Weathered wood
Start of the storm
Before "winter" arrived
Swainson's Hawk juvenile
Canada Geese on ice at Pine Coulee Reservoir
Old house next to metal silo
Popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl, from January 2015
Christmas Market
Alpaca at the Christmas Market
Alberta foothills in the fall
Granary Road
Goat at the Petting Zoo
The new "Famous Five" at Granary Road
Old, see-through barn
The beauty of erosion
Another surprise on another gloomy day
Common Redpoll / Acanthis flammea
Down on the farm
It's the little guy/gal again
New "barn", Granary Road
A peaceful winter scene
Evening Grosbeaks, male and female
Black farm cat
Autumn in Alberta
Old-fashioned garden decoration
Pioneer Acres branding iron
A country scene
Northern Shrike
Walking in a winter wonderland
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Behind the tangled branches
White-tailed Ptarmigan camouflage
A patch of blue
A change from a world of white
A white world
Time to rest
Sculpture at Granary Road
A happy find
Wilson's Snipe
She can't see me
Standing at the edge of the storm
Memories of colour
Model Mamod Steam Tractor, Pioneer Acres
Aging Echinacea
Modern barn
House Sparrow at the Saskatoon Farm
Old country church
Old tractor at Pioneer Acres
Part of an abandoned mining camp
Dazzling sunlight on distant peaks
The fun times are over
Where countryside and civilization meet
Rural decay on the prairie
Once was wild
White Pheasant
Wild Turkey
The sweetest little thing
Bison/Buffalo
Handsome buck
Licorice Allsorts eyes
Colourful shed at the Cochrane Ecological Institut…
Blacksmith at work, Cochrane Ecological Institute
Wild Turkey at the Cochrane Ecological Institute
Distant ice patterns on the reservoir
Old weathered shed
Spider walking on snow
Morning sun over Pine Coulee Reservoir
Common Redpolls / Acanthis flammea
Lost, in Weaselhead
One of a pair
A beauty of a barn
Shadows
Old house on the prairie
Couple of Coots / Fulica americana
Lest we forget
In winter time
American Tree Sparrow / Spizelloides arborea
Yesterday's absolute treat - the size of your fist…
Beyond repair
At the Saskatoon Farm
The difference 10 days make
September flowers
Licking salt from the road
The red barn
The joys of an old farmyard
Dragonfly - Black Meadowhawk?
Old barns in late afternoon sun
Sweet White-tailed doe
Snow-capped berries
The ever-friendly Black-capped Chickadee
Hello, winter
The return of the ice pillars
And down(y) he flew
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
Pontiac and Massey Harris, rusting side by side
Storm clouds near the city
In fairly good condition
Learning from Mom
Kinetic sculptures by Katie Ohe, KOAC
Lichens on nature trail at KOAC
Fragile and leaning
Goodbye fall, hello winter!
Final resting place
End of the season
Weathered
Curious Alpaca
Happy Halloween!
Autumn Stripes
International Loadstar 1600
Beauty in old age
A touch of Halloween
Double-crested Cormorants / Phalacrocorax auritus
Finally, the search is over
Welcome colour
Kinetic sculpture by Katie Ohe, at KOAC
Early morning sunrise over the mountains
Katie Ohe, sculptor
Naturalist, Gus Yaki, with Harry Kiyooka, artist
Remembering summer colour
Storm arriving at Quarry Lake, near Canmore
After a busy night of hunting
Part of the same shelf cloud
Evening Grosbeak female
Rural decay
A favourite subject with photographers
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213 visits
Barn Owl
To me, these owls always look as if their face has been sewn up, right down the centre. Such strange looking birds.
This particular Barn Owl resides at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale, southern Alberta. We do not get Barn Owls in the wild in Alberta. This is a wonderful place that rehabilitates and releases (whenever possible) various birds of prey - hawks, owls, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures,and Golden Eagles. Some of these birds act as Wildlife Ambassadors, too, including educating the public away from the Centre. Sometimes, a bird is used as a foster parent, too. I didn't see a Turkey Vulture or a Golden Eagle this time, and I didn't notice any Harris's Hawks, either.
"Barn Owls have a notable shreee scream, ear-shattering at close range. They also hiss like snakes. When captured or cornered, they throw themselves on their backs and flail with sharp-taloned feet, an effective defence." The Barn Owl flies silently. Its ears are placed asymmetrically for maximum hearing, so the owls do not require sight to hunt. They can target and dive down to sink their talons through snow, grass or brush and seize rodents with deadly accuracy. Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, they consume more rodent pests than possibly any other creature. This makes the Barn Owl one of the most economically valuable wildlife animals to farmers (not in Alberta). Farmers often encourage Barn Owls to stay around by providing nest sites. They are fairly sedentary and nocturnal" From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl
This summer, we had practically no 'normal' summer days. They were either far too hot thanks to our endless heatwave, or too smoky thanks to all the wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta. The weather forecast for 3 August looked good; sunshine all day, with rain forecast on several of the coming days. I decided to finally do a drive all the way down south to near Lethbridge, so that I could again visit the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. Last year, I did this drive for the very first time on my own and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose my courage to do it again. During the 511 kms that I drove, I had to ask for help with directions twice - both times in the same small hamlet! It was a hot day, with a temperature of 31C when I was at the Centre.
The forecast was for sun all day, but there was no mention of the smoke haze that completely blocked out the mountains and pretty much the foothills, too. Very quickly, I was almost tempted to turn around and come home, but I had noticed rain in the forecast for some coming days. I reckoned I would still be able to photograph the fairly close birds at the Centre, which worked out fine.
I managed to make myself get up early that morning, 3 August 2017, and set off just before 8:30 am. My intention was to drive straight to Coaldale without stopping anywhere en route. Not an easy thing for me to do, as I much prefer driving slowly along the backroads rather than the less interesting highways. However, I knew it would take me a few hours to get there and I wanted to have as much time as possible down there. On the way home, I drove one dusty, gravel road, but saw nothing but a couple of Horned Larks perched on fence posts. A couple of old barns (that I had seen before) and a few scenic shots, were more or less all I took, except for photos at the Centre.
This particular Barn Owl resides at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale, southern Alberta. We do not get Barn Owls in the wild in Alberta. This is a wonderful place that rehabilitates and releases (whenever possible) various birds of prey - hawks, owls, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures,and Golden Eagles. Some of these birds act as Wildlife Ambassadors, too, including educating the public away from the Centre. Sometimes, a bird is used as a foster parent, too. I didn't see a Turkey Vulture or a Golden Eagle this time, and I didn't notice any Harris's Hawks, either.
"Barn Owls have a notable shreee scream, ear-shattering at close range. They also hiss like snakes. When captured or cornered, they throw themselves on their backs and flail with sharp-taloned feet, an effective defence." The Barn Owl flies silently. Its ears are placed asymmetrically for maximum hearing, so the owls do not require sight to hunt. They can target and dive down to sink their talons through snow, grass or brush and seize rodents with deadly accuracy. Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, they consume more rodent pests than possibly any other creature. This makes the Barn Owl one of the most economically valuable wildlife animals to farmers (not in Alberta). Farmers often encourage Barn Owls to stay around by providing nest sites. They are fairly sedentary and nocturnal" From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl
This summer, we had practically no 'normal' summer days. They were either far too hot thanks to our endless heatwave, or too smoky thanks to all the wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta. The weather forecast for 3 August looked good; sunshine all day, with rain forecast on several of the coming days. I decided to finally do a drive all the way down south to near Lethbridge, so that I could again visit the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. Last year, I did this drive for the very first time on my own and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose my courage to do it again. During the 511 kms that I drove, I had to ask for help with directions twice - both times in the same small hamlet! It was a hot day, with a temperature of 31C when I was at the Centre.
The forecast was for sun all day, but there was no mention of the smoke haze that completely blocked out the mountains and pretty much the foothills, too. Very quickly, I was almost tempted to turn around and come home, but I had noticed rain in the forecast for some coming days. I reckoned I would still be able to photograph the fairly close birds at the Centre, which worked out fine.
I managed to make myself get up early that morning, 3 August 2017, and set off just before 8:30 am. My intention was to drive straight to Coaldale without stopping anywhere en route. Not an easy thing for me to do, as I much prefer driving slowly along the backroads rather than the less interesting highways. However, I knew it would take me a few hours to get there and I wanted to have as much time as possible down there. On the way home, I drove one dusty, gravel road, but saw nothing but a couple of Horned Larks perched on fence posts. A couple of old barns (that I had seen before) and a few scenic shots, were more or less all I took, except for photos at the Centre.
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