Bald and beautiful

Wish I could say that this was seen and taken in the wild - unfortunately, I can't, as it was taken at the Calgary Zoo, on 4 March 2010.

The Bald Eagle is not bald, of course. The name is derived from the older meaning of the word, "white headed". Haliaeetus leucocephalus Greek hali = salt, aeetus = eagle, leuco = white, cephalis = head.

"In the late 20th century the Bald Eagle was on the brink of extirpation in the continental United States, while flourishing in much of Alaska and Canada. Populations recovered and stabilized, so the species was removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species and transferred to the list of threatened species on July 12, 1995, and it was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle

Today, I'm posting my photos many hours later than usual. Was out of the house for about seven hours, spending most enjoyable time with friends, Ron and Trish and Bonnie, looking for a Great Gray Owl : ) North west of the city, it was snowing quite heavily and the rolling hills and farms faded from view during parts of the drive. We also hit some road areas that had several inches of snow on them, which didn't make for the best driving conditions. However, we were so lucky when a Great Gray Owl was spotted way in the distance. An absolute thrill - I have seen them in the wild before, but not for almost three years. Of course, the weather was bad, very low light and a distant bird - but I did manage to get maybe two or three photos that I will post. The snow-covered coniferous trees around the owl were just beautiful - a true winter wonderland. Delightful to drive (easy for me to say, I wasn't the one driving!) through such countryside on a beautiful, snowy day : ) Thanks so much, Ron, for driving us safely, and to you and Trish for inviting me to join you and for finding us a beautiful Great Gray Owl. Bonnie, I thoroughly enjoyed spending lots of time with you today - and to think we even saw a distant Northern Hawk Owl from the road as well. And I loved seeing the same horses I photographed a few days ago looking so much "happier" today - especially the grey one, which had looked almost "depressed" the other day. Great to see a Kestrel, a Great Blue Heron (who must have been regretting returning to Calgary already), Trumpeter Swans, various Hawks, etc.. A great day! Oh, and it's still snowing back here in the city (3:15 p.m.).