Owls 3

Yesterday, I finally got out on a three-hour birding walk from Shannon Terrace to just before Bebo Grove, in Fish Creek Park. It was a cold morning and we only managed to see nine species of bird. After the walk, four of us went for lunch at Tim Horton's before braving the cold once again at the area where the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl has been seen on some days during the last few weeks. Friends Cathy and Terry happened to be down in the park and they had already found the owl, which always helps. We got the chance to see it up close when it flew down into some bushes, but the rest of the time it was either high or very high up in one or two different trees. Though I love close shots, I thought this distant one might give an idea of how small this owl is. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

It snowed here overnight and it's still snowing this morning (6 February 2015). Everywhere is white and the trees look like they are covered in frost. The temperature is -13C (windchill -17C) this morning, but it's supposed to get up to +8C (windchill +4C) this afternoon. We have been so spoilt for weeks now, with temperatures that have been wonderfully mild for mid winter, but the last few days have seen a return to winter. Yesterday was about as gloomy and overcast as one could get. I knew there would be no point in going out with my camera, so I stayed home the whole day. The temperature doesn't bother me too much, as long as the sun is shining, but there was no sign of sunshine or blue sky all day long. I ended up watching more TV than usual and it seemed that every channel I turned to had some sad program playing! Movie or News, people were getting injured or killed and families were sitting around in hospital rooms. Not what I needed - tomorrow, it will have been five weeks since our oldest daughter passed away, so scenes like this were all too familiar and painful. I ended up getting migraine twice yesterday - I've only had it about six times in quite a few years. So, today, I must clear the snow off my car and get out for a while. This photo was taken on 3 February, when I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, find a friend or two. I was lucky with both - some of the time there were just the three of us, watching and photographing this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl (uncommon in Alberta). It gave us a few good views, including when it flew down to the bushes right in font of us (love it when that happens!). Couldn't get a completely clear view of it, so I did very roughly remove a branch that went right across the body near the bottom edge of the photo. Telemacro (Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm), so the owl is much smaller than it appears in this photo. There have been quite a few days recently that there has been no sign of the owl, so I always feel very fortunate if it appears when I am there. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

This is the only photo I've been able to get of a tiny Northern Pygmy-owl after it has flown down to the ground and caught a Meadow Vole. This behaviour is called "mantling", letting it be known that this catch is his/hers. It all happened so quickly and there were a lot of people standing watching, so I wasn't able to move to a better spot to take this shot. There was a large, dark brown tree-trunk right across the left side of the photo, which didn't want to be removed, so it's badly done, but better than the very dark, original patch. Photo taken in Fish Creek Park on 10 January 2015. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

This photo was taken back on 11 January 2015, when I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, to see a friend or two. I was lucky with both. It was a Sunday and a lot of photographers had gathered to watch and photograph this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl (at least on that day). Mind you, apart from a couple of very brief, low landings in bushes, it stayed perched extremely high in tall trees. Thankfully, it was still within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places. Bright blue sky completed the picture, unlike the day before, which had been overcast and gloomy. It was so good that day to see so many friends again - lifted my spirits, for which I was so grateful. Each day I have been there since, there has been at least one other photographer and as many as maybe 30 on the very occasional day. My thanks to each and every one of them.

Not the best quality shot, but I wanted to add it to my Northern Pygmy-owl album to remind myself of this different perch. It has been eight days since I've seen this tiny, popcan-sized owl, but what an amazing time we have had, watching and photographing this beautiful visitor to our park. Thank you, little owl! Took this photo on 11 January 2015, when I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, a friend or two. I was lucky with both. It was a Sunday and a lot of photographers had gathered to watch and photograph this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl. Mind you, apart from a couple of very brief, low landings in bushes, it stayed perched extremely high in tall trees and at the top of a couple of tall snags. Thankfully, it was still within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places. Bright blue sky completed the picture, unlike the day before, which had been overcast and gloomy. It was so good to see so many friends again - lifted my spirits, for which I was so grateful. My thanks to each and every one of them.

This is a poor quality photo, as you can tell, but I did want to post it for the record. It was taken yesterday evening, 12 February 2015, SE of Calgary, at one of the ramps leading from another road, right next to the main, busy highway. The lighting comes from car headlights and street lamps, giving the owl a rather unpleasant colour. We had pulled off the ramp on to one of the small patches where a car is able to stop. We really hoped the owl knew what it was doing and that it would soon leave for the fields. While we were there, it flew alongside the car and pounced on some kind of small rodent (Meadow Vole?) for a snack. Seeing this beautiful Snowy Owl certainly made a great ending to a day of exploration in a mostly familiar place! Yesterday, 12 February 2015, was spent SE of the city, with friends Cathy and Terry. They picked me up around 7:00 am and I think I was home somewhere around 7:30 pm, after a great day of searching for owls, barns, and anything else that caught our eye. The weather was beautiful, despite a cloud layer. The temperature reached a brief high of 13C around 1:00 and 2:00 pm, which felt so good, especially for mid-winter. Many of the roads we travelled along were roads that I had driven on myself, some of them a number of times. A few of the roads were new to me, which was a treat, including a "trail" that was so deeply rutted and snow-covered that I'm amazed that we ever got out of there! This track and another backroad that was new to me led to a few old barns that I really appreciated being shown. I think my friends were amused that I fell asleep on this very rough track - after only an hour and a half's sleep the previous night, on top of always being very sleep-deprived, I'm really not surprised. It's strange how some fields in the whole area were more or less bare and yet others had a lot of snow covering the stubble, with piles of snow lining the edges of the road. As far as wildlife was concerned, we saw 11 owls - 8 Snowy Owls and 3 Great Horned Owls. The Snowies, other than the one in this photo, were all extremely distant, so my photos are of white specks in a nice setting, ha. If I hadn't been with two people who can spot "everything", I'm sure that I would never have found most of these owls! One of the Great Horned Owls gave us a lovely view, although not close, with no branches getting in the way. Loved hearing it calling to its mate, who was presumably tucked into one of the neighbouring trees. Other birds included a flock of Snow Buntings, plus two individuals that were perched on a fence - haven't checked yet to see if I have a sharp enough photo. We had to deal with a lot of heat distortion during the day, so some photos are far from sharp. Another bird we saw was a beautiful Falcon perched on an electricity pylon - not a large bird, so presumably a Prairie Falcon, not a Gyrfalcon. Many thanks, as always, Cathy and Terry, for a great day out, including the delicious chili you made and brought along. Fun and rewarding! Really appreciated being with you, doing what we all enjoy so much. Thanks, too, for giving me time to photograph the various barns we came across!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE! I think it has been quite a long time since I took a photo of a Great Horned Owl. The last few times I've seen one, it has been well hidden high up in a tree. Two days ago, though, we saw this one in full view, which was a real treat. I was going to crop it more closely than this, but discovered that the photo was less sharp than I thought. It is a 48x zoomed image, Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm, so it's not too surprising. It was great to hear the owl calling to its mate, who was no doubt sitting in a nearby tree. This owl was seen two days ago, 12 February 2015, which was spent SE of the city, with friends Cathy and Terry. They picked me up around 7:00 am and I think I was home somewhere around 7:30 pm, after a great day of searching for owls, barns, and anything else that caught our eye. The weather was beautiful. The temperature reached a brief high of 13C around 1:00 and 2:00 pm, which felt so good, especially for mid-winter. Many of the roads we travelled along were roads that I had driven on myself, some of them a number of times. A few of the roads were new to me, which was a treat, including a "trail" that was so deeply rutted and snow-covered that I'm amazed that we ever got out of there! This track and another backroad that was new to me led to a few old barns that I really appreciated being shown. I think my friends were amused that I fell asleep on this very rough track - after only an hour and a half's sleep the previous night, on top of always being very sleep-deprived, I'm really not surprised. It's strange how some fields in the whole area were more or less bare and yet others had a lot of snow covering the stubble, with piles of snow lining the edges of the road. As far as wildlife was concerned, we saw 11 owls - 8 Snowy Owls and 3 Great Horned Owls. The Snowies, other than the one perched on the "Wrong Way" sign that I posted yesterday, were all extremely distant, so my photos are of white specks in a nice setting, ha. If I hadn't been with two people who can spot "everything", I'm sure that I would never have found most of these owls! Other birds included a flock of Snow Buntings, plus two individuals that were perched on a fence - haven't checked yet to see if I have a sharp enough photo. Another bird we saw was a beautiful Falcon perched on an electricity pylon - not a large bird, so presumably a Prairie Falcon, not a Gyrfalcon. Also a group of Grey Partridge that suddenly flew before we had noticed them. We had to deal with a lot of heat distortion during the day, so some photos are far from sharp. Many thanks, as always, Cathy and Terry, for a great day out, including the delicious chili you made and brought along. A fun and rewarding day! Really appreciated being with you, doing what we all enjoy so much. Thanks, too, for giving me time to photograph the various barns we came across!

Just over a month ago, on 13 January 2015, I spent time with friends again, down in Fish Creek Park. As usual, for most of the time, this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl sat very high up in very tall trees. Patience is definitely needed when hoping to get photos of this beautiful little bird - it tends to sit in the same place for an hour or even two. If it wasn't for other people to chat with, I know I could never stand there, watching and waiting for so long if I was by myself! This is a 48x zoomed image, Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. This photo was taken just after the ferocious little hunter flew down and caught a Meadow Vole, part of which you can see. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

I'm still returning to my recent archives to find "new" photos to post of this tiny Northern Pygmy-owl. I think I've posted most of my better shots of him/her, but still have various others that I want to add to my album. Took this photo on 11 January 2015, when I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, a friend or two. I was lucky with both. It was a Sunday and a lot of photographers had gathered to watch and photograph this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl. Mind you, apart from a couple of very brief, low landings in bushes, it stayed perched extremely high in tall trees and at the top of a couple of tall snags. Thankfully, it was still within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places. Bright blue sky completed the picture, unlike the day before, which had been overcast and gloomy. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl I overslept by an hour this morning, so have to hurry and get ready for my volunteer shift.