Sunset on the Prairies

From 6:00 am till 5:00 pm yesterday, 23 December 2014, I was taking part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Horseshoe Canyon/Drumheller area. The group of friends I was with, travelling in three cars, covered the NE quadrant of the Count circle plus an extra bit of land S of Highway 9. There were 10 of us in total, including the 3 from Drumheller. At lunch time, we were all treated to home made hot beef and barley soup and tea/coffee at the home of Jim McCabe, who lives in Drumheller and joined us for the Count, along with two others. Jim works at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and is the senior preparation technician and lab supervisor there. "The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a Canadian tourist attraction and a centre of palaeontological research noted for its collection of more than 130,000 fossils." (Wikipedia), Located in the Badlands of Alberta, it is known for it's amazing dinosaur finds.

I will add the final report of our group's leader (Gus Yaki) below. As far as Snowy Owls are concerned, the driver of the vehicle in which I spent the whole day (another Anne!) and I saw a total of 8 Snowy Owls, including owls seen on the drive to and from the Count area. That makes 18-20 Snowy Owls that I have been lucky enough to see within the last 4 days (10-12 of them seen when my daughter and I searched E and NE of Calgary on 20 December)! Thanks so much for picking me up and driving the whole day, Anne! I appreciated it so much!

"HORSESHOE Canyon/Drumheller CBC, N side of Red Deer River, 0830-1315; 23Dec2014. Sunny, becoming overcast, calm, -8 to -3 to -10°C.

Ring-necked Pheasant-1 m. (at Murrays).
Eurasian Collared Dove-2+
Snowy Owl-1 juv.
Downy Woodpecker-5
Hairy Woodpecker-2
Northern Flicker-1+
Blue Jay-4
Black-billed Magpie-9
Common Raven-4
Black-capped Chickadee-20
Red-breasted Nuthatch-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-2
House Sparrow-75.

Mammals:
Coyote-2,
Eastern Gray Squirrel-black morph-2
Meadow Vole-1
Snowshoe Hare-1
Mule Deer-1.

Feeder Birds at Jim McCabe’s Place, Nacmine, not on our territory. 1315-1400, 23Dec2014.

Eurasian Collared-Dove-1
Downy Woodpecker-2
Black-billed Magpie-1
Black-capped Chickadee-5
Red-breasted Nuthatch-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-1

Also noted 9 Mule Deer on the Nacmine slope from our territory on the N. side of the Red Deer River.

Birds on East Side of Count Circle, Terr #4. 1400-1530, 23Dec2014.

Snowy Owl-1 ad m just N of #9, on RR 20.4, just after Jim McC. left us. May have seen it in the morning as well.
Black-billed Magpie-12
Common Raven-8
Unidentified small passerine, possible Horned Lark-1, seen flying away.

Mammals:
Coyote-4

Two people reported Gray Jay-1. Because this is unlikely in the prairie, they have filed a Rare Bird Documentation Form.

Gus Yaki"