Owls 3

Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on Saturday and then two different individuals seen yesterday, Sunday, 11 March 2018. Yesterday morning, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls. The first owl (seen in this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers. The second owl, seen in the previous photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree. Again, the light was a challenge, but I should be able to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was. I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.

Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on Saturday and then two different individuals seen yesterday, Sunday, 11 March 2018. Yesterday morning, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls. The first owl (seen in the next photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers. The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree. Again, the light was a challenge, but I should be able to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was. I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.

Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018. The owl in this photo was taken on the Saturday, when a Great Gray Owl was sitting in a bare tree, giving a chance for several shots before it flew off and landed in a more distant area of woodland. And there it sat, and sat, and sat, partly hidden by a tangle of too many tiny branches. If only they would choose trees with no branches that get in the way, lol! On the Sunday, I decided to go with a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls. The first owl was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was somewhat closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers. The second owl, seen in the third photo I have posted today, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed on the top of a far-away evergreen tree. Again, the light was a challenge. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was. I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.

Flickr problems, yet again! Today, 15 March 2018, Calgary is under yet another Snowfall Warning, and it has been snowing all morning. Snowfall, with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm is expected. Heavy snowfall will continue over much of southern Alberta today. At this time of year, we tend to get snow, then it melts or starts to melt, then it snows again, and so on. Yesterday, I had to get across the city and was amazed that there was hardly any snow left in many places. I don't know how so much snow could just disappear like that, especially leaving no flooding. I have added a previously posted photo in a comment box below. That photo was already taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. Using a different camera, I was able to zoom in much more for the above photo, taken from exactly the same spot. So difficult/impossible to hold the camera steady, so I don't use it very often, but I was curious to see what kind of photo I could get. Not the sharpest, that's for sure, but I thought I would post it anyway, to show just how far away the owl was, even though it looks like I am standing very close to the bird. Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on the Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018. On Sunday, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls. The first owl (not this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers. The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree (seen in this photo). Again, the light was a challenge, but I managed to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was. I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.

I have added a previously posted photo in a comment box below. That photo was already taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. Using a different camera, I was able to zoom in much more for the above photo, taken from exactly the same spot. So difficult/impossible to hold the camera steady, so I don't use it very often, but I was curious to see what kind of photo I could get. Not the sharpest, that's for sure, but I thought I would post it anyway, to show just how far away the owl was, even though it looks like I am standing very close to the bird. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl Talk about a lucky weekend for Great Gray Owls - just what the doctor ordered! One individual seen on the Saturday and then two different individuals seen on Sunday, 11 March 2018. On Sunday, I decided to follow a group of friends for the first part of their day's outing. The rest of their day was going to be a walk in an area that is treacherous in winter, as well as being a long hike. The very last thing I need at the moment is to break an arm or a leg - or anything. I am so glad I got up early and started the day with them, as we ended up seeing two separate Great Gray Owls. The first owl (not this photo) was perched in a group of trees and then flew to a tree that was closer to us. It is always amazing to see such a large owl perched on a very thin branch/twig, showing that most of the bird is a mass of light-weight feathers. The second owl, seen in this photo, was at first perched in a tree that had beautiful, dead leaves, adding a welcome splash of colour. The light was challenging, but at least it wasn't snowing. A few minutes later, it flew off and landed in a far-away evergreen tree (seen in this photo). Again, the light was a challenge, but I managed to rescue a few shots. After parting from my friends, I had to drive past this location again and was happy to see the second owl still in the same distant tree. I waited a little while, hoping it might fly and land closer, but it seemed perfectly happy staying exactly where it was. I was just in time to get back to the city and join a different group of friends for a walk at Mallard Point in Fish Creek. Park. The birds we saw were too far away for any decent photos - but I didn't need any, after such an amazing owl morning. After the walk, we headed for Tim Horton's for late afternoon coffee and snack. Just being outdoors on such a lovely, sunny, comparatively mild day felt good.

Yesterday, 21 March 2018, this was one of the beautiful Great Gray Owls I was lucky enough to see. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack. I think this was perhaps the best view of this owl that I was lucky enough to get, captured at Focal Length (35mm format) - 810 mm. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl I thought the weather was supposed to be sunny yesterday, but it was overcast, at least while I was there. The forecast for today, and for both Saturday and Sunday, was for yet more snow, so I really wanted to get out there before everywhere turns freshly white. After checking, I now see the weekend has an improved forecast, though we are under a Fog alert this morning - "Widespread fog has developed over a large portion of southern Alberta. The fog is expected to dissipate later this morning. Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations." From The Weather Network. This week has been full of appointments of one kind or another, so convenient time has been very limited. Another one today and, very annoyingly, I got notice yesterday afternoon that everyone has to move their vehicle for five hours so that some snow removal can take place. No street parking without a parking pass, which I don't have, so I will have to kill most of those hours one way or another, before my appointment.

Interesting, I don't usually follow Stats this closely, but I just happened to notice that I have just suddenly lost about 1,000 views for today. I have read others' comments about this happening, but don't remember noticing it with my own stats before. I could tell that there was something "wrong", anyway, as the graph is barely moving. If you only knew how far away this Great Gray Owl was! The far side of a field, perched on top of a very tall, wooden power pole. From that distance, the owl looked like part of the pole itself, and I'm sure I would never have noticed it by myself. Thought I would try a heavily zoomed in shot, despite the distance and the overcast sky. One or two photos came out well enough to keep, but the rest need to be deleted. The colour of the owl's plumage is not really accurate. This was the first of three Great Gray Owls that I photographed on 21 March 2018. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack, but they were all sharply focused on hunting. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl I thought the weather was supposed to be sunny on this day, but it was overcast, at least while I was there. Yesterday was even worse, with dense fog. More snow was expected and it arrived yesterday afternoon. I had a very important appointment to go to in the afternoon, plus I had to remove my car from the parking lot for five hours, so that at least some of the snow and ice could be removed. No street parking without a permit, so I knew I had five hours to kill. In the end, I decided to drive out of the city, but after maybe five minutes of driving on a major highway, I knew I had made a foolish mistake. I couldn't see any other vehicles or even much of the road ahead of me, because of the fog. In the end, I had to turn up a back road, as it would have been very dangerous to try and cut across several lanes when I could see absolutely nothing. It was a relief when I finally reached home. This week has been full of appointments of one kind or another, so convenient time has been very limited. This afternoon, I have to get my Taxes seen to, and that will be great to get out of the way. Hoping to get out with my camera at the weekend, though. Our temperature this morning is plus 2C and the sun is shining.

It is way past time that I add apologies for falling way behind, especially with my commenting on other people’s photos, but also on keeping up with my own postings. Over the last three or four months, it has been one thing after another that needed to be dealt with – why is it that the unwelcome things never seem to come one at a time, ha? Times like Thanksgiving and Christmas are always difficult times for me, along with various 3rd anniversaries connected to my older daughter. For some reason, this season was more difficult than last year. I could definitely have done without the whole hassle of having to sort out and fix the mess that was caused when someone (or two separate people) tried to make suspicious purchases using my credit card, resulting in my card being cancelled (without any notification from the Bank!) and various services being shut down. Took about five weeks to get everything sorted out. Throw in a long issue with a camera that I bought more than a year ago and am still trying to get the manufacturer to fix the problem. When I use Playback, the camera keeps skipping over some of the photos, and it has done this since I first used the camera. When I went back to the store at the beginning, I was told that it would have to be sent off for repair. I couldn’t do that because I needed it for my Trinidad & Tobago trip. Finally, I let it be sent off just before the warranty ended, shortly before Christmas. It was so-called “repaired” and returned, but in fact it was exactly the same as before. Now I am without it for the second time, hoping that this time it will actually be fixed. Not the end of the world, that’s for sure, though photography is vital to me. I am still working on a major photo contract, which I will describe once the whole thing is finished. I’ll just say that it is a very special and exciting project for someone, involving a set of images that I took a few decades ago. Stress over my daughter’s upcoming major surgery is unavoidable and we will both be enormously relieved when it is all over with. Heavily overshadowing everything during the past three or so months was my own health. After worrying myself sick, and for much too long, I finally saw my doctor, who ordered various tests including an ultrasound, to see if I had cancer. Three days ago, I was told that nothing of any concern had been found, to my huge relief. I’d like to think that I will never be in that situation again, as ‘terrifying’ would be the word to describe it. How I feel for all those who are not so fortunate to get good news. Anyway, all these things left me feeling totally stressed out and drained, with no energy to do much at all. The day before I had my tests done, I knew I just had to get out and look for an owl, and I was so lucky : ) I have taken so few photos the last few months, which I always find depressing. Yesterday and the day before, too, I just had to get out on a couple of day trips with friends. Too tired to add descriptions on Flickr the last two mornings, but hopefully I will catch up. Thank you to anyone who happens to read this! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 21 March 2018, this was one of the beautiful Great Gray Owls I was lucky enough to see. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack. This was one of the best views of this owl that I was lucky enough to get, captured at Focal Length (35mm format) - 810 mm. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl