Short-eared Owl

Five of us had such a great day yesterday. It was a bird outing at Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of Calgary, at the foot of the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. I knew that I would be looking for wildflowers, insects and so on, as well : ) When we got to the meeting place in the city, the leader pulled out a poster for the Parks Day event that also happened to be going on at the park at the same time. To my absolute delight, it mentioned a Bird of Prey exhibit! After our first walk, which was the Flowing Waters trail, we returned to where everyone had parked and we had an hour in which to wander round the various exhibits. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a row of owls of different sizes - a tiny Burrowing Owl, a Short-eared Owl (seen in my photo above), a Barn Owl (which we don't get in Alberta), a young Great Horned Owl with enormous eyes, a Turkey Vulture and a Golden Eagle! They were tethered along the edge of trees and needless to say, there were plenty of other people taking photos, but despite the mix of shade and harsh sunlight, I got the chance to click to my heart's content : ) Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always long to go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was such a treat yesterday! The Alberta Mycological Society of Alberta also had an exhibit set up, which unfortunately I ran out of time to look at more than briefly. Thanks to those who had travelled south from Edmonton and set up a huge display of mushrooms that they and others had found in the park the previous day. Normally, of course, picking of mushrooms is not allowed in any of the parks, but the Society gets permission to collect for this special Parks Day exhibit. I had to drag myself away, as those of you who know me might guess, lol, but it was time to go on our afternoon bird walk around the Many Springs loop. Almost the whole trail was open (following the Flood of the Century) except for the boardwalk areas, that were still under water. Walking cautiously on planks and rolling logs is not one of my favourite things, ha, and in the end I decided that it was just easier to walk through the few inches of water. The cold water felt quite refreshing, really. So, as you can imagine, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day - and was tired out from sun, exercise and sheer delight. Thanks so much, Andrew, for arranging this special day and for driving two of us there and back. You did an awesome job! www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9342360347

A friend very kindly invited me to go with him yesterday afternoon in search of Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls. He found us one Snowy Owl and four Short-eared Owls east of the city, near Langdon, at Weed Lake. The latter spent most of the time flying low over the field, searching for food. Occasionally, one would perch on a distant fence post or on top of a very tall pole - key words here are "distant" and "tall"! I managed to get about four OK photos that were very distant and so are heavily cropped. Good enough for ID purposes, though, and for memories of such a great sighting. I really hope all these birds survive, as they sometimes swooped down low across the road when a vehicle was approaching, they were so intent on their hunt.

One of the many owl species to be seen at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre near Lethbridge, southern Alberta. This owl looks almost headless when it's flying and it beats its long wings slowly and deeply as it flies. On the few occasions that I have seen Short-eared Owls in the wild, they have always been far away.

An injured Short-eared Owl at the Calgary Zoo. These owls look almost headless when they are in flight.

Another of the very distant photos I took the other day of one of the four Short-eared Owls found east of Calgary. Wasn't sure whether to post this photo but I like the sky colouring! Also, I'm not likely to get a close photo of one of these birds, other than the one seen at the Calgary Zoo.

A Short-eared Owl seen at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, on 23rd May. An occasional report is coming in at the moment of a Short-eared Owl(s) being seen in the wild, east of the city.

Uncommon to common in Alberta from March to November. They occasionally overwinter. Saw this particular bird at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre in southern Alberta. I used flash for this shot - most of my photos without flash came out blurred. Unfortunately, this flash shot came out with brilliant red eyes (and my camera is supposed to have red-eye reduction??). Tried to alter in my camera software, but unsuccessful.

A friend very kindly invited me to go with him yesterday afternoon in search of Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls. He found us one Snowy Owl and four Short-eared Owls east of the city, near Langdon, at Weed Lake. The latter spent most of the time flying low over the field, searching for food. Occasionally, one would perch on a distant fence post or on top of a very tall pole - key words here are "distant" and "tall"! I managed to get about four OK photos that were very distant and so are heavily cropped. Good enough for ID purposes, though, and for memories of such a great sighting. I really hope all these birds survive, as they sometimes swooped down low across the road when a vehicle was approaching, they were so intent on their hunt.

We saw this Short-eared Owl at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre in southern Alberta. It was constantly moving, and I was unable to get a good, sharp image (apart from the eyes). I have seen several of these Owls in the wild outside the city. "This owl looks almost headless in flight, and it beats its long wings slowly and deeply, like a big butterfly, as it courses erratically low over meadows and fields. Uncommon to common in Alberta from March to November." From "Birds of Alberta" by Fisher and Acorn.