Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: post

At the moment, I am just too tired and mentally/emotionally exhausted from the last eight days to reword a description for this photo. Instead, I will simply copy and paste what I wrote on a previousy posted (on 31 January) image taken at the same time. This is one of a few photos that came out OK - the rest were horribly blurry from the heat coming from a vehicle that I had to stand against, and need to be deleted. Three cars were parked here, including mine, and we were not on the 'main' road. By the way, if anyone reads this, apparently the Police have been called out to the area a few times, i.e. don't stop/park! "There were a few reasons why I needed/wanted to get out for a drive yesterday, 30 January 2019. I am wondering if the fact that I have had house mice is having an ill effect on my health. I have spent so much time the last few weeks, trying to declutter and get rid of a lot of stuff, and I'm not sure if I have disturbed the mouse spray and been breathing it in. You can't vacuum when you've had mice, so I haven't been doing that, but you still disturb things when sorting and moving belongings. I always have a cough - for years, and they couldn't find out the cause - but it has been worse recently. Anyway, I thought I would get out into the fresh air for a few hours today. Also, the forecast was for clouds and I thought this might be easier to drive in. The sun recently has been so glaringly bright and it affects my eyes. Note to self - must get my eyes checked sometime this year! So, on this cloudy, low-light day, I made my way east of the city, hoping to maybe see an owl of some sort. I quickly checked to see if any Short-eared Owls were to be seen, though I knew it was probably too early in the day for them to be out. No sign of one at all. Time to drive a few back roads in case there was a Snowy Owl in sight. Some of the roads I travelled were ones that I hadn't driven before, which was good for me. Though I have been east of the city many times over the years, I have still only driven a few of the roads myself. I was fortunate to find two Snowy Owls; first a beautiful, streaked female, and then on a different road, a handsome male who flew off when I was still half a mile down the road. There was still time to go back to look for a Short-eared Owl and this time, there were several of them. Most of the time, they were either flying far away or landing in the middle of a huge field. However, at the end, one did land on a post and stayed there for quite some time. Awkward to photograph, though, when there are other cars and photographers. I couldn't see anything at first, as there were two cars in front of me. In the end, I got out of my car and carefully stood between the two vehicles - couldn't see well around the first car and couldn't move out any further otherwise I would have blocked a friend's long lens behind me. I suspected that my photos were blurry because of the front car and for my last few photos, I moved around and stood away from the heat rising from the vehicle. That made a difference - now I have several somewhat sharper images, and an awful lot of blurry shots to delete. Sigh .... A young relative of one of the landowners came across the field and I had quite a long, interesting talk with him. He wondered what all the cars in the area were doing and I explained about the owls and that we were all birders/photographers. He said his grandmother was so worried and stressed out - quite afraid. I told him that I am always concerned when photographers do this, as I know it must make some landowners nervous (understandably, with the crime rate in rural areas), and told him to please apologize to his grandma, and to also reassure her that we are all good, harmless people, interested only in trying to get photos of the owls. Another reason to get out yesterday was that we are about to have a drastic change in our weather! For weeks now, we have been enjoying much milder winter weather, but on Sunday, 3 February, the forecast is for a high of -22C (windchill -31C). A high of -24C for Monday."

127 comments under the Facebook posting, to a province-wide group, of a photo that a photographer took of three people, one of them myself - angry, rude, critical, judgemental comments, by people who don't even know me or my ethics, including when they relate to photography! Last night, I found the posting again and took a long time going through all 127 comments. Made me feel sick to the stomach. This can't be right, though I know this kind of thing does happen on Facebook. I want the photo removed or for the photographer, whom I don't know, to at the very least completely blur me out of the shot. Though his comment, when he first posted his photo, was about people staying safe when taking photos, he has allowed the posting to develop into an endless bashing. I wasn't going to post this again, but I have changed my mind after reading all those comments. I sent the man a link to one of my owl photos that has this long description with it, asking him to read, when he has time, what I have written. The link was sent only two or three days ago, so he may not have seen it yet. "I think the very first Long-eared Owl that I ever saw was seen on 13 October 2006. SInce then, I have been very fortunate to have seen several other individuals - including the day before yesterday. These owls are very secretive and many birders go years between sightings. It is so important not to give the location of this species. Be careful that there is nothing in your photos that gives away the location. Various people had been posting photos of a Long-eared Owl recently, but I had no idea where they were seeing it. Someone had posted a photo and labelled it "Calgary" (totally untrue!), so I had thought it must have been seen in one of our local city parks. Two days ago, I decided to go for a short drive and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. Our deep freeze has lasted for more than four weeks, and I have been home for most of that time. It was a milder day, so I decided to make the most of it, especially with more snow forecast for today. Imagine my surprise when a stranger told me just where it was, and my absolute horror when I came upon a huge crowd of photographers with their lenses raised! So how did they all know about this owl?? Apparently, Facebook has such a bad reputation for people trolling everyone's photostream there, finding out locations for all sorts of things (old barns included!). Then, of course, some people phone others, to ask or to tell. Others follow ebird religiously, dashing out to see every more 'special' bird that is reported and location given. I don't post many photos on Facebook and I certainly don't post the same photo to three groups. It gets so very boring to see the same photos everywhere. These people flood their own Facebook pages and the groups! The only reason I can see is to get as many Likes as possible. Anyway, most people were down in the ditch at the fenceline, so no doubt they were able to get stunning close shots, especially those with enormous lenses. My photos were taken from the road, which was twice as far away, with a point-and-shoot. I'm not out to try and get better photos than anyone else : ) As always, there is so much competition among photographers. I was also not out there all day, like various people always are, and often day after day after day. So, after saying those things, perhaps you can imagine how extremely upset (devastated, actually) I am to have been told (when I arrived at the owl) by a couple of friends (both of whom are superb photographers) that my photograph had been taken, along with two other people in it, standing at the edge of a road earlier in February. These friends thought it was hilarious and I sure was teased a lot. As they said, my "goody two-shoes" image was gone. They both know I have very high ethics, including when it comes to photography. This photo was posted on Facebook on a provincial birding page, pointing out how dangerous it is for people to stand by the road. This thread turned into a string of comments about people harassing the owls, etc., etc., etc. Actually, the other two people in the photo are both seen taking photos (when I was told they already had taken thousands). There's me, camera not raised, looking disgusted that an owl had been flushed so that they could take flight images. The reason I was out of my vehicle was that these two people were out of theirs and racing down the road at top speed to get yet more shots. When I was sitting in my car, these photographers blocked my view of the owl, so out I got and caught up with them. To prove that I was not planning on getting out of my car this trip, I was wearing just my thin summer jacket (over fleece) in a windchill in the minus 20C's. Two minutes later, I was back in my car! Sorry to rant, but it just upsets me so much that this photo was taken and posted on Facebook. Have barely slept the last two nights! The very last thing I would ever want is to be connected with bad ethics!! Of course, I must be such a bad person to actually stand by the road - ha, you should see all the dozens of people who do exactly the same (without being photgraphed)! That day, I took maybe 30 photos of the Long-eared Owl, and maybe a couple of dozen of a Short-eared Owl, almost every single one of the latter needing to be deleted, because they were all totally blurry, thanks to taking the photos from inside my car. You can be sure that most of the others went home with yet another memory card containing thousands of photos. I am hoping that now I won't be stressing out over it quite as much, every second of the day! Ain't life fun? To the man who took my photo (as far as I know, I have never met him), how about taking a few photos of the crowds of people, especially those who were as close as they could get to the LEO. Or those who stress out the owls day after day after day, often from morning till evening! You might just get lots of likes and comments on photos of those repeat "offenders". How about giving it a try? PS: I rarely allow people (i.e. friends) to photograph me. Not sure what right this man thinks he has, to take my photo and especially to then post it on a very popular Facebook group page. I want it removed from Facebook, or at the very least, to have myself totally blurred out of the image. When this sort of thing happens, it can totally destroy a person's joy of photography! Actually, on a more serious note, something that I'm sure most people don't think of. You really need to be careful about taking a photo of someone and then posting it (without signing a consent form). For various security reasons, doing this could actually put someone in danger. For example, a woman (or vice versa) might not want their photo being advertised in this way, not wanting an abusive spouse/partner to know where they go sometimes or what they do. Just something to keep in mind."

Today, just realized that it is 1 March 2019, our temperature is -21C (windchill -31C). Awoke to find that we had had snow overnight. I think the very first Long-eared Owl that I ever saw was seen on 13 October 2006. SInce then, I have been very fortunate to have seen several other individuals (see my Album) - including the day before yesterday. These owls are very secretive and many birders go years between sightings. It is so important not to give the location of this species. Be careful that there is nothing in your photos that gives away the location. Various people had been posting photos of a Long-eared Owl recently, but I had no idea where they were seeing it. Someone had posted a photo and labelled it "Calgary" (totally untrue!), so I had thought it must have been seen in one of our local city parks. Two days ago, I decided to go for a short drive and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. Our deep freeze has lasted for more than four weeks, and I have been home for most of that time. It was a milder day, so I decided to make the most of it, especially with more snow forecast for today. Imagine my surprise when a stranger told me just where it was, and my absolute horror when I came upon a huge crowd of photographers with their lenses raised! So how did they all know about this owl?? Apparently, Facebook has such a bad reputation for people trolling everyone's photostream there, finding out locations for all sorts of things (old barns included!). Then, of course, some people phone others, to ask or to tell. Others follow ebird religiously, dashing out to see every more 'special' bird that is reported and location given. I don't post many photos on Facebook and I certainly don't post the same photo to three groups. It gets so very boring to see the same photos everywhere. These people flood their own Facebook pages and the groups! The only reason I can see is to get as many Likes as possible. Anyway, most people were down in the ditch at the fenceline, so no doubt they were able to get stunning close shots, especially those with enormous lenses. My photos were taken from the road, which was twice as far away, with a point-and-shoot. I'm not out to try and get better photos than anyone else : ) As always, there is so much competition among photographers. I was also not out there all day, like various people always are, and often day after day after day. So, after saying those things, perhaps you can imagine how extremely upset (devastated, actually) I am to have been told (when I arrived at the owl) by a couple of friends (both of whom are superb photographers) that my photograph had been taken, along with two other people in it, standing at the edge of a road earlier in February. These friends thought it was hilarious and I sure was teased a lot. As they said, my "goody two-shoes" image was gone. They both know I have very high ethics, including when it comes to photography. This photo was posted on Facebook on a provincial birding page, pointing out how dangerous it is for people to stand by the road. This thread turned into a string of comments about people harassing the owls, etc., etc., etc. Actually, the other two people in the photo are both seen taking photos (when I was told they already had taken thousands). There's me, camera not raised, looking disgusted that an owl had been flushed so that they could take flight images. The reason I was out of my vehicle was that these two people were out of theirs and racing down the road at top speed to get yet more shots. When I was sitting in my car, these photographers blocked my view of the owl, so out I got and caught up with them. To prove that I was not planning on getting out of my car this trip, I was wearing just my thin summer jacket (over fleece) in a windchill in the minus 20C's. Sorry to rant, but it just upsets me so much that this photo was taken and posted on Facebook. Have barely slept the last two nights! The very last thing I would ever want is to be connected with bad ethics!! Of course, I must be such a bad person to actually stand by the road - ha, you should see all the dozens of people who do exactly the same (without being photgraphed)! That day, I took maybe 30 photos of the Long-eared Owl, and maybe a couple of dozen of a Short-eared Owl, almost every single one of the latter needing to be deleted, because they were all totally blurry, thanks to taking the photos from inside my car. You can be sure that most of the others went home with yet another memory card containing thousands of photos. Sorry for the rant, but I am hoping that now I won't be stressing out over it quite as much, every second of the day! Ain't life fun? To the man who took my photo (as far as I know, I have never met him), how about taking a few photos of the crowds of people, especially those who were as close as they could get to the LEO. Or those who stress out the owls day after day after day, often from morning till evening! You might just get lots of likes and comments on photos of those repeat "offenders". How about giving it a try? PS: I rarely allow people (i.e. friends) to photograph me. Not sure what right this man thinks he has, to take my photo and especially to then post it on a very popular Facebook group page. I would like it removed from Facebook, or at the very least, to have myself totally blurred out of the image. When this sort of thing happens, it can totally destroy a person's joy of photography! Actually, on a more serious note, something that I'm sure most people don't think of. You really need to be careful about taking a photo of someone and then posting it (without signing a consent form). For various security reasons, doing this could actually put someone in danger. For example, a woman (or vice versa) might not want their photo being advertised in this way, not wanting an abusive spouse/partner to know where they go sometimes or what they do. Just something to keep in mind.

I think the very first Long-eared Owl that I ever saw was seen on 13 October 2006. SInce then, I have been very fortunate to have seen several other individuals (see my Album) - including yesterday. Various people had been posting photos of a Long-eared Owl recently, but I had no idea where they were seeing it. Someone had posted a photo and labelled it "Calgary", so I had thought it must have been seen in one of our local city parks. Yesterday, I decided to go for a short drive and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. Our deep freeze has lasted for more than four weeks, and I have been home for most of that time. Yesterday was a milder day, so I decided to make the most of it, especially with more snow forecast for tomorrow. Imagine my surprise when a stranger told me just where it was, and my absolute horror when I came upon a huge crowd of photographers with their lenses raised! So how did they all know about this owl?? Apparently, Facebook has such a bad reputation for people trolling everyone's photostream there, finding out locations for all sorts of things (old barns included!). Then, of course, some people phone others, to ask or to tell. Most people were down in the ditch at the fenceline, so no doubt they were able to get stunning close shots, especially those with enormous lenses. My photos were taken from the road, which was twice as far away, with a point-and-shoot. I'm not out to try and get better photos than anyone else : ) As always, there is so much competition among photographers. I was also not out there all day, like various people always are, and often day after day after day. So, after saying those things, perhaps you can imagine how extremely upset I am to have been told yesterday (when I arrived at the owl) by a couple of friends (both of whom are superb photographers) that my photograph had been taken, along with two other people in it, standing at the edge of a road earlier in February. These friends thought it was hilarious and I sure was teased a lot. As they said, my "goody two-shoes" image was gone. They both know I have very high ethics when it comes to photography. This photo was posted on Facebook on a local birding page, pointing out how dangerous it is for people to stand by the road. This thread turned into a string of comments about people harassing the owls, etc., etc., etc. Actually, the other two people in the photo are both seen taking photos (when I was told they already had taken thousands). There's me, camera not raised, looking disgusted that an owl had been flushed so that they could take flight images. The reason I was out of my vehicle was that these two people were out of theirs and racing down the road at top speed to get yet more shots. When I was sitting in my car, these photographers blocked my view, so out I got and caught up with them. To prove that I was not planning on getting out of my car this trip, I was wearing just my thin summer jacket (over fleece) in windchill in the minus 20C's. Sorry to rant, but it just upsets me so much that this photo was taken and posted on Facebook. The very last thing I would ever want is to be connected with bad ethics!! Of course, I must be such a bad person to actually stand by the road - ha, you should see all the dozens of people who do exactly the same (without being photgraphed)! Yesterday, I took maybe 30 photos of the Long-eared Owl, and maybe a couple of dozen of a Short-eared Owl, almost every single one of the latter needing to be deleted, because they were all totally blurry, thanks to taking the photos from inside my car. You can be sure that most of the others went home with yet another memory card containing thousands of photos. Sorry for the rant, but I am hoping that now I won't be stressing out over it quite as much, every second of the day! Ain't life fun? To the man who took my photo (as far as I know, I have never met him), how about taking a few photos of the crowds of people, especially those who were as close as they could get to the LEO. Or those who stress out the owls day after day after day, often from morning till evening! You might just get even more likes and comments on photos of those repeat "offenders". How about giving it a try? PS: I rarely allow people (i.e. friends) to photograph me. Not sure what right this man thinks he has, to take my photo and especially to then post it on a very popular Facebook group page.

This morning, I wasn't going to upload any photos, as the issue with views and photos not showing up on Contacts' pages doesn't seem to be fixed, according to the Help Forum. Then I realized that I had better post a photo, anyway, to check on whether the issue is still happening on my own photos. Is anyone seeing this photo in their feed?? I had hoped to go for a drive today, 19 July 2017, but the sky is overcast and heavy with smoke from the British Columbia wildfires and fires in Alberta itself, blowing in from the west. Useless for any scenic shots and definitely most unpleasant to be outdoors. "Calgary air quality expected to reach ‘high risk’ rating on Wednesday" (i.e. today). What a great day our group of four people had on 28 May 2017, taking part in the annual May Species Count. We travelled in just one car, which worked out well. On the 2016 May Species Count, we had been unable to find a Great Gray Owl, but then I drove back to the area the next day, and found two of them. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken of them, each owl is just as exciting as the very first. So, it was a thrill to see one of these spectacular owls on our 2017 Count. This Count's owl was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't. While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe. My small group found 72 species of bird on this 2017 Count - amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. As usual, there were a few Red-winged Blackbirds hanging out nearby. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired!

My thoughts continue to be with all the people of Fort McMurray, Alberta, who are being devastated by a massive wildfire at the moment. All 88,000 people were forced to flee the city, many leaving everything behind and many will be returning to nothing. Now, much-needed rain and cooler temperatures are helping. "Monday, May 9, 2016, 7:28 AM - After a week of fighting a devastating wildfire that sent thousands of Fort McMurray residents fleeing, it seems firefighters have been holding the line -- and the weather has actually been cooperative." From The Weather Network. www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/weather-factoring... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My plan yesterday, 8 May 2016, was to join friends for an afternoon walk at Carburn Park. Closer to the time, I knew I was going to be late and decided at the last minute that I would instead go for a short drive SE of the city. I knew that I was far more likely to see a few closer birds and get some photo opportunities if I went SE. I stayed around Frank Lake for most of the time. When I checked the weather forecast before I left, I knew that there was a possibity of rain later on. I totally forgot to check how windy it was going to be, and ended up barely being able to hold my camera steady enough to try and get a few shots. The strong wind was causing mini waves both on the lake itself and also on the very small slough I stopped at, creating a few neat water patterns. Shorebirds included the always beautiful American Avocet and Black-necked Stilts and a couple of different birds including the one in this photo. I don't see shorebirds very often and I am not good at IDs for them. I'm hoping someone might just see this shot and be able to let me know what species it is. A pair of Killdeer were making a lot of noise, as usual. Saw several kinds of ducks, but they were too far to get any photos worth keeping. I was happy to see a pair of Canvasbacks. After Frank Lake, I called in at a slough that used to be so good for shorebirds, only to find that there was not a drop of water left. The whole area was white ground (salt?). So disappointing, as last year I had White-faced Ibis walking just 8 or 10 feet from my car, and I had been longing to go back again this spring! Yesterday, I didn't see any Ibis at all, but someone I was talking to had seen some earlier. There were so many Yellow-headed Blackbirds - everywhere! They were in quite large groups, flying from fields over the road ahead of me, in fields amongst the stubble, and at one location they were feeding on the ground at the feet of cows. ust as I was leaving the area to start my drive home, the rain arrived. Greatly needed, though we need a whole lot of precipitation to do any good. Alberta is a tinder box, ready to go up in smoke. In fact, yesterday, I saw on the News that there was a small wildfire in Edmonton. "The breeding habitat of the Yellow-headed Blackbird is cattail (Typha spp.) marshes in North America, mainly west of the Great Lakes. The nest is built with and attached to marsh vegetation. They nest in colonies, often sharing their habitat closely with the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). During the breeding and nesting season the males are very territorial and spend much of their time perched on reed stalks and displaying or chasing off intruders." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-headed_blackbird www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-headed_blackbird/id For the sound: youtu.be/6-Pk-VMtZM0

A row of these small, metal, frost-covered deer caught my eye yesterday, when 7 of us took part in the annual Audubon Sheep River/Priddis/Turner Valley Christmas Bird Count. They were part of a fence at one of the farms we called in at. Judging by this photo, you might think that it was another day of not being able to see any birds or wildlife close enough to photograph, but in fact it was a great day. Great, but COLD, starting off at -22C warming to a balmy -3C later in the day. Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at several farms and acreages. I wasn't sure just where this count covered, as I believe I have only ever done it once before, a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again. Many of the roads were familiar to me and a few were new. Our day started and ended with a Moose, which was pretty amazing. Not the greatest views for photographs, but I did manage to get a couple of OK ones. Another find was a group of beautiful Wild Turkeys that were at a location where they had been seen before. This time, we drove down the hill to the farm buildings and were able to see these spectacular birds quite well. All were females, but the females are still stunning, with their iridescent plumage. A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us used to go there on botany trips and he always had the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest. Hadn't been back there the last two or three years and I really missed our old botany outings. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there, and he invited us in for coffee and pastries. This was so much appreciated on a day of birding! Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!! Thanks so much, Anne B, for driving the three of us - without you, I would not have been able to go! Our time spent in a snow-filled ditch simply added to the adventurous feeling of the day, lol! Just shows how easy it is to get stuck while out when there is snow on the ground. The road had been snow-ploughed, but the edge looked like it was solid ground, not part of a hidden ditch. Thankfully, a shovel was available and with the help of the rest of the group pushing from the front of the car, we made it back on to firm ground! I will add our leader's final species list for the day: SHEEP RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, 0850-1500, Tue,30Dec2015. Centre of Circle, SW of Millarville,AB. Clear, sunny, calm, -22 to -03°C. 30 cm snow on ground. Most waterbodies frozen over. Total Party kms by Car - 80; Total Party kms by foot – 1km. Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:10 min. Wild Turkey-9, all f. Downy Woodpecker-6. Hairy Woodpecker-4 Gray Jay-3 Blue Jay-6 Black-billed Magpie-14 Common Raven-33 Black-capped Chickadee- 118 Mountain Chickadee-32 Boreal Chickadee-4 Red-breasted Nuthatch-14 White-breasted Nuthatch-5 Dark-eyed Junco-2 Pine Grosbeak-22 White-winged Crossbill-36 Common Redpoll-14 Pine Siskin-1 RedSquirrel-2 vole sp.-1 Mule Deer-3 White-tailed Deer-7 Deer sp.-2 Moose-2

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Let's hope that the coming year will be a much happier, healthier and definitely more peaceful year than this one has been. I find it hard to believe that 3 January 2016 will be the first anniversary since my daughter died. I found Christmas extremely difficult to get through, and I know the next few days will be very hard, too. Thankfully, I have another Bird Count with friends on 3 January, which will help me get though that day. Also, I have a half day count in the city tomorrow morning, followed by a get-together of birders for coffee/lunch. If you are out and drinking, please don't drive! A row of these small, metal, frost-covered deer caught my eye yesterday, when 7 of us took part in the annual Audubon Sheep River/Priddis/Turner Valley Christmas Bird Count. They were part of a fence at one of the farms we called in at. Judging by this photo, you might think that it was another day of not being able to see any birds close enough to photograph, but in fact it was a great day yesterday : ) Great, but COLD, starting off at -22C warming to a balmy -3C later in the day. Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at several farms. I wasn't sure just where this count covered, as I believe I have only ever done it once before, a few years ago, and that time I was with friends covering a different section of the count circle. I remember it as being very slow and extremely unrewarding, This time, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again. Many of the roads were familiar to me and a few were new. Our day started and ended with a Moose, which was pretty amazing. Not the greatest views for photographs, but I did manage to get a couple of OK ones. Another find was a group of Wild Turkeys that were at a location where they had been seen before. This time, we drove down the hill to the farm buildings and were able to see these spectacular birds quite well. All were females, but the females are still stunning, with their iridescent plumage. A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us used to go there on botany trips and he always had the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest. Hadn't been back there the last two or three years and I really missed our old botany outings. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there, and he invited us in for coffee and pastries. This was so much appreciated on a day of birding! Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!! Thanks so much, Anne B, for driving two of us - without you, I would not have been able to go! Our time spent in a snow-filled ditch simply added to the adventurous feeling of the day, lol! Just shows how easy it is to get stuck while out when there is snow on the ground. The road had been snow-ploughed, but the edge looked like it was solid ground, not part of a ditch. Thankfully, a shovel was available and with the help of the rest of the group pushing from the front of the car, we made it back on to firm ground! I will add our leader's final species list for the day: SHEEP RIVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, 0850-1500, Tue,30Dec2015. Centre of Circle, SW of Millarville,AB. Clear, sunny, calm, -22 to -03°C. 30 cm snow on ground. Most waterbodies frozen over. Total Party kms by Car - 80; Total Party kms by foot – 1km. Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:10 min. Wild Turkey-9, all f. Downy Woodpecker-6. Hairy Woodpecker-4 Gray Jay-3 Blue Jay-6 Black-billed Magpie-14 Common Raven-33 Black-capped Chickadee- 118 Mountain Chickadee-32 Boreal Chickadee-4 Red-breasted Nuthatch-14 White-breasted Nuthatch-5 Dark-eyed Junco-2 Pine Grosbeak-22 White-winged Crossbill-36 Common Redpoll-14 Pine Siskin-1 RedSquirrel-2 vole sp.-1 Mule Deer-3 White-tailed Deer-7 Deer sp.-2 Moose-2

Thank heavens for Black-capped Chickadees!! They are there to greet us, no matter what! Such tough little guys, though they are always only 24 hours away from death if they can't get enough fat stored in their body to last overnight. Took this photo yesterday, when I decided to call in at a local park and get a bit of fresh air and sunshine. I hadn't been down there for a couple of days, so wanted to take a quick 15-minute walk while I had the chance. Bumped into a couple of people I know, who had been looking for the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl, without any luck. "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 www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/id I have to take my car in to be fixed - hopefully I can drop it off this afternoon ready to be repaired tomorrow. The car "beeper" keeps going off for no reason at all, which is really annoying and embarrassing. Also have to get the car door locks fixed, too - makes me wonder if the two things are connected. I had really hoped to not have to spend much on this car, which will be 16 years old next month, but it's not turning out that way.

Yesterday, 24 February 2015, I called in again at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had been able to find the tiny (less than 6" in length) 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 perched on a fence post and both owls very briefly sitting on a branch, side by side (got a couple of really bad shots from behind, but I will post one sometime, just for the record). There were long periods of waiting in between the various bits of activity, so one needs a huge amount of patience : ) This photo was taken shortly before I left the park, after watching and waiting and hoping that this little female would eventually fly down and catch a Meadow Vole. Instead, she simply flew over to a fence post, which in itself was a real treat. I love the background colour from patches of dead leaves still hanging on the bushes. "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... It's a snowy day today, 25 February 2015, with a temperature of -8C (windchill -13C). The freshly falling snow will be hiding the layer of ice that remains on the paths and other places, so be careful everyone! Link to this photo posted on Flickr: flic.kr/p/r5phrB

This is one of the handful of telemacro shots, taken on 16 December 2014, that came out well enough to use. Such a pity, as the hoar frost on that day was so spectacular. The light, however, was so bad, as it was very cloudy and foggy. On 16 December 2014, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of High River. This town is SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. My small group travelled in two cars, 8 people in total, and we covered the SE quadrant of the Count circle. At the end of my description, I will add the report compiled by our leader, Gus Yaki. As usual, there were several of these sightings listed that I, myself, did not see. Also, I ended up with poor photos of most of the things that I did see. The day was absolutely beautiful, but the light was even worse than I had realized. The amazing hoar frost, that covered everything, surprisingly lasted pretty well the whole day - usually, it lasts only a very short time. So, even though the light wasn't good for photos, the hoar frost beauty stayed with us all day long - just breathtaking. For our drive down to High River, we had fog which, in patches, was quite thick. Wondered if we would see anything at all when we reached our area, ha. It was cold and damp, as well as foggy. In addition to that, some of the birds, such as the three Snowy Owls (I only saw two of them) were SO far away, there was no chance for photos, except an occasional one just for the record. Only 35 species were seen in the total for the complete Count circle. Of course, as always happens, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including several barns, cloud formations, farm cats, an old truck, scenery and so on. At one of our stops, we were looking in the bushes/shrubs at the edge of a farm, where a Northern Saw-whet Owl had been sighted last Christmas Count. No luck with an owl, but one of the birders spotted a male Merlin very high up on a power pole. A short while later, it was spotted just down the road, perched on a fence post. Such a beautiful bird - but such lousy light! We had finished our count by 5:00 pm, by which time it was, of course, completely dark. A few of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Lorrie and John gave a slide show of their recent trip to Africa. So many great shots of beautiful bird species that I have never seen. Thanks, Lorrie and John, for spending time going through all your slides at home and choosing a lovely selection for us. Many thanks, too, for driving Shirley and myself all day long! "HIGH RIVER CBC, SE quadrant, Frank Lk; E of #2, S of #23. 0830-1700, 16Dec2014. Overcast, heavy fog, created great hoarfrost on everything. Winds, variable direction, 10-15kph. -7°C. Ground mostly bare of snow; Little Bow River 95% frozen. 1. Mallard-1 f. 2. Scaup sp.- juv or f, likely Lesser-1 3. Gray Partridge-7 4. Ring-necked Pheasant-2 5. Bald Eagle-3 ( 2 ad/ 1 juv.) 6. Merlin-1 m. 7. Rock Pigeon-8 8. Great Horned Owl- 5 [an additional one seen N of Hwy 23, just W of Frank Lk exit at 16:56 pm.] 9. Snowy Owl-3 10. Downy Woodpecker-2 11. Northern Flicker-2 12. Black-billed Magpie-83 13. Common Raven-15 14. Horned Lark-20 15. Black-capped Chickadee-7 16. Common Redpoll-155 17. House Sparrow-669 18. 17 species of birds MAMMALS: Deer Mouse-1, deceased. White-tailed Jackrabbit-1 Mule Deer-25 White-tailed Deer-44 Total Km by car-111; by foot- 3. Total hours by car – 6; on foot-2.5 Gus Yaki"

The morning of 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all, as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance plus a few smaller flocks; and a male American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days previously. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of the American Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these birds, especially as they are rare here. After our walk, I spotted this fairly new pair of child's shoes, accidentally left behind on top of a post near the parking lot. Not sure how this can have happened, lol! Once back in our cars, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent!

We saw this small bird briefly when I was out with friends, NW of Calgary two days ago. I know I must know what bird it is, but I just can't think what it might be. The closest I've come is a female Mountain Bluebird, but I can't see any sign of blue in the feathers. Any help with ID would be much appreciated. I suspect I'm going to be feeling like a rookie "birder" if someone does give the name. Later: thanks, everyone, for identifying this bird as a Townsend's Solitaire female. Really appreciate your help with this.

Another shot of one of the Rough-legged Hawks that I was fortunate enough to see when Flickr friends, Ron and Trish, took me with them east and south of Calgary on November 20th, to look for Snowy Owls (none) and Hawks (35+). These Rough-legged Hawks were so skittish and almost always flew off as the car slowly approached. A few times, one would stay a second or two on its perch, barely long enough to focus my camera when we had pulled to a stop. Took many blurry photos, lol, but am so thankful for the ones that did come out sharp enough (though this one is a little soft). Someone is coming here today, to take a look at my very old heating furnace and water heater and give me an estimate for new ones. This just has to be done for safety reasons, as some furnaces in other units developed cracks about five years ago, so this should have been done at least three years ago. Better to be safe than sorry! Hoping that he can install very soon, as lots of Christmas Bird Counts start in about 12 days' time and I really don't want to miss the ones I usually go on, if possible. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id 7:00 p.m. - Hold Your Clicks a moment please!

There are lots of these short posts down in various parts of the local park, around the parking lots. I remember going there one time and having a Chickadee, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Downy Woodpecker, a Hairy Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker all on one row - at the SAME time!! Taken on 2nd March 2007!