Canada Goose
Finely iridescent
Red-necked Grebe
American Coot interactive display
Leisurely swim
Feather finery of a female Mallard
Posing nicely
Muskrat, SW Calgary
Redhead male
Up close and personal
Common Grackle / Quiscalus quiscula
Redhead male / Aythya americana
Red-necked Grebe / Podiceps grisegena
Hey, lady, I said NO photos!
Red-winged Blackbird male
Frank Lake bird blind
American Coot
Red-winged Blackbird male
American Coot and 'cootlings'
Slough near Eagle Lake
Maskinonge Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
Juvenile American Coot
Our precious Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta…
Magpies, Wood Ducks and a (Greater?) Yellowlegs
Couple of Coots / Fulica americana
American Coot
American Coot
Day 2, a rare sighting for Ontario - a common bird…
Day 2, a wetland after Rondeau PP
Day 3, ENDANGERED Whooping Cranes / Grus americana…
Yellow-headed Blackbird / Xanthocephalus xanthocep…
Yellow-headed Blackbird / Xanthocephalus xanthocep…
Common Grackle after a bath
Lesser Scaup male / Aythya affinis
Lesser Scaup male / Aythya affinis
Lesser Scaup male / Aythya affinis
Lesser Scaup male / Aythya affinis
Day 8, Santa Ana NWR, Texas
Storm clouds moving in
Fine feathers of a female Mallard
Baby Coot
Being a good mother
Lesser Scaup
Mallard female
Long-billed Dowitchers / Limnodromus scolopaceus
Black-necked Stilt
Marsland Basin
Up close and personal
Feeding time excitement
Pretty lady
The last of the fall colour
Ring-necked Duck
Tundra Swans
Peace in the Jumpingpound area
Maskinonge Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park
Greater White-fronted Geese, Marsland Basin
A double dose of clouds
Lesser Scaup
Clouds over Weed Lake
Sandhill Cranes, Waterton
Imagine waking up to this each morning
Peace and late evening sun
Yellow-headed Blackbird female
Ten little bundles of joy
Moose in the late evening sun
Having fun with its reflection
When black isn't really black
Snack time for baby Coot
Showing off his colours
American Avocet
Redhead beauty
Finally .... little goslings
Red-necked Grebe & reflection
Red-necked Grebe pair
Lovely lady
A time to reflect
Caragana - invasive beauty
Feed me
Red-necked Grebe
Lesser Scaup male
Common Grackle / Quiscalus quiscula
The elegant American Avocet
American Avocet
American Coot
Red barn in a beautiful setting
Black Tern
Black Tern
When the mountains turn pink
What big feet you have
Baby Coots are so cute
A beautiful display of Elephant's Head
Black Tern on fence post
A two-legged Wilson's Snipe : )
Wilson's Snipe
The "rusty farm gate" bird
A cooperative Coot
Swirls of colour
American Coot
Redhead
Buzzed by a Red-winged Blackbird
The foot of a Coot
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169 visits
Black-necked Stilt
Four days ago, on 24 April 2016, I was out for the day, SE of Calgary around Frank Lake. Finally, after so much glorious, summer-like spring weather, the weather changed for the worse and we had a cool (needed gloves), very overcast day, with light drizzle some of the time. Not good at all for taking photos. We also had a fair bit of desperately needed rain that night. I was especially disappointed with the shots I took of a beautiful Western Meadowlark. Usually, they fly even when they see you in the far distance, but this beauty let me slowly walk quite close to get a number of (very grainy) photos. The quality is awful, but I don't get a chance to photograph Meadowlarks very often.
Eight friends and I had a great day, despite the weather. This is one of my favourite areas amd I just haven't been getting time to drive there myself for quite a long time. We started off at the main gate and drove to the blind/hide area, stopping half way to search for very distant birds. While everyone else had their binoculars pointed over the water, I was slowly walking towards the Meadowlark, who was singing its beautiful song. You can hear them and they sound so close, but their song seems to carry a long way. It kept flying away but each time returned to the same post. I was amazed and delighted that this one let me get so close. If the sun had been shining, it would have been perfect!
As usual when we go to Frank Lake, almost all the birds are very distant and pretty impossible to photograph. I did catch a male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a sign - the females have not yet returned here. The other amazing thing was when we had walked from the Frank Lake bird blind over to the water in the other direction, a flock of about 50 Tree Swallows were flying to and from a low tree/shrub, catching the many insects while in flight. Again, while everyone was searching over the water, I gradually made my way to within just a few feet of the bush. Quite a feeling to have so many Tree Swallows circling all the way around you. I have never ever seen so many of them acting like this, so it was a neat experience. Also saw several American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts that were closer.
"A striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/id
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-necked_stilt
From this main area, we called in at the usual three other places around the lake. Two were rough roads that led to Basin 2 from the east and the west, and the third was the Ducks Unlimited location at the far southern edge of the lake, at Basin 3.
Thanks so much for a great day, Tony, and for the ride all day. I always look forward to the Frank Lake trips.
I will add our leader, Tony Timmons' list of species seen, adding that only 6 people walked as far as the Hudsonian Godwits - I was not one of them.
"Nine people were on the trip today to Frank Lake. Expected species were present in pretty fair numbers, with the best sighting being 15 Hudsonian Godwits at Basin 3.
A flock of 50 Tree Swallows hacking insects and using a small bush for a perch, made for an interesting scene.
We had 56 species for the trip
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
White-faced Ibis (1 seen by Dan P.)
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Green-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Ruddy Duck
Northern Harrier
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Gray Partridge
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Hudsonian Godwit
Wilson's Snipe
Franklin's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
California Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Sparrow"
Eight friends and I had a great day, despite the weather. This is one of my favourite areas amd I just haven't been getting time to drive there myself for quite a long time. We started off at the main gate and drove to the blind/hide area, stopping half way to search for very distant birds. While everyone else had their binoculars pointed over the water, I was slowly walking towards the Meadowlark, who was singing its beautiful song. You can hear them and they sound so close, but their song seems to carry a long way. It kept flying away but each time returned to the same post. I was amazed and delighted that this one let me get so close. If the sun had been shining, it would have been perfect!
As usual when we go to Frank Lake, almost all the birds are very distant and pretty impossible to photograph. I did catch a male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a sign - the females have not yet returned here. The other amazing thing was when we had walked from the Frank Lake bird blind over to the water in the other direction, a flock of about 50 Tree Swallows were flying to and from a low tree/shrub, catching the many insects while in flight. Again, while everyone was searching over the water, I gradually made my way to within just a few feet of the bush. Quite a feeling to have so many Tree Swallows circling all the way around you. I have never ever seen so many of them acting like this, so it was a neat experience. Also saw several American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts that were closer.
"A striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/id
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-necked_stilt
From this main area, we called in at the usual three other places around the lake. Two were rough roads that led to Basin 2 from the east and the west, and the third was the Ducks Unlimited location at the far southern edge of the lake, at Basin 3.
Thanks so much for a great day, Tony, and for the ride all day. I always look forward to the Frank Lake trips.
I will add our leader, Tony Timmons' list of species seen, adding that only 6 people walked as far as the Hudsonian Godwits - I was not one of them.
"Nine people were on the trip today to Frank Lake. Expected species were present in pretty fair numbers, with the best sighting being 15 Hudsonian Godwits at Basin 3.
A flock of 50 Tree Swallows hacking insects and using a small bush for a perch, made for an interesting scene.
We had 56 species for the trip
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
White-faced Ibis (1 seen by Dan P.)
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Green-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Ruddy Duck
Northern Harrier
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Gray Partridge
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Hudsonian Godwit
Wilson's Snipe
Franklin's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
California Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Marsh Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
House Sparrow"
ROL/Photo, Claudine Gaulier-Denis have particularly liked this photo
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