Sunrise start to a birding day in Calgary
Fish Creek Park New Year's Day Bird Count
Fiona - forever in our hearts
Heritage tree from 1907, at Carburn Park
Now THIS is winter!
A winter walk
Chateau Lake Louise and ice castle
The beauty of Lake Louise
Rent a canoe at Emerald Lake
Remembering a cold, frosty bird count
The Heritage tree at Carburn Park
Hike on Erik Butters' beautiful land
Challenges of a photographer
Two of a kind
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy of Canada
The long hike down the mountain
A vanishing world
Almost above the clouds
It's beginning to look a lot like winter
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
Gilpin Trace trail, Tobago, Day 2
Cattle drive in the mountains of Kananaskis, Alber…
At the Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis) cave, Trini…
Birders on an Audubon Christmas Bird Count
In search of an owl - with permission
Winter walk in the park
Waiting for the Scarlet Ibis, Caroni Swamp
Evening light at Caroni Swamp, Trinidad
Watching Scarlet Ibis at Caroni Swamp, Trinidad
A beautiful day in Weaselhead
The challenges of being a birder
They call this spring?
Birders at The Tip, Pt Pelee, Ontario
Bow Lake
Friends at Bow Lake
Beautiful Peyto Lake
Bow Lake on a cloudy day
Day 7 afternoon, whaling trip off Tadoussac
Day 7 afternoon, Sand Dunes in distance
Searching for a Great Horned Owl - with permission
Day 8, bird blind, Santa Ana National Wildlife Ref…
Barrier Lake, Kananaskis
Thoughts and prayers for Paris
Main street, Heritage Park
Exploring Timber Ridge, Porcupine Hills
Emerald Lake, British Columbia
Red Rock Canyon, Waterton Lakes National Park
A fine day for birding
Looking into the sun
What birders go through : )
Walking in a winter wonderland
Not easy being a birder or photographer : )
Red Rock Canyon, Waterton
Abyss Pool, West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone
Spring in Alberta
Lake Louise on a rainy day
The love of cycling
Ice castle at Lake Louise, 2008
Quality time
Fun in the sun
Love a red jacket
A few brave souls
Dressing the camel
Among the dhows, Doha seafront, Qatar, 1967
Sandal-sellers, Doha, Qatar
Indian Village, Calgary Stampede
Waiting for the big drop
Happy Christmas, everyone!
Sheep and cattle along the seafront, Doha, Qatar
Time for coffee
Jewellery maker, Doha suq, Qatar
Seafront fishermen, Doha, Qatar
A winter walk
Known as dedication :)
Birders birding
Winter wonderland
Emerald Pool, Yellowstone National Park
Feeling on top of the world
Having one's head in the clouds
Creating water patterns
Near north end of Plateau Mt. Ecological Reserve
The beauty of Alberta
Tranquility
My parents' wedding day
The only time I look tall and slim, ha
Moraine Lake
Exploring the wildflower meadows
Emerald Lake
Between emergencies
Bow River at Canmore
Pedal the Ocean
Uphill and downhill
Walking in a winter wonderland
Winter birders
The beauty of Alberta
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
201 visits
Early morning fog and hoar frost
Yesterday, 15 December 2015, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. As you can see from this photo, taken at the outlet at Frank Lake where there was a bit of open water, it was cold but beautiful. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my photos are rather grainy (or just too blurred to post). The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful.
After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls.
"Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open.
Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min.
Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av.
Canada Goose-80
Gadwall-1 m
Green-winged Teal-1 f.
Lesser Scaup-1 m.
Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place..
Killdeer -3
Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA
Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard).
Snowy Owl-2
Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA.
Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA
Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L
European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26.
American Tree Sparrow- 12
Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog).
Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA
House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA
Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1).
Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake
Deer sp.-3
Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr."
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:30 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...
I now need to get myself ready for having to go out into a winter wonderland today, for a volunteer shift. It snowed last night, so I have a few inches of the white stuff to clear off my vehicle. If truth were known, I think I would prefer to grab my camera and go for a walk or a short drive, but that will have to wait till another day : ) Well, I'll still grab my camera. Temperature is -6C, windchill -8C, this morning.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. As you can see from this photo, taken at the outlet at Frank Lake where there was a bit of open water, it was cold but beautiful. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my photos are rather grainy (or just too blurred to post). The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful.
After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls.
"Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open.
Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min.
Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av.
Canada Goose-80
Gadwall-1 m
Green-winged Teal-1 f.
Lesser Scaup-1 m.
Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place..
Killdeer -3
Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA
Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard).
Snowy Owl-2
Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA.
Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA
Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L
European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26.
American Tree Sparrow- 12
Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog).
Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA
House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA
Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1).
Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake
Deer sp.-3
Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr."
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:30 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...
I now need to get myself ready for having to go out into a winter wonderland today, for a volunteer shift. It snowed last night, so I have a few inches of the white stuff to clear off my vehicle. If truth were known, I think I would prefer to grab my camera and go for a walk or a short drive, but that will have to wait till another day : ) Well, I'll still grab my camera. Temperature is -6C, windchill -8C, this morning.
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
what a wonderful list of birds. do you still partake in this?
Sign-in to write a comment.