Birds of Alberta 8

These are only very small ducks, that make me smile because the male looks like he has attitude, especially at breeding time : ) I always think of them as being feisty little ducks. Taken at Frank Lake, SE of Calgary, on 18 May 2013. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My daughter and I saw this pair of Canada Geese and their tiny goslings on 25 May 2013, in SW Calgary. Another photographer in the area told us that a passerby had said that they were just one day old, but I'm not sure. Have a very long day today, doing the May Species Count at the Whaleback (about 170 km drive from Calgary, south towards Pincher Creek ). Forecast is for rain all day, 8C this morning (windchill 5C) and up to 14C this afternoon (windchill 12C). Just hope I'll have enough of the "right" kind of clothing to keep me warm enough for hours and hours of hiking/walking the hills. Not hopeful for photos because of the rain and dark skies, which is most unfortunate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Goose ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This beautiful Evening Grosbeak male was seen when a few of us covered an area SW of Calgary for the annual May Species Count, on 26 May 2013. We don't often get to see these birds, but the May Species Count is one of the times we do get to see them. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, I was out on a full-day bus trip to the Red Deer Wetlands Area, NW of Calgary. I think it was about an hour and a half's drive to get there. This was an annual outing arranged through the nature group that I belong to, and each year is to a different place. The Red Deer Wetlands Area is made up of Slack Slough (our first stop), the McKenzie Trails area (our second stop) and lastly the Kerry Woods Nature Center and Gaetz Lake Sanctuary, where we spent the last two hours of the day. The latter was such a beautiful area, wonderfully laid out, with several viewing decks around the lake. At one of the decks, we were able to very quietly look down on this Red-necked Grebe that was on her nest. Couldn't see her through the high fence, so could only take shots from this angle. Some of us chose to walk the whole way round the huge lake (further than I had expected, lol!). A couple of Moose certainly made it more than worth the effort. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away until just the last few minutes of our walk, and then the heavens opened. The forecast had been for thunder showers morning and afternoon, but it just remained overcast till the last moment - hence a lot of photos that came out blurry, ha. A great trip, well-organized - thanks so much for all your hard work, Lynne! - and it was so good to see various friends that I hadn't seen for ages, as well as those whom I see often. It's raining here this morning, but I really, really hope that the forecast for tomorrow turns out to be accurate, as three of us are heading north to Edmonton (roughly a three-hour drive) for an exciting day! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday was such a great day! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) up near Edmonton. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes, that were on private property). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's work (paid - his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so really this was the last chance he'd be able to do this. As usual, we felt so privileged to get this wonderful chance! Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded one of these that he hadn't banded with the others the other day), and both the Barred Owls. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other (seen in my image above) was three weeks old. I think the Barred Owlets were about three weeks old. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog. Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : ) Previously posted photo of an adult Northern Saw-whet Owl is in a comment box below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you see a male Common Goldeneye from a distance, it's easy to think it's a black and white bird. In actual fact, the head has beautiful purple iridescence when the sun catches it. Taken at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on 25 May 2013, when I had a wonderful day out with my youngest daughter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Goldeneye www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye/id ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 2 June 2013, I was out on a full-day bus trip to the Red Deer Wetlands Area, NW of Calgary. I think it was about an hour and a half's drive to get there. This was an annual outing arranged through the nature group that I belong to, and each year is to a different place. The Red Deer Wetlands Area includes Slack Slough (our first stop), the McKenzie Trails area (our second stop, and where I photographed the little Canada Geese goslings above), and lastly the Kerry Woods Nature Center and Gaetz Lake Sanctuary, where we spent the last two hours of the day. The latter was such a beautiful area, wonderfully laid out, with several viewing decks around the lake. Some of us chose to walk the whole way round the huge lake (further than I had expected, lol!). A couple of Moose certainly made it more than worth the effort. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away until just the last few minutes of our walk, and then the heavens opened. The forecast had been for thunder showers morning and afternoon, but it just remained overcast till the last moment - hence a lot of photos that came out blurry, ha. A great trip, well-organized - thanks so much for all your hard work, Lynne! - and it was so good to see various friends that I hadn't seen for ages, as well as those whom I see often.

Lol, my title is a good example of why they say that English is the hardest language to learn! Not a great photo, but l like that it shows the lobed, not webbed, foot of this water bird (which is not a species of duck!). Taken on 17 May 2013 in SW Calgary. "Though commonly mistaken to be ducks, American Coots belong to a distinct order. Unlike the webbed feet of ducks, coots have broad, lobed scales on their lower legs and toes that fold back with each step in order to facilitate walking on dry land. Coots live near water, typically inhabiting wetlands and open water bodies in North America. Groups of coots are called covers or rafts. The oldest known coot lived to be 22 years old." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Coot allaboutbirds.org/guide/AD_IMAGES/square-warbler.png?foo=... -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------