Nanton Christmas Bird Counts, 2008 - 2013

This was some of the scenery three of us drove through on 30 December 2012, when we were covering the SW quadrant of the huge Christmas Bird Count circle that centered on the town of Nanton, Alberta. A landscape over which the occasional Golden Eagle soars and in which numerous Sharp-tailed Grouse wander on the ground or perch in trees. I absolutely love this area SW of Nanton!

Not the most beautiful foreground, but there was still something that appealed to me in this quick shot from a moving vehicle, including the sunlight shining on the snow-covered fields. Taken on the way home from our day out on Sunday, doing a Bird Count in the Nanton area, south of the city.

Taken from the back passenger side seat,on the far side of the road to where this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk was perched : ). Definitely cropped, but I was still happy to get it : ). This was seen on Sunday, while doing a Christmas Bird Count in the Nanton area, south of Calgary.

Five days ago, during the 109th annual Audubon Bird Count (in the Nanton area, south of Calgary), we passed about six goats near the roadside. Each one was completely different. I thought these little brown eyes looked like buttons, each with two "holes" for the thread to pass through : )

I have never seen a Pronghorn close to, so I took this photo of a Pronghorn "head" mounted on someone's wall. I don't know if it had been hunted or maybe it had died from another cause, but I never like seeing animal head "trophies". However, I saw my first Pronghorns in the wild a few weeks ago, but only from a distance, so this head did enable me to see what these animals really look like.

This is exactly how the scenery looked (in this colour photo!) south of Calgary on 28th December, when we did a Bird Count in the Nanton area. The landscape almost looked unreal, and I thought had the similarity to a sketch done in black, brown and white. Quite unusual.

This was taken yesterday, on the Nanton Christmas Bird Count, south of Calgary. Three of us covered Cayley (about half way between High River and Nanton) and the area south from Cayley. Our area was flat farmland, like the band that cuts across the midle of this photo. As you can see, the main roads were clear and the weather was gorgeous! This is a zoomed in photo, so the mountains appear closer than they really were. Needed a "lazy" day (i.e. a day at home, working on my computer) today, ready for another long Bird Count day tomorrow.

We came across this beautiful Great Horned Owl during our Christmas Bird Count in Nanton, south of Calgary, on 27th December. S/he was perched in a lone tree in the middle of a large grassy area in the "garden" of one of the ranches/homesteads. Fortunately, I got a few photos before the family dog decided to trot off across the snow and right under this tree. The owl flew straight towards me and then angled off, I'm glad to say. It can be an anxious moment when you realize a large bird of prey is flying towards you from just a few feet away, and I never think of trying to get a photo, until it's too late, LOL.

This little dog belongs to a lady at whose house/homestead we meet for the Nanton Bird Count. Always friendly and curious and just wanted to go outside to "play" - but it was still dark that morning and cold : ) A cute little thing.