Birds of Alberta 6

Not a good shot, but this is just about all I managed to get yesterday afternoon, when I took a short drive south west of the city. I did see several Mountain Bluebirds, but they were all far away, exxcept for this male, who sat and preened himself high up in this tree. His back is brilliant blue, unlike the pastel shade on his breast.

Yesterday, I was given a wonderful chance by friends, Ron and Trish, to get out of the city for the day, driving around the backroads southwest and southeast of the city. I never get to most of these places, thanks to my driving phobia, so it was an absolute treat for me to see not only places that I'm not familiar with, but birds that I don't usually see as close as we saw yesterday. We saw lots of these Rough-legged Hawks sitting very high up on electricity poles, but they either flew as soon as they saw up coming in the distance, or else flew as soon we got within photo distance of the pole. This one actually stayed for a couple of seconds and I just managed to get this shot through the far window of the car. Ron, good guy that he is, tried his absolute best to give me the best possible chances (with a variety of birds that we saw), but these Hawks were extremely skittish : ) Thanks, both of you, for such a lovely day! A friend sent me this link yesterday to a very short video on YouTube, titled "The T-Mobile Royal Wedding". Have any of you seen it? If not (and especially if you are English or a Royal Family watcher) do take a look at it : ) You'll never look at the Royal Family in the same way ever again. youtu.be/Kav0FEhtLug

I was thrilled to get close enough to not only get a good view but also to get a reasonable shot or two of this beautiful pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes two days ago. Usually when I see this species, they are the far side of the Bow River. Friends Ron and Trish so kindly invited me to go along with them for the day south west and south east of the city, checking out lots of backroads. Ron can find Hawks like I can find Chickadees, ha. It's great to go with people who manage to find all sorts of beautiful birds! The Barrow's Goldeneye male has a white crescent shape on its face, unlike the Common Goldeneye male which has a small, round, white cheek patch. Also, the black "stripes" between the white stripes on the wings are much wider than on the Common Goldeneye.

This is what I saw two days ago when I was in Fish Creek Park. High up in the old tree, Mum was carefully guarding her two babies. You can only just see the top of the white, fuzzy head of the younger owlet below Mom's head. My photo is zoomed and heavily cropped, which is why it looks like the nest is almost at eye level : )

Love the irridescence of the little Tree Swallow and I always enjoy seeing these birds. This was the first one I had seen this year, on a day out southeast and southwest of the city, with friends Ron and Trish on 24th April. Thanks, you guys!

When I was out for the day with friends Ron and Trish on 24th April, we were very lucky to come across this beautiful female American Kestrel perched on a high wire, south west of the city. The males especially are such beautiful birds, maybe the most colourful raptor in the world. When I do see these birds, they are always far, far away : ) Length is 22–31 cm, 8.7–12.2 in Wingspan is 51–61 cm, 20.1–24 in www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_kestrel/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Kestrel

These migratory, medium-sized shorebirds have a beautiful orange-red eyering, which doesn't show up too well in my photo. This is one of a pair that I saw at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park, on April 25th. "These birds will frequently use a distraction display ("broken-wing act") to distract predators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators then think they have easy prey and are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, they will move closer and get louder until they get the attention of the predator. This is repeated until the predator is far from the nest, and the killdeer suddenly "heals" and flies away." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killdeer www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/killdeer/id

Jim, a little bird named Mim (mimbrava) told us that you are in hospital at the moment, fighting a lung infection. Thoughts and prayers from so many people are being sent your way, so stay strong!! You are one awesome fighter, as we already know from watching you deal with a lung transplant three years ago. I've borrowed Tall Bob's link and words: Please join the For Garnite Group here: www.flickr.com/groups/1655195@N20/ and post your good wishes and beautiful images there. This beautiful female American Kestrel was high up on an overhead wire a few days ago, when I went with friends Ron and Trish South west of the city for the day. Usually when I see a Kestrel, it is way, way off in the distance, so this was really lucky. Zoomed and heavily cropped of course : )

When I took this photo on 24th April south of the city, I thought I was photographing Trumpeter Swans. When I got the photos on to my computer and did some cropping, I realized I could see the yellow teardrop marks below the eyes. Any kind of Swan is a welcome sight, though.