Winter walking
'Barn' Owl, alias Great Horned Owl
Colour for winter
Snow turns something ordinary into beautiful
Same tiny Northern Pygmy-owl
Downy Woodpecker and bokeh
A sweet encounter
White beauty
Textures
Our beautiful Alberta
A change from a Black-capped Chickadee
Way, way up
A splash of fall colour
A touch of blue
Barn with a mural
Don't you spit!
Turkey Vulture preening
An old, red beauty
Snowy Owl in rehab
Afternoon light on the foothills
Northern Shrike / Lanius excubitor
Woolly and warm
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Nanton Christmas Bird Count
Mountain Chickadee
A splash of colour on a snowy day
New Year's Day Bird Count
Open wide - big yawn
A well looked after barn
Happy New Year, everyone!
Sunrise colour over the mountain peaks
A welcome sight on a Christmas Bird Count
I love Llamas
A beautiful start to a day
Winter on the farm
Gray Jay - Canada's new National bird
Red's the best in winter
Trees in winter
Yesterday's treat
TV's "Heartland" series location
Mountain Chickadee on Donna's hand
Pika pose
Snowman who loves Amanitas
Remembering summer colours
Almost-disappearing act
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
187 visits
Gray Jay


A week ago, on 27 December 2016, nine of us took part in the annual Sheep River/Priddis/Turner Valley Christmas Bird Count.
Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at several farms and acreages. I took part in this Count last year but had missed it for a few years before that. I believe I had only ever done it once before (December 2007?), a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, like last year, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again.
A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us go there on botany trips and he always has the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest in the fall. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there. A Gray Jay gave us a few photo opportunities, which was appreciated. Not the best lighting, but usually these birds are difficult to photograph, so it was nice to see one this close. Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!!
After two years, nearly 50,000 votes and thousands of public and expert comments, the Gray Jay is the bird that has finally been chosen as the National Bird of Canada. For all the reasons this bird was chosen, see the link below.
www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-...
www.calgaryherald.com/news/national/98hardy+intelligent+g...
Thanks so much, Donna, for driving half of us - so much appreciated! This also meant that we were lucky enough to see two tiny Northern Pygmy-owls after the Count, too. A beautiful sunny day really helped - not all that cold (for Alberta!). A lot of snow everywhere (almost 8"), but that was OK, as we did so little walking. A great day!
I will add the list of species seen, in a comment box below.
Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at several farms and acreages. I took part in this Count last year but had missed it for a few years before that. I believe I had only ever done it once before (December 2007?), a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, like last year, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again.
A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us go there on botany trips and he always has the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest in the fall. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there. A Gray Jay gave us a few photo opportunities, which was appreciated. Not the best lighting, but usually these birds are difficult to photograph, so it was nice to see one this close. Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!!
After two years, nearly 50,000 votes and thousands of public and expert comments, the Gray Jay is the bird that has finally been chosen as the National Bird of Canada. For all the reasons this bird was chosen, see the link below.
www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-...
www.calgaryherald.com/news/national/98hardy+intelligent+g...
Thanks so much, Donna, for driving half of us - so much appreciated! This also meant that we were lucky enough to see two tiny Northern Pygmy-owls after the Count, too. A beautiful sunny day really helped - not all that cold (for Alberta!). A lot of snow everywhere (almost 8"), but that was OK, as we did so little walking. A great day!
I will add the list of species seen, in a comment box below.
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2025
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Rough-legged Hawk-1 (1 seen flying over Millarville Gen. Store, 8:30am; 3 along Hwy 22, N of Millarville, but may have been out of circle.
Downy Woodpecker-3
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Gray Jay-8
Blue Jay-10
Black-billed Magpie-13
Common Raven-11
Black-capped Chickadee-78
Mountain Chickadee-43
Boreal Chickadee-7
Red-breasted Nuthatch-4
White-breasted Nuthatch-4
Snow Bunting-14
Pine Grosbeak-6, seen by Mr/Mrs Kenbrick, 344002 320 St this morning.
Red Squirrel-3
Moose-1
Total party kms by car-80; total party kms on foot-2
Total party hours by car-5.5; total party hours on foot-1.5
All water bodies ice-covered; 20 cm of fresh snow.
Weather, mostly clear, calm, -17 to -2°C
Sign-in to write a comment.