Fall is rapidly looming, and with it comes both challenges and opportunities for the birder. For the challenges, we are very challenged by those ducks which were so brilliantly coloured in the spring. Now, most of them are drab, and a flock out on the water looks to be uniformly brown. There are some differences in the species, but we must look much harder now. Some things to look at are the shape and size of the beak, colour in the wings, and behaviours. Many other birds also change their attire in the fall, an example being the American Goldfinch. The brilliant yellow and black male now has a brownish back and head, no cap, and his yellow throat, breast, and abdomen has faded to a creamy, greyish tan. The American Avocets lose the orange on their heads and necks, but are still quite easy to identify by their beaks and behaviours. The Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes lose their reds, and both sexes are grey and white in the fall. They can be identified at a distance by feeding behaviours, as the Wilson's swims in circles while feeding, and the Red-necked swims in long lines.

The opportunities are the outside chances to see accidentals moving through your areas, or unusual numbers of common birds. A couple of pleasant evenings of shorebird watching recently has given me the sightings of Wandering Tattlers, and large numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes. A friend spotted a Red-necked Stint last week, and we have seen huge numbers of crows. One evening, while looking at an alkaline lake near my home, we saw a continuous line of crows crossing the lake. This line kept flying across the lake for over an hour, and the numbers were estimated to be over 5000 of these noisy birds. The trees on the east side of the lake were filled with crows for nearly 2 kilometres. As darkness fell, a scan of the last bits of light in the west showed still more flocks gathering for the flight across the lake.

An hour at a local reservoir this week will bring back pleasant memories for a long while. There were the Barn and Tree Swallows, busy zipping across the water, hunting for their bedtime snacks. There were the Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper that kept flying up as we moved around the banks, only to land a few metres ahead, then fly up again as we got close once more. A tree in the distance, by the river bank, loaded with over 20 Double-crested Cormorants. The Cedar Waxwings that sat on the chainlink fence, flying down to clover plants along the banks. A mink, bounding across to the other side of a point. A tiny bird on the fence turned out to be a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Geese and ducks were flying across the evening skies, and a pair of Western Grebes were swimming and diving near an island. It is wonderful to be a naturalist! So many opportunities to be thrilled by sights and sounds that most people never see or hear. So many pleasant hours seeing and listening to some of our wild companions on this earth, rather than staring at the one-eyed monster in our living rooms, agonizing over who will be the last "Survivor"!

Soon, the nights will be filled with the wild and glorious music of migrating geese, and Sandhill Cranes. A careful scan of the skies near a full moon may show these birds crossing the face of the moon. These are sights and sounds that are well worth spending some time out in the country at night to experience. Having your binoculars and field guides with you can be helpful in more ways than the obvious ones. Sometimes a curious, cruising police officer can be convinced that you really are a birder, watching and listening only to see and hear those wild, wandering musicians of the fall night skies!

Carl Grosfield
5105-51 Ave.
Vegreville, AB
T9C 1M1
wildscape@telusplanet.net