Hiding in the grasses
Such gorgeous eyes
A favourite place
Ageless beauty
Gray Jay pose
Bathed in sunlight
Golden Eagle
Perfectly textured
It's all about the eyes
An apple a day ...
Dangling hearts
Backroads only for the brave
Lilium pardalinum
Yesterday's treat
Protea
A quick glance
Gray Jay up close
The trail of a snail
Disappearing act
Gotta love those owls
Winter simplicity
Great while it lasted
Always a real treat
Globe Thistle
Harsh reality
My very first Long-eared Owl, October 2006
The classic Echinacea shot
Impressive
A beautiful setting
Love Alberta
Waiting patiently
Snowshoe Hare in hiding
A face at the window, but not an owl : )
Bug convention
Stealthy Coyote
When the light catches
Seven-spotted Ladybug larva
Summer's glow
Concentration
One of these things is not like the others
Mistaya Canyon, Icefields Parkway
Gray Jay in winter
The beauty of golden stubble
Winter outside the city
Beautiful in all seasons
Old prairie homestead
Hungry Pine Siskin
Thoughts of summer
Leaf patterns
An accidental shot
Can you feel the warmth
Canoeing on Bow Lake
Delicate winter beauty
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Clouds at Red Rock Coulee
Enjoying the sun
Way, way up
Close encounter of the owl kind
Now, the big adventure begins
Fancy feathers
A picture of cuteness
Endless land and sky
Out in the open
Milk Thistle / Silybum marianum
Winter along the Smith-Dorrien road
Love those legs
Short-eared Owl
Such a good Mom
Pink
Up close with a Snow Leopard
As beautiful as it gets
A little touch of sunshine
Frosted snow
Thankful for archives
Vulturine Guineafowl
We need COLOUR!
Toughing out the winter
Time for colour
Mom and baby
Love a splash of orange
I think I can ... I think I can ...
Along the Smith-Dorrien / Spray Trail
Persian Cornflower / Centaurea dealbata
How can a flower be so perfect?
Those fancy pantaloons are all the fashion
Feather finery
Purity
Sunstar over Pine Coulee Reservoir
LEST WE FORGET
From my July archives
The Famous Five with snow
Glowing leaves of Mountain Ash
Thank heavens for Chickadees
Peace and tranquility
Love their deep, dark eyes
A different view
First day of adventure
Pushing up through the mosses
Light through the storm clouds
It's "Button-eyes" again
Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everyone
Swainson's Hawk
Little beauty
Milk Thistle / Silybum marianum
Such a thrill - from my archives
A look that needs to be shared : )
A touch of autumn colour
Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month
Splendour
Enjoying the sunshine
Greeting the sun
Oh, what a treat!
Bad hair day
Massive
Lean on me
Little alien at Lake Louise
Landscape view
Mirror reflection
They always look so serious
Fiery Fireweed in its fall colours
Magnificent Peyto Lake
Strawberries and cream fungus
Can't beat a Lily
We are family
Looking towards Bow Glacier and Bow Glacier Falls
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Look what I found yesterday : )
Yesterday, 17 December 2013, it was a long day of Christmas Bird Count south of the city. A group of nine of us, travelling in two vehicles, covered part of the huge circle around High River. A few others from Calgary, plus quite a few people from the town, covered the rest. We were so lucky with the weather - the temperature actually got up to 9C! (Ha, as I'm typing, it's -9C with a windchill of -14C, and the Snowfall Warning that is in effect is proving to be 100% accurate!). We left Calgary at 7:15 a.m. yesterday, but by the time we arrived at Frank Lake, our first destination, the sunrise was just beginning. On this count last year, every plant and blade of dry grass was covered in wonderful hoar frost - not so lucky this time. Snow depth was from bare ground to 15 cm, with drifts to 100cm, and there was no open water at the lake. From the report: 6 kms on foot; 75kms by car; 3 hrs on foot, 5 hours by car.
The day was spent driving the backroads, and calling in at various homesteads and farms. We had three species of owl, which, as you can imagine, delighted everyone in my group. We had hoped to see a Snowy Owl, but no luck this year. My group had 19 species of bird by the end of the day - we finished driving around 3:00 p.m..Noticeably lacking were small birds, such as Snow Buntings - so I had to make do with owls, lol!
The final list for our group, covering two areas, was:
Mallard-12/ 0= 12
Northern Pintail-1 f./ 0= 1
Common Goldeneye-4/0= 4
Gray Partridge-17/30= 47
Ring-necked Pheasant-3/0= 3
Bald Eagle-1ad/1ad= 2
Northern Harrier-1/ 0= 1
Great Horned Owl-4/1= 5
Long-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Short-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Rock Pigeon-47/7= 54
Downy Woodpecker-1/ 0= 1
Northern Flicker-1/0= 1
Black-billed Magpie-7/24= 31
Common Raven-2/1= 3
Horned Lark-2/0= 2
Black-capped Chickadee-0/1= 1
American Tree Sparrow-6/0= 6
House Sparrow-35/140= 175
The absolutely gorgeous Long-eared Owl, seen in the photo above, was on someone's private land. We were given permission to wander around, searching the trees and open area. A few people had gone ahead of me just a matter of steps, when suddenly, to my amazement and total delight, I noticed this little owl hiding deep within a Spruce tree : ))) Couldn't believe my eyes! I've seen three (?) of these Crow-sized owls before, but each time is as exciting as if it were the very first time. Actually, we had already seen another Long-eared Owl earlier in the day! You won't believe this, but two trees away from this Spruce tree - the trees were all squashed together and looked more like one huge tree - there was a beautiful Great Horned Owl! Of course, we were all hoping that the GHO wouldn't take the smaller owl for its supper! Oh, did I mention that two Short-eared Owls were spotted by someone in the first car, hidden amongst the dead grasses? They were sitting there, facing each other, and I managed to just get a couple of rather poor photos. Another thrill of the day : )
At the end of the day, some of the people involved in this count stayed for a pot-luck supper. Thanks so much to everyone who organized this annual Count and worked so hard with preparing for the meal. We always enjoy this time at the end of a long day, chatting about what we'd all been seeing in the various segments of the huge circle. Special thanks to Greg Wagner, who organized the whole event - well done, as usual, Greg : ) Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for driving some of us the whole day and for picking me up and bringing me home - really appreciate your coming well out of your way to do this!
The day was spent driving the backroads, and calling in at various homesteads and farms. We had three species of owl, which, as you can imagine, delighted everyone in my group. We had hoped to see a Snowy Owl, but no luck this year. My group had 19 species of bird by the end of the day - we finished driving around 3:00 p.m..Noticeably lacking were small birds, such as Snow Buntings - so I had to make do with owls, lol!
The final list for our group, covering two areas, was:
Mallard-12/ 0= 12
Northern Pintail-1 f./ 0= 1
Common Goldeneye-4/0= 4
Gray Partridge-17/30= 47
Ring-necked Pheasant-3/0= 3
Bald Eagle-1ad/1ad= 2
Northern Harrier-1/ 0= 1
Great Horned Owl-4/1= 5
Long-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Short-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Rock Pigeon-47/7= 54
Downy Woodpecker-1/ 0= 1
Northern Flicker-1/0= 1
Black-billed Magpie-7/24= 31
Common Raven-2/1= 3
Horned Lark-2/0= 2
Black-capped Chickadee-0/1= 1
American Tree Sparrow-6/0= 6
House Sparrow-35/140= 175
The absolutely gorgeous Long-eared Owl, seen in the photo above, was on someone's private land. We were given permission to wander around, searching the trees and open area. A few people had gone ahead of me just a matter of steps, when suddenly, to my amazement and total delight, I noticed this little owl hiding deep within a Spruce tree : ))) Couldn't believe my eyes! I've seen three (?) of these Crow-sized owls before, but each time is as exciting as if it were the very first time. Actually, we had already seen another Long-eared Owl earlier in the day! You won't believe this, but two trees away from this Spruce tree - the trees were all squashed together and looked more like one huge tree - there was a beautiful Great Horned Owl! Of course, we were all hoping that the GHO wouldn't take the smaller owl for its supper! Oh, did I mention that two Short-eared Owls were spotted by someone in the first car, hidden amongst the dead grasses? They were sitting there, facing each other, and I managed to just get a couple of rather poor photos. Another thrill of the day : )
At the end of the day, some of the people involved in this count stayed for a pot-luck supper. Thanks so much to everyone who organized this annual Count and worked so hard with preparing for the meal. We always enjoy this time at the end of a long day, chatting about what we'd all been seeing in the various segments of the huge circle. Special thanks to Greg Wagner, who organized the whole event - well done, as usual, Greg : ) Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for driving some of us the whole day and for picking me up and bringing me home - really appreciate your coming well out of your way to do this!
, , , LeapFrog have particularly liked this photo
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