Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#98

Love seeing and photographing Wilson Snipes, especially when they are perched on a fence post rather than on the ground. This Snipe was sitting on a rather nice, weathered, lichen-covered post, which was even better. Seen when I took a drive along some of the backroads SW of the city, on 26 June 2013. Thought it would make a change from all the landscape photos that I took on Sunday in Dinosaur Provincial Park, that I will gradually be posting. "Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) is a small, stocky shorebird. This species was considered to be a subspecies of the Common Snipe (G. gallinago) until 2003 when it was given its own species status. Wilson's Snipe differs from the latter species in having a narrower white trailing edge to the wings, and eight pairs of tail feathers instead of the typical seven of the Common Snipe. Its common name commemorates the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson." From Wikipedia. According to Fisher and Acorn's book, "Birds of Alberta", "the common Snipe is both secretive and well camouflaged, so few people notice it until it flushes suddenly from a nearby grassy tussock. As soon as the Snipe takes to the air, it performs a series of quick zigzags - an evasive maneuver designed to confuse predators. Because of this habit, Snipes were among the most difficult birds to shoot (in the days when shorebirds were hunted for sport), and skilled sportsmen were known as "snipers" - a term later adopted by the military." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wilsons_snipe/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Snipe youtu.be/Z16CUdX2g5Q

Yes, these two little things live in captivity with quite a few others, at the Calgary Zoo. They look rather like Richardson's Ground Squirrels that are wild in Alberta, but these are in fact Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. 'They are found in the Great Plains of North America from about the USA-Canada border to the USA-Mexico border. Black-tailed prairie dogs are frequently exterminated from ranchland, being labelled as a pest. Their habitat has been fragmented, and their numbers have been greatly reduced. Additionally, black-tailed prairie dogs are remarkably susceptible to plague." From Wikipedia. Their Conservation Status is Least Concern. "Canada’s remaining population of black-tailed prairie dogs can only be found in southwest Saskatchewan around Grasslands National Park." (Calgary Zoo info).