A Prairie Stroll

As you may recall, back during my time working with Ferruginous hawks in Saskatchewan, I didn’t get to blog as much as I would have liked.  So here is a walk down memory lane kind of post.

We checked each of our nests on a weekly basis.  Some were just a short stroll from the road, and some required a bit of hiking, up to about 1.2 km.  This particular nest was about an 800 m walk, but we had to cross a tall hayfield, then work our way around a pond and across a stream.  But once we got past that, over a little hill, it was a nice walk in native prairie, if we ignored the fact that we were dripping in sweat.  I seem to recall it always being the hot days when I went there!   These are some photos from my last visit in late July.

Just as I crested the hill,  I saw three bucks, although only two were close enough together for a photograph.

This male Lark bunting was always singing, declaring his territory, on my visits.

There were many nice wildflowers, including Three-flowered Avens

and one of my favourites, Prairie Coneflower.

The nest had 3 nestlings, but that day I only found two fledglings– this one on the fence maybe 100- 200 m from the nest

and this one, probably the youngest, still in the nest tree.  The nest had been damaged and was partially fallen.  There was probably a 3rd fledgling out there;  it’s a big prairie for them to hide in!  Both parents were circling and calling as I searched the area.

And then on my way out, there was a badger!

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