Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: migration

Yay, I actually managed to get a photo of a Warbler yesterday evening! Yes, it's poor quality, but I gave up on finding Warblers and especially on ever getting photos of them, a few years ago. Basically, I never go for walks any more, which is not good, but yesterday evening, I pushed myself out the front door and drove to Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park. People have been seeing all sorts of birds there recently, thanks to bird migration. Several friends had the same idea, too, and they were very helpful and patient, telling me where this tiny Canada Warbler and a Redstart female/juvenile kept moving to. As any birder/photographer knows, Warblers are not easy (almost impossible!) to see and photograph! A huge amount of patience is needed. "A colorful, active warbler of northern forests, the Canada Warbler spends little time on its breeding grounds. It is one of the last warblers to arrive north in the spring, and one of the first to leave in the fall, heading early to its South American wintering grounds." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Warbler/id I also walked along the edge of the Bow River, just as far as the bridge, which is where I took the photo of a Yellowlegs, which I posted this morning. A Gull sp. was the only other thing I photographed. At least one Osprey was circling the river from way, way up.

We rarely get Monarch butterflies in the wild here, though you do hear the very occasional report. Wonderfully, the Calgary Zoo butterfly room had a Monarch butterfly, so at least I was able to see what a Monarch really looked like and photograph it. We were so lucky last summer to see a Viceroy butterfly in the wild (my very first sighting), which looks very similar to a Monarch. "The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer. In Europe, it is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe. Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cms (3½–4 in). (The Viceroy butterfly has a similar size, color, and pattern, but can be distinguished by an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female Monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the "androconium" in the center of each hind wing[7] from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger. The Monarch is famous for its southward migration and northward return in summer in the Americas which spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_(butterfly)