Swainson's Hawk / Buteo swainsoni
Bear Grass
Day Lily
Western Meadowlark
No longer a home
Little green hearts of White Camas
Treasures in the yellow strip
Yesterday's barn
A wild Sunflower from a gravel road
Anyone have a comb?
Out in the middle of nowhere
Bison with smoke haze
Who can resist a Burrowing Owl?
Ohio Buckeye or ?
I fell in love ....
Yesterday's main find : (
Painted Lady
Love those hills
Dragonfly
Borage
Domestic Duck
Time for a nap
A pot full of colour
Ruddy Duck female
Evening Grosbeak
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Star-flowered Solomon's Seal / Maianthemum stellat…
Purple Honeycreeper male, Trinidad
Bear Grass bud
Stellar's Jay juvenile
Wild European Rabbit
Common Tansy / Tanacetum vulgare
My new neighbour?
Common Nighthawk
Bear Grass with Crab Spider and prey
Red-winged Blackbird juvenile
Nodding/Musk Thistle / Carduus nutans
Cameron Falls, Waterton Lakes National Park
Western Wood Lily
Here comes dessert!
Little country church
Helmeted Guineafowl / Numida meleagris
Forever cute
Once a home
Western Grebe
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
240 visits
Splash of colour


Canada Day, 1 July 2017, was a great day. I picked up Pam just after 8:00 am and did a long drive in Southern Alberta. We saw our target bird - a Common Nighthawk, and all sorts of other things including plants, wildlife, and old barns. It took a round trip of 414 km to get the Nighthawks, but it was so worth it! Much further than I normally drive. Towards the end of our day, the rain arrived, accompanied by lightning streaks. This couldn't have been timed more perfectly, to wash off a lot of the dust that covered my car after 12 hours of driving hot, dusty roads! So welcome!
It was such a thrill to see a Common Nighthawk / Chordeiles minor (a rather strange looking bird), as I had always wanted to see one actually lying on a fence post or wooden railing. People get such amazing photos of them like that, and that is what I was determined to find this summer. Last year, I had driven to this area in Southern Alberta, hoping to find one, but had been out of luck. Most of the Nighthawk photos I took on 1 July were of Nighthawks lying on metal railings, but I was still thrilled to bits. We saw four individuals, together, and one was on a fence post - not the best angle, but it was still nice to see a fence post perch. How close we came to missing them! I said I wanted to just check the first part of a small side road first, before continuing on the road we were on - and there they were! I had seen a nighthawk on maybe five different occasions over the years, but most were in flight and one was perched very high up in a tree. For Pam, this was the first time she had ever seen one, and she was so happy to see this lifer.
I was so tired after driving such a long distance and it was a hot day - the temperature got up to 30C. I so rarely do such a long drive, and I've barely driven all winter and spring. It felt so good to actually get out on a long drive like this, and we saw all sorts of interesting things that we just had to stop and photograph - of course!
It was such a thrill to see a Common Nighthawk / Chordeiles minor (a rather strange looking bird), as I had always wanted to see one actually lying on a fence post or wooden railing. People get such amazing photos of them like that, and that is what I was determined to find this summer. Last year, I had driven to this area in Southern Alberta, hoping to find one, but had been out of luck. Most of the Nighthawk photos I took on 1 July were of Nighthawks lying on metal railings, but I was still thrilled to bits. We saw four individuals, together, and one was on a fence post - not the best angle, but it was still nice to see a fence post perch. How close we came to missing them! I said I wanted to just check the first part of a small side road first, before continuing on the road we were on - and there they were! I had seen a nighthawk on maybe five different occasions over the years, but most were in flight and one was perched very high up in a tree. For Pam, this was the first time she had ever seen one, and she was so happy to see this lifer.
I was so tired after driving such a long distance and it was a hot day - the temperature got up to 30C. I so rarely do such a long drive, and I've barely driven all winter and spring. It felt so good to actually get out on a long drive like this, and we saw all sorts of interesting things that we just had to stop and photograph - of course!
- 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
Sign-in to write a comment.