Domesticated Llamas

Two days ago, I took part in the Cochrane Reserve 2007 Christmas Bird Count. This is north-west of the city. We also stop and visit various farms/ranches in the area and talk with the owners about what species of birds they see on their land. Lots of very friendly, helpful people! This and another Llama live on one of the farms. Did you know that they have a bad habit of spitting? There are too many Llamas in Alberta now and people find that they are unable to sell them. They are useful, though, in helping to keep Coyotes away from the farm animals.

Saw several of these Llamas when three of us did the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Christmas Bird Count the day before yesterday, 28 December 2012. Our long day consisted of driving along all the backroads east of Highway 22/Cowboy Trail, roughly across from the Water Valley area. We also call in at a number of farms to ask the owners what birds they have been getting recently. Couldn't get any closer - Llamas spit! Off to the Nanton Bird Count for the whole of today, south of Calgary.

This is another of the Llamas seen at one of the farms we called into during our coverage of the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Bird Count, on 28 December 2012. Not sure, but I think I heard the leader of my small group (just three of us) say that this farmer has two male and several female Llamas, and I think that this one is possibly male. This whole area east of Highway 22/Cowboy Trail (across from the Water Valley area, is called the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve, but all it consists of are backroads and farms. Not sure why it's called a Wildlife Reserve - maybe there are restrictions on construction in the area??

I was without Internet earlier this morning, but thankfully it is back on again. I wonder if our bitterly cold weather had anything to do with it. Just before noon, our temperature is -20C (windchill -28C). Tomorrow should be a bit milder, and then after that, temperatures are forecast for above 0C , which will feel so good. On 29 December 2016, three of us took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve area. I'm not sure why it's called a Wildlife Reserve, as it consists of backroads and farms just like on our other Counts. Only three of us went in my group, travelling in just one car, and the area we covered was east of Highway 22/Cowboy Trail (across from the Water Valley area). We have to be way NW of the city, ready to start driving our Count area by 8:00 am. There always seems to be a beautiful sunrise when we start this Count. This is one of the Llamas seen at one of the farms we called in at during our coverage. This farmer has several of these large, amusing animals, and they are always one of the highlights of this Count for me. Unfortunately, it was very overcast when we were there, so this was taken in poor light. There was so much snow on the long driveway that led to the house, that we were unable to drive up, so we decided to walk. Actually, several of the backroads were in bad condition and I was expecting us to get stuck, which fortunately didn't happen. A huge bag of gravel and a snow shovel were in the back of the driver's vehicle, just in case. "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia. Another of my favourite farms to stop at has a beautiful, old, white dog named Fang, along with beautiful cats, and I always look forward to seeing them each year. The neighbouring farm, which is also included in our area, has two beautiful old, red barns and I was longing to see these again. Unfortunately, we drove in past them, but didn't stop. A bit further in, we did get out of the car while our leader tried to find someone to ask permission for us to get out and look for birds. No one could be found, but it gave me the chance to take two rapid shots through the trees of the second barn, from a side view, which I had never seen before. So, it was a very enjoyable day, though there were not all that many species or individual birds to be seen. Many thanks, Andrew, for driving our leader and myself. You did a great job of handling the roads that had not been cleared of snow. I will add a list of the bird species seen, in a comment box below.

This photo was taken on 29 December 2016, when three of us took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve area. I'm not sure why it's called a Wildlife Reserve, as it consists of backroads and farms just like on our other Counts. Only three of us went, travelling in just one car, and the section of the Count circle that we covered was east of Highway 22/Cowboy Trail (across from the Water Valley area). This is one of the Llamas seen at one of the farms we called in at during our coverage. This farmer has several of these large, amusing animals, and they are always one of the highlights of this Count for me. Unfortunately, it was very overcast when we were there, so this was taken in poor light. There was so much snow on the long driveway that led to the house, that we were unable to drive up, so we decided to walk. Actually, several of the backroads were in bad condition and I was expecting us to get stuck, which fortunately didn't happen. A huge bag of gravel and a snow shovel were in the back of the vehicle, just in case. "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia. Another of my favourite farms to stop at has a beautiful, old dog named Fang, along with beautiful cats, and I always look forward to seeing them each year. The neighbouring farm, which is also included in our area, has two fine old, red barns and I was longing to see these again. Unfortunately, we drove in past them, but didn't stop. A bit further in, we did get out of the car while our leader tried to find someone to ask permission for us to get out and look for birds. No one could be found, but it gave me the chance to take two rapid shots through the trees of the second barn, from a side view, which I had never seen before. So, it was a very enjoyable day, though there were not all that many species or individual birds to be seen. Many thanks, Andrew, for driving our leader and myself. You did a great job of handling the roads that had not been cleared of snow. I will add a list of the bird species seen, in a comment box below.

Yet another deep-freeze day, with a temperature of -22C (windchill -33C) at noon. Another few bitterly cold days, and things are supposed to warm up, thank goodness. My intention is to stay home in the warm - again. On 29 December 2016, three of us took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve area. I'm not sure why it's called a Wildlife Reserve, as it consists of backroads and farms just like on our other Counts. Only three of us went in my group, travelling in just one car, and the area we covered was east of Highway 22/Cowboy Trail (across from the Water Valley area). We have to be way NW of the city, ready to start driving our Count area by 8:00 am. There always seems to be a beautiful sunrise when we start this Count. This is one of the Llamas seen at one of the farms we called in at during our coverage. This farmer has several of these large, amusing animals, and they are always one of the highlights of this Count for me. Unfortunately, it was very overcast when we were there, so this was taken in poor light. There was so much snow on the long driveway that led to the house, that we were unable to drive up, so we decided to walk. Actually, several of the backroads were in bad condition and I was expecting us to get stuck, which fortunately didn't happen. A huge bag of gravel and a snow shovel were in the back of the vehicle, just in case. "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia. Another of my favourite farms to stop at has a beautiful, old, white dog named Fang, along with beautiful cats, and I always look forward to seeing them each year. The neighbouring farm, which is also included in our area, has two beautiful old, red barns and I was longing to see these again. Unfortunately, we drove in past them, but didn't stop. A bit further in, we did get out of the car while our leader tried to find someone to ask permission for us to get out and look for birds. No one could be found, but it gave me the chance to take two rapid shots through the trees of the second barn, from a side view, which I had never seen before. So, it was a very enjoyable day, though there were not all that many species or individual birds to be seen. Many thanks, Andrew, for driving our leader and myself. You did a great job of handling the roads that had not been cleared of snow. I will add a list of the bird species seen, in a comment box below.

Yesterday, 15 March 2016, it snowed very lightly for maybe two minutes and that was it. That's the kind of snow I don't mind at all, though it did make me wonder what I was going to be driving into, on my drive NW of the city. The roads were clear until closer to my destination. There, the gravel roads were snow-covered and not the greatest to drive on, and you had to be very careful not to get too close to the edge of the road. Anyway, this photo, taken on 28 December 2015, reminds me that we DID have snow this winter, in between all the glorious, mild days. It was taken during the annual Audubon Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Christmas Bird Count. The area that my small group of seven people, in two cars, covered was N of Cochrane and E of Highway 22, very roughly across from the Water Valley area. Though the word 'Reserve' is in the name, this count was like most others, driving all the country backroads and calling in at several farms. The weather was bad, with poor light and gently falling snow pretty well all day long. Thanks so much, Stephen, for driving the four of us safely! I love Llamas! This is one of several seen at one of the farms we called in at. Each animal is so different and I can't help but smile at their faces. "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia. I will add our leader's report for this day's count below. Not a huge number of species, with a Pileated Woodpecker being the highlight, plus so many Snow Buntings. "The day was overcast, light snow most of day, calm, -09°C. 20 cm snow on ground. Most streams frozen over. Total Party kms by Car - 84; Total Party kms by foot – 2km. Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:40 min. Rough-legged Hawk-1 Rock Pigeon-4 Downy Woodpecker-10. Hairy Woodpecker-3 PILEATED WOODPECKER-1 Black-billed Magpie- 19 Common Raven- 18 Black-capped Chickadee- 41 Red-breasted Nuthatch- 3 White-breasted Nuthatch-1 American Tree Sparrow-7 Dark-eyed Junco-1 Snow Bunting-3550 Pine Grosbeak-25 White-winged Crossbill-15 Common Redpoll-1811 House Sparrow-106 Red Squirrel-2"

This photo was taken on 28 December 2015, during the annual Audubon Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Christmas Bird Count. The area that my small group of seven people, in two cars, covered was N of Cochrane and E of Highway 22, very roughly across from the Water Valley area. Though the word 'Reserve' is in the name, this count was like most others, driving all the country backroads and calling in at several farms. The weather was bad, with poor light and gently falling snow pretty well all day long. Thanks so much, Stephen, for driving the four of us safely! I love Llamas! This is one of several seen at one of the farms we called in at. Each animal is so different and I can't help but smile at their faces. "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia. I will add our leader's report for this day's count below. Not a huge number of species, with a Pileated Woodpecker being the highlight plus so many Snow Buntings. "The day was overcast, light snow most of day, calm, -09°C. 20 cm snow on ground. Most streams frozen over. Total Party kms by Car - 84; Total Party kms by foot – 2km. Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:40 min. Rough-legged Hawk-1 Rock Pigeon-4 Downy Woodpecker-10. Hairy Woodpecker-3 PILEATED WOODPECKER-1 Black-billed Magpie- 19 Common Raven- 18 Black-capped Chickadee- 41 Red-breasted Nuthatch- 3 White-breasted Nuthatch-1 American Tree Sparrow-7 Dark-eyed Junco-1 Snow Bunting-3550 Pine Grosbeak-25 White-winged Crossbill-15 Common Redpoll-1811 House Sparrow-106 Red Squirrel-2"