Frank Lake & area

Just added the remaining 16 photos taken two days ago, SE of the city with my daughter. Tomorrow, it will be a very early start and a long day, on the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count that I will be going on this season. Last night, I had computer problems and I thought I was going to have to take my computer in to be checked. Fortunately, after making sure all plugs were firmly pushed in, I managed to get it to work again. It would not be a good time for computer woes for the next while, with the last few Christmas letters to write, and with communication a necessity for the Christmas Bird Counts that are now underway. Unfortunately, the same thing has already happened twice today as well. The day before yesterday, 15 December 2018, was spent with my daughter, as it was our Christmas. At her suggestion, and my total agreement, we drove south to the Saskatoon Farm where we had an early morning, hot breakfast. It is a favourite place for both of us and it was great to visit just in time before they close for a well-earned six-week break for the owners and staff. Unfortunately, they had done a very thorough clean-up of the farm, so there was not as much to photograph as there usually is. They will be opening again at the beginning of February. After wandering round for a while, we drove further south and checked out the Frank Lake area, hoping that we might just be lucky enough to see a Snowy Owl. No luck, unlike our Christmas trip last year. Not a single small bird was seen, either - in fact, nothing. That is, until I was driving her home back in the city and she suddenly exclaimed that she was sure she had just spotted either an owl or a hawk, perched high up in a tree. Of course, we had to go and check it out. Not 100% sure, but it looks like a juvenile Bald Eagle (from the back view). The weather was beautiful, I think around 2C, but quite windy. A very impressive Chinook Arch all day. Most important of all, it was my favourite kind of day - out with my daughter and our cameras!

Adding a few photos from yesterday's Christmas Bird Count for High River. I might have to be without my computer for however (?) long, as it keeps stopping and I have to unplug it every time. No idea why this is happening. The computer freezes; the top light on top of the tower stays on, but the tiny light on the front of the tower goes off and won't come back again and I can't use the computer. Today, I will have to call in at the store and speak to the technician and see what he says. Hoping so much that I won't be without my computer for long as I really, really need to have access to it, especially for the next two weeks ... sigh. A very poor photo, taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 2000 mm, but at least we actually saw this very distant owl and at least I did get a photo for the record.

Adding a few photos from yesterday's Christmas Bird Count for High River. I might have to be without my computer for however (?) long, as it keeps stopping and I have to unplug it every time. No idea why this is happening. The computer freezes; the top light on top of the tower stays on, but the tiny light on the front of the tower goes off and won't come back again and I can't use the computer. Today, I will have to call in at the store and speak to the technician and see what he says. Hoping so much that I won't be without my computer for long as I really, really need to have access to it, especially for the next two weeks ... sigh.

Adding a few photos from yesterday's Christmas Bird Count for High River. I might have to be without my computer for however (?) long, as it keeps stopping and I have to unplug it every time. No idea why this is happening. The computer freezes; the top light on top of the tower stays on, but the tiny light on the front of the tower goes off and won't come back again and I can't use the computer. Today, I will have to call in at the store and speak to the technician and see what he says. Hoping so much that I won't be without my computer for long as I really, really need to have access to it, especially for the next two weeks ... sigh. I think yesterday was more of a barn and cat day, than a bird day : ) My kind of day!

Adding a few photos from yesterday's Christmas Bird Count for High River. I might have to be without my computer for however (?) long, as it keeps stopping and I have to unplug it every time. No idea why this is happening. The computer freezes; the top light on top of the tower stays on, but the tiny light on the front of the tower goes off and won't come back again and I can't use the computer. Today, I will have to call in at the store and speak to the technician and see what he says. Hoping so much that I won't be without my computer for long as I really, really need to have access to it, especially for the next two weeks ... sigh.

Adding a few photos from yesterday's Christmas Bird Count for High River. I might have to be without my computer for however (?) long, as it keeps stopping and I have to unplug it every time. No idea why this is happening. The computer freezes; the top light on top of the tower stays on, but the tiny light on the front of the tower goes off and won't come back again and I can't use the computer. Today, I will have to call in at the store and speak to the technician and see what he says. Hoping so much that I won't be without my computer for long as I really, really need to have access to it, especially for the next two weeks ... sigh. I think yesterday was more of a barn and cat day, than a bird day : ) My kind of day!

Collected my computer from the store this evening, after two days without it. The technician was unable to duplicate the problem I was having, so I have to keep an eye on it and see if I can give him more info on when the issue happens - the issue being that my computer freezes, my photo stays on the screen, but the mouse disappears and stops working, as does the tiny blinking light on the front face off the computer tower. Couldn't turn the computer off or make anything work, each time it happened. Now I have to hurry and get everything ready for an early start tomorrow morning, for another long-day Christmas Bird Count, west of the city. The three photos that I posted this evening were all taken on 18 December 2018, when I took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of High River, south of Calgary. As usual, my lens turned to anything else that caught my eye, Including old barns, old cars, and farm cats. I'm not sure, but I think this is a long-haired Calico cat. The weather was beautiful for us, which makes the difference. No snow on the ground either, which makes our searches so much easier. The Count last year had awful weather with a dreadful snow storm blowing in while we were having a Potluck supper. I was just so thankful that I wasn't the one driving back to Calgary in the dark and the blowing snow. What we birding people do for the sake of citizen science, ha! This year, we were unable to book the usual community centre for a Potluck supper afterwards, which was such a shame. It always makes a great ending to a long day of birding when we can get together afterwards and eat and chat.

Collected my computer from the store this evening, after two days without it. The technician was unable to duplicate the problem I was having, so I have to keep an eye on it and see if I can give him more info on when the issue happens - the issue being that my computer freezes, my photo stays on the screen, but the mouse disappears and stops working, as does the tiny blinking light on the front face off the computer tower. Couldn't turn the computer off or make anything work, each time it happened. Now I have to hurry and get everything ready for an early start tomorrow morning, for another long-day Christmas Bird Count, west of the city. The three photos that I posted this evening were all taken on 18 December 2018, when I took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of High River, south of Calgary. As usual, my lens turned to anything else that caught my eye, Including old barns, old trucks/cars, and farm cats. The weather was beautiful for us, which makes the difference. No snow on the ground either, which makes our searches so much easier. The Count last year had awful weather with a dreadful snow storm blowing in while we were having a Potluck supper. I was just so thankful that I wasn't the one driving back to Calgary in the dark and the blowing snow. What we birding people do for the sake of citizen science, ha! This year, we were unable to book the usual community centre for a Potluck supper afterwards, which was such a shame. It always makes a great ending to a long day of birding when we can get together afterwards and eat and chat.

Collected my computer from the store this evening, after two days without it. The technician was unable to duplicate the problem I was having, so I have to keep an eye on it and see if I can give him more info on when the issue happens - the issue being that my computer freezes, my photo stays on the screen, but the mouse disappears and stops working, as does the tiny blinking light on the front face off the computer tower. Couldn't turn the computer off or make anything work, each time it happened. Now I have to hurry and get everything ready for an early start tomorrow morning, for another long-day Christmas Bird Count, west of the city. The three photos that I posted this evening were all taken on 18 December 2018, when I took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of High River, south of Calgary. As usual, my lens turned to anything else that caught my eye, Including old barns, old cars, and farm cats. The weather was beautiful for us, which makes the difference. No snow on the ground either, which makes our searches so much easier. The Count last year had awful weather with a dreadful snow storm blowing in while we were having a Potluck supper. I was just so thankful that I wasn't the one driving back to Calgary in the dark and the blowing snow. What we birding people do for the sake of citizen science, ha! This year, we were unable to book the usual community centre for a Potluck supper afterwards, which was such a shame. It always makes a great ending to a long day of birding when we can get together afterwards and eat and chat.