This gallery has shots from several recent outings, and some backyard shots.

The highlight for me was seeing a new lifer, Short-eared Owl. I also have photos here of two other new lifers, Greater White-fronted Goose and Common Goldeneye.

I'd seen many reports of Short-eared Owl at the local wildlife area. On a relatively dry evening, at sunset, I took my nearly 4-year-old daughter and we went looking. I saw a few Northern Harriers hunting there, and after about 20 minutes, when it started getting quite dark, I was lucky enough to spot a definite non-harrier pretty high overhead. In the camera I could only make out the silhouette, but the shape of the head/neck indicated owl! It kept a good altitude as it flew away, and it didn't return. I'll have to go back to try to get better photos. Upon reviewing the photos on the computer, it was definitely a Short-eared Owl looking down at us. I could make out a few pixels of its yellow/orange eyes in a couple of the shots.

I also got some fun shots of a Townsend's Warbler using the birdbath, and a Pied-billed Grebe trying to swallow a relatively large fish.

These photos are © 2023 Phil Thompson, all rights reserved.

My "birds in review" collages can be found here.