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
Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis
Time for an afternoon nap
Two winters ago
Osprey on the hunt
A colourful walk through the woods
Chipping Sparrow / Spizella passerina
Fall colours at Silver Springs Botanical Gardens
Peninsular area, Lower Kananaskis Lake
Distant Larch trees in their fall colour
Larch in fall colour
Glorious colours of fall
Looking towards top of Plateau Mountain
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy of Canada
Bunchberry Meadows, Nature Conservancy
Peninsular, Lower Kananaskis Lake
A gathering of female Bighorn Sheep
Mt. Buller, Buller Pond, Kananaskis
A view from Mt. Shark
Above the tree line
Wind-blown Osprey
Osprey take-off
Juvenile Swainson's Hawk
Yesterday's summer hail
White-crowned Sparrow / Zonotrichia leucophrys
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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The sparkle of winter
This photo was taken on 29 November 2016, on the last of three recent trips to Kananaskis, to look for Whte-tailed Ptarmigan. I was so very fortunate to go out with different friends on two other days, on 22 and 23 November 2016, and lucky enough to see these birds all three times. I didn't have to trudge through snow on the first two trips, but was up to my knees in the white stuff for part of the third visit. The snow looked beautiful in the sunshine, so I took this quick shot of a fairly young little tree surrounded by sparkling snow.
It was just so exciting to see the Ptarmigan - a bird that had been at the top or near the top of my mental Wish List for several years. As you can imagine, spotting a white bird against a snowy background from a great distance is pretty well impossible, especially if they are in the shade As photographers know, shooting white on white is never easy.
These birds tend to walk around in just a small area for a while, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process and then rest again. As you can imagine, a turn of the head so that a bird is looking away from you, all that remains is something that looks like one of the many lumps of snow everywhere.
"The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id
"The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan
It was just so exciting to see the Ptarmigan - a bird that had been at the top or near the top of my mental Wish List for several years. As you can imagine, spotting a white bird against a snowy background from a great distance is pretty well impossible, especially if they are in the shade As photographers know, shooting white on white is never easy.
These birds tend to walk around in just a small area for a while, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process and then rest again. As you can imagine, a turn of the head so that a bird is looking away from you, all that remains is something that looks like one of the many lumps of snow everywhere.
"The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id
"The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan
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