West of Nanton, Alberta

The rolling hills and farmland west of Nanton, with a wonderful backdrop of mountain peaks, makes for such beautiful scenery. Love the colouring in the winter, as the mountains appear blue. Hardly looks like the area would have many birds, but four of us who were covering the south west quadrant of the cirlcle for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in the Nanton area, had some very nice sightings on 2nd January.

The birds we saw that day were:
5 Golden Eagles - yes, 5!!!!
3 Northern Shrikes
2 Great Horned Owls
2 Snow Buntings
70 Sharp-tailed Grouse - a lovely high number!
44 American Tree Sparrows
3 Rough-legged Hawks
2 Horned Larks
and the usual Ravens 26), House Sparrows (73), Black-capped Chickadees (39), Magpies (89), Red-breasted Nuthatch (1), Bohemian Waxwing (1), Rock Pigeon (1). Also saw a total of 8 Coyotes, 2 Moose, 14 Mule Deer and 10 White-tailed Deer.

The only bird photos I took were of a Sharp-tailed Grouse, other than a few totally blurry, distant Golden Eagle shots, not fit to post. All the half-decent photos were of cats, horses or scenery, LOL, plus the Sharp-tailed Grouse.