Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: rare to uncommon

The "surprised" expression on a Long-eared Owl's face always makes me smile : ) It is rare to see one of these here in the wild - have only seen either two or three. The one in my photo lives at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, southern Alberta, along with many other injured species. Taken through a chain link cage wall, hence the faded areas.

A most uninspiring photo, for sure, but it's the first photo I've ever been able to get of a Hooded Merganser, and I wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta 4 Set : ) These ducks are rare to uncommon in Alberta, April to October, though some might overwinter on open water. This handsome male was at the far end of the lagoon at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary yesterday, so this was the best shot I was able to get. I was with friends, otherwise I would have waited in the hope of getting a little closer : ). Apparently, Hooded Mergansers are one of the most sought after ducks by birdwatchers.

A second distant and heavily cropped photo of this rare to uncommon (in Alberta) Northern Hawk Owl. This was the first time I had really seen one and the first chance I'd ever had to photograph one. It was so high up in the tall tree, that I couldn't see which way its head was turned and I ended up with rather too many head-turned sideways shots : ) Seen in the Water Valley area, northwest of the city and of Cochrane. The weather was sunny enough, but the wind was strong and cold.

This was a far-away shot and therefore is very heavily cropped! However, I am SO thrilled to have finally seen a Northern Hawk Owl and, as an added bonus, to get a few photos of it. Nothing great or spectacular, but I'm still on cloud nine : ) We drove northwest of the city and spent the day driving around the back roads hoping to see a Great Gray Owl and maybe even a little Northern Hawk Owl. Not many birds of any kind to be seen but, right at the end, we found this little beauty. It was perched on a very distant tree in a farmer's field. A few of us plodded through snow near the fence line and managed to get some shots. (The snow had quite a thick crust on top, so every step or two, you broke through the crust and plunged into deep snow - roll on spring!). It was extremely windy and chilly - hard to hold the camera - which is why the owl is all puffed up. Then, suddenly, it flew and landed on a fence post by the road where the cars were parked, just 10' from the rest of our group! I would have been able to get the most amazing close-ups, sigh ... These owls are rare to uncommon year-round in Alberta, and they are one of the most sought-after birds in Alberta.

I was trying to "improve" a couple of my photos of this little Long-eared Owl last night for someone who had kindly asked permission to use one of them. I happened to notice that I had uploaded the photo above to a different website (talkabout wildlife) and that I preferred this one over the photo I had posted on Flickr three years ago. Didn't want to simply "replace", so bear with me for posting this second shot. Phil, I picture you half way out your door if you just happened to see this image begin to upload, LOL!!! Sorry for the disappointment : )

Bumped into Flickr friend, Ron, yesterday evening, along one of the gravelly side roads southwest of the city. He was just heading out to the area where we had both seen a Great Gray Owl previously, so I followed him back to where I had been maybe an hour or two earlier. This time, this magnificent owl was perched on a fence post in glorious evening light! So amazing to see and watch this large bird of prey! Hope s/he doesn't eat any of the baby Mountain Bluebirds that I found down in the grass just along the road! (Note to self: this image was included in the book, "Owls of the World; a Photographic Guide", by Heimo Mikkola.)

LOL, these Great Gray Owls look so serious! This photo was taken on 27th June - passed that way yesterday morning, but there was no sign of him/her. This amazing owl wasnt interested in us at all - just sat there and watched and listened intently, practically the whole time. It also flew off into the wooded area in the background and occasionally would be seen flying along the outside edge of the trees. Thought the barbed-wire was kind of interesting, too : )

We came across this teeny Northern Pygmy-owl this morning! Presumably one of the 2-3 we saw last winter in Fish Creek Park. The size of a popcan, this owl is almost impossible to find. It is rare to uncommon in Alberta. It was perched SOOO high up, so this is a heavily cropped image! Warning - don't even think of looking at it in large size, ha, ha. Isn't it a little cutie - but vicious!

I just find this image rather amusing, seeing this little Barred Owl sitting in front of an audience. The gentleman who gave the talk brought this injured, 7-year-old male owl with him and it was a neat experience to see a Barred Owl so close (even to touch him). He just sat and stared the whole evening : ) His eyes are amazing - like deep, dark pools.

Have been feeling really unwell the last 7-10 days, so the very last thing I should have done was to drive to a new area by myself on a -20C day, LOL! I've battled a phobia of driving the last 31 years, so plucking up courage to do this drive meant a lot to me. Felt so good to have done it. Wonderfully, I bumped into a couple of friends who were already at the location, so there was someone to chat with while we stood and waited and waited and waited for this gorgeous Northern Hawk Owl to do something, ha, ha! They also very kindly brought back a cup of hot coffee for me when they drove into Cochrane for a quick break. We did see three of these owls along the stretch of road, but they were perched a long way away. Maybe they, too, were feeling the cold. The one above was in fact perched in a row of trees with masses of tangled branches, but I was lucky to just be able to shoot from the road, through a small gap. Greatly cropped, of course : ) Looks like it had had a fairly recent snack, judging by the colour of its beak. Takes about an hour and a quarter to drive here, north of the city. It was unbearably cold and I was still on the verge of shivering eight hours after getting home. As I said, not the wisest outing when sick : ) Can't wait to do it again, though, especially as our weather is supposed to warm up for a few days.

A couple of friends very kindly invited me to go with them today to see if we could find the Northern Hawk Owls. No sign of any of them. Another friend told us that he had just been talking with the owner of a house that is at that location, and apparently the owls have only been seen maybe twice in the last week. So, we are not sure what is going on. Anyway, I decided to upload this shot taken on 28th February - this little guy/gal was perched on top of this VERY tall pole, so had to crop : ) Kind of looks cute, puffed up against the cold. LOL, my first thought was that s/he looks as if s/he's sitting under one of those old Hair Salon hairdryers - no idea if they still use those things.

I still have other, unposted photos of this Northern Hawk Owl. This one is a little different, as the owl is perched on a fence. This was taken on the second outing, with a friend, to see these fascinating birds of prey. This owl species is 38-43 cm (15" to 16.9") in length and 80-90 cm (31.5" to 35.4") in width, and is rare to uncommon in Alberta.

A friend very kindly invited me to go looking today for the Northern Hawk Owl, NW of Calgary. I had been lucky enough to see one on 31st January in a different location (but not all that far away from today's location), but my photos were more distant than those taken today. Actually, we saw a second Northern Hawk Owl today, just down the road from the owl in this photo. These owls are rare to uncommon year-round in Alberta, so it was definitely a thrill to see them. Don't you just love those piercing eyes? Actually, this species of owl is quite curious and unfazed by humans. This is one of the most sought-after birds in Alberta, so I feel very privileged. It is an irruptive species - commonly seen in some winters and rarely in others.

Imagine trying to photograph a can of pop that is high up in a tall tree, then you'll get an idea of the challenges that are faced when photographing one of these teeny, rare to uncommon, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owls. Lots of cropping needed, to be sure, LOL! They are such beautiful birds.