Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: cavity

Just added the final 23 images taken on DAY 8, 26 March 2019, at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, South Texas. Too many problems with uploading today - usually, photos upload quickly and without issues for me. Sorry, so many blurry photos in this batch, but a lot of things were far away, or taken on a drive-by, or, in the case of this amazing little owl, taken in the evening just when it was getting/got dark and from a long way off. We had been told about this pair and after spending a few hours at the Santa Ana NWR, we made the drive to this special, undisclosed location. This was such a huge thrill, to see a pair of the smallest owls in the world, the Elf Owl. When we arrived, it was beginning to get dark. This owl was already in its cavity and then its mate flew to it, and then both owls flew off into the trees. "The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a member of the owl family Strigidae, that breeds in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is the world's lightest owl, although the long-whiskered owlet and the Tamaulipas pygmy owl are of a similarly diminutive length.[2] It is also the world's smallest owl.[3] The mean body weight of this species is 40 g (1.4 oz). These tiny owls are 12.5 to 14.5 cm (4.9 to 5.7 in) long and have a wingspan of about 27 cm (10.5 in).[4] Their primary projection (flight feather) extends nearly past their tail. They have fairly long legs and often appear bow-legged. They can often be heard calling to one another just after dusk or at sunset. Their call is a high-pitched whinny or chuckle. The male and female dart around trees and call back and forth. Elf owls usually choose abandoned, north-facing woodpecker cavities in saguaro cacti, sycamores, cottonwoods, and other hardwood trees, to raise their young. During dusk and just before dawn are the times this owl is most active, however, hunting is performed mostly during nocturnal hours. The Elf Owl migrates to the southwest United States; California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, in the spring and summer for breeding. In the winter, it is found in central and southern Mexico. Migrant elf owls return north in mid-April to early May. Resident populations occur in a couple of places in south central Mexico and along the Baja peninsula." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_owl

This is NOT my MAIN photo of the day - I'm wondering if this one or the third one is being seen by some people as the main one, again. Also, it's almost 12:00 noon and there are only eight new photos showing from my Contacts! Is everyone out enjoying the weather, or is Flickr acting up yet again?? For maybe a week, I have been having a problem getting my photos to be bright enough. So weird - I never had this happen before. They seem to look OK when I edit them the night before, then, when I post them on Flickr the following morning, they almost always look too dark. Yesterday morning, 9 April 2016, friends Dorothy and Stephen led a group of us on a birding walk at Carburn Park. Most enjoyable, except for the very strong winds! Down by the river, especially, we were almost blown off our feet. Amazing that any bird can deal with that, but we still ended up seeing a good number of species, including this little House Sparrow busy preparing a tree cavity for a nest. The House Sparrow is an introduced species here. "One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/house_sparrow/id I will add our leaders' final list of species: Birding for Beginners, Saturday 9 April, 2016. Carburn Park. 9:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Sunny, N.Wind 49 kph. 7-10 degrees C. 22 participants. 1. Canada Goose – 20 2. Common Goldeneye – 10 3. Mallard – 10 4. Common Merganser – 4 5. Hooded Merganser – 1 6. Ring-billed Gull – 34 7. Franklin Gull – 2 8. Bald Eagle – 1 9. Bohemian Waxwings – 12 10. Black-capped Chickadees – 11 11. American Crow – 6 12. Northern Flicker – 6 12. House Finch – 4 13. Magpie – 6 14. Merlin – 1 15. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3 16. Raven – 10 17. American Robin – 15 18. Starling – 2 19. House Sparrow – 4 20. Tree Swallow – 9 21. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1 22. Downy Woodpecker – 5 White-tailed Deer – 6 Black Squirrel – 6 Leaders: Bernie Diebolt, Dorothy&Stephen Spring Many thanks, Dorothy and Stephen, for giving up a Saturday morning for us all. As always, the trip to Tim Hortons for coffee and lunch after the walk was great.

Yesterday's weather was beautiful and I finally got out for a walk in Fish Creek Park with birding friends. We started off at the Boat Launch, checking the Bow River for any waterfowl, then walked to the first storm water pond. From there, we walked down the path by the river, where, among other things, we spotted a little male Tree Swallow working at his nest cavity. Also a Black-capped Chickadee doing exactly the same thing. At one point, we heard a rustling in the dead leaves on the ground and then caught sight of a Meadow Vole. We even heard one litte squeak : ) Our last stop on our walk was to check on the pair of Great Horned Owls. Dad was sleeping in a tree not far from the nest tree and Mom was on the nest. We couldn't see any young ones yesterday morning. The Balsam Poplar trees were full of bright red (male) catkins - they always look so beautiful, especially when seen against a blue sky. We saw one flower on our walk - yellow, and I think it was Silverweed, if I remember correctly. When I returned home later, I was welcomed by another yellow flower - my first Dandelion of the season : ) After the bird walk, I had intended going straight home, but on the spur of the moment, I turned on to the small road leading down to Bankside (still in Fish Creek Park). Sometimes, I get the feeling that I am meant to go somewhere, that there is a reason, and usually it ends up with my seeing something beautiful. Well, yesterday, the 'something' was a gorgeous male Ring-necked Pheasant (actually, two of them)! On the drive to the parking lot, I had already seen another male, but the second one ended up crossing the path, giving a much closer view. As soon as I got out of my car, I recognized a lady in the distance - it was friend, Shirley, who had already spotted this bird. A fisherman mentioned it to us, as well. After watching the very well-hidden bird, we were treated to a clear view when it walked across the path ahead of us. Such a spectacular bird! I will add the list of species seen on the first walk, compiled by our leaders: Spring Birding, Boat Launch, FCPP, Calgary, 0915-1215, Thu07Apr2016. Sunny, calm, 3 – 15°C. Combined results of three groups. Canada Goose-20 American Wigeon-2 Mallard-20 Common Goldeneye-10 Common Merganser-5 RED-TAILED HAWK-1 WILSON’S SNIPE-1 FRANKLIN’S GULL-5 Ring-billed Gull-15+ Rock Pigeon-2 Great Horned Owl-2 Downy Woodpecker-6 Hairy Woodpecker-2 Northern Flicker-7+ Black-billed Magpie-3 Common Raven-3 TREE SWALLOW-3. One male was excavating nest-hole Black-capped Chickadee-10,One pair were excavating nest-hole White-breasted Nuthatch-2+ American Robin-4 European Starling-40+ SONG SPARROW-2+ RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD-3 m. Meadow Vole-1 Muskrat-2

Yesterday, 7 June 2015, was a hot day – way too hot for my liking. Today, the forecast is for 30C this afternoon. I wasn’t keen on the idea of being out in the sun for three hours, but neither could I have stayed in my place one more minute - it feels like an oven! Decided to join birding friends for a walk at the west end of South Glenmore Park and we had a lovely, leisurely walk, stopping often to look at, or listen to, a variety of birds. I think my favourites were a pair of colourful American Goldfinch. It was also fun to see this little Black-capped Chickadee looking out from its nest cavity. Will add Janet and Bernie’s bird list below, for my own memory. There were quite a few species of wildflower as well. I so rarely go on a walk, so I tend to miss many of the wildflowers. Thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon, both of you! A stop afterwards at the Good Earth café was so much appreciated, too. 1. Great Blue Heron - 1 2. Canada Goose - 40 3. Mallard - 5 4. Gadwall - 2 5. Swainson's Hawk - 1 6. Franklin's Gull - 30+ 7. Woodpecker sp. likely Sapsucker - 1 8. Olive-sided Flycatcher -1 9. Least Flycatcher - 12 10. Red-eyed Vireo - 2 11. Black-billed Magpie - 1 12. American Crow - 4 13. Common Raven - 1 14. Tree Swallow - 4 15. Black-capped Chickadee - 2 @nest site. 16. House Wren - 11 17. American Robin - 6 18. Cedar Waxwing - 6 19. Yellow Warbler - 10 20. Chipping Sparrow - 1 21. Clay-coloured Sparrow - 4 22. Baltimore Oriole - 1 23. Red-winged Blackbird - 3 24. Brown-headed Cowbird - 3 25. House Finch - 3 26. American Goldfinch - 5 27. House Sparrow - 2 Least Chipmunk - 1 Muskrat - 1 Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly - 10+ Blue Azure - 1 Alpine sp. Butterfly - 15+ Janet & Bernie

Four days ago, on 15 April 2015, my parking lot was going to be spring-cleaned, which meant that all cars had to be out of the lot by 7:30 am. I don't have a 2015 street parking permit, so I had to leave home at 7:30 and find something that would use up the few hours before my volunteer shift. I didn't want to risk being late for that, so decided to stay within the city rather than go driving some backroads. The owls in Fish Creek Park ended up being my destination. I had only been there twice in many weeks and seen Mom on my first visit and then Mom with two of her three owlets on the second. When I arrived four mornings ago, there was no sign of the "paparazzi" - I had been expecting there to be at least a few photographers and people out for a walk. This time, I was able to see all three owlets as well as Mom and Dad. Late afternoon, after my volunteer shift, I called in again for a while on my way home. This little Black-capped Chickadee was busy at a nearby cavity – not sure if it had chosen this place for a nest, but it was a rather nice cavity, at least from the outside. “A bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. The chickadee’s black cap and bib; white cheeks; gray back, wings, and tail; and whitish underside with buffy sides are distinctive. Its habit of investigating people and everything else in its home territory, and quickness to discover bird feeders, make it one of the first birds most people learn.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id "The Black-capped Chickadee is notable for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (they can feed from the hand)." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee

On 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had already seen a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I'm guessing that the earlier bird was one of the two I saw when I was by myself. The male of this pair was in a nearby tree, doing what Woodpeckers do - making a cavity. "The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/lifehistory

If this was a nesting cavity, I would not be posting this photo. However, it is one of the tree cavities used for stashing Meadow Voles that have been caught. The owls eat the rodent's brains and then stash the rest of their prey in cavities - or sometimes draped over a branch. Several years ago, a lot of us witnessed similar behaviour from a pair of these owls - who knows if it's the same pair or different ones. People were hoping that they would nest and have young ones. However, one day, they suddenly disappeared. I believe I'm right when I say that these tiny birds of prey don't nest in Calgary. It would be a good thing if they don't nest here, as many people would want to watch them raise their young. This photo was taken on 24 February 2015. I had called in again at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had been able to find the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl(s). I was in luck and, although the light was bad, the little owls put on quite a performance. This included a few things that I had missed on other days, such as a perched on a fence post shot, and both owls very briefly sitting on a branch for just a few seconds, side by side. Unfortunately, I was standing the "wrong" side of the tree, so only saw them from behind. Luckily, the female did turn her head for just a moment. There is quite an obvious difference in colour with this pair, with the male being a more rusty colour, and he's smaller than the female. There were long periods of waiting in between the various bits of activity, so one needs a huge amount of patience : ) "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca...

As you can tell by the sky, the weather was not good when I took this photo on 23 April 2014. In fact, it started to rain soon after it was taken. I was still lucky that this adult female Great Horned Owl (i.e. "Mom") was perched on the edge of the nest cavity, rather than sitting inside. I didn't stay long, and there was no activity from the two owlets behind and below her. Talking of weather, I've just glanced through my window - and it's snowing! Very unfortunately, the weather forecast was right this time. Later: it has been snowing lightly a good part of the day.

Yesterday morning, 5 April 2014, I was out for a few hours with several friends, checking for birds along the Bow River at the east end of Fish Creek Park. One of the places we called in at was the area where the pair of Great Horned Owls was nesting. Young ones have hatched, apparently, but they were tucked under Mom in the nesting cavity. Thanks so much, Terry, for organizing this outing for us! Sorry to hear about your "fall in the mud"! The rest of us were thankful we hadn't followed you : ) My alarm clock was set for 6:30 this morning, but I fell back asleep for another 45 minutes. This meant that I was in a rush to get ready to go out for the day with friends, S of the city to the Frank Lake area. Consequently, I ran out of time to type full descriptions under my posts for today, add tags, put in groups, and so on. When I got back home, I discovered 17 people had commented on this image, praising my ability to spot such a well-camouflaged owl. Well, that sure made me feel guilty, as I hadn't had time to add that everyone knows about this wonderful little owl family, so we already knew exactly where to look. I believe the owlets (two?) are roughly a week old, so we still have a while to wait before they are old enough to climb up on to the rim of the nesting tree, struggling to keep their balance. This owl pair has given so many people a great deal of pleasure for quite a few years now. Will add Tony Timmons' report for today's Frank Lake trip - thanks, Tony, both for writing up the list and for taking us down to one of my favourite areas outside the city: "Eleven people were on the trip today, birding Frank Lake and area. We tallied 35 species. Most of the lake is still covered in ice. As many as 10,000 Northern Pintails were seen in the fields,sloughs and flying overhead. Two hundred swans were feeding in the fields. Of note were two Eurasian Wigeons spotted in the shallow sloughs. Canada Goose Tundra Swan Trumpeter Swan Gadwall American Wigeon Eurasian Wigeon Mallard Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Ruddy Duck Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Rough-legged Hawk Coot Killdeer Ring-billed Gull California Gull Great Horned Owl Horned Lark Robin Rock Pigeon,Magpie,Crow,Raven,Starling,House Sparrow" As you can see, birds are returning after being elsewhere all winter. Only very distant views of them all, except for one Great Horned Owl on her nest - impossible to get a proper shot because she is hidden by a tangle of branches.

This is one of two Great Horned Owl owlets (or is it Great Horned Owlets?) down at the east end of Fish Creek Park in the SIkome area. Occasionally, when you are lucky, either one or both will pop their little white head up above the front edge of the nest cavity. More often than not, though, Mom will be sitting in the cavity, blocking the owlets. Here, you can see part of her tail feathers on the right of the nest. Before too long, though, things will change, as these little guys grow so fast. Each year, it's interesting to see which of two broken tree trunks they will decide to nest in. This is the best one, as it is not as tall and has no branches at the top that block the view when the leaves start to come out, and so one gets a much better view. Still taken from a good distance, using full zoom.

A couple of evenings ago, when I was watching the Great Horned Owl family in Fish Creek Park, one of the owlets coughed up a pellet. However, instead of spitting it out, it swallowed it again, then coughed it up again, swallow, and so on, over and over again, LOL. I don't think I've ever captured a pellet being coughed up before. I also captured some funny expressions while it was doing this, with its face all screwed up, but it makes the face take on an almost human look, which was a little creepy. After a long morning walk at Carburn Park today, I called in to see "my" owls and then took just a short walk and found another pair of Great Horned Owls that I had been told about. Saw two adults but no sign of any young ones. Warning: this is a VERY heavily cropped image, so don't bother looking at large size, LOL. "A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth .... Hawk and owl pellets are grey or brown, and range in shape from spherical to oblong or plug-shaped. In large birds, they are one to two inches long .... The hair, bones and other body parts (such as limbs, skin fragments, and even faeces) of rodents found in owl pellets may carry viable rodent viruses and bacteria. It is therefore advisable to sterilize pellets in a microwave oven before study. This is particularly important when using pellets at school." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_(ornithology)