Hiding in the grasses
A few brave souls
Sunrise start to a Christmas Bird Count
It's "Button-eyes" again
Beautiful wing pattern
Red button eyes
Avian elegance
Storm clouds at the lake
I spy with my little eye
Freezing fog
Swans galore
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Boreal Chorus Frog
Curiosity from up high
A coating of frost
Female Redhead
Ruddy Ducks
Eared Grebes
Frank Lake area
Footsteps
No shortage of bugs
Abstract nature
Known as dedication :)
Great sighting, poor light
Northern Shrike - Butcher Bird
The long and the short of it : )
Hidden Long-eared Owl
The end of an amazing day
Long-eared Owl
Wide awake Great Horned Owl
Fun in the sun
Stripes of colour
Face in the fence
Love a splash of red
Wide open spaces that go on forever
Dark Phase Gyrfalcon
Always a thrill
A cold day of birding
It's all about the eyes
Always a real treat
Frosty Long-eared Owl
Brushstrokes in the sky
Herronton elevator
A beautiful setting
Couldn't resist RED
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Love a red jacket
On 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 -22C with a windchill of -30C!) We left Calgary at 7:15 a.m., but by the time we arrived at Frank Lake, our first destination (seen in the photo above), 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 or little 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 side roads, 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 total species count for the whole of the circle was 40.
The final list for our small 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
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 : )
The day was spent driving the side roads, 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 total species count for the whole of the circle was 40.
The final list for our small 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
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 : )
LeapFrog, Puzzler4879 have particularly liked this photo
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