Cold stare

This is just one small section of a mural inside the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta. The small group of four of us called in at the museum for lunch and a washroom break on a long day of birding. Our territory (section of the huge circle for the Count) was on the north side of the Red Deer River, including the Tyrrell Museum area. The day started off cloudy, clearing to beautiful sunshine, calm and a temperature of -14C soaring to 6C (yes, that's +6C!). Left my house at 5:40 a.m. and got home maybe 7:45 p.m. (?) Just in case anyone is interested in what species the four of us found, this is the list for the day:

Rock Pigeon-1
Eurasian Collared Dove-24
Great Horned Owl-1
Snowy Owl-1
Downy Woodpecker-5,
Hairy Woodpecker-4
Northern Flicker-4
Pileated Woodpecker-1
Blue Jay-4
Black-billed Magpie-38
Black-capped Chickadee-17
White-breasted Nuthatch 3.
Bohemian Waxwing-96
White-winged Crossbill-2
Common Redpoll-139
House Sparrow-42

We actually saw a total of six Snowy Owls; one on our territory; one each about 2 miles E and W of Horseshoe Canyon on Hwy 9, and three others on Hwys 9 and 72, outside of the Christmas Bird Count area. As far as photos for the day is concerned, all I managed bird-wise was a Eurasian Collared Dove, a Red Crossbill and maybe a couple of Snowy Owl photos. However, the scenery covered in snow was beautiful (and, as usual, my photos don't even begin to do it justice) - and we found 36 wild European Rabbits at one place we stopped in Drumheller! This Count was the last one I am doing for the 2012/2013 annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count season. There is another one going on today, but 5th January is the final day. I am SOOOO tired and pretty useless for anything now : ) I really want to thank all the people who did the driving on these various Bird Counts!! Without them, I wouldn't be able to take part in any of these Counts, except for the two in the city. Thank you so much!

"The Story of Life is a ceramic mural by Canadian artist Lorraine Malach, located just inside the entrance to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Alberta, Canada. The mural consists of ten panels, each four feet wide and eight feet high; ten tons of clay were used. It depicts life forms from the Precambrian to the Cretaceous, as told by human-based figures. After the death of Lorraine Malach in 2003, the two remaining pieces were fired in a kiln and the mural was completed by Janet Grabner." From Wikipedia.

www.timelessspirit.com/MAY05/aboutthecover.shtml

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Life

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Tyrrell_Museum_of_Palaeontology

www.tyrrellmuseum.com/exhibits.htm