A favourite little country church
Tea, anyone?
Textures of an old homestead
Old homestead and barn
With a view of the mountains and the prairies
The rule of red
Each one different from the others
A fine old barn
Little red barn on the prairie
A different style
A new find on a bitterly cold day
Fenced in
Spikes of ice
Now THIS is winter!
Modern charm
Snow, snow and more snow
Winter beauty
Chateau Lake Louise and ice castle
The best colour to see in winter
Shepard Energy Centre, east of Calgary, Alberta
Wearing a heavy coat of hoar frost
The cross and the moon
Little country church
Aging gracefully
Davisburg Community Church, Alberta
Old barn with a different style
Davisburg Community Church, Alberta
A fine old barn
Little church in the valley
McDougall Memorial United Church
A cluster of red barns
McDougall Memorial United Church
Farmyard scene on the prairie
Davisburg Community Church, Alberta
One of my favourite barns
A life left behind
Built with love
Little red barn with green roof
Window box at Reader Rock Garden
Tucked away near the creek
Weathered and patched
Old barn in winter
Roof shingles galore
Charcoal effect
An old barn in winter
Still standing
McDougall Memorial United Church
The old barn at the Ellis Bird Farm
Farm seed elevator, Ellis Bird Farm, Alberta
And then there were only THREE!
This old house
Love those Canola fields
Prince of Wales hotel, Waterton
The Grad Barn 2016
Once a family home
Beautiful old house in the hills
Kirkpatrick elevator, near Drumheller
Bright and cheery in its old age
Weathered and patched
Old cabin on Gottlob Schmidt's (Schmitty's) land
Old glass doorknob
Rural decay
Little red cabin
A favourite old barn
Livingston House, Heritage Park
Give it time to age
Grain elevator with a difference
Rockyview General Hospital, reflected
At the Saskatoon Farm
Six old granaries
We ignored the warning : )
Colonel Walker House, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Ralph Klein Park
Let the sun shine
Love the style
One of these things is not like the others
One of my favourite barns
A change of subject
Too hard to resist
Yay, it's Canola time!
Three farm buddies
Olds College Botanic Gardens and Wetlands
Happy day! And Happy 4th July to all Americans, e…
A scene from the past
Brant grain elevator
Clouds and Dandelions
Nearing its end
One of three
Little red barn on Mother's Day
Simple but bright
Strong winds on the prairies
Brant grain elevator
There once was an owl
Weathered character
Off limits
Old Catholic Church, Dorothy
One of my favourite finds
A fine rural relic
Tilting
Fairly well preserved
No owl, but I love the colour
Old barn with Magpie
The big red barn
Aging sentinel of the Badlands
Snow + red barn = a happy day
Just one thing missing ....
Red barn on a cold, foggy, snowy day
Fog and snow
Old barn and sunflower shed
Old grain elevators & railway cars
Beauty increases with age
Water Valley Church
A beautiful country barn
Down on the farm
Reminder of the olden days
Rowley grain elevators
Rather fine old barn
Rural neglect
Teapots and fall reflections
Blue on blue
When I was lost, I found a barn
United Church, Dorothy, Alberta
Magrath grain elevator
Standing tall
Is that an owl in the window?
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Colour for a snowy morning
![Colour for a snowy morning Colour for a snowy morning](https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/40/14/40614014.6ae3a7ea.640.jpg?r2)
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It snowed last night, so I had a few inches of the white stuff to clear off my vehicle today, 16 December 2015, before going to a volunteer shift. If truth were known, I think I would have preferred to grab my camera and go for a walk or a short drive, but that will have to wait till another day : ) Temperature was -6C, windchill -8C, this morning.
Yesterday, 15 December 2015, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. At the outlet at Frank Lake, there was a bit of open water. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my morning photos are rather grainy (or just too blurred to post). The sun came up when we were standing at the outlet and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful.
After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls.
"Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open.
Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min.
Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av.
Canada Goose-80
Gadwall-1 m
Green-winged Teal-1 f.
Lesser Scaup-1 m.
Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place..
Killdeer -3
Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA
Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard).
Snowy Owl-2
Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA.
Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA
Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L
European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26.
American Tree Sparrow- 12
Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog).
Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA
House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA
Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1).
Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake
Deer sp.-3
Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr."
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...
Yesterday, 15 December 2015, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. At the outlet at Frank Lake, there was a bit of open water. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my morning photos are rather grainy (or just too blurred to post). The sun came up when we were standing at the outlet and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful.
After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls.
"Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open.
Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min.
Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av.
Canada Goose-80
Gadwall-1 m
Green-winged Teal-1 f.
Lesser Scaup-1 m.
Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place..
Killdeer -3
Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA
Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard).
Snowy Owl-2
Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA.
Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA
Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L
European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26.
American Tree Sparrow- 12
Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog).
Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA
House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA
Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1).
Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake
Deer sp.-3
Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr."
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...
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