Frank Lake & area

Saw this Maximillan Sunflower at Frank Lake, south of Calgary. Normally, we don't get them here.

A friend very kindly invited me to go south of the city today to a place called Frank Lake. The weather was overcast for a good part of the morning but the sun did finally come through just before we returned home. We saw a great variety of birds, which was a real treat. Most were far away in the distance, but I have been able to bring them a little closer with cropping. I just liked the patterns made by the reeds in the Lake and their reflections.

These birds are common in Alberta from April to October. They are the most common large shorebird throughout the southern half of Alberta.

I'd never been this close to a Muskrat before! This one was busy eating reeds at Frank Lake today, along the edge of the walkway to the bird "blind". I think it was so busy eating that it wasn't aware that we were standing close by, watching as one long reed after another was quickly eaten. Was unable to get a better photo, as it was hidden amongst the rushes, even though it was quite close.

On 14th August 2005, a few of us came across a couple of plants of Maximilian Sunflower out at Frank Lake, in the area where the blind (and port-a-potties) are. We don't normally get this species of Sunflower, so this was quite a thrill. On September 3rd this month, I went with a group of friends to Frank Lake for birding, and couldn't believe how these Sunflowers had spread. Now there is a huge patch of them and they looked so beautiful! I've noticed various spellings for this species - Maximillan Sunflower, Maximilian's, Maximillan's, etc.. As you can see, the weather was great that day : ) A thoroughly enjoyable day out - thanks so much, Janet and Bernie! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus_maximiliani

Towards the end of May last year, I went on an outing south of the city for a few hours, down to Frank Lake. This is a great birding area, which I don't see very often. I had never seen so many Yellow-headed Blackbirds before (a lot more than seen in this photo) - was a wonderful sight to see them all gathered in one area. Not the greatest of photos, but gives an idea of what I saw. Though they are common in Alberta from April to September, I very rarely get to see one. I remember the first time I saw one, maybe three or four years ago. I had never even heard of these birds back then but had just seen a beautiful photo posted of one on the Weaselhead website. Next day, I was walking near a tiny swamp in a local park and there, amongst the Red-winged Blackbirds, was this magnificently coloured, lone Yellow-headed Blackbird.

A greatly cropped image of this Forster's Tern, seen at Frank Lake, south of Calgary. In Alberta, uncommon to common from May to September. Does it look familiar, Tanya, LOL?

This female Redhead duck was actually being held by a wildlife person out at Frank Lake, when they were catching ducks and banding them. Normally, I can never get close to these birds, so I was very lucky that day.

Can anyone tell what this very rare (in Alberta) bird is - I do know, but I just wondered if anyone else can tell, ha? Taken at Frank Lake (which will probably make it very obvious to those who know that area) on September 3rd. I think this bird image is brilliant in two ways - brilliant lack of closeness and brilliant lack of feather detail. However, I did just want it for my own records : ) Highly zoomed and ccropped, needless to say. Always a thrill to see this species. "The White-faced Ibis is a fairly recent addition to the bird life of Alberta. It has nested at Pakowki Lake since 1974 and now also breeds at Frank Lake and at Blizzard Lake, south east of Calgary. It spends the winter months in California and Mexico. It arrives at its Alberta colonies in early May, and leaves in early September. There is some dispersal of individuals after the breeding season, when they have been found as close as Namaka Lake. While there are no records yet from the Weaselhead delta, it seems likely that the first will occur in the fairly near future. The White-faced Ibis eats aquatic invertebrates and amphibeans. It finds these by probing in the mud of extensive marshes. The colonial nests are hidden in extensive stands of bulrushes. They are constructed of various kinds of course vegetation, lined with finer material." Written by Andrew Slater on the talkaboutwildlife website.