Swainson's Hawk juvenile

Oops! Normally, I never ever set a camera to digital. However, I did this fairly recently, just to try something out - and discovered after I got home after taking this and other photos on 25 August, that I had forgotten to turn off the digital. Oh, well, a closer shot, but more grainy than I would have liked. The beauty of this young bird of prey still shines through, though.

This photo was taken three days ago, when I at last did a long-overdue drive east of the city. This is my least favourite direction in which to drive from the city and I have to say it stresses me out so much. Once I reach the back roads, I can relax a little, but I am always worried about getting lost.

The best few minutes in the five and a half hours I was out were when I came across this beautiful Swainson's Hawk juvenile perched on a fence post. Finally, a hawk perched along a back road, where I could stop. Amazingly, not one single vehicle came along while I was there. It felt so good to get a few photos of a hawk in the wild, unlike the ones I photographed recently at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre. I had really hoped I would see a perched hawk this day and, in fact, I had seen another one earlier in my drive, though that one was more distant. That's all I needed, to make me happy and feel that the drive was worthwhile.

For the first time ever, and after having driven past the location other times, I stopped at Weed Lake (south end). Lots of birds, but most were really too far to photograph. Still, I was happy to see a Killdeer and what I think was a little Semipalmated Plover close enough to get a few shots. One disturbing thing I found on the path was a large dead, white bird with a long neck. There were two cylindrical canisters on top of the remains - looks like these were empty fireworks. No idea how long this body had been there, or if anyone else has seen it there. Added later: apparently, this dead Swan has been there since at least April of this year.