Long-billed Dowitchers / Limnodromus scolopaceus

This was just a small part of a larger group of Long-billed Dowitchers that were seen. A really uninspiring shot, but I needed to add it to my Marsland Basin album. These shorebirds were so far away, so it's a 48x zoomed image. Of course, it would have been great if every bird was facing in the same direction, or at least all turned sideways at the same time : ) They have a sewing machine-like feeding action, so they are not easy to photograph.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Long-billed_Dowitcher/id

On 26 July 2015, 22 of us drove out to Marsland Basin, E of Calgary. This beautiful wetland belongs to our friend, Lynn, and her partner - they have a house and yard that overlooks the wetland. This was the second time that I had visited the area, the first being on 28 June 2015. Each time, we have to sign a small guestbook. Also, everyone who can, is asked to please submit a list of species seen to eBird. The birds on the water are very distant, so you need binoculars (which I don't have) and even better, a spotting scope. Really, they are too far away for photos, though I can get a very distant shot with my point-and-shoot camera set at 48x zoom and then cropped.

Like last time, I took a long look over the lake and then wandered round Lynn's property, this time finding a mushroom or two, a beautiful moth, a few Thistles, their two donkeys, a House Wren, an Eastern Kingbird, a Mourning Dove, and a family of Western Kingbirds (that were just about impossible to see as they flitted in amongst the high branches).

The highlight of the visit for many of us was seeing a very, very distant family of American Badgers that were in a neighbour's field (so, private land), digging for prey (probably the nearby Richardson's Ground Squirrels). There are four family members, though some of us only saw three. I think I have only ever seen a Badger three times before in 37 years, the last one being on 11 June 2012, on one of Don Stiles' annual Mountain Bluebird outings, SW of Calgary.

The General Status of the American Badger in Alberta is Sensitive. More detailed Status is "Data Deficient" - not enough current information to determine its status.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_badger

A report from 2002:

esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/species-at-risk/species-at-...

After our visit to the Marsland Basin, friends Dorothy and Stephen drove two of us back to Calgary again, travelling the roads slowly so that we could see a number of perched Swainson's Hawks, and a Meadowlark with mouth full of insects to feed to her babies. Thanks so much, Stephen, for the safe ride there and back. As always, hugely appreciated!

For a list of the 53 species of bird that were seen at Marsland Basin, look under the Badger family photo.

flic.kr/p/wygV8B