A nest box to match

I would imagine every Flickr member received this email today:

"If you haven’t heard, Yahoo plans to sell its operating business, including Flickr, to Verizon Communications Inc. We anticipate the completion of the transaction to occur in June 2017. Upon the completion of this proposed transaction, Yahoo products and services, including Flickr, will be provided by a new Verizon-owned company called Yahoo Holdings, Inc.

In connection with this proposed transaction, Yahoo is updating its Terms of Service. You can review the changes by visiting our Terms of Service

These updated terms will automatically be effective on June 8, 2017, unless you cancel your Yahoo account before then.

That’s it! We look forward to continuing to deliver your favorite products and services."

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What a huge loss very early yesterday morning (22 May 2017), when the beautiful old mission church west of Cochrane, McDougall Church, burned down! This was a place that I loved to visit and photograph - a place with such an interesting and important history. I will add the link to my McDougall Church album for anyone who is interested. Thanks to my daughter for letting me know about this very sad news.

www.cochranenow.com/local/fire-leaves-many-with-heavy-hearts

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157645848592486

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Well, I'm certainly not getting on very well with my Trinidad photos at the moment : ) Other things keep popping up and they have offered, or will be offering, photo opportunities, too. This morning, I have just posted seven more shots from my day out with four friends, driving the area SW of Calgary, on 20 May 2017.

Part of that morning was spent at our friend, Barb's, acreage, SW of Calgary, enjoying the variety of birds that visit her garden. Thanks so much, Barb, as always, for letting us visit you. Such a joy to see birds like the handsome male Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the Evening Grosbeaks. I so rarely get to see either of these birds.

We then drove the various roads SW of the city, as far south as Turner Valley, hoping to see a few birds. Beautiful scenery in the whole area. In Turner Valley, we called in to see another mutual friend and watch the birds that visited her tiny, but beautifully and thoughtfully designed, back deck. Thanks so much for having us, Jackie - and for the most welcome coffee! - especially at such very short notice!

On my way home from this enjoyable day out, I drove a few backroads, looking for any Mountain Bluebirds. Found this male perched atop his box, which matched his colour very nicely.

In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id

www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...

This coming weekend, it is the annual May Species Count. This year, 2017, I am only going to be doing the Sunday Count - no walking : )

"The count goes May 27-28: Calgary birders have been out in force every May since 1979, contributing to a broad census of the constantly changing patterns of bird distributions in North America. Last year (2015) we found 212 species. The count circle is the same as previous years, extending from Olds to Nanton, and from Exshaw to Standard, and includes a variety of environments." From NatureCalgary.