family. This individual was photographed in Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Eastern Saskatchewan, Canada in winter. There’s some light snow falling around the bird. It was around -25°C which is probably why the bird is warming one leg in its feathers.
The species is found in coniferous and mixed forest across a large part of southern Canada and western mountainous areas of the U.S. and Mexico. The species migration is very variable traveling as far as the southern U.S. some winters.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator), a large finch with a long tail.
The species breeds in the far north of North America and Eurasia. It is an irruptive species meaning numbers can vary greatly if the birds move south for the winter. Often absurdly tame allowing close approach they will land within a few feet of an observer.
This is a female photographed in light snow at Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Saskatchewan, Canada in the winter. Males are pinkish red and gray.
