Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Poecile hudsonicus

By the afternoon on 3 February 2018, the snow had stopped and I decided to join five friends for an enjoyable walk at Shaw's Meadow in Fish Creek Park. With no wind and a temperature of -9C to -7C, it was comparatively pleasant. About 45 minutes into our walk, the snow returned, falling in light, fluffy clusters. We saw more bird species than we were expecting (list of 16 species added to a comment box below), including a Hairy Woodpecker, and this Boreal Chickadee. I so rarely get to take photos of these small birds so, despite the blurriness, I was happy to get it. A stop at Tim Horton's for coffee after the two-hour walk was just what was needed. Always so enjoyable to sit and chat and warm up after a cold walk. Thanks, Janet and Bernie!

A huge leap from tropical rainforest images to winter photos taken yesterday afternoon, 3 February 2018. The day before yesterday brought such bad weather, very cold and snow falling all day long. By yesterday afternoon, the snow had stopped and I decided to join five friends for an enjoyable walk in Fish Creek Park. With no wind and a temperature of -9C to -7C, it was comparatively pleasant. About 45 minutes into our walk, the snow returned, falling in light, fluffy clusters. We saw more bird species than we were expecting (list of 16 species added to a comment box below), including the Hairy Woodpecker in the previous photo and this Boreal Chickadee. The Boreal photo was not cropped to look like this - I just almost missed getting it at all. I so rarely get to take photos of these small birds so, despite the strange composition, I was happy to get it. A stop at Tim Horton's for coffee after the two-hour walk was just what was needed. Always so enjoyable to sit and chat and warm up after a cold walk. Thanks, Janet and Bernie!

This photo was taken on 27 December 2016, when nine of us (in the group I was in) took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Sheep River/Priddis/Turner Valley area. Our time was spent travelling by car, driving the backroads SW of the city and calling in at several acreages/ farms. A Boreal Chickadee made a lovely change from the more common Black-capped Chickadee. I have very few photos of Boreal Chickadees, as I so rarely see them and, when I do, they are too quick and hidden. This particular day was actually a good day for seeing them and also Mountain Chickadees. I'm not a big fan of feeder photos, but better than nothing. "A brown-capped chickadee of the northern boreal forest, the Boreal Chickadee is one of the few birds living completely within that biome in Canada and bits of the United States." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Boreal_Chickadee/id If you have or want feeders in your garden, Cornell Lab of Ornithology has an excellent Project Feederwatch site that tells of the best food and types of feeder for almost 100 of the more common birds, including the Boreal Chickadee. Very useful information. feederwatch.org/learn/common-feeder-birds/?__hstc=7510036... I took part in this Count for 2015 but had missed it for a few years before that. I believe I had only ever done it twice before that, a few years ago (December 2007 and December 30, 2008). This time, like last year, our area was in the centre of the count circle and I'm so glad I decided to go again. A great stop was at Rod Handfield's place. Some of us go there very occasionally on botany trips and he always has the best mushrooms and other fungi growing in his forest in the fall. Rod and his wife have such a beautiful cabin there. A Gray Jay gave us a few photo opportunities there, which was appreciated. Usually, I find Gray Jays difficult to photograph, so it was nice to see one close. Rod is always so delightfully hospitable!! Thanks so much, Donna, for driving half of us - so much appreciated! This also meant that we were lucky enough to see two tiny Northern Pygmy-owls after the Count, too, when we decided to drive a few extra roads on our way home. A beautiful sunny day really helped - not all that cold (for Alberta!). A lot of snow everywhere (almost 8"), but that was OK, as we did so little walking. A great day!

A rather pathetic photo, but I so rarely get photos of a Boreal Chickadee. These little guys tend to hang out with the Black-capped Chickadees and are just as fast and constantly on the move. It was a cold morning when I met friends for a three hour walk at Griffith Woods on 26 November 2015. Temperature was -10 to -4°C. Eventually, the warmth of the sun could just be felt, which always makes such a welcome difference. Not a huge variety of birds - we saw so many Bohemian Waxwings (a total of 600+) flying overhead and sometimes landing near the tops of very tall Spruce trees. Also saw this little Boreal Chickadee, near the top of a tall Spruce tree. Canada Goose-110 Mallard-10 Bald Eagle-1 juv. Merlin-1 Downy Woodpecker-1 Hairy Woodpecker-1 Northern Flicker-2 Northern Shrike-1, chasing a Blue Jay Blue Jay-4+ Black-billed Magpie-7 Common Raven-3+ Black-capped Chickadee-25 Boreal Chickadee-4+ Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-3 Golden-crowned Kinglet-1 Bohemian Waxwing-600+. Pine Grosbeak-4 White-winged Crossbill-4+ Common Redpoll-2 House Sparrow-1

Very poor quality image, but it's not very often that I get photos of a Boreal Chickadee, so wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta Set. These little guys tend to hang out with the more common Black-capped Chickadees. Taken at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on 17 February 2014.

Sure didn't compose this shot very well, but as I so rarely get photos of Boreal Chickadees, I'll still post it. Seen between Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park on February 16th. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Boreal_Chickadee/id/ac

We did enjoy seeing a few little Boreal Chickadees on our Fish Creek Park walk from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace and back a few days ago. (Not my hand, by the way - I'm not left-handed, ha). The real highlight, though, was an American Three-toed Woodpecker - my first for this year. Looks like our next walk might be a bit different - it's SNOWING and very heavily!!!! Today, I was planning on going to the Carwash and vacuuming and washing my car, before the snow arrived, ha! Hopefully, the white stuff won't stick around. Late afternoon: phew, the snow has all melted already. www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/bd0644_species.shtml

LOL, surprised even myself when I opened this image on Flickr - not bad feather detail for a dark forest photo! These little guys are so cute and it's such a treat when one or two of them visit us on our walks with their friends, the little Black-capped Chickadees : ) Seen on October 16th at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park.