Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Dove

September already! Here, trees have started getting yellow leaves, everywhere is bone dry, and three days ago, the temperature rose to 33C. Still got a few very hot days in the forecast. The crazy imbalance of weather just gets worse and worse, with no rain and continuing wildfires in the west, and too much water brought by hurricane/tropical storm Harvey, causing devastating flooding and damage in eastern U.S.. If only the two sides could share the water - how ironic it all is. Two days ago, on 31 August 2017, I went with 16 birder friends on a day's outing east of Calgary. What a full, rewarding day we had, with 83 species seen! I will add our leader's final list in a comment box below, mainly for my own interest/record. Thanks, Andrew! There were many species that I did not see, as they were too far away, but I was delighted to see three or four species that I hadn't seen or photographed before, including a Black-bellied Plover and Baird's Sandpipers. It was yet another smoky day (which we've been getting all summer, from the wildfires in British Columbia and, to a much lesser extent, Alberta), but the temperature was more bearable (got up to around 25C) than most of our summer. Early morning was quite chilly, in fact. Today, the smoke blown into Alberta continues. I saw on TV yesterday morning that the dreadful Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, that started well over a year ago on 1 May 2016, is finally completely out. After meeting in the city, we car-pooled in five cars east to Langdon. Our first stop was at Weed Lake; first the south end and then the east side. All the birds were far away, so any photos I took were group shots or a single, very distant lone bird. This kind of birding is very different from when I go out anywhere on my own. It involves a lot of very careful study of each area we stop at, with binoculars and scopes, and it provides very important information on all the bird species. When I go out by myself, I am looking for any kind of bird that is close enough to photograph - usually, the closer the better, of course. I never count bird numbers and I don't make lists. I simply look for anything beautiful - and that often includes old barns, scenery, wildflowers, insects, and so on. From Weed Lake, we continued east, eventually reaching Eagle Lake and Marsland Basin. I always love going to the latter location; a great place that is called 'home' for our friends, Lynn and Sue. They have a wonderful wetland on their property. After looking at the distant birds, I wandered around the grounds, finding a beautiful, tiny butterfly (Checkered Skipper sp.?), Sunflowers in the garden with a pair of American Goldfinches feeding on the Sunflower seeds, and the two donkeys. Also saw this Mourning Dove through a gap in the branches - looks different, somehow, with that dark mark going down its face. Is it a juvenile? Maybe an injury? Any chance it might be a hybrid of some sort? Later: apparently, it IS a hybrid Mourning Dove-Eurasian Collared Dove - thanks so much, Terry! Needless to say, by the time we reached the Eagle Lake area, I wasn't sure where we were, each time we stopped. Two days later, I'm hoping I can remember where I saw at least some of the birds in my photos. A thoroughly enjoyable trip - thanks, Andrew, as always! Many thanks, too, Lenora and Dick, for letting Dorothy and me carpool with you. It was so much appreciated.

This photo was taken yesterday afternoon, 16 August 2014, SE of Calgary, near Frank Lake. I ended up being out all day, spending three hours in the morning birding with a group of friends at Carburn Park in the city. It's the time of year when the various tiny Warblers are passing through the city again. Then, Flickr/birder/photography friend, Pam, asked if I wanted to go SE of the city to the Frank Lake area. We had a fun afternoon, with a few reasonable bird sightings. The clouds were amazing, though somehow I didn't manage to get any good photos of them. Seeing them reflected in the lake was perhaps the best place. Spotted this Mourning Dove along one of the backroads. I don't remember ever seeing a Mourning Dove perched on a fence post before - usually, they are perched on a very high wire when I see them. Thanks, Pam, for suggesting a drive to one of my favourite areas! Hope your photos came out better than mine, lol!! "A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mourning_dove/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove

LOL, a really, really bad photo of this Mourning Dove, but wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta Set because I don't yet have a photo in there of this species. After a three-hour walk at Beaverdam Flats yesterday morning, we called in at someone's garden to catch a glimpse of two of these Doves, sitting fairly close together on a branch deep within a huge Spruce tree. There was no way to get a better shot : ) These birds are uncommon to common in Alberta from April to October, so we were lucky to see some overwintering. "A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America." From www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id .

The Nicobar pigeon is one of the most beautiful of the many species of pigeons or doves. The colours of its neck display plumage are quite stunning. Am finding it impossible to get a decent photo through the glass, so this is a very noisy image and it does not do justice to the bird. "The Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, is a pigeon which is a resident breeding bird on small uninhabited islands in Indonesia and the Nicobar Islands. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas. This is a large, heavy pigeon at 40cm in length. It is mainly metallic green with green and copper hackles on the neck. The head and upper neck, flight feathers and breast are dark grey. The tail is very short and pure white. There is a black knob on the base of the bill, and the strong legs are dark red. This is not a very vocal species, but possesses a low pitched, repetitive call. Females are slightly smaller than males; they have a smaller bill knob, shorter hackles and browner underparts. Immature birds have a black tail. Its Conservation Status is "Near Threatened"." From Wikipedia.