Birds of Alberta 7

To say that I lucked out with timing on March 29th is an understatement! I was so very lucky to come across two of these beautiful Grouse on a snow embankment along the gravel road I drive on to see the owls. One of them was making its way into the trees, but this beautiful female stayed where she was and made a few different poses for me : ) This was the first time I'd ever seen a Spruce Grouse and, though a male would have been amazing, I'm very happy to have seen this female. I saw my very first Mountain Bluebirds of the year that day, too! Always such a thrill to see the very first flash of brilliant blue after the winter months. And there were about 30 very distant Swans on a slough, too - again, my first of the year. Too far away to tell if Tundra or Trumpeter, but most likely to be Tundra. My drive that day was about 225 km, and I was exhausted by the time I got home.

No Great Gray Owls or Northern Hawk Owls (which I did hear calling) for me when I drove NW of the city two days ago. However, I did get a few quick shots of this little Tree Swallow along one of the backroads south of the city on my way home. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/tree_swallow/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_Swallow Anyone else finding that Flickr is horribly slow this evening? I was out on my volunteer shift today, so have been away from my computer. This evening, though, everything I click on takes forever to do something. The link below is from YouTube, showing the progress of the three Amur Tiger cubs at the Calgary Zoo. Their mother is apparently providing great care. This video from the den box camera was taken on Friday, April 20. youtu.be/XFyAFe0nCeY

I finally got a look at the two fluffy Great Horned Owlets on April 30th, at Sikome, Fish Creek Park. Crummy weather, horribly grey, and I think I cropped this a little too close - looks grainier this morning than it did very late last night : ) It gives you an idea, though, of what these two adorable fluffballs look like. Mom was away from the nest - I guess they are living in pretty cramped quarters right now, ha.

This image of a Canada Goose was taken in SW Calgary on April 22nd. It approached, hoping to be fed - but, of course, it was out of luck. Canada Geese have strong, tapered bills that have lamellae along the edges. These are teeth-like projections of the bill that are used for cutting vegetation. Of course, it would have been better if I hadn't cnmpletely blown out the white on the side of the head, ha.

Taken, of course, at the Calgary Zoo and not out in the wild - I wish! The black background is from a small wooden platform in the enclosure, that the Eagle decided to perch in front of. The Zoo is the only way I can see the spectacular feather detail of a Bald Eagle. In the wild, I usually see them the far side of the Bow River, perched in a distant tree, or flying high. Always a thrill to see them, no matter how many times you've seen them before. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle

A little female House Sparrow who happened to be at the Calgary Zoo when I called in on April 30th.

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, I met friends Cathy and Terry NW of Calgary and we spent a great day in sunshine and reasonable warmth. When I opened my blinds this morning, I discovered that it was snowing heavily! While a May snow storm isn't unusual here, I was hoping that our April snowstorm was simply a May snow storm that had arrived too early : ) Yeah, right! Despite getting up pretty early yesterday morning, to give a better chance for seeing a Great Gray Owl, none were to be seen. However, the highlight of the day was seeing this handsome, delightfully blue Mountain Bluebird and his mate. I've seen a few of these birds so far this spring, but only from a long distance. This gorgeous pair gave us lots of photo opportunities, though the bright sunlight tended to blow out the paler chest on quite a few of my images, unfortunately. Still plenty of others, though, that are without the blinding brightness. For those who are following the Northern Hawk Owls, all is well with them, too. When we got back to the road after seeing them, there were two small birds on the gravel behind someone's truck. Not sure yet what they were - Crossbills perhaps or Grosbeaks? The brighter one was quite orange. I drove my own vehicle yesterday and followed Cathy and Terry in theirs. I thought that getting away from the computer would give my arms a rest from mouse-clicking - by the time I got home after many hours of driving, my arms were more painful than ever. Gripping the steering wheel while trying to avoid the worst of the potholes didn't help, either, I suspect : ) Totally worth it, though, as we had such a good day. Thanks, Cathy and Terry, for your always enjoyable company! In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...

A photo of the Northern Hawk Owl, taken NW of Cochrane on March 29th.

Spring is always definitely here when these little Canada Geese goslings appear (even if we still get the occasional snowfall). 7:45 a.m. Hold Your Clicks .....