Winter 3

Much as I really, really don't like the cold weather, I do enjoy seeing all the ice formations down in the park. There was just a narrow strip of ice along the creek in Fish Creek Park on 31 October, when I went on a bird walk with friends. Loved the scalloped edges, seen somewhere between Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace. It's almost 1:00 a.m. and it's snowing heavily, so I don't even want to think how much snow and ice there will be on my car by tomorrow morning. Winter doesn't start for another three weeks!

The road with the "Famous Five" was part of my short drive SW of Calgary this afternoon, 5 November 2013. I had hoped that there might be more snow in the fields, but was glad that there was at least some snow in the foreground. This row of five old granaries looks good at any time of the year : )

This ice formation had formed on one of the bridges down in Fish Creek Park on 29 October 2013. It was a bit different from what I usually see and I rather liked the mix of blue and "silver". It's just over six weeks till winter officially begins, lol! Crazy Calgary weather, ha.

Went for a short drive SW of the city yesterday afternoon, 5 November 2013. The sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day. I keep forgetting that since we turned the clocks back on Sunday morning, our evenings now start getting dark so early. Took this shot on my way home, so the light was already beginning to fade a little. I love seeing the blues and whites of "winter", and the rolling Foothills between Calgary and the Rocky Mountains look so beautiful on a day like yesterday. Snow flurries are in the forecast for the next four days. Can't complain about the recent temperatures, though - comparatively mild compared to the -20Cs and -30Cs that we know will eventually arrive.

Had a great day of birding today, S of Calgary, in an area that I don't think I've been to before. The scene in my image is at Pine Coulee Reservoir, and as you can see, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. There was a lot of ice on the Reservoir, but there was also plenty of open water, being enjoyed by a lot of water birds, including Canada Geese, Swans and a good variety of ducks, etc.. After stopping at several places along the Reservoir, we continued to Clear Lake, where there were a lot of Snow Geese - this was the first time I'd seen them in great numbers. We also saw two Long-tailed Ducks today, and something like 17 or 18 Rough-legged Hawks, plus Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harriers, Prairie Falcon, etc.. The following report was written by Terry Korolyk, who was our trip leader. Hope he won't mind my using this, as it is so well documented - and accurate : ) Terry has done, and continues to do, phenomenal recording of bird sightings for many years, which has been extremely valuable to endless birders. His photostream on Flickr is: www.flickr.com/photos/90177127@N07/ . Thanks so much, Terry, for such a great day! "Fifteen birders and the Trip Leader thoroughly enjoyed a day of birding today visiting Pine Coulee Reservoir and Clear Lake in the Stavely area. Highlight was 2 Winter-plumaged female LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Pine Coulee, one off the Dam there; the other seen from the road on the east side of the Reservoir approximately a kilometre south of Township Road 150. Mind-boggling numbers of waterfowl, particularly Mallards, were at the Reservoir, but, also in large numbers were Canada Geese and Hutchinson's subspecies Cackling Geese. Small numbers of Swans, both Trumpeter and Tundra, were in the north end of the Reservoir. Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye were also in good numbers with species there in smaller numbers in the north end being Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail, and others. A juvenile Greater Scaup or Greater Scaup-Lesser Scaup hybrid was on the north side of the bridge which is part of the highway from Stavely that runs across the Reservoir at roughly its halfway point. North of the Bridge to the Dam was concentrated mainly with dabblers such as American Coot, American Wigeon, and Gadwall. Others here included approximately 40 Eared Grebes. One Killdeer was at the north end; another just north of the Bridge. Raptors were in good numbers and variety at the Reservoir including 2 Golden Eagles; 2 juvenile Bald Eagles; 4 Northern Harriers; a Merlin, and many Rough-legged Hawks. The drive to Clear Lake on Township Road 140 produced another juvenile Bald Eagle; 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and, more Rough-legged Hawks. There was still much open water off the Campground at Clear Lake with Canada Geese, Cackling Geese, and, Mallard there in large numbers, and, a generous sprinkling of all the other Duck species. On the ice edge north of the Campground, probably 2,000+ SNOW and ROSS'S GEESE rested. One blue SNOW GEESE was there and, there was a very generous assortment of ROSS'S GEESE in these birds; probably 200+ at least. The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and, Dunbow Road. Total Rough-legged Hawk numbers for the Trip was 17 with one of the parties seeing one while they were travelling to the starting point."

Winter is still officially a few weeks away, but that doesn't stop Old Man Winter from paying us an unwelcome visit : ) Taken on 29 October 2013, during a bird walk in Fish Creek Park, around the Shannon Terrace and Bebo Grove areas. I think this snow-covered fence was near the parking lot at the Educational Centre at Shannon Terrace.

I would imagine that a professional photographer would look at this image with disapproval. However, I happen to like sunstars, also called sunbursts, lol! Captured this one, overlooking Pine Coulee Reservoir, during a day of birding S of Calgary, on 9 November 2013. Such an enjoyable day - great company, great weather and great scenery. The following report was written by Terry Korolyk, who was our trip leader. Hope he won't mind my using this, as it is so well documented - and accurate : ) Terry has done, and continues to do, phenomenal recording of bird sightings for many years, which has been extremely valuable to endless birders. His photostream on Flickr is: www.flickr.com/photos/90177127@N07/ . Thanks so much, Terry, for such a great day! "Fifteen birders and the Trip Leader thoroughly enjoyed a day of birding today visiting Pine Coulee Reservoir and Clear Lake in the Stavely area. Highlight was 2 Winter-plumaged female LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Pine Coulee, one off the Dam there; the other seen from the road on the east side of the Reservoir approximately a kilometre south of Township Road 150. Mind-boggling numbers of waterfowl, particularly Mallards, were at the Reservoir, but, also in large numbers were Canada Geese and Hutchinson's subspecies Cackling Geese. Small numbers of Swans, both Trumpeter and Tundra, were in the north end of the Reservoir. Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye were also in good numbers with species there in smaller numbers in the north end being Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail, and others. A juvenile Greater Scaup or Greater Scaup-Lesser Scaup hybrid was on the north side of the bridge which is part of the highway from Stavely that runs across the Reservoir at roughly its halfway point. North of the Bridge to the Dam was concentrated mainly with dabblers such as American Coot, American Wigeon, and Gadwall. Others here included approximately 40 Eared Grebes. One Killdeer was at the north end; another just north of the Bridge. Raptors were in good numbers and variety at the Reservoir including 2 Golden Eagles; 2 juvenile Bald Eagles; 4 Northern Harriers; a Merlin, and many Rough-legged Hawks. The drive to Clear Lake on Township Road 140 produced another juvenile Bald Eagle; 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and, more Rough-legged Hawks. There was still much open water off the Campground at Clear Lake with Canada Geese, Cackling Geese, and, Mallard there in large numbers, and, a generous sprinkling of all the other Duck species. On the ice edge north of the Campground, probably 2,000+ SNOW and ROSS'S GEESE rested. One blue SNOW GEESE was there and, there was a very generous assortment of ROSS'S GEESE in these birds; probably 200+ at least. The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and, Dunbow Road. Total Rough-legged Hawk numbers for the Trip was 17 with one of the parties seeing one while they were travelling to the starting point."

Had a great day of birding on 9 November 2013, S of Calgary, in an area that I don't think I've ever been to before. The scene in this image is at Pine Coulee Reservoir, taken from the west side looking towards the east. To me, it is such a desolate landscape, but I love it, especially when there is a sprinkling of snow! One of my favourite Christmas Bird Counts isn't all that far away from here. Was glad I spotted the splashes of bright red. There are several campgrounds along the Reservoir, one of which is Pine Coulee Campground. To give an idea of how far away from Calgary the reservoir is, the Pine Coulee Campground is located 119km southwest of Calgary, 9km west of the Town of Stavely, and situated on the south west shore of Pine Coulee Reservoir. There was a lot of ice on the Reservoir, but there was also plenty of open water, being enjoyed by a lot of water birds, including Canada Geese, Swans and a good variety of ducks, etc.. After stopping at several places along the Reservoir, we continued to Clear Lake, where there were a lot of Snow Geese - this was the first time I'd seen them in great numbers. We also saw two Long-tailed Ducks today, and something like 17 or 18 Rough-legged Hawks, plus Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harriers, Prairie Falcon, etc.. (Position on my map is very approximate, added just to mark where Pine Coulee Reservoir is located.) The following report was written by Terry Korolyk, who was our trip leader. Hope he won't mind my using this, as it is so well documented - and accurate : ) Terry has done, and continues to do, phenomenal recording of bird sightings for many years, which has been extremely valuable to endless birders. His photostream on Flickr is: www.flickr.com/photos/90177127@N07/ . Thanks so much, Terry, for such a great day! "Fifteen birders and the Trip Leader thoroughly enjoyed a day of birding today visiting Pine Coulee Reservoir and Clear Lake in the Stavely area. Highlight was 2 Winter-plumaged female LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Pine Coulee, one off the Dam there; the other seen from the road on the east side of the Reservoir approximately a kilometre south of Township Road 150. Mind-boggling numbers of waterfowl, particularly Mallards, were at the Reservoir, but, also in large numbers were Canada Geese and Hutchinson's subspecies Cackling Geese. Small numbers of Swans, both Trumpeter and Tundra, were in the north end of the Reservoir. Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye were also in good numbers with species there in smaller numbers in the north end being Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail, and others. A juvenile Greater Scaup or Greater Scaup-Lesser Scaup hybrid was on the north side of the bridge which is part of the highway from Stavely that runs across the Reservoir at roughly its halfway point. North of the Bridge to the Dam was concentrated mainly with dabblers such as American Coot, American Wigeon, and Gadwall. Others here included approximately 40 Eared Grebes. One Killdeer was at the north end; another just north of the Bridge. Raptors were in good numbers and variety at the Reservoir including 2 Golden Eagles; 2 juvenile Bald Eagles; 4 Northern Harriers; a Merlin, and many Rough-legged Hawks. The drive to Clear Lake on Township Road 140 produced another juvenile Bald Eagle; 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and, more Rough-legged Hawks. There was still much open water off the Campground at Clear Lake with Canada Geese, Cackling Geese, and, Mallard there in large numbers, and, a generous sprinkling of all the other Duck species. On the ice edge north of the Campground, probably 2,000+ SNOW and ROSS'S GEESE rested. One blue SNOW GEESE was there and, there was a very generous assortment of ROSS'S GEESE in these birds; probably 200+ at least. The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and, Dunbow Road. Total Rough-legged Hawk numbers for the Trip was 17 with one of the parties seeing one while they were travelling to the starting point."

Pushed myself out the front door this afternoon to go on a walk from Glennfield to Shaw's Meadow, Fish Creek Park. The sun was shining and the temperature was about -8C (windchill about -14C), but it felt much colder. Not sure where all the wildlife was - I didn't see even one little Chickadee, but did see a Raven and a Magpie and heard a Downy Woodpecker. Bird numbers seem to be extremely low these days.