Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Marbled Godwit

Flickr has had/is still having problems today with views stats and photos not being seen on other people's Contacts page. Glad I'm not the only one, but it's still annoying. I don't see a lot of shorebirds and my ability to identify them is very low. I am guessing that this might be a Marbled Godwit, but I could easily be wrong. It was seen along the edge of the road on 1 July 2017, when friend Pam and I went way down south in search of a Common Nighthawk. Canada Day, 1 July 2017, was a great day. I picked up Pam just after 8:00 am and did a long drive in Southern Alberta. We saw our target bird - a Common Nighthawk, and all sorts of other things including plants, wildlife, and old barns. It took a round trip of 414 km to get the Nighthawks, but it was so worth it! Much further than I normally drive. Towards the end of our day, the rain arrived, accompanied by lightning streaks. This couldn't have been timed more perfectly, to wash off a lot of the dust that covered my car after 12 hours of driving hot, dusty roads! So welcome! It was such a thrill to see a Common Nighthawk / Chordeiles minor (a rather strange looking bird), as I had always wanted to see one actually lying on a fence post or wooden railing. People get such amazing photos of them like that, and that is what I was determined to find this summer. Last year, I had driven to this area in Southern Alberta, hoping to find one, but had been out of luck. Most of the Nighthawk photos I took on 1 July were of Nighthawks lying on metal railings, but I was still thrilled to bits. We saw four individuals, together, and one was on a fence post - not the best angle, but it was still nice to see a fence post perch. How close we came to missing them! I said I wanted to just check the first part of a small side road first, before continuing on the road we were on - and there they were! I had seen a nighthawk on maybe five different occasions over the years, but most were in flight and one was perched very high up in a tree. For Pam, this was the first time she had ever seen one, and she was so happy to see this lifer. I was so tired after driving such a long distance and it was a hot day - the temperature got up to 30C. I so rarely do such a long drive, and I've barely driven all winter and spring. It felt so good to actually get out on a long drive like this, and we saw all sorts of interesting things that we just had to stop and photograph - of course!

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 20 July 2016, on a day of adventure for me. I drove further than I have ever driven before (way, way SE of the city) - must remember to check my mileage when I next go out in my car, but it must have been somewhere between 400 and 500 km total. No big deal for many of you, but for me (and as someone with a driving phobia), it WAS a big deal : ) I am totally exhausted and my poor shoulder rotator cuffs are complaining like crazy. BUT, I had a great time - just a couple of moments of 'panic', when I thought I was lost, and when I noticed that I was seeing different wildflowers and definitely a different landscape. I even photographed two things, seen in the photo above and the next photo, for which I would love to have ID confirmation or correction - thanks! The shorebird on the fence post above was photographed in the Frank Lake area, just like the scenic view in the previous photo, but the next photo was taken way down SE. I'm pretty sure what the bird of prey is, but would love the ID to be confirmed, as it feels almost too good to be true : ) www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marbled_Godwit/id Later: I eventually left home yesterday at 11:00 am, a good couple of hours later than I had intended. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me to get to where I wanted to get, so had wanted to allow plenty of hours for this journey. I had been on the road for about three hours by the time I got there, but did stop at various places en route. The first part of my drive was along familiar roads - called in at Frank Lake just to check the gravel road leading to the gate. An Eastern Kingbird was the only species I saw. From there, I kept driving east on h'way 23, stopping briefly to photograph one of my favourite old houses. This highway eventually bends southwards and leads to Vulcan. I had only ever once driven as far as Vulcan, and that was on 30 March 2015. I had to stop again, like last year, and take a few photos of the cluster of old sheds, barn and house, before continuing on my way. From here until I reached my destination, was all new to me. Exciting and anxiety-causing, all at the same time. I drove further east and then turned south and found myself in a different kind of landscape, with a few interesting birds and plants to see and photograph, including a Ferruginous Hawk (three, actually) and wild sunflowers. I was in tall windmill country - which told me how far south I had come. Along one road, I had a Swainson's Hawk who perched nicely on a fence post at first and then circled overhead and followed my vehicle further down the road. Think it may have been a juvenile, screeching for its parents to come and feed it. Also saw a Mourning Dove on a fence post and what I think must be a juvenile Horned Lark. Actually, there were a lot of Horned Larks yesterday. I tend to forget that we can see them in summer time. After travelling westwards and then north and west again, I found myself back at Frank Lake. It was still daylight, so I decided to try one more time along the gravel road leading to the gate. Here, I had another nice sighting - friend, Debbie : ) Good to see you and have a nice, long chat. A great day with an enjoyable ending.

These birds are common in Alberta from April to October. They are the most common large shorebird throughout the southern half of Alberta.