Fish Creek Park New Year's Day Bird Count
A road less travelled
Golden Eagle along the fenceline
In the bleak midwinter
Foothills and mountains
Desolate
Little red barn on the prairie
White beauty
A winter day in southern Alberta
Now THIS is winter!
Modern charm
Snow, snow and more snow
A winter walk
Emerald Lake
Emerald Lake, British Columbia, Canada
The old and the new
Winter on the prairies
The beauty of Lake Louise
A fence without an owl
Rent a canoe at Emerald Lake
Taking the quieter road
A friendly greeting
When the clouds roll in
Fancy silo with stairs
When winter really was winter
Old barn with a different style
Snowy Owl - just close enough
A fine old barn
Narrow strip of light
Little church in the valley
McDougall Memorial United Church
A cluster of red barns
Sunlight on distant peaks
And they call this winter (in Alberta)?
McDougall Memorial United Church
Remembering the snow
The Famous Five from a distance
Mountain view on an owl-less day
A sky filled with clouds
Rolling hills and distant peaks
Ice patterns
Looking across Frank Lake
Soothing simplicity
A touch of Fireweed
Wooden bridge at Weaselhead
Into the sun at Frank Lake
William J. Bagnall Wilderness Park
Another view at William J Bagnall Wildlife Park
Clouds, reflected
A day in the mountains
Still standing
Dandelions - of course : )
McDougall Memorial United Church
Along a country back road
Meadow Creek area, Benchlands
Hike on Erik Butters' beautiful land
One of my favourite views
Middle Lake, Bow Valley Provincial Park
And then there were only THREE!
Ram's Horn Snail shell
Escape of the Black-crowned Night Heron
This old house
Lighting up the storm clouds
Remnant of the old days
Downtown Calgary bathed in sunrise pink
With a view of the mountains and the prairies
The beautiful Badlands of Alberta
Sunrise start to a birding day in Calgary
A sunrise to start our birding day
A frosty prairie view
Through the frost to the bird blind
A frosty view from Frank Lake blind
So far away, but better than nothing
Sunlight on the low cloud
Morning awakes
Travelling the Cobble Flats road
November in Weaselhead
Rockyview General Hospital, reflected
Yesterday's walk along the Bow River
The whites and blues of winter
Yesterday's adventure
Before the land turned white
Fall reflections at Carburn Park
Marsland Basin
Six old granaries
How I love Alberta!
We ignored the warning : )
Sparkles on Forgetmenot Pond
Deciduous yellow
Colonel Walker House, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Along the Irrigation Canal
A narrow strip of light
Fence line in the fall
Peace in the Jumpingpound area
CL Ranches, Alberta
Along the Bow River in fall
Jazzed-up silos
Maskinonge Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
The joy of peace and quiet
Forgetmenot Pond
Farmland of the Alberta foothills
Sunflowers and a red barn
Greater White-fronted Geese, Marsland Basin
Autumn's glory
A double dose of clouds
Our foothills in Impressive Art
Dark clouds rolling in, yesterday
A view at Marsland Basin
Canyon Church Camp, Waterton Lakes National Park
View looking west towards the Rockies
Time to relax
Down by the pond
Too hard to resist
Limber Pine on Timber Ridge
A view from Timber Ridge Conservation Area
Exploring Timber Ridge, Porcupine Hills
Maclean Pond, Kananaskis
Cameron Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
Looking towards our beautiful mountains
Foothills and distant mountains
Cameron Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
Beautiful Waterton Lakes National Park
Emerald Lake, British Columbia
Emerald Lake - a little gem of the Rockies
Waterton town, from Bertha Lake Trail
See also...
Sheep River Christmas Bird Counts, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Sheep River Christmas Bird Counts, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
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Winter colours
Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Let's hope that the coming year will be a much happier, healthier and definitely more peaceful year than this one has been. I find it hard to believe that 3 January 2016 will be the first anniversary since my daughter died. I found Christmas extremely difficult to get through, and I know the next few days will be very hard, too. Thankfully, I have another Bird Count with friends on 3 January, which will help me get though that day. Also, I have a half day count in the city tomorrow morning, followed by a get-together of birders for coffee/lunch. If you are out and drinking, please don't drive!
This is the kind of scenery we spent yesterday driving in. We didn't actually visit the distant hills, but still had rolling hills for our part of the count. I love the blues, browns and whites of the winter season. I know some people change the blues to white in post-processing, but the reality is that my photo shows the real colours that are seen.
Judging by this photo, you might think that it was another day of not being able to see any birds close enough to photograph, but in fact it was a great day yesterday : ) Great, but COLD, starting off at -22C warming to a balmy -3C later in the day.
Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at various farms. I wasn't sure just where this count covered, as I believe I have only ever done it once before, a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again! Many of the roads were familiar to me and a few were new.
Our day started and ended with a Moose, which was pretty amazing. Not the greatest views for photographs, but I did manage to get a couple of OK ones.
Another find was a group of Wild Turkeys that were at a location where they had been seen before. This time, we drove down the hill to the farm buildings and were able to see these spectacular birds quite well. All were females, but the females are still stunning, with their iridescent plumage.
A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us used to go there on botany trips and he always had the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest. Hadn't been back there the last two or three years and I really missed our old botany outings. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there, and he invited us in for coffee and pastries. This was so much appreciated on a day of birding! Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!!
Thanks so much, Anne B, for driving two of us - without you, I would not have been able to go! Our time spent in a snow-filled ditch simply added to the adventurous feeling of the day, lol! Just shows how easy it is to get stuck while out when there is snow on the ground. The road had been snow-ploughed, but the edge looked like it was solid ground, not part of a ditch. Thankfully, a shovel was available and with the help of the rest of the group pushing from the front of the car, we made it back on to firm ground!
I will add our leader's final species list for the day:
SHEEP RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, 0850-1500, Tue,30Dec2015. Centre of Circle, SW of Millarville,AB. Clear, sunny, calm, -22 to -03°C. 30 cm snow on ground. Most waterbodies frozen over.
Total Party kms by Car - 80; Total Party kms by foot – 1km.
Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs
Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:10 min.
Wild Turkey-9, all f.
Downy Woodpecker-6.
Hairy Woodpecker-4
Gray Jay-3
Blue Jay-6
Black-billed Magpie-14
Common Raven-33
Black-capped Chickadee- 118
Mountain Chickadee-32
Boreal Chickadee-4
Red-breasted Nuthatch-14
White-breasted Nuthatch-5
Dark-eyed Junco-2
Pine Grosbeak-22
White-winged Crossbill-36
Common Redpoll-14
Pine Siskin-1
RedSquirrel-2
vole sp.-1
Mule Deer-3
White-tailed Deer-7
Deer sp.-2
Moose-2
This is the kind of scenery we spent yesterday driving in. We didn't actually visit the distant hills, but still had rolling hills for our part of the count. I love the blues, browns and whites of the winter season. I know some people change the blues to white in post-processing, but the reality is that my photo shows the real colours that are seen.
Judging by this photo, you might think that it was another day of not being able to see any birds close enough to photograph, but in fact it was a great day yesterday : ) Great, but COLD, starting off at -22C warming to a balmy -3C later in the day.
Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at various farms. I wasn't sure just where this count covered, as I believe I have only ever done it once before, a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again! Many of the roads were familiar to me and a few were new.
Our day started and ended with a Moose, which was pretty amazing. Not the greatest views for photographs, but I did manage to get a couple of OK ones.
Another find was a group of Wild Turkeys that were at a location where they had been seen before. This time, we drove down the hill to the farm buildings and were able to see these spectacular birds quite well. All were females, but the females are still stunning, with their iridescent plumage.
A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us used to go there on botany trips and he always had the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest. Hadn't been back there the last two or three years and I really missed our old botany outings. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there, and he invited us in for coffee and pastries. This was so much appreciated on a day of birding! Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!!
Thanks so much, Anne B, for driving two of us - without you, I would not have been able to go! Our time spent in a snow-filled ditch simply added to the adventurous feeling of the day, lol! Just shows how easy it is to get stuck while out when there is snow on the ground. The road had been snow-ploughed, but the edge looked like it was solid ground, not part of a ditch. Thankfully, a shovel was available and with the help of the rest of the group pushing from the front of the car, we made it back on to firm ground!
I will add our leader's final species list for the day:
SHEEP RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, 0850-1500, Tue,30Dec2015. Centre of Circle, SW of Millarville,AB. Clear, sunny, calm, -22 to -03°C. 30 cm snow on ground. Most waterbodies frozen over.
Total Party kms by Car - 80; Total Party kms by foot – 1km.
Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs
Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:10 min.
Wild Turkey-9, all f.
Downy Woodpecker-6.
Hairy Woodpecker-4
Gray Jay-3
Blue Jay-6
Black-billed Magpie-14
Common Raven-33
Black-capped Chickadee- 118
Mountain Chickadee-32
Boreal Chickadee-4
Red-breasted Nuthatch-14
White-breasted Nuthatch-5
Dark-eyed Junco-2
Pine Grosbeak-22
White-winged Crossbill-36
Common Redpoll-14
Pine Siskin-1
RedSquirrel-2
vole sp.-1
Mule Deer-3
White-tailed Deer-7
Deer sp.-2
Moose-2
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