We all know what UFOs are, now don’t we? Whenever we see something unusual in the air? Something we don’t understand? We’ll call it a UFO or Unidentified Flying Object.
In some cases I have heard of an Unidentified Flying Organism. Well, that’s fits better in my story. My life is full of UFOs and I can tell you that I really believe in them! Take a look inside…
Before you start nudging me towards the loony bin, take a look at my pictures first. On the other hand, a bin full of loonies could make me potentially richer… 
Over the last few weeks I have been wandering around the Manitoba countryside. There, I have tried to catch some birds that I had never seen before, at least in the wild. The leading picture of this post is still a UFO to me, I still don’t know what bird that is. Although I do know it is some kind of raptor.
Going to Oak Hammock Marsh, it was eerily quiet. My previous visit there was full of bird noises, mostly from geese. This time, the only bird I thought I would see was this one.
But soon after that, I noticed a few birds splashing in the water and avoiding me as much as they could. These are called White Spotted Sandpiper, but when I looked them up on Google, they came up as a Lesser Yellowlegs. Go figure.
That still keeps them in the realm of UFOs for me. I did recognize the same bird however in a juvenile form.
This one also had a lot less success with hunting and as soon as he saw me (or was it a she?) took off uttering loud noises in my direction… I guess I should have been insulted.
Then we went for some food in the Educational Centre and I caught a glimpse of some real UFOs, this time. At least they were flying…
Following the food, we left for the Quarries of Stonewall. The UFOs were a lot smaller there. They were also in a very specific mood. I guess that mood occurs only once in their lifetime and assures us of next year’s UFOs .
After that we left for home, no need to disturb them. Even more, the quarries will have a brand new building, smack in the middle of the terrain. I’ll have to come back there, one day.
In the City of Winnipeg I have been amazed by the wildlife, right from the beginning. In the English Gardens for example, there are hummingbirds. I always thought these birds only existed in the tropics…
And then there are birds I have never heard of before, although that is in itself not a surprise. I have been a programmer with his nose on a keyboard for most of my life. It’s only now that I get to see some wildlife around me.
These were the kind of bird that I was used to in my own neighbourhood in Holland. After a while, though, you get a bit tired of always shooting the same birds.
That’s where come in the pelicans; yet another bird that I knew from TV, but never even expected at these latitudes. Winnipeg is on the same latitude as Brussels and a little more to the north than Kiev, Ukraine. There are definitely no pelicans in those places. BTW the half dressed woman in the picture was not part of the plan…
Canada Geese are now training themselves for the big trek south for the winter. Because winter is coming, whether we like it or not.
Some of the birds that don’t go away for the winter have adopted as many ways as possible to get food as they can.
This Chickadee is happy to even take the seeds from my hand. The seeds were bought for that, unsalted and not grilled…
If you hover your mouse over the pictures, you can see the names of the different birds. Thanks to my fellow photographers who do not tire of correcting me and providing me with the names of these UFOs, I can now finally say that I know a few bird names…
And for everyone else who was expecting pictures of lights in the sky, perhaps that will be the object of another post.
Until then, take care and keep your eyes open!