Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: SE Calgary

Yesterday, 16 November 2014, I joined a few friends for a most enjoyable day of birding SE of the city, in the Frank Lake area. I love this whole area, so usually jump at the chance to go there, especially with friends who are great birders. I stayed behind (painful back) while the others walked almost to the blind, but I was happy photographing scenery, bright orange lichens, and anything else that caught my eye : ) This meant that I didn’t see all of the birds on Andrew’s careful list and report, but I was happy to see the Great Horned Owl especially. Felt so good to get my “owl” fix! It was also good to know that there are at least a few Common Redpolls around so far, this winter. The long winter months seem kind of “empty” when these dainty little birds don’t visit us. All three of the photos I’ve posted today were taken on yesterday’s trip. I think the only birds I was able to photograph were the owl and the pheasants. I will use Andrew’s account of the day – I never keep a list myself. Thought that one or two of you might just be interested to know what’s around so far this “winter”, SE of the city. Many thanks, as always, Andrew, for a most enjoyable and rewarding day out of the city. Thanks, too, for your detailed report. “We had eight participants. A nice break from recent weather. The temperature stayed right around -3 deg C all day, with mostly clear sunny skies. There was an occasional biting wind. We basically circled the lake area and walked down to the outfall near the blind. There were still a few pheasant hunters around. Apparently the final release was delayed to this weekend because the province is averse to releasing birds when the temperature is below -10 deg C. Number of Checklists: 4 Number of Species: 20 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Sutherland's Shelterbelt (and immediate area) Date: Nov 16, 2014, 9:00 AM (2): Frank Lake--NW lookout/blind Date: Nov 16, 2014, 10:10 AM (3): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (Southeast Corner) Date: Nov 16, 2014, 11:30 AM (4): Frank Lake Basin 3 Date: Nov 16, 2014, 12:00 PM 47 Canada Goose -- (1) 1 Tundra Swan -- (2) 6 Mallard -- (2) 1 Northern Shoveler -- (2) 9 Redhead -- (2) 4 Ring-necked Pheasant -- (3) 1 Prairie Falcon (3) 2 Bald Eagle -- (2),(4) 1 Rough-legged Hawk -- (1) 3 Killdeer -- (2) 10 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (1) 3 Great Horned Owl -- (1),(4) 5 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4) 16 Common Raven -- (1),(2),(3),(4) 48 Horned Lark -- (3),(4) 8 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1) 8 Snow Bunting -- (4) 4 American Tree Sparrow -- (1),(3) 40 Common Redpoll -- (1) 8 House Sparrow -- (1) The few Snow Buntings we saw were all mixed in with larger flocks of Horned Larks. The Prairie Falcon appeared suddenly and spooked the group of Pheasants before flying off into a nearby tree. Andrew Hart”

Not quite sure where this photo was taken, but it was taken way back on 17 September 2010. I seem to remember that that was the year that was so good for fungi. Not sure that I'll be getting out to find any this year, so I might just go through some archived files. Just checked on Flickr and discovered that these mushrooms were seen at a Birthplace Forest near the edge of Fish Creek Park.

A friend told me about a display of fungi near Fish Creek Park last year, so of course I had to go and check it out : ) Taken on 29 June 2012, near the edge of the eastern end of the park. Wish I knew what kind of mushrooms these are - I love the patterns that form on the top surface of the caps. The look so much like some of the Easter Hot Cross Buns that I buy. Any chance that these could be Cracked-Cap Mushroom / Agrocybe dura? Apparently, they are very common in wood mulch, which fits with my photo.