We loved The Bear, and watched the series finale last night. Personally, I loved this opening scene of Ebraheim on a park bench with the dulcet tones of dark-eyed juncos pew-pew-pewing in the background. #TeamJunco

Beep beep! A red-breasted nuthatch illustration I finished last night at a DrawMob get-together with 15 sketching fools/friends. I love this little guy! #HellYeahNuthatches #birds

Ready… aim… fire! A great blue heron has its eyes (and everything else above its neck) on the prize. #birds

It’s International Owl Awareness Day, a day I wasn’t aware of despite my constant awareness of owls. Here’s a Procreate portrait I sketched a while back of Rusty, a local captive/educational long-eared owl. Owls rule! #birds

The (barn swallow) gang’s all here. #birds

For today’s #BirdOfTheDay alternate theme of “Ducks out of Water”, I present a mallard drake in Vancouver with tastes that very much align with mine. #HotDucks #birds

We’ve visited this stretch of Lake Winnipeg shoreline in summer for more than a decade, and a bald eagle can almost always be found on this lofty nearby perch. #birds

Merganser conga line – everybody up on the rock! #birds

UPDATE! As are merganser babies, as I discovered this weekend. Lookit this crew, decked out in their matching bumblebee costumes. #birds

Wetlands are magic. Immediately following a light shower, I watched a momma goldeneye protect her six-duckling brood and terrorize every other bird on this pond. A poor ring-necked duck couple especially bore her brunt. Worth the mosquitoes!

Lady Madonna, children at your feet Wonder how you manage to make ends meet #birds #UnsolicitedDuckPic

I rode my bike again to the Duck Pond, which is pumping out new ducks left and right, and living up to its name. Here two wood duck ducklings reflect, in a green reflecting pool. #birds

A wet and fuzzy crew down at the neighbourhood creek, after yet another rain. #birds

An evening grosbeak caricature, sketched in pen and coloured in Procreate during a recent DrawMob gathering with friends. I love the colour scheme of these birds – I wish I saw them more often! #birds

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of “Out For A Walk”, I present this unidentified peep cruising the beach at sunrise. No-birdy walks with purpose quite like a sandpiper. #birds

The face of someone who’s got it all figured out.

With the crazy amount of rain that’s fallen around the city recently, there isn’t much sand left to pipe if you’re a sandpiper – unless you’ve got the size/reach advantage of this marbled godwit. #birds

Nice try, bittern – I see you. An American bittern attempts to blend into the reeds but the reeds aren’t tall enough yet. #birds

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of “food in beaks” has me recalling one of the more bizarre bird sights I’ve seen: this lesser yellowlegs at Oak Hammock Marsh in 2010, considering what to do with a small (live? dead?) frog. I never got my answer; it was a lightning-quick moment. #birds

This eastern kingbird, oddly, was looking on at two nearby western kingbirds having a big ol’ fight. #EastCoast #WestCoast #crips #bloods #birds

This was neat: During a walk at a marsh I heard a sora calling in the reeds, so I began to call back. It came to find me! It walked onto the path and within a metre of my feet while I continued calling. At this point I was frozen still, so this photo is from when it headed back in the marsh. #birds

I haven’t had as many chances at spring birding as I usually get – but luckily it’s been a banner season for yard visitors. This brown thrasher lolled in the sour cherry tree for a few minutes this week; I couldn’t believe my luck! #birds

All accounted for today as well – at least according to Merlin, as I am inside chained to my computer. (Though I doubt that junco ID, they’ve all been long gone for a while.)

He came back! This time I was ready to capture the bay-breasted warbler in its native habitat: a downtown street. Oddly, perusing fallen food options from the elms above with his mate, a yellow warbler, a blackburnian warbler, two blackpoll warblers and a half dozen Tennessee warblers. #LiferPie

Curses! The feet are hidden.

LIFER! One of my local birding white whales dropped into my yard yesterday: my first bay-breasted warbler! No pics – I was in a screen porch, but my daughter can vouch for my excitement. To honour the occasion here’s a sketch, using a black-throated green warbler photo I took as reference. #LiferPie

Not a solid photo – but during a walk yesterday I heard elaborate birdsong I wasn’t familiar with. Merlin ID’d it as a brown thrasher. This I had to find; I hadn’t seen a thrasher in more than a decade, and only twice ever. I found it, deep in a swamp and unapproachable. But man did it sing. #birds

Stop it. Just… stop it, tanager. That’s too much colour on such a grey day. Just quit it. Cut it out. #birds

LIFER!! During a break in the rain I walked one of our urban forests and saw my first-ever mourning warbler. No pictures – the moment was super fleeting – but I did pick up this slice of #LiferPie in honour of the occasion.