Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Steep curve
02 Hidden in the clouds
Before the snow came
Winter in the Nanton, Alberta, area
Looking West
Hunting for the S
Three Sides
Rural decay
Old and the new
Down...
THE PINK FLOYD EXHIBITION
sun collander shadow DSC 2986
la mia città
Curve
Steeple Ashton - Brick Wall on a Bend
Courtfield Curve
Canal du Midi
Lines and a curve and a PIP
The Bend, 07.30, 23rd June
Victoria Road
chain reaction
Graceful Greylag
Apollo 11
Lazy landscape
An experimental recipe 20 7 2021
Approach Pattern
Lamp at the curve
grad slice x lots & pol coord
curvaceous
Lago Buenos Aires - Ruta 43
Hyperbole
Pass dal Güglia - Julierpass - 2284 m
Follow the fence line
Ready to trap an unwary insect
Curve
On the rooftop
Abstract with Arcs
Abstract with Net
Curve
i can't tell what's around that curve...
Curve
Through the Rocky Mountains
Snow slump
curve
curve
Blue Tail
Curving Holly Branch with Prickle-Less Leaves!
Line
Bendy blues
IMG 1064 curve III
IMG 4233 curve [colour]
IMG 4223 curve
Hooked
Curve
Cranes or Maybe Herons
The ditch, Fort Macon
Crossing the field
at sunset .. a swan ..
Clinton Trail
Pods
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
158 visits
Passing the time
Two days ago, while my birding friends had their binoculars and scope focused on the very distant birds at this location at Frank Lake, my eyes began to wander. Couldn't resist a rather fancy fence post (photo posted yesterday) and barbed wire : ) Also, just in case anyone is getting fed up of seeing owl photos on my photostream, I thought I would wait a day before posted another one, lol!
On 19 March 2016, I was on a birding day trip with a group of friends, going SE of Calgary, E of High River. Though the day started off rather cold, it gradually warmed up and was a beautiful day to be out in nature.
I will add our leader's report that he sent into eBird, adding that I did not see all of the sightings, as the birds were much too far away. As always, my camera lens was turned to various other things, too. Thanks so much, as always, Andrew, for a most enjoyable day! Thanks, too, Anne, for driving - I really appreciated the ride!
"We had 16 participants when we left Calgary on a sunny but frosty morning.
We arrived at the main gate around 10:00 am and set off, in a chilly -5 deg C to walk down to the outfall and then around to the blind. The recent cold nights had refrozen some of the lake, but it is still mostly open water.
Most obvious were the thousands of Pintails and hundreds of swans (mostly Tundra today). We did see the overwintering (presumably) Song Sparrow near the outfall. About 60-80 California Gulls, no other gulls that we could identify.
We left and went to High River for lunch, stopping by the Sutherland Shelterbelt to acknowledge the resident Great Horned Owl.
After lunch we circled the lake on the usual roads and ended up at the Basin 2 West Bay. Several more swans and finally, the Eurasian Wigeon, spotted by Tony Timmons. By lunchtime the temperature had reached about 10 deg C and continued to rise reaching ~14 deg C and making a perfect Alberta Spring (almost) afternoon.
Leaving Frank Lake we stopped in at Blackie to find mostly Starlings, and a few Eurasian Collared Doves.
The list for Frank Lake and Blackie was:
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Frank Lake--NW lookout/blind
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 9:55 AM
(2): Sutherland's Shelterbelt (private property)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 12:30 PM
(3): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (Southeast Corner)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 2:15 PM
(4): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (West Bay)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 3:05 PM
(5): Blackie (hamlet)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 4:10 PM
650 Canada Goose -- (1),(3),(4)
4 Trumpeter Swan -- (1)
225 Tundra Swan -- (1),(4)
3 Gadwall -- (1)
2 Eurasian Wigeon -- (4)
60 American Wigeon -- (1),(4)
160 Mallard -- (1),(3),(4)
2 Northern Shoveler -- (4)
4550 Northern Pintail -- (1),(3),(4)
24 Canvasback -- (1),(4)
76 Redhead -- (1),(4)
5 Lesser Scaup -- (4)
150 Common Goldeneye -- (1),(4)
2 Gray Partridge -- (2)
1 Northern Harrier -- (4)
2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3)
5 Killdeer -- (1),(2)
80 California Gull -- (1)
6 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (3),(5)
4 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (5)
2 Great Horned Owl -- (2)
1 Merlin -- (5)
5 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2)
1 Common Raven -- (3)
3 Horned Lark -- (1)
51 European Starling -- (2),(5)
2 American Tree Sparrow -- (1)
1 Song Sparrow -- (1)
8 House Finch -- (5)
20 House Sparrow -- (2),(5)
From Blackie we stopped by Third Lake on the way back to Calgary. A huge number of birds there, somewhere between 4000 and 8000, generally somewhat distant. Mostly Pintails, but we also saw American Wigeon, Mallard, a few Canada Geese, and California Gulls.
Clearly Pintails are on the move right now."
Andrew Hart
After this long day out and then checking the upcoming weather forecast, yesterday, 20 March 2016, looked like it was going to be the only decent day of the coming week. So, my alarm clocks were all set ridiculously early, though I still left home a bit later than I had intended, and I took myself NW of the city again to see if I could see an owl. Just a handful of friends were there and we got a few moments of great views of one of the Great Grays. The rest of the time, I did see an owl fly off into the trees a couple of times, but the time was spent waiting and chatting with my friends. Patience .....
On 19 March 2016, I was on a birding day trip with a group of friends, going SE of Calgary, E of High River. Though the day started off rather cold, it gradually warmed up and was a beautiful day to be out in nature.
I will add our leader's report that he sent into eBird, adding that I did not see all of the sightings, as the birds were much too far away. As always, my camera lens was turned to various other things, too. Thanks so much, as always, Andrew, for a most enjoyable day! Thanks, too, Anne, for driving - I really appreciated the ride!
"We had 16 participants when we left Calgary on a sunny but frosty morning.
We arrived at the main gate around 10:00 am and set off, in a chilly -5 deg C to walk down to the outfall and then around to the blind. The recent cold nights had refrozen some of the lake, but it is still mostly open water.
Most obvious were the thousands of Pintails and hundreds of swans (mostly Tundra today). We did see the overwintering (presumably) Song Sparrow near the outfall. About 60-80 California Gulls, no other gulls that we could identify.
We left and went to High River for lunch, stopping by the Sutherland Shelterbelt to acknowledge the resident Great Horned Owl.
After lunch we circled the lake on the usual roads and ended up at the Basin 2 West Bay. Several more swans and finally, the Eurasian Wigeon, spotted by Tony Timmons. By lunchtime the temperature had reached about 10 deg C and continued to rise reaching ~14 deg C and making a perfect Alberta Spring (almost) afternoon.
Leaving Frank Lake we stopped in at Blackie to find mostly Starlings, and a few Eurasian Collared Doves.
The list for Frank Lake and Blackie was:
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Frank Lake--NW lookout/blind
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 9:55 AM
(2): Sutherland's Shelterbelt (private property)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 12:30 PM
(3): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (Southeast Corner)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 2:15 PM
(4): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (West Bay)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 3:05 PM
(5): Blackie (hamlet)
Date: Mar 19, 2016, 4:10 PM
650 Canada Goose -- (1),(3),(4)
4 Trumpeter Swan -- (1)
225 Tundra Swan -- (1),(4)
3 Gadwall -- (1)
2 Eurasian Wigeon -- (4)
60 American Wigeon -- (1),(4)
160 Mallard -- (1),(3),(4)
2 Northern Shoveler -- (4)
4550 Northern Pintail -- (1),(3),(4)
24 Canvasback -- (1),(4)
76 Redhead -- (1),(4)
5 Lesser Scaup -- (4)
150 Common Goldeneye -- (1),(4)
2 Gray Partridge -- (2)
1 Northern Harrier -- (4)
2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3)
5 Killdeer -- (1),(2)
80 California Gull -- (1)
6 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (3),(5)
4 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (5)
2 Great Horned Owl -- (2)
1 Merlin -- (5)
5 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2)
1 Common Raven -- (3)
3 Horned Lark -- (1)
51 European Starling -- (2),(5)
2 American Tree Sparrow -- (1)
1 Song Sparrow -- (1)
8 House Finch -- (5)
20 House Sparrow -- (2),(5)
From Blackie we stopped by Third Lake on the way back to Calgary. A huge number of birds there, somewhere between 4000 and 8000, generally somewhat distant. Mostly Pintails, but we also saw American Wigeon, Mallard, a few Canada Geese, and California Gulls.
Clearly Pintails are on the move right now."
Andrew Hart
After this long day out and then checking the upcoming weather forecast, yesterday, 20 March 2016, looked like it was going to be the only decent day of the coming week. So, my alarm clocks were all set ridiculously early, though I still left home a bit later than I had intended, and I took myself NW of the city again to see if I could see an owl. Just a handful of friends were there and we got a few moments of great views of one of the Great Grays. The rest of the time, I did see an owl fly off into the trees a couple of times, but the time was spent waiting and chatting with my friends. Patience .....
- 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
Sign-in to write a comment.