Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: ruts

Sunday, 5 January 2014 was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton and its surrounding areas. This count was originally supposed to have taken place on 28 December 2013, but the weather forecast warned of a Flash Freeze, and so it was postponed till 5 January 2014. As you can see, the weather was bright and sunny for us that day. What you can't see was that it was brutally cold that day! On the hour-long drive south of Calgary, we hit -34C (-29.2F)!!!!! It did eventually warm up a few degrees and thankfully, there was no or very little wind, which makes all the difference. The only walking we had to do was when we called in at various farms and homesteads. One backroad in particular had too much snow on it, so we had to leave that one out. If I remember correctly, we decided not to go down the backroad in this image any further, either. Also, there was just too much snow in many of the farmyards, so we weren't able to check out all the trees and bushes as thoroughly as we would like to have done. I absolutely love the scenery on this Count, so I was able to get a few shots to show some typical landscapes SW of Nanton, to give you an idea of where we were for a day. Not sure where all the Hawks and Owls were hiding that day, but we did see 2 Golden Eagles and 2 Bald Eagles. After driving (being driven, for me, which was pure luxury) the backroads from about 8:00 a.m. till around 4:00 p.m., we returned to the wonderful home of the Truch family. Not only do Bill and Leah Truch and their son, Mike, always welcome everyone with open arms, they also provide a much-appreciated breakfast snack for us and then, at the end of the day, a delicious supper. Have to say that I love travelling these scenic backroads, but I also really enjoy getting together with everyone afterwards to thoroughly enjoy a delicious supper. One of my favourite Bird Counts and I think the most favourite. Thanks so much for doing all the driving, Tony, and thanks, Leah, Bill and Mike for all the effort and time you put into your warm welcome! Can't wait for next Christmas! Sadly, this Count will no longer take place, as Mike and his parents are no longer able to organize everything, after doing this for seven years, which is a long time. Unfortunately, no one has stepped forward to take this over, so there will be no Count for 2017. Keeping my fingers crossed that maybe someone might be willing to do it in 2018. Thank you so much, Mike, Leah and Bill, for being such a wonderful, warm, welcoming family and for putting in so much time and effort on these very special Christmas Bird Counts. So much appreciated. As you might guess, I never drive in this area, especially in winter, because the roads can be so treacherous. Maybe next year, I will try a few of the roads in summertime. I will greatly miss the chance to take winter photos, though.

On our Christmas Bird Count in the Cochrane Wildlife Preserve and Water Valley area yesterday, a gentleman told us that he had seen hundreds of Snow Buntings "down by the cows". So, the seven of us set off in our two vehicles. When we reached this snow-covered field, one car decided that the ground was just not a good surface to travel. The owner of the other, smaller car decided that Snow Buntings were worth the risk. After this very bad start, they succeeded in making it into the distance - and, of course, were lucky enough to see the wanted birds, LOL. We also saw Coyote-1, White-tailed Deer-6, Mule Deer-25, Moose-4. Temperature for the day was -15 to -05C, and snow depth was 20cm. Bird species recorded: Rock Pigeon- 21 Downy Woodpecker-5 Hairy Woodpecker-1 Blue Jay-1 Black-billed Magpie-41 Common Raven-26 Black-capped Chickadee-4- Mountain Chickadee-1 Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 White-breasted Nuthatch-1 European Starling-12 Snow Bunting-40 Pine Grosbeak-1 Common Redpoll-22 House Sparrow-225 Total hours afield: 8; Total by car-5.5; Total on foot-1; total feeder watching- 1; Total kms; 100km; Total by car 98km; Total on foot-2km.