Birds of Alberta 8

Finally got out of the city southwestwards just a short way yesterday evening with several other people, to go with Don Stiles again on his Bluebird Route. He has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years! We pass a Buffalo and Elk farm in that area and several of these maginficent animals happened to be on a hill that was near to the fence. The light was not too good, so I'm surprised that any of the photos I took came out at all. In fact, we hadn't been sure whether to go or not, because of some rather black clouds. You'd never know there had been devastating floods the past week, that have affected the whole of southern Alberta. I was expecting to see flood water everywhere, so was hugely relieved to see none! It felt SO good to get out - anywhere - though I did drive a few minutes away from home just before this evening trip, as a friend had mentioned that there were mushrooms growing in a place where they had been last year. Again, you would never know that we have been experiencing the "flood of the century" for almost a week now. Thanks for a great Bluebird evening, Don - we saw various other birds, too, including a Snipe, House Wren, Tree Swallows, American Goldfinch, Swainson's Hawk, another Hawk (seen in the photo above) with what I think was an Eastern Kingbird "piggy-backing" on it, etc., etc.. I missed getting it actually riding on the back, but did get it just a few inches above the Hawk. I'm not good at raptor ID, so am hoping that Don or someone else can tell from this photo. Most of Don's boxes have Tree Swallow nests in them now, but I also posted a photo today of a box that had six gorgeous baby Bluebirds all huddled together. It was such a relief to see so much wildlife - I had feared the worst! Of course, many parts of the city have now started on clean-up, and what a monumental task that is going to be!!! I saw yesterday that the first billion dollars have now been made available towards this clean-up! People just amaze me, how they get to work to clear all the mud from inside their homes and get rid of all their ruined possessions. I think everyone is so impressed by the way the city has, and still is, handling thie whole situation. Our Mayor, Naheed Nenshi (36th mayor, sworn in on October 25, 2010), has proved that people made the right choice when they elected him Mayor! He is working tirelessly to protect his city and get it back to as normal as possible!!

I took a drive SW of Calgary yesterday evening, wanting to check on Mountain Bluebirds. I was relieved to find that this little family seemed OK after all the rain and flooding we've had recently and especially this past week. Two of the baby Bluebirds were trying to look out on to the big wide world, so I know that at least there are two that are just fine. There was no sign of Mom anywhere, though, which was most unusual. It was only Dad who kept flying back to the nest box with food. I do hope the mother is OK. Maybe she was just taking a much-deserved nap somewhere.

I love WIlson's Snipes ..... especially when they are perched on a close fence post : ) No cropping needed, and it was standing on both legs instead of the often-seen one leg. Taken when I went for a drive just SW of the city yesterday evening, straight after my usual volunteer shift. After so much rain, and the Flood of the Century this past week, it just feels so good to see the sunshine. My heart goes out to all those in the city and the rest of the province, who are now starting on the monumental task of cleaning all the mud out of their basements or, worst of all, having to face the fact that their homes are too badly damaged to live in. I checked to see when I took my first photo of a Wilson's Snipe - 4 July 2005, at the wetland by Spruce Meadows, S of the city. (I overslept yet again today, so am posting my "daily three" very late, around 11:00 a.m.). According to Fisher and Acorn's book, "Birds of Alberta", "the common Snipe is both secretive and well camouflaged, so few people notice it until it flushes suddenly from a nearby grassy tussock. As soon as the Snipe takes to the air, it performs a series of quick zigzags - an evasive maneuver designed to confuse predators. Because of this habit, Snipes were among the most difficult birds to shoot (in the days when shorebirds were hunted for sport), and skilled sportsmen were known as "snipers" - a term later adopted by the military." Not sure what is going on with Flickr today - in IE I keep getting the "broken link" message.

This beautiful Red-winged Blackbird female took me by surprise when she collected insects and then flew up to the fence fairly near to where I was standing (no cropping necessary). Usually, these birds fly in the opposite direction! The males of this species are flashy, but the females definitely have a beauty of their own. I love the little hint of orange that you see on some of them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_Blackbird www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_blackbird/id Oh, my gosh, we are having torrential rain!!! It must have rained heavily during the night, as there were large puddles everywhere, but it has started to rain heavily just now. Oh, the thousands of poor people who have already suffered tremendous damage from the Flood of the Century during the last two weeks! I feel hesitant to check online or my TV to see if anywhere has new flooding. On Friday evening, one of our communities called Sunnyside had flash floods. Really, enough is enough! Not good weather for all the visitors who decided to go down to the Stampede Grounds today, either.

The iridescence on a Tree Swallow's feathers is just so beautiful, I never get tired of seeing it. Have to admit, though, that there are an awful lot of these birds, everywhere : ) This is one of the birds that has taken over a particular Mountain Bluebird nest box recently. I was photographing the Bluebirds, including one of the babies that was looking through the nest box hole, and then two days later, I found that the nest box had been taken over by Tree Swallows. Totally missed the fledging of those youngsters : ( Taken along a backroad SW of Calgary, on 2 July 2013.

Not the greatest quality. Cropped too closely, which is a bad habit I have, lol! However, this tiny Savannah Sparrow, with a large caterpillar in its beak, made me smile. Ha, maybe a Brown-headed Cowbird laid an egg in the Sparrow's nest and it now has a HUGE baby to feed. Unfortunately, it was so far away and I knew it would fly off if I tried to get closer. Taken along a backroad SW of Calgary on 2 July 2013. It looked like it was having probelms with keeping its balance - love those little legs : )

Another photo of one of the two Barred Owlets that several of us were privileged to see near Edmonton on 4 June 2013. They were roughly three weeks old and would not normally be perched on a branch like this. Licenced Raptor Bander, Richard Chamberland, had invited myself and two friends from Calgary, plus a few others to visit two nesting boxes that he had built and placed on someone's private land. One had a family of six tiny Northern Saw-whet Owlets and the other held two much larger Barred Owlets. A really neat experience for all of us! It's supposed to be the hottest day we've had this year, today, getting up to 32C/33C (and will feel like 39C). If it reaches 33C, it will tie the record for the hottest 2 July. It will be far too hot in my place, so I will have to go for a drive this afterrnoon - love to be in an air-conditioned car : ) This heat will help dry out all the floodwater damage in most parts of Alberta - unfortunately, there is a risk of rain showers in the forecast for a few days, including a risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. It's going to be a hot, hot day for all those doing strenuous work clearing all the flood debris. Argh!!! Just checked the forecast and apparently we are under a Severe Thunderstorn Watch. Potential for large hail and damaging winds. Will still have to go for a drive, though, as the heat in my place is making me feel nauseous. Hope the hail stones and I don't cross paths : ) Checked for road conditions just after I typed this - most roads in Kananaskis Country are currently closed with bridges washed out, so I won't be going far. Of course, things like this are not top priority (and shouldn't be), so it looks like Kananaskis isn't going to be possible this summer. It's 35C (feels like 42C) in Calgary this afternoon!! I don't know what you call the higher number - in winter we call the "feel" windchill. I went out for something like five hours this afternoon, driving west of the city past Bragg Creek. You can only drive on Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66) as far as the turn-off for Maclean Creek, which is one place I was going anyway. Found a few things to photograph along the various backroads, too. Back home, feeling like I'm sitting in an oven!!! Air-conditioning would feel SOOOO good!! Ha, I can't tell what the temperature is in my computer room - it has gone off the end of my desk thermometer ( i.e. above 32C). Wow, just read that the Calgary Zoo's preliminary estimate for damage to their land and buildings is $50 million. On top of that, they estimate that they will lose a million dollars in revenue with the Zoo being closed till end of July and even then, only part of it will be open at first. And that's just the Zoo! www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9193757138

On 24 June 2013, I had been staying at home for a few days, making sure I was not contributing to traffic on the roads or getting in the way of people dealing with this horrendous flooding during our Flood of the Century. Cabin fever was beginning to set in, lol, and I decided that I just had to get out for a quick drive. A friend had let me know just before the flood that he'd seen lots of mushrooms growing at a place he told me about last year, not far from home and not in a flooded area. I did find a few photogenic fungi - and I had a couple of these quite pretty little Chipping Sparrows flitting in and out of the trees and bushes around me.

"Just" a black bird that I have to admit I don't usually take much notice of. However, this one was perched nicely on a tall fence post, with a touch of iridescence and that beautiful white eye that was quite startling. Taken on 26 June 2013, when I went for a drive along the backroads SW of Calgary. www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9183071429