Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: SpecAnimals

One of my least favourite recent shots of this tiny Northern Pygmy-owl - they are the size of a popcan or a person's fist! However, despite the messy background, it does show the feather patterns - and a beak that has changed colour after a recent snack of Meadow Vole : ) I hope they've been able to find enough food the last few days, while we've been in a very unpleasant deep-freeze. Frozen meals are fine when you have a microwave, LOL. All my photos of this little bird of prey were taken in Fish Creek Park and are heavily cropped. If anyone is interested, I have 32 shots of these tiny, rare to uncommon in Alberta owls in my Northern Pygmy-owl Set. www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/sets/72157625428490406/... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pygmy-owl For those of you who THINK you had cold weather today, read this, LOL!!!! Apparently, here in Calgary, we were the second coldest place on earth this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I noticed this link on my son's Facebook page just now. www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Calgary+coldest+place+Ea...

A somewhat different kind of Black-capped Chickadee photo from what I usually post. I liked the Spruce branch on which it's perched and also the bokeh.

I always have to smile when I'm looking at a Yellow-headed Blackbird male head-on. They seem to have a rather bad-tempered expression - it must be those eyes, ha. This one was photographed on a local pond within the city on May 13th. I was just so lucky that one day, with several of these birds flying back and forth across the water and then landing on the boardwalk fairly close by. We were so lucky with the weather yesterday, for our long day trip to Rosedale, Alberta (near Drumheller) to botanize a beautiful Nature Conservancy of Canada area. Rosedale is a community in southern Alberta, located on Highway 56, 107 kilometres (66 mi) northeast of Calgary, at the confluence of Rosebud River and Red Deer River. It is 8 km southeast of Drumheller and this whole area is part of the Canadian Badlands - home of the dinosaurs. The owners of a very beautiful home perched at the top of one of the hills generously allowed us to wander the area, recording all species of plants, birds, flowers, insects, etc. that we came across. Part of this family's land is under The Nature Conservancy of Canada. How we appreciate those who do everything they can to help preserve beautiful land, protecting it from development, keeping it safe for all of us and for future generations. Thank you to the Browns for welcoming us and letting us botanize here, and for making coffee for us before we returned to Calgary. It tasted so good, especially after our long day! I've got to go through my photos and get some of them ready to pass on, which will keep me busy. Overnight, it was back to rain and today is just another grey, overcast day. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-headed_Blackbird/id