Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: nesting tree

The last two weeks, since the car accident I was involved in (but not my fault, thank goodness), I have been on no drives and just two city walks. My car has been repaired, so now there is no excuse (other than that I have various urgent things to see to) for not getting out, but I'm finding it really difficult to get motivated. Thank goodness Christmas Bird Counts are coming up and I'll be getting out and, hopefully, seeing things to photograph. One of the walks I did go on was at Carburn Park, on 8 December 2015. It was an overcast morning, 0C to 4C. Not much in the way of photos - I took maybe a dozen shots and only kept a couple, one of which shows these Bald Eagles by their old nest. The nesting tree is way across on the far side of the river, so all I could get was this very distant photo (fully zoomed). It was so good, though, to see this pair together and I would imagine they are thinking about getting ready to repair and use the nest. This is the final list of the 25 bird species seen (though, as usual, I didn't see all of them): 1. Canada Goose-4385 2. CACKLING GOOSE-4 3. American Wigeon-1 f. 4. Mallard-1500 5. Bufflehead-100 6. Common Goldeneye-600 7. BARROW’S GOLDENEYE-3 m. 8. HOODED MERGANSER-1 f. . 9. Common Merganser-12 10. PIED-BILLED GREBE-1 11. Bald Eagle-5+ (2 ad on nest /3 juv.) 12. Merlin-1 13. KILLDEER-12+ (8 seen in one group). 14. WILSON’S SNIPE-1 15. Belted Kingfisher-1 16. Downy Woodpecker-8 17. Hairy Woodpecker-1 18. Northern Flicker-9 19. Black-billed Magpie-12 20.AMERICAN CROW-13+ 21. Common Raven-7+ 22.Black-capped Chickadee-37 23.White-breasted Nuthatch-4 24.European Starlin-1 25.House Sparrow-12

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.

The first time I saw this little owlet was on 19 April 2014. Yesterday morning, 22 April 2014, I was at the same place for another birding walk and of course tried to get a few more photos of this cute young one with Mom. This Great Horned pair had three owlets last year, this year just the one. We only saw this little face briefly, like before, as the baby was either down in the nest (which is immediately off my photo at the bottom), or moving deep within the tree, with its back to us. Happy, though, to get any photos. I think I still prefer the one I posted the other day and reposted in a comment box below : ) It looks like I was standing almost on a level with these owls, but they are very high up in the tree and it's impossible to avoid including a string of bright red Christmas lights that hangs right above their heads, so the lights just had to be "removed" : ) It's 9C this morning, getting up to 12C this afternoon. It actually rained yesterday evening, which felt a little strange after getting all our precipitation in the form of snow the last seven months. More rain in the forecast for this afternoon, then a sunny day tomorrow, followed by two days of mixed precipitation or snow. In other words, a typical April here, where we keep thinking that spring may have finally arrived, only to have it snow again. This happens over and over in this month.

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate! Yesterday, 19 April 2014, the sun was shining and I knew I just had to get out on a walk. So, I went on a walk at Carburn Park with friends, where I saw the pair of Great Horned Owls and their one owlet. My photo shows Mom sitting right by the nest and the little one who had just briefly climbed up behind her before returning to the nest. This was pretty much the only "activity" that happened while I was there, and I was lucky to catch this brief moment. Can't help but smile at the expression on the youngster's face. Decided to remove something from this image before posting - a string of bright red Christmas lights that went across the top of the photo and over the owlet's forehead, lol! On the way home, I called in at Sikome, in Fish Creek Park, to see the Great Horned Owl nest and finally saw the two owlets. Seven owls in total : ) How lucky we are to see these beautiful birds! Also thought I'd better try and give my arms a bit of a rest, as both are very painful. I have an excruciatingly painful right arm and shoulder, partly from too much mouse clicking thanks to all the extra clicking that is necessary with the new Flickr format, plus all the many extra clicks needed when working with images using Windows 7. I really, really don't like Windows 7. I seem to remember turning my arm in a strange way a few days ago, too, while either putting on or taking off a jacket. Suspect I may have pulled something. Doing more driving than usual a few days ago, when I took my daughter down to the Frank Lake area for the day, probably didn't help, either. I know I should be resting my arms, but that's not going to happen - I really must cut back, though, to give my arms a chance to improve somewhat. Lol, I could only photograph birds below a certain height yesterday, as I can barely lift my right arm high enough to hold my camera up to my eye : ( Thought I'd share the following links. I had never heard of Hang before, until I saw a photo posted by good Flickr friend, Jim (Meremail). Couldn't resist Googling this most unusual instrument, that looks rather like an upside down cooking Wok, to find out what it sounded like. Love it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDQgU1CPpis&feature=share&amp... youtu.be/Ni6mmXnqmN4 youtu.be/F0h4syLlw5g Link to image on Flickr: flic.kr/p/nfK2am

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.

It was simply amazing while it lasted - but the few weeks were all over far too quickly : ) These two beautiful little Great Horned Owlets were practicing their balancing skills on the top edge of their nesting tree in Fish Creek Park, on 10 May 2013. They go from little balls of fluff to perching on this edge so quickly and then, blink, and they have gone, lol. Their baby-fluff pantaloons always make me smile, especially when seen from behind. What a sight! Most of the time, the light was not good, but on each evening, there was a bit of time when the sunlight was just beautiful. Can't begin to describe how thankful I was to have been there!

It was simply amazing while it lasted - and now it's all over : ) These two beautiful little Great Horned Owlets have finally fledged and now spend their days and nights high up in the trees, pretty well hidden and too far for photographs. They go from little balls of fluff to perching on the top edge of their nesting tree so quickly and then, blink, and they have gone, lol. I was down there on just two evenings last week and they must have been the best two evenings for seeing these little guys. Most of the time, the light was not good, but on each evening, there was a bit of time when the sunlight was just beautiful. By the way, they don't just sit like this all the time, but are constantly moving, climbing over each other, focussing on balancing on the edge of the tree cavity, and exercising those wings. Can't begin to describe how thankful I am to have been there! There are a number of Canada Geese nesting in the same location and you know how noisy they are, especially if a dispute is going one. They "entertained" these owlets and I caught them both focussed on the same action at the same time, ha. Good luck, little owls - hope you live a safe, long life. Taken in Fish Creek Park on 10 May 2013.

This Great Horned Owlet was not one of the "usual" ones, but one of three found at a different park in the city. They may have all fledged by now, as this photo was taken on 15 May 2013, and at least two of the owlets had "branched" - only maybe a foot along one of the branches close to the nest. I think that is Mom you can partly see in the background. This was the first time I had seen any of these owlets.

(Thanks to Meat Loaf, LOL!!) Aren't these little guys (Great Horned Owlets) just adorable? Photo taken yesterday. Mom had just flown off the nest to a nearby tree, to join Dad who was keeping guard - must be getting very cramped in the tree cavity by now : ) Talk about chromatic aberration (which I don't usually get)!!

I was so glad I called in to see the Great Horned Owl family yesterday . For the first time, I got to see two of the three owlets standing on top of the rim of their nesting tree. We watched as one of them clawed and flapped its way up the inside of the cavity, and it was so cute when the other one watched as elder brother/sister climbed. Have to get ready soon to go off to do our Snake Monitoring and after that, must decide where to go. Just too many places and things to check out, sometimes I find it SO hard to choose : ) So often, it's the weather that helps with that decision, of course. (Ended up going to the Zoo for the afternoon - only got as far as the butterfly room, LOL!).

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)

I was really hoping that I'd see Mom in flight yesterday afternoon and that I'd be able to get an in-flight shot! I was so lucky! When I looked closely at this image, I couldn't believe my eyes at first - it looked like there were THREE owlets, not two, LOL! Not sure what the tallest "head" is. I wonder if it's a dead bird that Mom had brought back for her babies. When Mom had flown off the nest and into the grove of trees across the park road from the nesting tree, she was a few trees away from her mate, who always sits there to guard his family. Both adults started calling and I began to wonder if one of the owlets was ready to fly out of the nest. One of them certainly stretched up and out and looked as if it wanted to leave the nest. I would post a photo showing the whole tree and the road to give you an idea of how far away this nest actually is, but I really don't want to advertize the location any further.

Let me introduce you to "my" two little owlets, along with their mother. This photo was taken two days ago when there was a fair bit of activity at the nest. Today, there was absolutely nothing happening, LOL! I wonder how old these babies are. Maybe around three weeks?? They are certainly full of curiosity : ). These little things will somehow have to get down from this tall nesting tree, cross the park road, enter the grove of trees and somehow get up on to a very high branch.

Went to check on my usual Great Horned Owls this afternoon. This is Mom, sitting on her nest at the top of thi sold tree stump. If you look very closely, you can just see a tiny bit of pale grey fluff down and to the left of her (i.e. left hand side of photo). In another photo taken today, there is no fluff, and in fact I thought I saw it moving about. So, who knows if there is only one young one like last year or with a bit of luck, there will be more than one this time. I purposely left it a distant shot, to give an idea of her surroundings.

Oh, boy, this image looks even blurrier than it did in the wee hours of this morning, when I was editing it! It was taken at 9:00 p.m. on 10 May 2013, when it was beginning to get dark. Better than nothing, though, as this is not what most people ever get the chance to see : ) (Apologies to the squeamish!). This is the female Great Horned Owl (alias "Mom") down at Sikome in Fish Creek Park. Both her young ones had managed to claw and flap their way up to the top edge of the nesting cavity - you can just see the top of the second one's head. Along came Mom with take-out supper - no preparation time, no cooking time, just ready to go, lol. We think it could have been a Blue-winged Teal that she had just caught. Both young owls fledged in the following few days and now are way up in the trees, greatly hidden by the freshly bursting leaves. They are going to be very, very wet owls today, as it is raining again. There is a Heavy Rainfall Warning in effect for us. This species of owl will eat other kinds of owl, birds (from Kinglets to Great Blue Herons, including Pheasants!), rabbits, mice, voles, fish, squirrels, insects such as earthworms, and many other prey. The Great Horned is also a natural predator of prey two to three times heavier than itself, such as Porcupines and Skunks. Also, dare I say it - cats and small dogs! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Horned_Owl "The Great Horned Owl is the only animal that regularly eats skunks. It will take large prey, even other raptorial birds. It regularly kills and eats other owls, and is an important predator on nestling Ospreys." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_horned_owl/id

This Great Horned Owlet was not one of the "usual" ones, but one of three found at a different park in the city. They may have all fledged by now, as this photo was taken on 15 May 2013, and at least two of the owlets had "branched" - only maybe a foot along one of the branches close to the nest. I think that is Mom you can partly see in the background. This was the first time I had seen any of these owlets.