Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Phasianidae

Saturday, 21 November 2015, turned out to be a fun day for a group of us, driving SW of the city into the rolling hills to look for birds. We started off ‘well’, when our driver reversed into another birder’s car right there in the parking lot where we met. The crunch sounded really bad, but thankfully damage was very minimal! Our drive took us south to the Millarville area, where we were hoping that we might just see Wild Turkeys, a Gyrfalcon or a Northern Hawk Owl. No luck with the last two, but we were lucky enough to see a number of distant Wild Turkeys at two different locations. Just couldn't get a good shot of any of them, especially when they were moving about through the trees. I had had a look for these months ago, when people were reporting seeing them, but I wasn't able to find any. I think we did just as well, if not better, with mammals than bird species, seeing several beautiful male deer and a couple of distant Coyotes. Then, later on, we were amazed to see a group of three Moose and just a short distance along the road, a group of five Moose. To see even one lone Moose is exciting, but to see eight in one day was amazing and most unusual. Unfortunately, they were all too far away to get even half-decent shots, but I may post one sometime, just for the record. Towards the end of our trip, a friend asked what I was going to be doing afterwards and when I said I had no plans, invited me to go along with him and his friend to look for Great Gray Owls and Snowy Owls. I said I would just grab my backpack from the car I had been riding in, By the time I had got my things out, I happened to turn round to go to their car, when I discovered there were no cars left!! Thank goodness my original drive was still there, as the vehicle I was going to transfer into was way down the road! My friend had forgotten me, lol! When he suddenly realized it, he had stopped and was either going to turn around or back up and had instead gone into the snow-covered ditch. Impossible to get out, so he was going to have to get a ride with someone else till he could reach a place where cell phone service was available and then call for a tow truck. I'm so glad I wasn't in his vehicle - can't help but wonder if my added weight might have caused his car to roll over, lol! And so I returned to the city with my original friends - safe and thankful. Thanks so much for driving for the day, Andrew - much appreciated! To my other friend, who shall remain anonymous (lol), I do hope it didn't take too long for your car to be rescued! This is the final report/list from the leaders of the trip - rather long, but I did want to add it, to jog my own memory: "On Saturday November 21, seventeen birders headed out in mild sunny weather to look for uncommon birds in the Calgary area. We headed south of the city first to check a possible Gyrfalcon spot, then to the Millarville area for Wild Turkeys, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Northern Hawk-Owl. Our first stop was just south of Lloyd Lake (Red Deer Lake), a little SW of Spruce Meadows. A Gyrfalcon had been seen hunting Rock Pigeons in the area about ten days ago. It took a while to find the correct location, but with a tip from a local resident (who saw the falcon three days prior) we found the grain silos on 226 Avenue just where it starts to turn to the SW. There were only about a dozen pigeons there, and no Gyrfalcon, but the location is worth checking again. We thought we may have seen the bird sitting on a fence post to the south, but when we got closer it proved to be a Rough-legged Hawk, our only one of the day. Next we went just SW of Millarville, where last winter Wild Turkeys frequented a farmyard on RR35. They had been reported once this fall. Also in the area last year were Sharp-tailed Grouse, and a Northern Hawk-Owl on RR40. We found the Wild Turkeys at a farm on Twp 203, which connects RR34 and RR35. We watched them from a distance for a while, then did a slow drive-by, and the birds moved back from the road and eventually out of sight. There appeared to be seven turkeys. After driving a loop around RR 34 and 35, we again found turkeys at a farm on RR35 just south of Twp 203. There were nine birds at this location, but the spot was no more than 1 km from where we saw the other group, and it seems likely that it was the same flock. This might be the only Wild Turkey flock within the 80-km Calgary Count Circle. Next we drove south about 1.5 km to Twp 202, the north on RR40. A Northern Hawk-Owl was seen on this road frequently last winter. At one point I thought we found one, but it was a Gray Jay sitting at the top of a spruce tree. Back in Calgary, we stopped at the canoe club in North Glenmore Park to check the reservoir. A Pacific Loon had been seen there by Jim St. Laurent on Friday afternoon (November 20). We didn't see it, though there were still waterfowl on the remaining open water. Below is the eBird trip summary. eBird Checklist Summary for: Nov 21, 2015, 8:54 AM to Nov 21, 2015, 3:54 PM Number of Checklists: 4 Number of Taxa: 21 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Calgary--Weaselhead Natural Area Date: Nov 21, 2015, 9:09 AM (2): (Gyrfalcon Spot) CA-AB-227101-227199 1119 Dr W - 50.8410x-114.1780 - Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM Date: Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM (3): (SW of Millarville) CA-AB-370201-370225 272 St W - 50.7079x-114.3940 - Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM Date: Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM (4): Calgary--North Glenmore Park Date: Nov 21, 2015, 2:19 PM 402 Canada Goose -- (2),(4) 8 Mallard -- (4) 11 Bufflehead -- (4) 150 Common Goldeneye -- (4) 1 Common Merganser -- (4) 1 Ring-necked Pheasant -- (2) 9 Wild Turkey -- (3) 1 Eared Grebe -- (4) 1 Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk -- (1) 2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3) 1 Rough-legged Hawk -- (2) 11 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (2) 1 Northern Shrike -- (2) 2 Gray Jay -- (3) 1 Blue Jay -- (1) 9 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4) 9 Common Raven -- (1),(2),(3) 7 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1),(3),(4) 9 Pine Grosbeak -- (3) 1 House Finch -- (1) 40 White-winged Crossbill -- (1),(3)

Not a very well composed image, but I tried to get the closest possible shot of this bird who was in a hurry : ) I saw this beautiful, female Ruffed Grouse NW of Calgary on 28 March 2013. At least, I'm assuming it is a female, though apparently both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart. It was the icing on the cake after seeing four Great Gray Owls, an American Robin, and my first Mountain Bluebird of the year (no photos). As always, it's all about timing - you can drive this road many times and there's no sign of any Grouse. My experience has been that these birds tend to freeze right there in the middle of the road. I got out of my car and slowly walked towards it and stood there, taking a number of shots. Then the bird eventually started hurrying to the other side. Love their feather patterns. "The ruffs are on the sides of the neck in both genders. They also have a crest on top of their head, which sometimes lies flat. Both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart, even in hand. The female often has a broken subterminal tail band, while males tend to have unbroken tail bands, though the opposite of either can occur. Females may also do a display similar to the male. Another fairly accurate sign is that rump feathers with a single white dot indicate a female; rump feathers with more than one white dot indicate a male." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_Grouse "The toes of Ruffed Grouse grow projections off their sides in winter, making them look like combs. The projections are believed to act as snowshoes to help the grouse walk across snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruffed_grouse/id

Saturday, 21 November 2015, turned out to be a fun day for a group of us, driving SW of the city into the rolling hills to look for birds. We started off ‘well’, when our driver reversed into another birder’s car right there in the parking lot where we met. The crunch sounded really bad, but thankfully damage was very minimal! Our drive took us south to the Millarville area, where we were hoping that we might just see Wild Turkeys, a Gyrfalcon or a Northern Hawk Owl. No luck with the last two, but we were lucky enough to see a number of distant Wild Turkeys at two different locations. Just couldn't get a good shot of any of them, especially when they were moving about through the trees. I had had a look for these months ago, when people were reporting seeing them, but I wasn't able to find any. I think we did just as well, if not better, with mammals than bird species, seeing several beautiful male deer and a couple of distant Coyotes. Then, later on, we were amazed to see a group of three Moose and just a short distance along the road, a group of five Moose. To see even one lone Moose is exciting, but to see eight in one day was amazing and most unusual. Unfortunately, they were all too far away to get even half-decent shots, but I may post one sometime, just for the record. Towards the end of our trip, a friend asked what I was going to be doing afterwards and when I said I had no plans, invited me to go along with him and his friend to look for Great Gray Owls and Snowy Owls. I said I would just grab my backpack from the car I had been riding in, By the time I had got my things out, I happened to turn round to go to their car, when I discovered there were no cars left!! Thank goodness my original drive was still there, as the vehicle I was going to transfer into was way down the road! My friend had forgotten me, lol! When he suddenly realized it, he had stopped and was either going to turn around or back up and had instead gone into the snow-covered ditch. Impossible to get out, so he was going to have to get a ride with someone else till he could reach a place where cell phone service was available and then call for a tow truck. I'm so glad I wasn't in his vehicle - can't help but wonder if my added weight might have caused his car to roll over, lol! And so I returned to the city with my original friends - safe and thankful. Thanks so much for driving for the day, Andrew - much appreciated! To my other friend, who shall remain anonymous (lol), I do hope it didn't take too long for your car to be rescued! This is the final report/list from the leaders of the trip - rather long, but I did want to add it, to jog my own memory: "On Saturday November 21, seventeen birders headed out in mild sunny weather to look for uncommon birds in the Calgary area. We headed south of the city first to check a possible Gyrfalcon spot, then to the Millarville area for Wild Turkeys, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Northern Hawk-Owl. Our first stop was just south of Lloyd Lake (Red Deer Lake), a little SW of Spruce Meadows. A Gyrfalcon had been seen hunting Rock Pigeons in the area about ten days ago. It took a while to find the correct location, but with a tip from a local resident (who saw the falcon three days prior) we found the grain silos on 226 Avenue just where it starts to turn to the SW. There were only about a dozen pigeons there, and no Gyrfalcon, but the location is worth checking again. We thought we may have seen the bird sitting on a fence post to the south, but when we got closer it proved to be a Rough-legged Hawk, our only one of the day. Next we went just SW of Millarville, where last winter Wild Turkeys frequented a farmyard on RR35. They had been reported once this fall. Also in the area last year were Sharp-tailed Grouse, and a Northern Hawk-Owl on RR40. We found the Wild Turkeys at a farm on Twp 203, which connects RR34 and RR35. We watched them from a distance for a while, then did a slow drive-by, and the birds moved back from the road and eventually out of sight. There appeared to be seven turkeys. After driving a loop around RR 34 and 35, we again found turkeys at a farm on RR35 just south of Twp 203. There were nine birds at this location, but the spot was no more than 1 km from where we saw the other group, and it seems likely that it was the same flock. This might be the only Wild Turkey flock within the 80-km Calgary Count Circle. Next we drove south about 1.5 km to Twp 202, the north on RR40. A Northern Hawk-Owl was seen on this road frequently last winter. At one point I thought we found one, but it was a Gray Jay sitting at the top of a spruce tree. Back in Calgary, we stopped at the canoe club in North Glenmore Park to check the reservoir. A Pacific Loon had been seen there by Jim St. Laurent on Friday afternoon (November 20). We didn't see it, though there were still waterfowl on the remaining open water. Below is the eBird trip summary. eBird Checklist Summary for: Nov 21, 2015, 8:54 AM to Nov 21, 2015, 3:54 PM Number of Checklists: 4 Number of Taxa: 21 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Calgary--Weaselhead Natural Area Date: Nov 21, 2015, 9:09 AM (2): (Gyrfalcon Spot) CA-AB-227101-227199 1119 Dr W - 50.8410x-114.1780 - Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM Date: Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM (3): (SW of Millarville) CA-AB-370201-370225 272 St W - 50.7079x-114.3940 - Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM Date: Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM (4): Calgary--North Glenmore Park Date: Nov 21, 2015, 2:19 PM 402 Canada Goose -- (2),(4) 8 Mallard -- (4) 11 Bufflehead -- (4) 150 Common Goldeneye -- (4) 1 Common Merganser -- (4) 1 Ring-necked Pheasant -- (2) 9 Wild Turkey -- (3) 1 Eared Grebe -- (4) 1 Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk -- (1) 2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3) 1 Rough-legged Hawk -- (2) 11 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (2) 1 Northern Shrike -- (2) 2 Gray Jay -- (3) 1 Blue Jay -- (1) 9 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4) 9 Common Raven -- (1),(2),(3) 7 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1),(3),(4) 9 Pine Grosbeak -- (3) 1 House Finch -- (1) 40 White-winged Crossbill -- (1),(3)

Another fully zoomed and heavily cropped image - I seem to have posted several of these grainy shots recently, lol. Can never get a close shot of a Gray Partridge, though I would love to, as they have beautiful colours and feather patterns. Posting this one so that I can include it in a couple of my Sets. This photo was taken yesterday, 13 March 2014, when I spent the whole day SE of the city again, with friends Cathy and Terry. What a slow day it was for much of the time. Took us just over 6 hours to find the first Snowy Owl - just the tiniest, distant white speck on the ground, far across a huge field. We were beginning to wonder if maybe all the Snowies had already left to fly north, so we were happy to see this one, and a second one about four hours later, perched on a distant power pole. No photo opportunities for these owls, but it felt to good to know that there were at least these two owls still in the area. We had no luck at all finding a Short-eared Owl - very different from 7th March, when we saw 8 of them, six in flight and two on the ground. In addition to the 2 Snowies, we did see 9 Great Horned Owls, though, some on nests. Weather was beautiful with some interesting clouds for part of the day, clearing much later. Some of the fields looked pretty bare, while others were still covered in snow. The "heat-wave" distortion was really bad all day long. Does anyone know if there is a way to overcome this? It makes good, clear shots impossible.

Always better to get a poor quality photo than none at all : ) Gray Partridge, an introduced, non-native species in the Pheasant family, are usually so hard to photograph because they take off in flight immediately or else land in a field way in the distance. Though this shot was barely cropped, it was taken from the car window and I find this so often doesn't work - the warm air from the car rising on a bitterly cold day seems to cause the air to move, resulting in blurry images. Had a great day on 22 December 2013 with friends Cathy and Terry, driving the backroads SE of the city, hoping to see an owl or two. The day started off with a Long-eared Owl and ended with a Short-eared Owl! In total, we saw 5 Snowy Owls, 4 Great Horned Owls, 1 Long-eared Owl and 1 Short-eared Owl. Plus a few other species, including a Northern Shrike, many Grey Partridges (all of which flew before we could take photos, other than a couple of very distant ones including this shot), Horned Larks, Ravens/Crows, owls in barn windows, a beautiful Gyrfalcon and a colourful sunrise. Not a bad day, I think you'll agree : ) The only thing we didn't see, except briefly, was the sun, so we had low light all day, unfortunately! It was so unbearably cold all day, windchill temperature was -30C. A few seconds out of the car and fingers were so painful, despite wearing gloves. Difficult to hold the camera steady when one is shivering, ha. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Partridge www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/gray_partridge/id

Not a very well composed image, but I tried to get the closest possible shot of this bird who was in a hurry : ) I did take a few photos that have the whole bird in them, but thought I'd show the detail as closely as I could. I saw this beautiful, female Ruffed Grouse NW of Calgary on 28 March 2013. At least, I'm assuming it is a female, though apparently both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart, even in hand. It was the icing on the cake after seeing four Great Gray Owls, an American Robin, and my first Mountain Bluebird of the year (no photos). As always, it's all about timing - you can drive this road many times and there's no sign of any Grouse. "The ruffs are on the sides of the neck in both genders. They also have a crest on top of their head, which sometimes lies flat. Both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart, even in hand. The female often has a broken subterminal tail band, while males tend to have unbroken tail bands, though the opposite of either can occur. Females may also do a display similar to the male. Another fairly accurate sign is that rump feathers with a single white dot indicate a female; rump feathers with more than one white dot indicate a male." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_Grouse "The toes of Ruffed Grouse grow projections off their sides in winter, making them look like combs. The projections are believed to act as snowshoes to help the grouse walk across snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruffed_grouse/id

Another photo of the female Spruce Grouse that I saw NW of Calgary on March 29th. This one let me get out of my car and walk very slowly till I was within maybe 10' or 12' of it. It gave me various "poses" and then it just calmly walked off into the trees. "The Spruce Grouse or Canada Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is one of the most arboreal grouse, fairly well adapted to perching and moving about in trees. When approached by a predator, it relies on camouflage and immobility to an amazing degree, for example letting people come to within a few feet before finally taking flight, a behavior that has earned it the moniker "fool hen". Spruce Grouse are 38-43 cm long (15-17 inches); males weigh 550-650 g (19-23 ounces) and females 450-550 g (16-19 ounces). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Grouse

This is one of the Wild Turkeys that are free to roam the Calgary Zoo. If you are lucky, you might find them wandering along the path, as I was, on 3rd February 2009. Taken with the very first model of Panasonic I bought. I have seen these birds in the wild a couple of times, way south of Calgary a few years ago, but couldn't get close photos like this.

This Wild Turkey might not be the most handsome of birds (especially that face), but he definitely has an amazing set of feathers. He and several others are free to roam the Calgary Zoo. Taken on 3rd February 2009. I have seen Wild Turkeys in the wild, way south of Calgary, but my photos were distant ones taken from a friend's car a few years ago.