Birds of Alberta 2

This is only the second time I've ever had a White-breasted Nuthatch fly down to my hand. The other week when it happened, I didn't get any decent photos, but today I had better luck. I did post a photo of one of these birds on my daughter's hand some time ago. (Note on 1st July 2007: wow, this photo, uploaded on 10th December 2006, suddenly appeared in Explore today for the very first time! Neat.)

After my morning walk today, which produced no bird photos, I decided to call in briefly at one of my local parks on the way home and take a few pictures.

I'm not sure I'd ever noticed before that Chickadees sometimes hold on to a branch with only one leg.

Snowy Owl female and owlet at the Calgary Zoo. This is a cropped version of a photo similar to one I posted a while ago. So "ugly", it's cute!

I have a bag of mixed seeds and nuts -perhaps not the best selection - but you'd be amazed to see the greediest Chickadees fly away with one of these nuts!

I watched about eight of these birds feeding at ground level and flying to the lowest branches of the bushes. I think this a Pine Grosbeak but I'm not sure if it is an adult or a juvenile, male or female. This was the first time I have ever seen one of these birds this close - and this was my only shot, good enough for identifying purposes.

Couldn't resist calling in at one of my favorite spots on Sunday afternoon. Trouble is, each Chickadee photo is a little different - hence your being swamped!

Again, not the greatest lighting.

Took a friend to one of my favorite places (Fish Creek Park) this afternoon, mainly to show her the two Great Horned Owls that I was really hoping would be in their usual place. She was thrilled to see not only the two owls but also a Northern Flicker, this little Downy Woodpecker (which was the same one that flew to my hand recently), a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches (eat your heart out, Danny!) and of course all the usual Black-capped Chickadees. As we were leaving the area, a Pileated Woodpecker flew overhead across the road!