Birds of Alberta 2

Oops, just missed the top of his head but at least a little of his bright red patch can be seen. I seem to be seeing more of this Hairy than I used to, which is great.

Taken on my walk today. Went around noon instead of mid to late afternoon, and there were fewer birds around.

I was so pleased to see that there were several Common Redpolls at some feeders in one of the large, natural areas of the city this morning. I didn't see any last winter.

Love that little red dot on the forehead.

This little guy looked kind of funny with a light-coloured seed placed in his beak. Almost looks as if he is wondering why I'm laughing. You can see the feather details much better when viewed at large size.

This is the little lady who flew down to my hand a couple of times the other week.

This is the male from the pair of White-breasted Nuthatches that always comes to see me on my walks.

Another photo of my first male Common Redpoll. Not a very good photo, but I'm not sure if/when I will see any more of these birds.

I was lucky enough to be treated to a great day out today, cruising the rolling hills south of Calgary, to see what birds we could find. I say we, but I should correct that to "my friend", as he is the excellent birder and I am just a little beyond the level of "it was a large/small bird"! He found a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagles, several Rough-legged Hawks, Sharp-tailed Grouse (a flock of about 25 that landed in a field), perhaps around 50 Wild Turkeys (the only ones I had seen were at the Zoo!), a Hairy Woodpecker, and a couple of Three-toed Woodpeckers which were a first for me. These photos are really for my own record, not fine examples of good photography:) Reminder to self - photos taken through the windscreen of a vehicle come out blurry! These are the sharpest of the ones I took. Thought I had lightened them enough, but I guess I was wrong! They must have been in the middle of molting?