Frank Lake & area

Decided to add half a dozen photos taken today, 30 April 2017, on a day trip to Frank Lake and area with friends. Just little snapshot captures, to remind me of a few things that we saw. Most of the birds were so distant, that I couldn't even see them without binoculars. However, I was very happy to see the owls (of course) and the Black-crowned Night-heron. A beautiful day, with some interesting clouds that eventually brought rain for us, just as we were starting the drive back to the city. Heat distortion was a real pain - and there's nothing that one can do about it - and it was so windy.. Thanks so much for an enjoyable day, Tony! Well, it's after 11:00 pm and I have to be up by just after 2:00 am. Looks like this is going to have to be a night to stay up all night, otherwise I would most likely sleep right through three alarm clocks and a kitchen timer. Two friends and I have to be quite a long way out of the city to arrive at a destination before sunrise.

Decided to add half a dozen photos taken today, 30 April 2017, on a day trip to Frank Lake and area with friends. Just little snapshot captures, to remind me of a few things that we saw. Most of the birds were so distant, that I couldn't even see them without binoculars. However, I was very happy to see the owls (of course) and the Black-crowned Night-heron. A beautiful day, with some interesting clouds that eventually brought rain for us, just as we were starting the drive back to the city. Heat distortion was a real pain - and there's nothing that one can do about it - and it was so windy.. Thanks so much for an enjoyable day, Tony! Well, it's after 11:00 pm and I have to be up by just after 2:00 am. Looks like this is going to have to be a night to stay up all night, otherwise I would most likely sleep right through three alarm clocks and a kitchen timer. Two friends and I have to be quite a long way out of the city to arrive at a destination before sunrise.

Added a filter in post-processing so that I could add this very poor capture to my albums. Taken looking into a dark barn, and I ended up with a black barn and a black owl silhouette. At least you can now tell it's an owl (Great Horned Owl). Decided to add half a dozen photos taken today, 30 April 2017, on a day trip to Frank Lake and area with friends. Just little snapshot captures, to remind me of a few things that we saw. Most of the birds were so distant, that I couldn't even see them without binoculars. However, I was very happy to see the owls (of course) and the Black-crowned Night-heron. A beautiful day, with some interesting clouds that eventually brought rain for us, just as we were starting the drive back to the city. Heat distortion was a real pain - and there's nothing that one can do about it. Thanks so much for an enjoyable day, Tony! Well, it's 11:00 pm and I have to be up by just after 2:00 am. Looks like this is going to have to be a night to stay up all night, otherwise I would most likely sleep right through three alarm clocks and a kitchen timer. Two friends and I have to be quite a long way out of the city to arrive at a destination before sunrise.

This photo was taken yesterday evening, when a group of us (13?) got together at Frank Lake for a celebration of spring. Great company and great picnic food. Even a few birds to photograph, including the male Red-winged Blackbird and a male Ruddy Duck that I also posted this morning. This young Richardson's Ground Squirrel was the cutest little thing, joining us while we ate, hoping for food. I guess his mother hasn't taught him good manners - or maybe he was just following the example she had set. We had sunshine, too, until it was time to go home, when the heavens opened and down came the rain, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Thanks, Brenda, for organizing this event that went so smoothly and was most enjoyable! A very early start to the day today, 28 May 2017, as it's the second day of the annual May Species Count. My small group will be spending all day SW of the city, searching and hoping for some good sightings.

This photo was taken yesterday evening, around 6:00 pm, when a group of us (13?) got together at Frank Lake for a celebration of spring. Great company and great picnic food. Even a few birds to photograph, including this male Ruddy Duck, who was busy creating a mass of bubbles with his bill in order to impress a nearby female Ruddy Duck. We had sunshine, too, until it was time to go home, when the heavens opened and down came the rain, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Thanks, Brenda, for organizing this event that went so smoothly and was most enjoyable! "Ruddy Ducks are compact, thick-necked waterfowl with seemingly oversized tails that they habitually hold upright. Breeding males are almost cartoonishly bold, with a sky-blue bill, shining white cheek patch, and gleaming chestnut body. They court females by beating their bill against their neck hard enough to create a swirl of bubbles in the water. This widespread duck breeds mostly in the prairie pothole region of North America and winters in wetlands throughout the U.S. and Mexico." From AllAboutBirds. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruddy_Duck www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruddy_duck/id A very early start to the day today, 28 May 2017, as it's the second day of the annual May Species Count. My small group will be spending all day SW of the city, searching and hoping for some good sightings.

This photo was taken yesterday evening, around 6:00 pm, when a group of us (13?) got together at Frank Lake for a celebration of spring. Great company and great picnic food. Even a few birds to photograph, including this male Red-winged Blackbird who doesn't look at all pleased at having the camera pointed at him. Sunshine, too, until it was time to go home, when the heavens opened and down came the rain, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Thanks, Brenda, for organizing this event that went so smoothly and was most enjoyable! "One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring." From Cornell's AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-winged_blackbird/id?utm_s... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird A very early start to the day today, 28 May 2017, as it's the second day of the annual May Species Count. My small group will be spending all day SW of the city, searching and hoping for some good sightings.

Most unusual for me, I was so desperately tired two evenings ago, that I couldn't even stay awake to find and edit three photos to post to Flickr yesterday morning! It was a long day of birding on 28 May 2017, for the May Species Count, and it completely knocked me out for the following day. Tiredness seems to be my constant companion, but not so tired that I can't fight it. So, no photos from me yesterday! Yesterday, 30 May 2017, I was out for the day south of the city with my Daughter (a belated day out for my birthday and Mother's Day), to Nanton and a few roads nearby, then making our way north to Frank Lake and finally ending up at the Saskatoon Farm, where we were just in time to have a meal. It takes about 45 minutes to drive south to the town of Nanton. Though I had been quite a few times over the years when carpooling with various friends, I had never driven quite that far south and through the town. My daughter wanted to walk round two or three of the antique shops there and we both wanted to take a few photos of the grain elevators. Once that was all done, we drove westwards from the town. Though the scenery is beautiful, we did not enjoy being on a main road with no shoulder to pull over to. We did stop once in a small pull-off, to get a few scenic shots. This was where we saw the metal cut-out of a cowboy riding his horse, with a bird perched on top of his hat (third photo I posted today). I can't decide if the distant bird is a Common Grackle or a Brewer's Blackbird, or something else? We decided to turn around and cross over to the other side of the main highway (#2) and drive north to Frank Lake, hoping to find a few things to photograph along the backroads. A handful of barns and a very few distant birds were enough to make the drive worthwhile. Frank Lake was deserted when we arrived there, though a couple of other people turned up shortly. Not many bird species, either. The water was quite choppy thanks to the wind, and there was just one Coot, a pair of Ruddy Ducks, a Barn Swallow and one Eared Grebe. I managed to get just this one shot of the latter. Saw two American Avocets, a Killdeer and a pair of Phalaropes. Franklin's Gulls were their usual noisy selves. Not a single White-faced Ibis to be seen, and only one or two Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. When we had been on the road south of the lake, we had seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron perched on a distant fence, being harassed by several smaller birds - Brown-headed Cowbirds? I was so happy to see the Heron, as I so rarely see them. We had also seen a shorebird in a field of stubble and I need to check if this was a Long-billed Curlew. On our way home, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm and were just in time to order a meal before they closed. A quick wander round gave me the chance to grab a shot or two of a very loud Rooster and the male Wild Turkey. My favourite kind of day, so thank you, Rachel, as always!!

Just adding five extra photos tonight, trying to catch up a little, otherwise I will never get back to the last two days of my Trinidad images. Will post three photos tomorrow morning. This photo was taken in the evening of 27 May 2017, when a group of us (13?) got together at Frank Lake for a celebration of spring. Great company and great picnic food. Even a few birds to photograph, and this very cute baby Richardson's Ground Squirrel, who decided to join us while we ate. Sunshine, too, until it was time to go home, when the heavens opened and down came the rain, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Thanks, Brenda, for organizing this event that went so smoothly and was most enjoyable!

Just adding five extra photos tonight, trying to catch up a little, otherwise I will never get back to the last two days of my Trinidad images. Will post three photos tomorrow morning. This photo was taken in the evening of 27 May 2017, when a group of us (13?) got together at Frank Lake for a celebration of spring. Great company and great picnic food. Even a few birds to photograph, including this male Red-winged Blackbird. Sunshine, too, until it was time to go home, when the heavens opened and down came the rain, accompanied by streaks of lightning. Thanks, Brenda, for organizing this event that went so smoothly and was most enjoyable! "One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring. The male Red-winged Blackbird’s conk-la-ree! is a classic sound of wetlands across the continent. The 1-second song starts with an abrupt note that turns into a musical trill. Males often sing from a high perch while leaning forward, drooping their wings, spreading their tail feathers, and fluffing their bright shoulder patches to show them off. Females give a very different song in response to a singing male, a series of three to five short chit or check notes." From Cornell's AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-winged_blackbird/id?utm_s... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird