A touch of frost
A road less travelled
Golden Eagle along the fenceline
In the bleak midwinter
Outlined in frost
The donkeys with reflector eyes
Christmas remnants
Fenced in
A winter day in southern Alberta
Home of the Snowshoe Hare
The best colour to see in winter
A fence without an owl
Short-eared Owl
Taking the quieter road
Time for an old barn again
'Superman, where are you now?'
A friendly greeting
Old barn with a different style
Four more months to wait
Narrow strip of light
A view through the bushes
Little church in the valley
A cluster of red barns
And they call this winter (in Alberta)?
A snack for his babies
Natural beauty
03 Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Just a splash of colour
A sky filled with clouds
Mountain Bluebirds have no blue pigment
A white barn from yesterday
Mountain Bluebird
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in every direction
Still standing
Wilson's Snipe, seen from afar
Dandelions - of course : )
McDougall Memorial United Church
01 Spic and span
The old barn at the Ellis Bird Farm
Entrance to the Ellis Bird Farm
Female Mountain Bluebird / Sialia currucoides
Along a country back road
I think he caught a beautiful Tiger Moth : )
Such good parents
Female Bobolink / Dolichonyx oryzivorus
Beautiful wings of a female Mountain Bluebird
My first Bald Eagle on a fence post
This old house
Bright and cheery in its old age
Collecting food for her babies
A well-decorated fence
Eastern Kingbird
Nest-building Dad
Mt Lorette Ponds, Kananaskis
Swainson's Hawk on an early morning hunt
A bright splash of blue in August
McDougall Memorial United Church
The beauty of fall
02 Two young Moose
01 Red-winged Blackbird - female or juvenile
Clematis after the rain
One spectacular fall day
Old barn at the Ellis Bird Farm
So far away, but better than nothing
Pine Grosbeak male / Pinicola enucleator
Fence line in the fall
CL Ranches, Alberta
Dark-eyed Junco / Junco hyemalis
All decked out
Petunias
Bluebird of happiness
Mountain Bluebird female
A snack that is sure to tickle
American Goldfinch female with Sunflower seed
A lovely splash of colour
Eastern Kingbird
One of three
Changes by new owners in "The Famous Five" field
Little red barn on Mother's Day
Vibrant colour of spring
Simple but bright
Strong winds on the prairies
Red barn in a field of gold
A favourite tree
Off limits
Delicate damselfly
Wrinkled sky
Gently falling snow
Red barn on a sunny day
Horse on the prairie
The wonder of hoar frost
A prairie view
Do you see what I see? Look very closely at the w…
Made to feel welcome
Red
The prairies in winter
Aged beauty
Driving in a winter wonderland
Frosty fence and fields
Three little kittens
A nice old barn
Three little birders of the wrong kind
A quick peek through the fence
Late fall on the prairies
A barn with a difference
Old barn and sunflower shed
A beautiful country barn
At the end of the path
McDougall Church on a sunny day
Two of a kind!
Avian beauty
A Snipe from last year
Dandelion bokeh
Brewer's Blackbird with food for his babies
Swainson's Hawk on a rainy day
Sharing her catch
Superman's barn
Fog is not good for birding
Yay, Superman!
Pretty little lady
Winter sunrise.jpg
Some white patches have eyes : )
Is it a Snowy? ... no, it isn't ... yes, it is!
When winter is beautiful
Eastern Kingbird with summer bokeh
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A frosty view from Frank Lake blind
Just like a year ago (2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Or is this kind of frost called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them.
cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th...
On this day, 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, just over 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 or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at the outlet and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful. This photo was taken when we walked to the blind, looking out over the frosty landscape.
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 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 and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way home.
"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 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near 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 year-round, 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.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck 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. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. 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...
cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th...
On this day, 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, just over 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 or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at the outlet and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful. This photo was taken when we walked to the blind, looking out over the frosty landscape.
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 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 and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way home.
"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 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near 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 year-round, 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.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck 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. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. 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...
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