Yesterday's summer hail
Juvenile Swainson's Hawk
Osprey take-off
Wind-blown Osprey
Above the tree line
A view from Mt. Shark
Mt. Buller, Buller Pond, Kananaskis
A gathering of female Bighorn Sheep
Peninsular, Lower Kananaskis Lake
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Looking towards top of Plateau Mountain
Glorious colours of fall
Larch in fall colour
Distant Larch trees in their fall colour
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
Fall colours at Silver Springs Botanical Gardens
Chipping Sparrow / Spizella passerina
A colourful walk through the woods
Osprey on the hunt
Two winters ago
Time for an afternoon nap
Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis
The sparkle of winter
A lone Larch in fall colour
Before the snow
Winter in Kananaskis
Kananaskis - a winter wonderland
Rose-breasted Grosbeak male / Pheucticus ludovicia…
Evening Grosbeak male
Common Raven in the sun
One of a pair
A patch of blue
A white world
Dazzling sunlight on distant peaks
When the land turns white
Trudging through the snow
Happy New Year, everyone!
Winter beauty
Clark's Nutcracker / Nucifraga columbiana
Kananaskis, through the windshield
Cedar Waxwing / Bombycilla cedrorum
Dandelions - of course : )
One of a pair
A day in the mountains
Well camouflaged, except for those eyes
Yesterday's treat - a Great Gray Owl
Clark's Nutcracker
Avenue of trees at Baker Park
Little cabin in the woods
White-winged Crossbill / Loxia leucoptera
November in Weaselhead
White-winged Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Changing from green to white
White-winged Crossbill / Loxia leucoptera
Fence line in the fall
Foothills and distant mountains
Red Rock (Canyon) Parkway, Waterton Lakes National…
Three days in Waterton Lakes National Park
Puffed up for warmth
Signs of spring
Adventurous little owlet
Driving in a winter wonderland
Mountain splendour
Sunshine on a mighty peak
Gently falling snow
A good stretch of the legs and wing
From shadow to light
Sunlit peaks
Sunbathed mountain slopes
A place of peace and beauty
Happy New Year, everyone!
Light and darkness
Way, way up
Hybrid Yellow-rumped Warbler
Taken on a lovely spring day, ha
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140 visits
White-crowned Sparrow / Zonotrichia leucophrys
On 14 May 2016, I went on a morning walk with birding friends. We met at the Boat Launch in Fish Creek Park and walked in the Sikome and Lafarge Meadows areas. This included checking on the usual Great Horned Owl family - all four members were way up high in the trees, more or less hidden from view.
On the return walk, I happened to be walking at the back of the group. I heard a bird that caught my attention and when I stopped to look, I found this little White-crowned Sparrow sitting deep within the low branches of a coniferous tree.
"White-crowned Sparrows appear each winter over much of North America to grace our gardens and favorite trails (they live in parts of the West year-round). The smart black-and-white head, pale beak, and crisp gray breast combine for a dashing look – and make it one of the surest sparrow identifications in North America. Watch for flocks of these sparrows scurrying through brushy borders and overgrown fields, or coax them into the open with backyard feeders. As spring approaches, listen out for this bird’s thin, sweet whistle." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/id
"this species of Sparrow is the most studied Sparrow in North America. It has given science tremendous insight on physiology and geographic variation in song dialects" From Birds of Alberta by Fisher and Acorn.
After this walk, I drove a short distance to see a different family of Great Horned Owls, presumably the same pair of adults that we had seen last year, nesting near the Bow Valley Ranch. Amazingly, this pair had four - yes, four! - owlets this time. Somewhat better views than of the first family, at least for the short time I was there.
Bird list from the leader of our morning walk, Melanie S.:
Fish Creek PP--Boat Launch, Calgary, Alberta, CA
14-May-2016 9:00 AM - 12:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.5 kilometer(s)
Comments: 10 to 15 deg C. Sunny. Nature Calgary field trip, leader Melanie Seneviratne.
46 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 24
Gadwall 8
American Wigeon 10
Mallard 22
Blue-winged Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 1
Canvasback 1
Redhead 7
Lesser Scaup 6
Common Goldeneye 2
Common Merganser 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
American White Pelican 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Osprey 4
Northern Goshawk 1 Flew over car park as we were leaving.
Swainson's Hawk 4
American Coot 4
Spotted Sandpiper 4
Wilson's Snipe 1
Franklin's Gull 3
California Gull 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 2
Great Horned Owl 4 2 adult 2 juveniles
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Black-billed Magpie 2
American Crow 2
Common Raven 5
Tree Swallow 250
Barn Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 20
Black-capped Chickadee 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 12
European Starling 10
Clay-colored Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Yellow-headed Blackbird 6
Brewer's Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
On the return walk, I happened to be walking at the back of the group. I heard a bird that caught my attention and when I stopped to look, I found this little White-crowned Sparrow sitting deep within the low branches of a coniferous tree.
"White-crowned Sparrows appear each winter over much of North America to grace our gardens and favorite trails (they live in parts of the West year-round). The smart black-and-white head, pale beak, and crisp gray breast combine for a dashing look – and make it one of the surest sparrow identifications in North America. Watch for flocks of these sparrows scurrying through brushy borders and overgrown fields, or coax them into the open with backyard feeders. As spring approaches, listen out for this bird’s thin, sweet whistle." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/id
"this species of Sparrow is the most studied Sparrow in North America. It has given science tremendous insight on physiology and geographic variation in song dialects" From Birds of Alberta by Fisher and Acorn.
After this walk, I drove a short distance to see a different family of Great Horned Owls, presumably the same pair of adults that we had seen last year, nesting near the Bow Valley Ranch. Amazingly, this pair had four - yes, four! - owlets this time. Somewhat better views than of the first family, at least for the short time I was there.
Bird list from the leader of our morning walk, Melanie S.:
Fish Creek PP--Boat Launch, Calgary, Alberta, CA
14-May-2016 9:00 AM - 12:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.5 kilometer(s)
Comments: 10 to 15 deg C. Sunny. Nature Calgary field trip, leader Melanie Seneviratne.
46 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 24
Gadwall 8
American Wigeon 10
Mallard 22
Blue-winged Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 1
Canvasback 1
Redhead 7
Lesser Scaup 6
Common Goldeneye 2
Common Merganser 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
American White Pelican 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Osprey 4
Northern Goshawk 1 Flew over car park as we were leaving.
Swainson's Hawk 4
American Coot 4
Spotted Sandpiper 4
Wilson's Snipe 1
Franklin's Gull 3
California Gull 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 2
Great Horned Owl 4 2 adult 2 juveniles
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Black-billed Magpie 2
American Crow 2
Common Raven 5
Tree Swallow 250
Barn Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 20
Black-capped Chickadee 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 12
European Starling 10
Clay-colored Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Yellow-headed Blackbird 6
Brewer's Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
ROL/Photo, Yves Saulnier have particularly liked this photo
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