Birds of Alberta 2

Two more photos of the Gray Jay I saw the other day. Even though this is very slightly cropped, I rather wish I had taken slightly more distant photos. Wasn't expecting the bird to come quite so close.

This little Chickadee lives in a grove of spruce trees in one of the local parks. Its neighbours include Ruffed Grouse, Great Horned Owls, Gray Jays and a Pileated Woodpecker to name but a few. The highest this photo got in Explore was #225 on 18th January 2007.

To those of you who have just survived recent, dreadfully cold weather, I hope the following few photos don't make you shiver. To those of you who live in places where the heat feels overwhelming at the moment, perhaps these images will cool you down a little! This close-up is of a White-breasted Nuthatch. It felt so good this afternoon to finally get out for a walk - the sky was our typical, bright blue, Calgary sky. The two adult Great Horned Owls were once again sitting in their usual, cozy spot in the tall spruce tree. The Chickadees were wilder than I think I have ever experienced - sitting on my fingers that clutched my camera to my face, perching on top of my head, hovering in front of my lens. The White-breasted Nuthatch flew down again to my hand, as it had done for the first time last week. Perhaps most exciting of all, when I happened to glance down at my gloved hand the one time, I found myself staring at a little Downy Woodpecker clinging to the fingers. I hadn't noticed it around and didn't have my camera at the ready. Like a chicken without its head, I clicked, hoping for proof that at long last one of these birds had sat on my hand! She didn't seem much bigger than the Nuthatches. One very bad photo later, she vanished for the day.

It was almost impossible to get any decent photos of the Common Redpolls this afternoon! They were deep within the bushes and on the snowy ground almost out of sight. Too bad I've got those annoying pink twigs in the background!

This is a different little Chickadee that I saw today - but , of course, really they all look alike!

A rather blurry photo, but I liked the pose! So, don't worry - it's not your eyes:) Nothing like being able to walk down tree trunks head first.

Saw this female Hairy Woodpecker on my walk this afternoon, along with her mate. There was also a pair of Downy Woodpeckers nearby, and it is always interesting to compare the sizes.

This little male Downy Woodpecker was hanging around the feeders that people have put up on a few trees in one of the parks. The female was also there, along with a few Common Redpolls, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers, Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches. And a beautiful Bald Eagle flew overhead.