Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: difficult to see

A couple of mornings ago, on 10 March 2015, I went on a birding walk with friends at Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park. As usual these days, I did most of the walk, but not quite to the furthest destination, so of course I missed a few bird species. Sad to again see all the damage caused by the last devastating flood. This bridge over the Bow River has been repaired, so we were able to cross the river and walk southwards. Every year, I tell myself that I must photograph more of the water fowl, as most of my photos are quite old. Each year, I don't seem to do it. It was sunny and calm during the almost three-hour walk, with a temperature of 2C to 11C. After the walk, I called in to see one of the Great Horned Owls in Fish Creek Park. I had heard about it and thought I knew which tall tree it was in. In fact I had called in recently, but could see no sign of it. This time, it took me a little while, but, just as I was about to give up, I found the female. All you can see is her head or part of it, depending on which way she is sitting.

A terrible quality of photo, but usually you never see a Sora, only hear them! We were very lucky that this one was walking through the water and grasses near the edge of the road when we were south west of Calgary two days ago. We were doing the annual May Species Count in the Priddis area, on a dull, overcast day. "A small, secretive bird of freshwater marshes, the Sora is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America. Its distinctive descending whinny call can be easily heard from the depths of the cattails, but actually seeing the little marsh-walker is much more difficult." From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sora/lifehistory