Northern Shoveler / Anas clypeata

Yesterday, I spent a wonderful, fun day with my youngest daughter, driving the backroads SE of Calgary. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns. We knew where our destination was going to be, more or less, though it was disappointing that the "heat wave" distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos. Unfortunately, it was quite a hazy day, which really didn't help. Once we got really close, the problem thankfully went away.

Our drive was not to see one kind of thing only. Both of us love to photograph anything beautiful or interesting. Naturally, birds were on our wish list, too, and we were lucky to come across several different species, including this handsome male Northern Shoveler that was swimming on one of the sloughs in the area. The very first place I drove to, was to see a Great Horned Owl nest. There were two young ones in it, snuggled up to Mom. They were still really young. Those who know me won't be at all surprised to hear that I couldn't find the nest that I had intended going to, lol! I was so confident driving to where I "knew" it would be, yet there was no sign of it. Next time I go back to that area, I will have to have a longer look. Other birds seen included a beautiful Meadowlark that I was so thrilled to see, a Red-tailed Hawk, and lots of elegant Swans which looked so beautiful in the sunshine with the distant Rocky Mountains in the background.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Shoveler

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_shoveler/id