Frank Lake & area

Always better to get a poor quality photo than none at all : ) Gray Partridge, an introduced, non-native species in the Pheasant family, are usually so hard to photograph because they take off in flight immediately or else land in a field way in the distance. Though this shot was barely cropped, it was taken from the car window and I find this so often doesn't work - the warm air from the car rising on a bitterly cold day seems to cause the air to move, resulting in blurry images. Had a great day on 22 December 2013 with friends Cathy and Terry, driving the backroads SE of the city, hoping to see an owl or two. The day started off with a Long-eared Owl and ended with a Short-eared Owl! In total, we saw 5 Snowy Owls, 4 Great Horned Owls, 1 Long-eared Owl and 1 Short-eared Owl. Plus a few other species, including a Northern Shrike, many Grey Partridges (all of which flew before we could take photos, other than a couple of very distant ones including this shot), Horned Larks, Ravens/Crows, owls in barn windows, a beautiful Gyrfalcon and a colourful sunrise. Not a bad day, I think you'll agree : ) The only thing we didn't see, except briefly, was the sun, so we had low light all day, unfortunately! It was so unbearably cold all day, windchill temperature was -30C. A few seconds out of the car and fingers were so painful, despite wearing gloves. Difficult to hold the camera steady when one is shivering, ha. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Partridge www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/gray_partridge/id

This grainy image - poor light and taken from a car window - was not taken yesterday, but on 20 December 2013, in the same area as yesterday. Better than nothing, though : ) Quite often, when I take photos from inside the car, my photos just don't come out how they should and I'm never quite sure exactly why. The car was turned off, but maybe there were still some heat waves rising from it, disturbing the air. Thanks so much for the invite that day and for spotting this Short-eared Owl, Phil! I remember how happy the three of us were to see it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-eared_Owl www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/short-eared_owl/id

After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding yesterday (7 March 2014) was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat waves" all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of THOSE days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. to about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total owl count of 19, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, when viewed through binoculars or camera zoom, as it was perched on top of the metal silo that you see in this image, way off in the distance. The coloured spots from the sunburst lead ones eye to it. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down a road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. The beautiful Great Horned Owl, seen in one of my photos posted today, was the highlight of the day for Cathy and myself! Cathy had spotted it from the road but from the opposite side of the distant barn. All she had seen was a tiny head silhouette with what looked like ear tufts : ) We turned a corner and drove just a little way to see if we could get a better view from the other side. How we longed to be able to get a closer look, but the barn was on someone's private property, of course. While we were there, a truck suddenly appeared around the corner and turned into the driveway of the farm. Needless to say, we couldn't resist the chance to go and ask the owner about his owl and, wonderfully, he allowed us to walk through his farm yard to get a less distant view. So, Justin, you arrived home "just-in" time for us! Thanks so much for happily letting us on to your property. It was so much appreciated. We definitely didn't want to risk disturbing the owl or make it fly - so the shot is a 48x zoomed image and cropped somewhat. We loved both the owl's position and the beautiful, red, peeling paint! "Just" a Great Horned Owl, but what a delightful sight! Also saw a Gyrfalcon and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat waves" made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, an amazing day (but colder day than the weather forecast had said!)! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun!

After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding yesterday was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat waves" all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of THOSE days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. to about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total owl count of 19, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance. In fact, this silo can be seen in my next image - the coloured spots from the sunburst leading ones eye to it. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. The beautiful Great Horned Owl, seen in my photo, was the highlight of the day for Cathy and myself! Cathy had spotted it from the road but from the opposite side of the distant barn. All she had seen was a tiny head silhouette with what looked like ear tufts : ) We turned a corner and drove just a little way to see if we could get a better view from the other side. How we longed to be able to get a closer look, but the barn was on someone's private property, of course. While we were there, a truck suddenly appeared around the corner and turned into the driveway of the farm. Needless to say, we (thanks, Terry!) couldn't resist the chance to go and ask the owner about his owl and, wonderfully, he allowed us to walk through his farm yard to get a less distant view. So, Justin, you arrived home "just-in" time for us! Thanks so much for happily letting us on to your property. It was so much appreciated. We definitely didn't want to risk disturbing the owl or make it fly - so this is a 48x zoomed image and cropped somewhat. We loved both the owl's position and the beautiful, red, peeling paint! "Just" a Great Horned Owl, but what a delightful sight! Also saw a Gyrfalcon and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat waves" made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun!

After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding the day before yesterday (7 March 2014) was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of THOSE amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total owl count of 19, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance. Posted a photo of this silo yesterday - the coloured spots from the sunburst leading ones eye to it. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. The closest Snowy Owl (also posted today) was seen when we were driving past a small backroad that had been cleared and, like all the roads, had snowbanks along both sides. These are very uneven, with all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes on the top. Just past the entrance to this road, I looked back slightly and wondered if one of the shapes was in fact an owl. We decided to turn back and check it out, just in case. Sure enough, it was a beautiful, pure white male! Also saw this Gyrfalcon perched on the top of a metal silo in someone's field, and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat wave" distortion made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, it was an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun!

After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding the day before yesterday (7 March 2014) was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of THOSE amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total owl count of 19, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance. In fact, this silo can be seen in my next image - the coloured spots from the sunburst leading ones eye to it. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. The Snowy Owl in the photo above was the closest Snowy we saw. We were driving past a small backroad that had been cleared and, like all the roads, had snowbanks along both sides. These are very uneven, with all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes on the top. Just past the entrance to this road, I looked back slightly and wondered if one of the shapes was in fact an owl. We decided to turn back and check it out, just in case. Sure enough, there was this beautiful, pure white male! Funny, I had even jokingly said that we should find a couple of black pebbles or bits of wood and add it to the snow shape - and then we realized that this "snowman" shape had eyes of its very own, ha! Also saw a Gyrfalcon and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat wave" distortion made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, it was an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun! Wow, it's supposed to get up to 14C this afternoon! Meanwhile, it is 10C. Temperatures for this coming week are expected to be between +4C and +10C. The following week, the forecast so far is for temperatures just above 0C - with snow.

Wasn't sure whether this was fit to post, but thought it might give an idea of how far away most of these Snowy Owls really are. This is a 48x zoomed image and then cropped. Love it when the sun shines on the stubble in the fields, turning it golden. After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding that day was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of those amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total count of 19 owls, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance (photo posted a couple of days ago, in which the coloured spots from the sunburst lead ones eye to it). An excellent birding friend reckons it's a Snowy Owl. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, though, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. Also saw a Prairie Falcon perched on top of a metal silo and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat wave" distortion made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, it was an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun! This morning, 10 March 2014, the temperature is 1C, and it looks like wet flurries could be expected for later this afternoon and scattered flurries this evening. Yesterday's wonderfully mild weather melted a fair bit of our accumulated snow.

One of the beautiful old barns seen a few days ago, on 7 March 2014. Some of the fields were still deep in snow, while others, like the one in my next photo, had a lot less. There was no sign of the distant mountains - they were completely hidden by cloud. After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding that day was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of those amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total count of 19 owls, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance (photo posted a couple of days ago, in which the coloured spots from the sunburst lead ones eye to it). An excellent birding friend reckons it's a Snowy Owl. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, though, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. Also saw a Prairie Falcon perched on top of a metal silo and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat wave" distortion made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, it was an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun! This morning, 10 March 2014, the temperature is 1C, and it looks like wet flurries could be expected for later this afternoon and scattered flurries this evening. Yesterday's wonderfully mild weather melted a fair bit of our accumulated snow.

I'm sure that most people consider these pylons a real eyesore, but actually I kind of like to see them - even more so when one is lucky enough to notice a Snowy Owl perched on one of the very top points (not this day). I like them at sunset, as seen in this image. The heavy bank of distant cloud hid the mountains completely from us all day long. After nine days at home, giving my stitches from minor surgery a chance to heal, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding on 7 March 2014 was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it impossible to get photos that were sharp. It was one of those amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total count of 19 owls, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance. I sent a very poor photo of it to a very experienced birder friend and he identified it as a Snowy Owl. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. Also saw a Prairie Falcon perched on top of a metal silo and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us or near the edge of a field. Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun!