On its way down
The beauty of Borage
Dreaming of spring and summer
Great Gray Owl on the hunt
Far, far away
Pileated Woodpecker seen in Canmore
Bighorn Sheep mom and youngster
Twice the beauty
Red Fox (just for the record)
Winter beauty
Great Gray Owl
On the way to Canmore - seven Swans a-swimming :)
Pileated Woodpecker
Burrowing owl in the wild
European Starling / Sturnus vulgaris
Common Redpoll
Great Gray Owl
Donkey guardians of the old schoolhouse
Evening Grosbeak male
When the world turns white
Shoo-fly / Nicandra physalodes
Bear Grass, Waterton Lakes National Park
Wood Ducks
Sedge
Ghost Reservoir
A favourite old barn
Wild European Rabbit
The process of decay
Sunflower detail
A touch of blue
Hooded Merganser male
Ring-necked Pheasant male / Phasianus colchicus
Brewer's Blackbird / Euphagus cyanocephalus
Jackrabbit
Gathering lunch for his babies
A memory of Waterton from before the fire
One of yesterday's Great Horned Owls
The challenges of being a birder
Western Meadowlark
Standing up well
American White Pelicans, zoomed with Nikon B700
American White Pelicans with my old Panasonic FZ20…
Old barn in spring snow
A bright and cheery American Robin
American Kestrel
American White Pelicans, Nikon Coolpix B700
A rural "winter" scene
American Kestrel, Nikon B700
They call this spring?
American Kestrel, Panasonic FZ200
Almost missed, but gratefully seen
Togetherness
Common Merganser male
Another Pelican treat
Little angel
They're back : )
Milk Thistle, I believe
Goodbye, winter - so glad you are gone!
Gathering food for his babies
Tree Swallow male
Mountain Bluebird female
Remembering winter
Little country church, Carmangay
Old country church
Boreal Chickadee
Bald Eagle getting a hosepipe shower
Great Gray Owl hunting
Prairie life in winter
Great Gray Owl, watching and listening
Great Gray Owl #2
Great Gray Owl #1
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Burrowing Owl in the wild
Caught in a mesocyclone
Rolling hills from the Whaleback
Tent Caterpillar
Plant from the Whaleback
Nibbling on a tasty leaf
Brewer's Blackbird
A scene in the Whaleback area
Rose-breasted Grosbeak from the archives
Ruddy Duck from the archives
A beautiful day in Weaselhead
Common Redpoll female
With more big storms to come
Coyote crossing the frozen Elbow River
A favourite, well-kept barn
A friendly moment
A view from yesterday
Plain, but welcome
Winter's beauty
Cute little thing
Who am I?
Rusty and abandoned
What is this?
Old barns in the foothills
Sharp-tailed Grouse
The ever-present Black-capped Chickadee
Deer on the horizon
A lucky Moose day
Sharp-tailed Grouse
A white world
Meerkat from the archives
Country scene in winter
Ring-billed Gull
Better late than never
Whites and blues of winter
Red barn in winter
Lacy curtain of ice
The beauty of winter
Young and innocent
Posting just for the record
Little country church
Cat at the Saskatoon Farm
Pine Grosbeak male / Pinicola enucleator
A beautiful sign of winter
Bald Eagle after a cooling hosepipe shower
Old wagon in winter
Hairy Woodpecker / Picoides villosus
Hairy Woodpecker
Boreal Chickadee, caught just in time
Yet another snowstorm
A cute, young face
Before winter arrived
Barn of an unusual shape
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Great Gray Owl, highly zoomed
I have added a previously posted photo in a comment box below. That photo was already taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. Using a different camera, I was able to zoom in much more for the above photo, taken from exactly the same spot. So difficult/impossible to hold the camera steady, so I don't use it very often, but I was curious to see what kind of photo I could get. Not the sharpest, that's for sure, but I thought I would post it anyway, to show just how far away the owl was, even though it looks like I am standing very close to the bird.
"The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl
Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on the Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018.
On Sunday, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls.
The first owl (not this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers.
The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree (seen in this photo). Again, the light was a challenge, but I managed to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was.
I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.
"The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl
Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on the Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018.
On Sunday, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls.
The first owl (not this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers.
The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree (seen in this photo). Again, the light was a challenge, but I managed to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was.
I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.
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