One more Redpoll

You are probably getting tired of seeing Common Redpoll photos, but I so rarely see these dainty little birds, so wanted to add one more shot taken on 7 December 2012. Friends, Dorothy and Stephen, invited me to go with them east of the city, to see if we could find a Snowy Owl - which we did - four of them : )

Three more days, and the first Christmas Bird Count (Banff/Canmore) will be here! I had hoped to be all organized way ahead of time - but, of course, I'm not! Pretty much anything that doesn't get done before the Bird Counts start, won't be getting done, so today I have to finish the last few Christmas cards and letters, for a start. These out-of-town Counts are exhausting, starting at around 6:30 a.m. (which means getting up around 4:00 a.m.) and then not getting home till the evening, but it is a great chance for me each year to get to places I wouldn't otherwise get to, and see different things to photograph. Wish I wasn't a night owl, getting to bed between maybe 1:30 and 2:30 a.m.!!! Not good when you have to get up at 4:00 a.m.! Not sure how many Counts I will take part in, but it's somewhere around 7-9, I believe. I'll most likely be posting on Flickr at some really weird times, lol.