Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: watching

Yesterday morning, 13 October 2016, I joined a group of friends for a birding walk in South Glenmore Park. When I walk in this area, it's usually for the fresh air and exercise. As far as the birds are concerned, everything tends to be over on the far side of the Glenmore Reservoir. It's no fun at all trying to photograph birds that are barely visible with the naked eye! Yesterday, some of those very distant specks turned out to be Surf Scoters and Western Grebes. The first part of our walk was along the rough trail near the edge of the water, and on our return walk, we used the main, paved path. It was during the latter half of the walk that we spotted something moving in the tall grasses. Really, all you could see at first was a pair of ears. It could easily have been someone's dog, but when a little more of it showed through the grass, we could see it was a beautiful Coyote. Lovely colouring and looking very healthy. I had to zoom right in and the light was awful, but I managed to get a shot or two. Though the quality of this photo is really poor, there is something about it that I like. "The coyote appears often in the tales and traditions of Native Americans—usually as a very savvy and clever beast. Modern coyotes have displayed their cleverness by adapting to the changing American landscape. These members of the dog family once lived primarily in open prairies and deserts, but now roam the continent's forests and mountains. They have even colonized cities like Los Angeles, and are now found over most of North America. Coyote populations are likely at an all-time high. These adaptable animals will eat almost anything. They hunt rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, and even deer. They also happily dine on insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion. Because they sometimes kill lambs, calves, or other livestock, as well as pets, many ranchers and farmers regard them as destructive pests." From National Geographic. animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/coyote/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote I will add our leader's list of species seen: S. Glenmore Reservoir, SW Calgary, 0915-1200, Thu13Oct2016. Completely overcast, calm -1 to 1°C 1. American Wigeon-1+ 2. Mallard-25 3. Ring-necked Duck-6+ 4. Scaup sp.-10+ 5. Surf Scoter-9+ 6. Bufflehead-20 7. Common Goldeneye-15 8. Common Merganser-3 9. Horned Grebe-50+ 10. Red-necked Grebe-1 11. Eared Grebe-2 12. Western Grebe-15 13. Sharp-shinned Hawk-1 14. American Coot-50+ 15. Bonaparte’s Gull-7 16. Herring Gull?-3 17. Downy Woodpecker-21 18. Northern Flicker-2 19. Blue Jay-2 20. Black-billed Magpie-10 21. American Crow-4 22. Common Raven-3 23. Black-capped Chickadee-30 24. Red-breasted Nuthatch-3 25. Brown Creeper-2 26. Hermit Thrush?-2 Red Squirrel 4 Coyote 1 After the walk, friend Sandy invited a couple of us back to her place for lunch. Very enjoyable and much-appreciated - thanks, Sandy!

Yesterday morning, 7 March 2015, my plan was to go with a group of friends on a bird walk at Votiers Flats, in Fish Creek Park. Sounded as though the paths were pretty good, though still some ice, so I left my ice grabbers in my car. A short distance into the park, someone slipped on the ice and fell heavily, at which point I said I was going back for my ice grabbers and would probably see everyone later. Instead, I end up going for a walk on my own, rather than wait for everyone else. The main path was pretty clear, but the other paths were treacherously icy. Eight or so beautiful White-tailed Deer were the first encounter, including this doe, followed by a couple of Pine Grosbeaks. Heard several Blue Jays and had a gorgeous male Ring-necked pheasant fly across the path ahead of me. Couldn’t take my eyes off it till it disappeared into the trees, and never even thought about trying to get a photo. Saw or heard all the usual birds including Black-capped Chickadee, Nuthatch and a Downy Woodpecker. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer The weather is amazing at the moment and will be even better for the next week, climbing into double digits around 14C to 16C. March tends to be our snowiest month, but so far, has been great. Not unusual, though, for us to get a heavy snowstorm in May, so we’ll see.

I am posting this just so you can see a couple of creatures (White-tailed Deer) who were watching us yesterday morning, down in Fish Creek Park. I like the curious young one : ) There was also a handsome buck in the area, but there was a huge tangle of thin branches between him and me, so, useless for photos. I bought a cordless mouse yesterday and it is driving me NUTS!! It keeps switching pages every few seeconds and so I keep losing what I type. I really don't like that narrow button on the side of it, which presumably is responsible for the page changes. Maybe I will have to put a piece of tape across it : )

Another brief glimpse into the world of a young Red Fox, seen on 12th June, south east of the city. Apparently, this fox family has now moved to a new location. "The Red Fox is one of the most widely distributed mammals in the world .... In Alberta, they occur throughout the province." Talkaboutwildlife website.

This guy was sitting out in full view this afternoon when I turned a corner after trying to shoot a pair of Mountain Bluebirds. A Flickr friend had told me about this Great Gray Owl yesterday and I just couldn't resist the challenge of going searching for him/her. Wasn't long before a different friend pulled up behind me - I had found him in a ditch maybe 20 minutes before! Guess I should add that he was in a ditch with his camera, trying to shoot the Bluebirds, LOL! Thank you, Ron, for telling me about this owl - so very much appreciated! I took around 100 shots of him, and just grabbed one quickly to upload to Flickr as one of my "daily three". A SHARP photo of a Great Gray Owl had been at the very top of my Wish List - previously, I've taken blurry photos. Looks a little better in large size, if you have time : )