Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Highway 22X bridge

These are nests built by Cliff Swallows beneath the Highway 22X bridge that goes over the Bow River just south of the Boat Launch area in Fish Creek Park. I've tried several times to get a sharper photo, but the light just isn't good enough high up between the metal bars of the bridge. These nests work in a similar thermal way to an igloo. "•Although the Cliff Swallow can nest solitarily, it usually nests in colonies. Colonies tend to be small in the East, but further west they can number up to 3,700 nests in one spot. •Within a Cliff Swallow colony some swallows lay eggs in another swallow's nest. Sometimes the swallow may lay eggs in its own nest and then carry one of its eggs in its bill and put it in another female's nest." From www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cliff_Swallow/lifehistory . "Cliff swallow nests are gourd-shaped enclosed structures built of mud pellets, consisting primarily of sand with smaller amounts of silt and clay. (In contrast, barn swallow nests are cup shaped and the pellets contain coarse organic matter such as grass stems, horsehairs, and feathers.) The cliff swallow nest chamber is globular and extends forward into an entrance tunnel that opens downward. The tunnel may be absent from some nests. Nest dimensions vary from 5-1/2 to 10-1/2 inches in length and 5-1/2 to 8 inches in basal width, and the opening averages 1-3/4 inches in diameter. The nest is cemented with mud under the eave of a building, bridge, or other vertical surface. Usually the first nests are located at the highest point possible with subsequent nests attached below it, forming a dense cluster. Both sexes construct the nest, proceeding slowly to allow the mud to dry and harden. Depending on mud supply and weather, nest construction takes 1 to 2 weeks. Mud is collected at ponds, puddles, ditches, and other sites up to one-half mile away, with many birds using the same mud source. A typical nest contains 1,000 to 1,400 mud pellets, each representing one trip to and from the nest. Cliff swallows sometimes build two or three nests per season; not all nests are used, however." From www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7482.html

We saw this small, quick Long-tailed Weasel on a walk this morning. It was running and then hiding, then running again down near the edge of the Bow River in Fish Creek Park. These tiny animals can move so fast, but at other times they will stop and show their curiosity. Hopefully, I'll get a better photo another day. I'll post a photo below of the same species of Weasel that I photographed almost two years ago. A cuter photo, that shows more of the body, but only a tiny file.