Golden Eagle
I think I hear something
Goodbye, elephants : (
Watching us closely
King Penguin
Elephants from the archives
Redhead
Keeping her young ones warm
Mountain Bluebird from my archives
Northern Shoveler / Anas clypeata
Snuggling up to Mom
Juicy snack for his babies
Peekaboo
Wood Duck pair
Growing older by the minute
Beautiful catch
Building her nest
Mom at the nest
An element of trust
A welcome sight
A cooperative Coot
A matching stripe
A different kind of perch
Wind-ruffled feathers
Keeping an eye on those pesky Tree Swallows
Dad, awake for a few minutes
Little Bluebird on a snowy day
A different kind of perch
A highlight of our May Species Count
Eared Grebe
Wilson's Snipe
Coyote on the prowl
Time to catch supper
Sharing her catch
Feeling blue
A two-legged Wilson's Snipe : )
Eared Grebe
Blue-green iridescence
A good poser
Distant Lark Sparrow
Great choice of fence post
One less Grasshopper in the world
Yes, yes, YES!
An over the shoulder look
Black Tern on fence post
Throat-tickling supper
A Snipe from last year
Thoughts of anything cold
I saw a Sora
White-faced Ibis - very rare in Alberta
Eared Grebe with young one
Wilson's Snipe - what a beauty
Some like wood, others like metal
Mating Spotted Asparagus Beetles
Mama Ruffed Grouse
Gorgeous iridescent feathers
Thankfully, not Mosquitoes
Two of a kind!
The Wilson's Snipe - such a fine bird
The twins' Mom
What big feet you have
Cautious mother of twins
I see a Sora
The long and the short of it : )
Northern Shrike - Butcher Bird
Why they are hard to find : )
Hiding in the grasses
Columbian Ground Squirrel
Follow the leader
Patiently watching
Suppertime catch
Little beauty
Power of the Golden Eagle
The stern look
Killdeer
Red button eyes
Pied-billed Grebe and babies
Taking a break
The demise of a Meadow Vole
Looking for lunch
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Northern Pygmy-owl
Partial compression
Great Gray Owl with prey
Burrowing Owl
Owl with attitude
Northern Pygmy-owl
Perched and posing
A treat to see and hear
Trumpeter Swan
The foot of a Coot
Mother of six
Avian elegance
Eye contact with a Mink
At home in the nesting box
On the supper menu
Spider on the menu
I love Snipes
Watching for fish
Lichens and all
Tired Mom
Visitor to the city
A treat in the city
Hunting for fish
I don't like having my photo taken!
Curious little Mink
One of the joys of spring
Worthy of another look
Carnations for his sweetheart : )
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Mallard curls
Lesser Scaup male
Concentration
On a snowy day
Sparkling snow and iridescence
Mixed company
A rare (for me) in-flight shot
A reward for facing my fears : )
What a sight on a cold winter's day
Little bird, big world
No such thing as a line-up
Mountain Bluebird
Penguin feet
Yellow-headed Blackbird from the archives
Curiosity from up high
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Long-eared Owl
Sorry to keep repeating the same information under various photos taken that day - done mainly for my own use. On 17 December 2013, it was a long day of Christmas Bird Count south of the city. A group of nine of us, travelling in two vehicles, covered part of the huge circle around High River. A few others from Calgary, plus quite a few people from the town, covered the rest. We were so lucky with the weather - the temperature actually got up to 9C! We left Calgary at 7:15 a.m., but by the time we arrived at Frank Lake, our first destination, the sunrise was just beginning. On this count last year, every plant and blade of dry grass was covered in wonderful hoar frost - not so lucky this time. Snow depth was from bare ground to 15 cm, with drifts to 100cm, and there was no/little open water at the lake. From the report: 6 kms on foot; 75kms by car; 3 hrs on foot, 5 hours by car.
The day was spent driving the backroads, and calling in at various homesteads and farms. We had three species of owl, which, as you can imagine, delighted everyone in my group. We had hoped to see a Snowy Owl, but no luck this year. My group had 19 species of bird by the end of the day - we finished driving around 4:00 p.m..Noticeably lacking were small birds, such as Snow Buntings - so I had to make do with owls, lol!
The final list for our group, covering two areas in our section, was:
Mallard-12/ 0= 12
Northern Pintail-1 f./ 0= 1
Common Goldeneye-4/0= 4
Gray Partridge-17/30= 47
Ring-necked Pheasant-3/0= 3
Bald Eagle-1ad/1ad= 2
Northern Harrier-1/ 0= 1
Great Horned Owl-4/1= 5
Long-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Short-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Rock Pigeon-47/7= 54
Downy Woodpecker-1/ 0= 1
Northern Flicker-1/0= 1
Black-billed Magpie-7/24= 31
Common Raven-2/1= 3
Horned Lark-2/0= 2
Black-capped Chickadee-0/1= 1
American Tree Sparrow-6/0= 6
House Sparrow-35/140= 175
The absolutely gorgeous Long-eared Owl, seen in the photo above, was on someone's private land. We were given permission to wander around, searching the trees and open area. A few people had gone ahead of me just a matter of steps, when suddenly, to my amazement and total delight, I noticed this owl hiding deep within a Spruce tree : ))) Couldn't believe my eyes! I've seen three of these Crow-sized owls before, but each time is as exciting as if it were the very first time. The long-eared owl is a very slender, medium-sized bird about 35 centimetres (14 inches) long. Actually, we had already seen another Long-eared Owl earlier in the day! You won't believe this, but two trees away from this Spruce tree - the trees were all squashed together and looked more like one huge tree - there was a beautiful Great Horned Owl! Of course, we were all hoping that the GHO wouldn't take the smaller owl for its supper! Oh, did I mention that two Short-eared Owls were spotted by someone in the first car, hidden amongst the dead grasses? They were sitting there, facing each other, and I managed to just get a couple of rather poor photos. Another thrill of the day : )
At the end of the day, some of the people involved in this count stayed for a pot-luck supper. Thanks so much to everyone who organized this annual Count and worked so hard with preparing for the meal. We always enjoy this time at the end of a long day, chatting about what we'd all been seeing in the various segments of the huge circle. Special thanks to Greg Wagner, who organized the whole event - well done, as usual, Greg : ) Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for driving some of us the whole day and for picking me up and bringing me home - really appreciate your coming well out of your way to do this!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_Owl
The day was spent driving the backroads, and calling in at various homesteads and farms. We had three species of owl, which, as you can imagine, delighted everyone in my group. We had hoped to see a Snowy Owl, but no luck this year. My group had 19 species of bird by the end of the day - we finished driving around 4:00 p.m..Noticeably lacking were small birds, such as Snow Buntings - so I had to make do with owls, lol!
The final list for our group, covering two areas in our section, was:
Mallard-12/ 0= 12
Northern Pintail-1 f./ 0= 1
Common Goldeneye-4/0= 4
Gray Partridge-17/30= 47
Ring-necked Pheasant-3/0= 3
Bald Eagle-1ad/1ad= 2
Northern Harrier-1/ 0= 1
Great Horned Owl-4/1= 5
Long-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Short-eared Owl-2/0= 2
Rock Pigeon-47/7= 54
Downy Woodpecker-1/ 0= 1
Northern Flicker-1/0= 1
Black-billed Magpie-7/24= 31
Common Raven-2/1= 3
Horned Lark-2/0= 2
Black-capped Chickadee-0/1= 1
American Tree Sparrow-6/0= 6
House Sparrow-35/140= 175
The absolutely gorgeous Long-eared Owl, seen in the photo above, was on someone's private land. We were given permission to wander around, searching the trees and open area. A few people had gone ahead of me just a matter of steps, when suddenly, to my amazement and total delight, I noticed this owl hiding deep within a Spruce tree : ))) Couldn't believe my eyes! I've seen three of these Crow-sized owls before, but each time is as exciting as if it were the very first time. The long-eared owl is a very slender, medium-sized bird about 35 centimetres (14 inches) long. Actually, we had already seen another Long-eared Owl earlier in the day! You won't believe this, but two trees away from this Spruce tree - the trees were all squashed together and looked more like one huge tree - there was a beautiful Great Horned Owl! Of course, we were all hoping that the GHO wouldn't take the smaller owl for its supper! Oh, did I mention that two Short-eared Owls were spotted by someone in the first car, hidden amongst the dead grasses? They were sitting there, facing each other, and I managed to just get a couple of rather poor photos. Another thrill of the day : )
At the end of the day, some of the people involved in this count stayed for a pot-luck supper. Thanks so much to everyone who organized this annual Count and worked so hard with preparing for the meal. We always enjoy this time at the end of a long day, chatting about what we'd all been seeing in the various segments of the huge circle. Special thanks to Greg Wagner, who organized the whole event - well done, as usual, Greg : ) Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for driving some of us the whole day and for picking me up and bringing me home - really appreciate your coming well out of your way to do this!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_Owl
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