The twins' Mom
What big feet you have
Cautious mother of twins
I see a Sora
A touch of iridescence
Time to relax
Yellow-bellied Marmot gathering grasses
Adult and juvenile Three-toed Woodpeckers
Yesterday's treat
Quick march
Me and my shadow
Listening
On golden pond
Curious, for a brief second
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Tree Swallow in April
Through the branches
Always love an owl
Just for the record
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Yesterday's treat
Sitting so pretty
Memories of last summer
Sora
Almost impossible to find
Tree Swallow
Tiny, bright-eyed Northern Pygmy-owl
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
The Poser - Spotted Sandiper
Love those legs
A different Great Horned Owl
A backwards glance
Safe with Mom
Dad on guard duty
"Two (owlets) out of three ain't bad"
Northern Pygmy-owl from 2011
Spotted Sandpiper with bokeh
Tired out Mom
How sweet is this?
The exotic White-faced Ibis
Time for nest building
A close look at a Coot
Preening her feathers
Deep inside a dark barn
American Coot
The art of building a nest
Button-eyes
Look, Mom, I can fly!
On golden pond
Black-necked Stilt
A good start to yesterday
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Grebe pair
Puffed up for warmth
Red-necked Grebe & reflection
Long-billed Curlew / Numenius americanus
The highlight of my day
Redhead beauty
A turn of the head
Tree Swallow on road sign
American Avocet
American Goldfinch
Franklins and the farmer
Two of a kind!
Thankfully, not Mosquitoes
Gorgeous iridescent feathers
Mama Ruffed Grouse
Mating Spotted Asparagus Beetles
Some like wood, others like metal
Wilson's Snipe - what a beauty
Eared Grebe with young one
White-faced Ibis - very rare in Alberta
I saw a Sora
Thoughts of anything cold
A Snipe from last year
Throat-tickling supper
Black Tern on fence post
An over the shoulder look
Yes, yes, YES!
One less Grasshopper in the world
Great choice of fence post
Distant Lark Sparrow
A good poser
Blue-green iridescence
Eared Grebe
A two-legged Wilson's Snipe : )
Feeling blue
Sharing her catch
Time to catch supper
Coyote on the prowl
Wilson's Snipe
Eared Grebe
A highlight of our May Species Count
A different kind of perch
Little Bluebird on a snowy day
Dad, awake for a few minutes
Keeping an eye on those pesky Tree Swallows
Wind-ruffled feathers
A different kind of perch
A matching stripe
A cooperative Coot
A welcome sight
An element of trust
Mom at the nest
Building her nest
Beautiful catch
Growing older by the minute
Wood Duck pair
Peekaboo
Juicy snack for his babies
Snuggling up to Mom
Northern Shoveler / Anas clypeata
Mountain Bluebird from my archives
Keeping her young ones warm
Redhead
Elephants from the archives
King Penguin
Watching us closely
Goodbye, elephants : (
I think I hear something
Golden Eagle
Long-eared Owl
The long and the short of it : )
Northern Shrike - Butcher Bird
Why they are hard to find : )
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152 visits
The Wilson's Snipe - such a fine bird
This summer, I seem to have seen more Wilson's Snipe (plural can be Snipe or Snipes) than I've seen before. Consequently, I've taken more photos of them than usual, but have tried to spread them out so that you don't get too fed up of seeing them. This is one of my favourite species of bird to see and photograph. They always surprise me how small they are, standing there on a fence post. - this time, with both feet firmly planted on the post. So often, when they are seen, they have one leg tucked up into the feathers.
Taken on 5 July 2014, SW of the city, when at the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer.
My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, it had to have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and off flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots.
Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window.
Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol!
From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found this Wilson's Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post.
Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day turned out to be a good one.
Taken on 5 July 2014, SW of the city, when at the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer.
My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, it had to have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and off flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots.
Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window.
Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol!
From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found this Wilson's Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post.
Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day turned out to be a good one.
Denis Le-roy has particularly liked this photo
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