Frank Lake & area

Yesterday was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in High River, south of Calgary. A small group of eight of us from Calgary met up with local people from High River to search the area in and around High River. We started our search at around 8:30 a.m. and returned to the meeting place around 5:00 p.m., when we handed in our results and stayed for a delicious potluck supper. Thanks so much to the local birders who organized this most enjoyable ending to a long day! My small group drove all the backroads in the SE quadrant of the huge circle that surrounds High River, including calling in at several farms to ask if we could check their trees, hedges, etc. for birds. One of the first places we called in at was Frank Lake, a very popular place for birders. We walked along the edge of the inlet, and the view was so beautiful. All the plants and grasses were covered in ice crystals, and vapor was rising from the surface of the water up towards the rising sun. Gave me some nice photo opps : ) In fact, so much so, that I forgot all about looking for birds, lol! We came across a number of dead fish in one spot, which was not a good find. This one even had ice crystals on its fin. The day was cloudy, becoming clear, calm, -10C to -03C. 103.5 km by car; 3 km by foot; 6.5 hours by car; 2 hours on foot. Our group's sightings for the day: Mallard 9 in am at Frank Lake; 7 seen flying there in late pm. Common Goldeneye-4 Bald Eagle-4 ad. Northern Goshawk-2 ad. Rough-legged Hawk-1 Merlin-2 Gray Partridge-12 Sharp-tailed Grouse-5 Rock Pigeon-26 Great Horned Owl-5 Snowy Owl-1 (seen 3 times). Downy Woodpecker-1 m. Black-billed Magpie-34 Common Raven-8 Northern Shrike-1 American Tree Sparrow-3 Snow Bunting-807 Common Redpoll-925 Hoary Redpoll-1 House Sparrow-245 Also saw 2 Coyotes, 26 Mule Deer and 39 White-tailed Deer. I still have to sort out about the Snowy Owl, though, as it looks like two photos I took at different spots show a paler and a darker owl. I also have a lot of photo editing of the shots taken on the various Bird Counts so that they can be passed on to a long list of people.

A group of eight of us drove south of Calgary on 18 December 2012, to take part in the annual High River Christmas Bird Count. We covered all the backroads in the SE quadrant of the huge circle around the town. One of the places we stopped at was Frank Lake, a very popular place for birders. This photo was taken, looking towards the sun, giving what I thought was quite a nice effect. Have to admit that while the others were scanning the lake for any sign of wildlife, I was enjoying myself taking scenic shots and ice-crystals : ) I've marked this shot on my map, but placed it in the middle of Frank lake, as I'm not sure just where we were. We started our search at around 8:30 a.m. and returned to the meeting place around 5:00 p.m., when we handed in our results and stayed for a delicious potluck supper. Thanks so much to the local birders who organized this most enjoyable ending to a long day! Our small group's sightings for the day: Mallard 9 in am at Frank Lake; 7 seen flying there in late pm. Common Goldeneye-4 Bald Eagle-4 ad. Northern Goshawk-2 ad. Rough-legged Hawk-1 Merlin-2 Gray Partridge-12 Sharp-tailed Grouse-5 Rock Pigeon-26 Great Horned Owl-5 Snowy Owl-1 (seen 3 times). Downy Woodpecker-1 m. Black-billed Magpie-34 Common Raven-8 Northern Shrike-1 American Tree Sparrow-3 Snow Bunting-807 Common Redpoll-925 Hoary Redpoll-1 House Sparrow-245

Another abstract art image, taken at Frank Lake, Alberta, and created by dried reeds in the water.

This photo does not do justice to the thick clouds of bugs we had to endure closer to the water at Frank Lake today! This particular Yellow-headed Blackbird was a more orange-yellow than usual.

Another cold image from 18 December 2012, when a group of eight of us drove south of the city to High River, to take part in the annual Audubon High River Christmas Bird Count. My group, travelling in two cars, covered the SE quadrant of the huge circle centred on the town of High River, driving along all the backroads and calling in at several farms. This photo was taken when we stopped at Frank Lake and walked along the inlet. As you can imagine, after a long day of birding, the delicious Pot Luck supper that was held at the meeting place was so much enjoyed and appreciated. Actually, it wasn't as bitterly cold as it might look from my photo. Started off at -10C and ended up soaring to -3C. I think it was about five years ago, that our Bird Counts were done in -30C weather! Now that was brutal!! With the holiday season upon us, here is a reminder from YouTube, that I saw on Dan's Facebook page. Please Don't Drink and Drive! Warning - very graphic - but that is what is needed! And yet people continue to do so ... youtu.be/45oV6PssNu4

This is where I went yesterday afternoon, 10 March 2013 - Frank Lake and area. After living in Calgary for almost 35 years and battling a driving phobia for all that time, I finally plucked up courage to drive south of the city. Friends have been seeing Short-eared Owls there and I was really hoping that I might see one, but nothing. The main thing, though, is that I actually did the drive. So glad I went when I did, as I woke up this morning to find everywhere covered in fresh snow yet again, ha. By the way, this is a zoomed image - the mountains look much closer than they really are. None of My Contacts photos have been showing up on my Home Page for around 14 hours now, as of 7:30 a.m. this morning. Same thing happening for other people, too. So, apologies if I've been missing yopur latest posts. I wonder if this is related to the problem with blank thumbnails that I wrote about two days ago. www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157632968645830/

According to "Birds of Alberta" book, "the Eared Grebe eats feathers. The feathers often pack the digestive tract, and it is thought that they might protect the stomach lining and intestines from sharp fish bones or parasites, or they might slow the passage of food to give more time for the absorption of nutrients."

I just never seem to be able to get close to these ducks, so thought I would post a very distant picture and hope that eventually I might get the chance to take a closer photo. The male is quite a spectacular bird, with his blue bill and upturned tail.

Another duck held by the Ducks Unlimited people.