Fish Creek Park 5

With a weather forecast of rain and mixed precipitation for a few days (8-10 September 2014), there were a couple of places that I thought I had better get to straight away. The first one was Brown-Lowery, to check if there were any mushrooms. I was there recently, and only found a couple of things. Yesterday's visit was slightly more rewarding and I found several large clusters of tiny mushrooms growing on tree stumps or at the base of trees. Also found several patches of bright orange Coral Fungi. Quite a few people were in the park, so I felt safer going a very short way in. Far enough, as it turned out, to watch an adult and a juvenile Three-toed Woodpecker feeding together on a tree trunk. The young one was copying Mom or Dad, but its soft squeaking sound resulted in the adult feeding it, too. On the way home, I decided to call in at Fish Creek Park, hoping to find a Beaver or a MInk that a friend had told me about (thanks, Phil!). Though I did see a couple of Beavers, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of them (see a photo uploaded today). One of them was a huge animal - this was the one that was recently found in a trap, biting off one of its front legs/feet that was caught in the trap. Someone had been there when this was happening and she made several reports about it. Thanks, Linda, for doing this. Such a cruel way to deal with any Beaver problem! The now three-legged animal seems to be doing OK. I was luckier with this Mink, catching it in a couple of very quick shots. I did post a similar shot previously, but decided to post this one as well, as I very rarely ever see one of these animals. This particular one had a really dark coat. There were various things blocking part of my view, which is why I got pale or discoloured patches in the lower half of the image. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mink "Mink are ferocious predators that are about the size of a housecat and chocolate-brown in color. Their long, thin bodies, short legs, small eyes and ears, and sleek fur make them just the right size to fit in many holes, crevices and burrows to pursue prey. They may eat ground squirrels, rats, snakes and even birds. Mink are also semi-aquatic and their webbed feet allow them to capture frogs, clams and even fish .... They are generally shy creatures but can be very bold if their curiosity is piqued. Those who are fortunate to observe a mink’s behavior should use caution. The animals have scent glands under the skin and when they get excited or stressed, musk is released. The obnoxious odor can be just as repulsive as a skunk’s." A different website, for Alberta, states that Mink eat ducks, fish, Muskrat and other small birds and rodents. www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/species/mink.htm IT TAKES UP TO 65 MINK TO MAKE JUST ONE FULL-LENGTH FUR COAT!!!

We don't have the glorious Maple leaves that some parts of Canada have, that turn a rich red in the fall. Our fall colours are mainly yellow with an occasional splash of orange. There are two species here that I sometimes see that remind me of what we are missing - wild Gooseberry and the plant/shrub that is in this photo. I'm not sure what it is, but perhaps some kind of currant bush? Just a quick shot, taken on 20 September 2014, when I was walking along the path to see the family of Beavers. I haven't been there for quite some time, so I hope all is well with them. I actually got out on a birding walk yesterday morning, a rare thing for me these days. We walked along the path in South Glenmore Park, overlooking the Glenmore Reservoir. We found only 20 species of bird, mainly the usual ones such as Chickadees, Crows, Ravens, Coots, Robins, and Nuthatches. However, we were lucky enough to see an immature Pacific Loon that was out in the middle of the reservoir. Then it disappeared and, for a brief couple of seconds, reappeared somewhat closer to us. I was able to get just one 48x zoomed shot, heavily cropped, that I might post sometime, as that was my first "proper" sighting of a Pacific Loon. So amazing to see how long these Loons can stay underwater and then reappear such a long distance away. We also were treated to two Common Loons that flew overhead. Though we saw so few birds and bird species, it was a beautiful, sunny morning, with temperatures of 10°C to 16°C.

A photo that I took on 14 September 2014, of one of the young Beavers that live in Fish Creek Park. They were such amazing animals to watch and one can see why the expression "busy as a Beaver" came into being. Their big, orange front teeth cut through wood at a tremendous speed. I couldn't help but smile at the rather loud munching sound made by this youngster, as it stripped the bark from this small branch. "Beavers are best known for their dam-building. They maintain their pond-habitat by reacting quickly to the sound of running water, and damming it up with tree branches and mud. The largest beaver dam is 2,790 ft (850 m) in length—more than half a mile long—and was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007. It is located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and is twice the width of the Hoover Dam which spans 1,244 ft (379 m)." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_beaver

Yesterday afternoon, 23 October 2014, I finally did a drive south of the city and found an old barn that I really wanted to see, plus a few others. The photos of this barn that I had found on the Internet must have been taken by trespassing, or possibly before a No Trespassing sign was placed there, as I could only get a view of the back of the barn from the road, lol! On this drive, or rather when looking at Google Earth the previous evening, I discovered that as well as having no sense of direction, I also have no sense of distance! Then I went in search of two grain elevators joined together by a long, low building. The most northerly one is one of the oldest in Alberta (built in 1905 I think, but certainly before 1909). I had pulled over and parked, taken a few shots right into the sun unfortunately and was just checking them back in the car. I was conscious of a man in a bright orange sweater approaching close to my car. When he stopped by my car, I opened the door – he seemed a bit puzzled as to what I was doing there, so I explained that I was photographing the elevators. Ha, it was the private owner of the elevators!!! I read on the Internet just now that he has a furniture manufacturing company in the long, low building that joins the two elevators together. I asked him if there was a better place to photograph them, and he said to take the previous little road. Much better! Some nice old train cars parked near them, too. Maybe I was parked on private ground when the owner was talking with me. After the elevators, I explored a few other roads further south and ended up not far from the Saskatoon Farm. Called in and had quiche again : ) Yesterday had started well, too. I found an e-mail from friend, Sandy, saying that they had just seen a Barred Owl in one of the local parks. Thanks to Sandy, I got over there just before noon and bumped into a few of my friends who had just finished a walk. Two of them said they would come with me and look for it again – and we found it!! This was the first 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). Yesterday’s owl was beautiful – crummy light, with a mix of harsh sunlight and dark shadows, but I did find one to post today. It was taken after the owl flew down to the ground from one tree, was out of sight briefly, and then we saw it in a somewhat closer tree. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

Yesterday morning, 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a male American Three-toed Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance, plus a few smaller flocks. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days ago. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of the Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these rare birds. This little Red Squirrel was a cute little guy, as they always are. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_red_squirrel After our walk, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent! This afternoon, 25 October 2014, we are supposed to get a brief touch of winter. Temperature is 5°C this morning (windchill 2°C) and it is very overcast. Forecast is for mixed precipitation this afternoon and light snow this evening.

Just a quick shot when I was out on a bird walk two days ago, 25 October 2014. I saw very little to photograph during the three hours, other than a rare American Three-toed Woodpecker and a very cute and cooperative Red Squirrel. The colour of these leaves caught my eye - we don't get the amazing, red Maple trees here that are seen in some other parts of Canada, so I love to see a shrub of any kind that has leaves that have turned red in the fall.

The morning of 23 October 2014 started really well. I found an e-mail from friend, Sandy, saying that they had just seen a Barred Owl in one of the local parks. Thanks to Sandy, I got over there just before noon and bumped into a few of my friends who had just finished a walk. Two of them said they would come with me and look for the owl again – and we found it!! This was the first 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (i.e. no nesting box). This owl was beautiful – crummy light, though, with a mix of harsh sunlight and dark shadows on the bird, but I did get a few that turned out OK, at least when seen at this size. This photo was taken before the owl flew down to the ground from one tree, was out of sight briefly, and then we saw it in a somewhat closer tree. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl Straight from the park, I finally did a drive south of the city and found an old barn that I really wanted to see, plus a few others. The photos of this barn that I had found on the Internet must have been taken by trespassing, or possibly before a No Trespassing sign was placed there, as I could only get a view of the back of the barn from the road, lol! On this drive, and when looking at Google Earth the previous evening, I discovered that as well as having no sense of direction, I also have no sense of distance! Then I went in search of two grain elevators joined together by a long, low building. The most northerly one is one of the oldest in Alberta (built in 1905 I think, but certainly before 1910). I had pulled over and parked, taken a few shots right into the sun unfortunately and was just checking them back in the car. I was conscious of a man in a bright orange sweater approaching close to my car. When he stopped by my car, I opened the door – he seemed a bit puzzled as to what I was doing there, so I explained that I was photographing the elevators. Ha, it was the private owner of the elevators!!! I read on the Internet just now that he has a furniture manufacturing company in the long, low building that joins the two elevators together. I asked him if there was a better place to photograph them, and he said to take the previous little road. Much better! Some nice old train cars parked near the elevators, too. Maybe I was parked on private ground when the owner was talking with me. After the elevators, I explored a few other roads further south and ended up not far from The Saskatoon Farm. Called in and had quiche again : ) So, altogether, a pretty good day : )

The morning of 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all, as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance plus a few smaller flocks; and this male American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days ago. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of this American Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these birds, especially as they are rare here. This photo shows a tree that has had some of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. If you look at the top centre of the photo, you can just make out the twisting pattern of the tubes made by larvae. These are what the Woodpecker wants to get to, and so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying on top of the snow if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. After our walk, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent!

The morning of 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all, as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance plus a few smaller flocks; and this male American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days ago. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of this American Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these birds, especially as they are rare here. It closely resembles the Black-backed Woodpecker, which is also three-toed, and which is also rarely seen here. The following photo shows a tree that has had some of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. If you look at the top centre of the photo, you can just make out the twisting pattern of the tubes made by larvae. These are what the Woodpecker wants to get to, and so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "Found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker After our walk, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent!