Birds of Alberta 6

The tiny fist-sized or popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl has two distinctive, black nape spots outlined in white on the back of its head, which look like "false" eyes. In this photo, the bird is perched towards me, but its head is rotated to look away from me. Photographed in Fish Creek Park on February 21st.

Wasn't going to post this, because the Dipper has it's nictitating membrane down over its eyes, but there was still something I liked about the texture and pattern of the background. We saw this little Dipper on a walk from Votier's Flats to Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on November 27th. Later: read on Wikipedia that the American Dipper "has white feathers on the eyelids that cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks" Perhaps that is what my photo shows, and not the nictitating membrane?

These are such beautiful birds, usually looking very sleek. However, the windchill was something like -28C and when you sit still, you get cold, lol. At least, that's the way it works for humans. I finally made myself leave my computer yesterday morning and joined a handful of friends to go for a walk in Fish Creek Park. We met at Bow Valley Ranch and carpooled down the road to SIkome to search for the Great Horned Owls, which were nowhere to be found. Last year, after a devastating storm, many dozens of trees were destroyed in that area, and this unfortunately included the tree next to the owl's nesting tree. This means that there is no longer a close tree for when the owlets start learning to fly, so I have a feeling that they have moved. A pity, as last year's nesting tree was quite open (i.e. good for photographers). We then did a walk along the Bow River. By the Ranch, we saw 600+ of these gorgeous Bohemian Waxwings and I was lucky to manage to catch one sitting briefly on an open branch. The handful of shots I took of them in the Spruce trees came out very blurred and overexposed. No idea how I managed that, ha. Soon, the Bohemians will be gone and will be replaced by the Cedar Waxwings for the summer. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bohemian_Waxwing/lifehistory

This little lady was hanging out nearby when I finally got out on a walk in Fish Creek Park with a few friends three days ago. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning, though cold, and my poor body is still feeling the effects of walking after barely moving an inch for two months, lol. The male White-breasted Nuthatches have a black cap, not a mid-grey one like the females. It's always good to see a few of the regulars, even more so when there are no less-common birds to be found. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/id

This is one of the little regulars in Fish Creek Park, caught with his feathers all puffed up. We watched him on one of my very rare walks the last two months, on March 3rd. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning, but cold, of course. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/downy_woodpecker/id

Another Bohemian Waxwing that we saw near the Bow Valley Ranch, Fish Creek Park, on March 3rd. They were there briefly in huge numbers and almost constantly on the move. I was lucky enough to catch two of them sitting still long enough to capture them. They usually are very sleek birds, but were very fluffed up on that day.

This little guy/gal had his photo taken so many times yesterday, but almost all my photos will need to be deleted, ha. It was so overcast and my photos just didn't turn out. Many of the shots were very similar, of course, as the activity of these guys is very limited once they are sitting on a branch. Maybe you can picture this as being on the verge of a painting, with all the grain (a nicer name than "noise", I think) : ) This photo makes it look as if the owl is in the open and close, but in fact it was quite dark, looking up towards the top of this tree. And remember that he is only the size of a person's fist or a popcan. A miracle that I spotted him - not that he needs any more spots, lol! Took this shot when the owl flew from his original perch on the other side of the creek

Thought this was quite a cute photo of the teeny Northern Pygmy-owl : ) Facing away from me on a distant tree, it suddenly heard a dog bark on a nearby path. Taken on February 21st in Fish Creek Park at Bebo Grove. Don't you just love that little, white speckled head? Major sorting and tidying needs to be done in my home as everyone's upstairs windows are supposed to be replaced this year. I don't know which building they will start at, but usually mine seems to be the first one when major repair work is done. No idea when they are likely to start on this, but I don't want to be "caught out" on this. Everyone's gas bill will go down, that's for sure, as our windows are basically sheets of loose glass that shift with all the traffic vibrations and leave gaps for icy blasts to come through - the plastic (?) strips that are supposed to be firmly attached to two sides of each pane have come off and make opening a window even just an inch or two very difficult or impossible. Everyone has been complaining about these windows for at least 12 years!! I have managed to avoid having anyone into my place the last few years, but now it has all caught up with me! I have no choice but to catch up on at least some of the things that I just haven't been able to cope with the last few years. Also, in very roughly two-three months' time, "several large boxes" of things that belonged to my parents and my brother will also be arriving from England. Hopefully by then, I will have been able to clear enough space in my basement to put these, but at the moment I can barely even set foot in it, literally, lol. I'm beginning to feel a very unpleasant sense of panic. Where is that magic wand when you need it??

This beautiful American Three-toed Woodpecker was just a few minutes' walk from the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl. It's so dark in amongst the trees and this handsome guy, with his gorgeous yellow head patch, is usually either too high in a tree or is surrounded by annoying branches and twigs. I was lucky, for just a moment, to get a clear shot. I lucked out with getting the head sharp enough, too - as with many Woodpecker species, their head is constantly pecking away at the tree trunk, resulting in so many blurry shots : )