The far side of the river valley
Down in the Badlands valley
One of my favourite old barns
The remaining three
One of my favourite old barns
Storm over Canola
Light over the Canola fields
Old silo, south of the city
Rural Alberta
A new find
Beautiful Alberta - prairie, foothills and mountai…
Showing its age
Swainson's Hawk, immature
Old, red barn
Red-winged Blackbird male / Agelaius phoeniceus
Wilson's Snipe
A new find
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
Storm clouds in the direction of home
Storm clouds moving in
Gravel and dust - a favourite road
Wilson's Snipe, having a stretch
Wilson's Snipe
Mountain Bluebird with Red-winged Grasshopper
Mountain Bluebird with food for his babies
Mountain Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird male
Wilson's Snipe / Gallinago delicata
Eastern Kingbird / Tyrannus tyrannus
Tree Swallow / Tachycineta bicolor
Eastern Kingbird
Red-winged Blackbird male / Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Kingbird / Tyrannus tyrannus
Mountain Bluebird female / Sialia currucoides
Eastern Kingbird / Tyrannus tyrannus
Wilson's Snipe / Gallinago delicata
Black Tern / Chlidonias niger
Mountain Bluebird male / Sialia currucoides
American Goldfinch female / Spinus tristis
Mountain Bluebird male
Mountain Bluebird female
Mountain Bluebird male
Mountain Bluebird male / Sialia currucoides
Yellow-headed Blackbird / Xanthocephalus xanthocep…
Day 5, wildflowers, King Ranch, Norias Division
Mountain Bluebird male / Sialia currucoides
Tree Swallow male / Tachycineta bicolor
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Burrowing Owl, ENDANGERED - from the archives
Burrowing Owl, ENDANGERED - from the archives
Wilson's Snipe - from the archives
Great Gray Owl - from the archives
Farm with sheep and a donkey
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Wide open spaces
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl - from January
Eastern Kingbird, from my archives
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Long-eared Owl / Asio otus
Peace in the countryside
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Eastern Kingbird, SW of Calgary
A 'new' old homestead
Old red barn on a foggy day
Horse and hoar frost
Hoar frost tree and vanishing fields
Disappearing into nothingness
Overload of Llamas : )
See also...
Trip to Alberta Birds of Prey Centre, 11 July 2019
Trip to Alberta Birds of Prey Centre, 11 July 2019
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The yellow has bloomed!
"July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969 as part of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar mission." People are remembering this exciting, successful event this week. I was trying to remember where I was when this all took place, so I checked. In the week before, we flew from Seria, Brunei, Borneo, back to England for a short while. On the journey from Borneo, we spent 6th - 13th July in Hong Kong, then in Rome, Italy, from 14th - 18th July, arriving in Birmingham, England, at my parents' house on 18th July. We ended up in Holland in October 1969 and returned to Borneo about a week before Christmas 1969. So, I am guessing that we were with my parents when the Moon Landing took place. My parents never had a TV, and I can't remember if we watched it at any friend's house. So much packing, travelling and chaos : )
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On 11 July 2019, it turned out to be such a great day, with some much-appreciated sightings. I must have spent about 9 hours driving and almost every inch of my body ached like crazy at the end of it. Total distance driven was 461 km, leaving home at 8:45 am and arriving back home 12 hours later, at 8:45 pm. Now, each summer, I try and do two or three longer (for me) drives, to make sure I don't lose the courage to do this. Wow, I have just watched a video of the tornado that ripped through part of this area one week after I was there!
Weather-wise, it was a beautiful, sunny day, with plenty of white clouds Unlike when I did this drive in August 2018, there was no smoke from any wildfires, thank goodness.
It was a good day for Hawks, seeing some on the way south and a few on the way home. I did spot one Ferruginous Hawk, but it was perched on a very distant fence post. I'm also wondering if one of the 'hawks' was actually an immature Golden Eagle - seen in photo #4 posted this morning. I saw it from a fair distance and I remember thinking what a large hawk it was. Stopping at an angle in the middle of the road, I managed to get one shot before it took off and a couple just as it was doing so.
A couple of Common Nighthawks also helped make my day. For several years, I had longed to see one of these unusual birds and, finally in 2017, I managed to find four of them. In 2018, I was able to find just one. These birds are 9½ inches from the tip of bill to the tip of tail. Very strange looking birds, and always a thrill to see one.
"On warm summer evenings, Common Nighthawks roam the skies over treetops, grasslands, and cities. Their sharp, electric peent call is often the first clue they’re overhead. In the dim half-light, these long-winged birds fly in graceful loops, flashing white patches out past the bend of each wing as they chase insects. These fairly common but declining birds make no nest. Their young are so well camouflaged that they’re hard to find, and even the adults seem to vanish as soon as they land." From AllABoutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/id
"North America has 13 nighthawk populations. All but one are in decline and the species is considered threatened in Canada and several U.S. states."
www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/little-backpacks-gps-used-to-trac...
My actual destination on 11 July 2019 was the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge. I know some people feel that photographing birds that are not out in the wild is cheating. I kind of agree, though I think it's fine as long as someone says where a photo was taken.
This Centre 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 love the changing scenery as one drives south, and my drive was timed perfectly to catch the golden Canola fields. Maybe half way, I pulled over to take a few photos of an old barn and there was a truck just pulling away. I thought the guy might have been taking photos, too. We got talking and one of the things we both said was that we had never seen a blue field of Flax Later in my drive, guess what I found : ) Looked beautiful, with blue on one side of the road and a field of yellow Canola on the opposite side.
This was definitely a rewarding day, full of sightings of all kinds. My favourite kind of day!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 11 July 2019, it turned out to be such a great day, with some much-appreciated sightings. I must have spent about 9 hours driving and almost every inch of my body ached like crazy at the end of it. Total distance driven was 461 km, leaving home at 8:45 am and arriving back home 12 hours later, at 8:45 pm. Now, each summer, I try and do two or three longer (for me) drives, to make sure I don't lose the courage to do this. Wow, I have just watched a video of the tornado that ripped through part of this area one week after I was there!
Weather-wise, it was a beautiful, sunny day, with plenty of white clouds Unlike when I did this drive in August 2018, there was no smoke from any wildfires, thank goodness.
It was a good day for Hawks, seeing some on the way south and a few on the way home. I did spot one Ferruginous Hawk, but it was perched on a very distant fence post. I'm also wondering if one of the 'hawks' was actually an immature Golden Eagle - seen in photo #4 posted this morning. I saw it from a fair distance and I remember thinking what a large hawk it was. Stopping at an angle in the middle of the road, I managed to get one shot before it took off and a couple just as it was doing so.
A couple of Common Nighthawks also helped make my day. For several years, I had longed to see one of these unusual birds and, finally in 2017, I managed to find four of them. In 2018, I was able to find just one. These birds are 9½ inches from the tip of bill to the tip of tail. Very strange looking birds, and always a thrill to see one.
"On warm summer evenings, Common Nighthawks roam the skies over treetops, grasslands, and cities. Their sharp, electric peent call is often the first clue they’re overhead. In the dim half-light, these long-winged birds fly in graceful loops, flashing white patches out past the bend of each wing as they chase insects. These fairly common but declining birds make no nest. Their young are so well camouflaged that they’re hard to find, and even the adults seem to vanish as soon as they land." From AllABoutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/id
"North America has 13 nighthawk populations. All but one are in decline and the species is considered threatened in Canada and several U.S. states."
www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/little-backpacks-gps-used-to-trac...
My actual destination on 11 July 2019 was the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge. I know some people feel that photographing birds that are not out in the wild is cheating. I kind of agree, though I think it's fine as long as someone says where a photo was taken.
This Centre 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 love the changing scenery as one drives south, and my drive was timed perfectly to catch the golden Canola fields. Maybe half way, I pulled over to take a few photos of an old barn and there was a truck just pulling away. I thought the guy might have been taking photos, too. We got talking and one of the things we both said was that we had never seen a blue field of Flax Later in my drive, guess what I found : ) Looked beautiful, with blue on one side of the road and a field of yellow Canola on the opposite side.
This was definitely a rewarding day, full of sightings of all kinds. My favourite kind of day!
Gabriella Siglinde, Janet Brien have particularly liked this photo
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