Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: snow-covered branches

Called in at the local park in the afternoon of 31 January 2015, for maybe an hour. That was all I could stand, it was SO cold, plus most of the area was then in the shade. It was only -13C (windchill -15C), but it felt so much colder than that. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to go, as both my front car door locks had frozen solid and I had to wait for the lock de-icer spray to hopefully work. Friends who had been there for much longer told me that the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl had been high in the trees the whole time they had been there. While I was there, we had a few moments when the owl flew down into the bushes - a mass of tangled branches that result in a "messy" photo, but still better than none. If you were lucky, you might find a small gap with no branches in front of the owl. It had snowed two nights earlier, so it made a change to see the bird in a snowy setting. My point-and-shoot has 48X zoom - this shot was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

A messy shot and heavily cropped, but I hadn't seen a Pileated Woodpecker for ages. This one was seen through snow-covered branches, far in the distance, down in the Weaselhead natural Area, on 3 December 2012. They are such large birds and so spectacular, you can't help but be in awe when you see one.

Was out of the house for about seven hours on Saturday (April 14th), spending a most enjoyable time with friends, Ron and Trish and Bonnie, looking for a Great Gray Owl : ) North west of the city, it was snowing quite heavily and the rolling hills and farms almost faded from view during parts of the drive. We also hit some road areas that had several inches of snow on them, which didn't make for the best driving conditions. However, we were so lucky when a Great Gray Owl was spotted way in the distance. An absolute thrill - I have seen them in the wild before, but not for almost three years. Of course, the weather was bad, very low light and a distant bird (full zoom and heavy cropping) - but I did manage to get maybe two or three photos that I will post. The owl stayed only a moment on the top of this small tree and then flew away to a more distant tree. The snow-covered coniferous trees around the owl were just beautiful - a true winter wonderland. Delightful to drive (easy for me to say, I wasn't the one driving!) through such countryside on a beautiful, snowy day : ) Thanks so much, Ron, for driving us safely, and to you and Trish for inviting me to join you and for finding us a beautiful Great Gray Owl. Bonnie, I thoroughly enjoyed spending lots of time with you that day - and to think we even saw a distant Northern Hawk Owl from the road as well. And I loved seeing the same horses I photographed a few days ago looking so much "happier" - especially the grey one, which had looked almost "depressed" the other day. Great to see a Kestrel, a Great Blue Heron (who must have been regretting returning to Calgary already), Trumpeter Swans, various Hawks, etc.. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl