A prairie song
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Lighting up the storm clouds
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Barn Swallow
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American Coot interactive display
Is this what I think it is? Yes, a Ferruginous Ha…
Marbled Godwit / Limosa fedoa
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Once a family home
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Juvenile Horned Lark
Roadside wild sunflowers
Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Weathered and patched
Swainson's Hawk in flight
At Mossleigh grain elevators
Storm clouds over Canola
Mossleigh grain elevators
Helmeted Guineafowl / Numida meleagris
Tea, anyone?
A use for old shoes
Across the river
The colours of fall
Trying to impress the females
Still standing
Willet / Tringa semipalmata
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in every direction
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Black-necked Stilt
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Cinnamon Teal pair
Western Meadowlark
Caution - deep water
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Old barn in winter
Into the sun at Frank Lake
Weathered and patched
Northern Shrike / Lanius excubitor
Tangled
Looking across Frank Lake
Mural in Blackie, Alberta
Ice patterns
Bubbles at Frank Lake
The return of the Swans
Passing the time
Fence post with a difference
Blackie Grain Terminal, Alberta
Built with love
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From days gone by
One of my favourite barns
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Water patterns in matching colours
My plan two days ago, on 8 May 2016, was to join friends for an afternoon walk at Carburn Park. Closer to the time, I knew I would never make it in time and decided at the last minute that I would instead go for a short drive SE of the city. I knew that I was far more likely to see a few closer birds and get some photo opportunities if I went SE.
I stayed around Frank Lake for most of the time. When I checked the weather forecast before I left, I knew that there was a possibity of rain later on. I totally forgot to check how windy it was going to be, and ended up barely being able to hold my camera steady enough to try and get a few shots. The strong wind was causing mini waves both on the lake itself and also on the very small slough I stopped at, creating a few neat water patterns.
Shorebirds included the always beautiful American Avocet and Black-necked Stilts and a couple of different shorebirds. I don't see shorebirds very often and I am not good at IDs for them. A pair of Killdeer were making a lot of noise, as usual. Saw several kinds of ducks, but many of them were too far to get any photos worth keeping. I was happy to see a pair of Canvasbacks and several Ruddy Ducks. The male Ruddy Ducks were busy trying to impress the females - these small guys are so funny to watch, especially during the breeding season, as they seem to have lots of character and a real attitude. The males have quite a stunning, chestnut coloured body and sky-blue bill.
Did you know the following? I don't think I knew until last year! "The part of a bird's leg between what appears to be a backward-facing 'knee' and what appears to be an 'ankle' is called the tarsus. In fact the bird's true knee is always hidden under the feathers, and the apparent 'knee' (the 'tarsal joint') is the ankle and heel. Therefore the tarsus is really the part of the foot between the heel and the ball, so that a bird stands on its toes."
"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
After Frank Lake, I called in at a slough that used to be so good for shorebirds, only to find that there was not a drop of water left. The whole area was white ground (salt?). So disappointing, as last year I had White-faced Ibis walking just 8 or 10 feet from my car, and I had been longing to go back again this spring! Yesterday, I didn't see any Ibis at all, but someone I was talking to had seen one earlier.
There were so many Yellow-headed Blackbirds - everywhere! They were in quite large groups, flying from fields over the road ahead of me, in fields amongst the stubble, and at one location they were feeding on the ground at the feet of cows.
Just as I was leaving the area to start my drive home, the rain arrived. Greatly needed, though we need a whole lot of precipitation to do any good. Alberta is a tinder box, ready to go up in smoke. In fact, yesterday, I saw on the News that there was a small wildfire in Edmonton.
I stayed around Frank Lake for most of the time. When I checked the weather forecast before I left, I knew that there was a possibity of rain later on. I totally forgot to check how windy it was going to be, and ended up barely being able to hold my camera steady enough to try and get a few shots. The strong wind was causing mini waves both on the lake itself and also on the very small slough I stopped at, creating a few neat water patterns.
Shorebirds included the always beautiful American Avocet and Black-necked Stilts and a couple of different shorebirds. I don't see shorebirds very often and I am not good at IDs for them. A pair of Killdeer were making a lot of noise, as usual. Saw several kinds of ducks, but many of them were too far to get any photos worth keeping. I was happy to see a pair of Canvasbacks and several Ruddy Ducks. The male Ruddy Ducks were busy trying to impress the females - these small guys are so funny to watch, especially during the breeding season, as they seem to have lots of character and a real attitude. The males have quite a stunning, chestnut coloured body and sky-blue bill.
Did you know the following? I don't think I knew until last year! "The part of a bird's leg between what appears to be a backward-facing 'knee' and what appears to be an 'ankle' is called the tarsus. In fact the bird's true knee is always hidden under the feathers, and the apparent 'knee' (the 'tarsal joint') is the ankle and heel. Therefore the tarsus is really the part of the foot between the heel and the ball, so that a bird stands on its toes."
"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
After Frank Lake, I called in at a slough that used to be so good for shorebirds, only to find that there was not a drop of water left. The whole area was white ground (salt?). So disappointing, as last year I had White-faced Ibis walking just 8 or 10 feet from my car, and I had been longing to go back again this spring! Yesterday, I didn't see any Ibis at all, but someone I was talking to had seen one earlier.
There were so many Yellow-headed Blackbirds - everywhere! They were in quite large groups, flying from fields over the road ahead of me, in fields amongst the stubble, and at one location they were feeding on the ground at the feet of cows.
Just as I was leaving the area to start my drive home, the rain arrived. Greatly needed, though we need a whole lot of precipitation to do any good. Alberta is a tinder box, ready to go up in smoke. In fact, yesterday, I saw on the News that there was a small wildfire in Edmonton.
Claudine Gaulier-Denis has particularly liked this photo
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