Some Local Stuff....

I drove around my usual birding route here (in the Estevan area of Southeastern Saskatchewan.)

Water is being released from Rafferty Dam reservoir big-time.  Rafferty is on the Souris River.

And from Boundary Dam reservoir as well.  This is water coming into Rafferty from Boundary.

At Boundary - there are thousands of Mallards along that far shore below the snow banks.  All this water release is in an attempt to mitigate the flooding expected as deep snow cover melts in the next few weeks.

A Mountain Bluebird caught in an awkward icy landing

And a few Mule Deer just standing around

Coyote!

There's one big open patch of water behind the ice-front down at Boundary.  It is filled with several thousand Canada Geese, some Cacklings and one American Coot.  Try to find that!  Ha!  (The coot is at the other end of the water, not included in this photo)

Coyote!

Actually, there were six other coyotes on the ice the day I took these photos.  Here's three of them.

At the Edge of the Ice

Thousands of geese, 99% Canadas with a portion of the smaller bodied, smaller-billed Cacklings, are huddled along the edge of the ice and the shore at Boundary reservoir.  Keeping them company are Mallards, Common Goldeneye, a Bufflehead or two, a Western Grebe, and Hooded Mergansers. 

Currently, the ice front is just south of the Sunset Subdivision.  It will eventually progress another 500-600 m at least.  But, for now, the air temperature has moderated.  Fine with me.  When the ice is on this stretch of water, I can bird from my car using a window mount for my scope.  I like it.  I'm a lazy birder.

The Smoke That Honks and Quacks

It was very cold yesterday.  I went down to Boundary Dam to see how far the ice has progressed.  Because of hot water pouring back into the lake from the power plant, half of it remains ice-free.  And because of the temperature variant, there is usually mist coming off the water. 

Starting from the end of the reservoir farthest from the hot water channel...

The mist is getting thicker as I get closer to the warmer water

The people who live around the great Victoria Falls in Africa, call the it The Smoke That Thunders, referring to the huge amount of mist and loud roar of the falls that can be seen and heard for miles.

Here, in the Winter at Boundary Dam, we have The Smoke That Honks and Quacks.  There are thousands of Canada Geese and Mallards out there on the water, but can't see 'em for the 'smoke'.
 

This is the boat launch directly across from the hot-water channel.