Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Common Goldeneye

Oops, slept through three very loud alarm clocks and a kitchen timer for an hour!!! Will have to add all info later, as I'm hoping to find my friends for birding. Think I'm going to be too late, though. Sigh .... Two days ago, the weather was beautiful and I was able to get out for a walk in Fish Creek Park with birding friends. We started off at the Boat Launch, checking the Bow River for any waterfowl, then walked to the first storm water pond. From there, we walked down the path by the river, where, among other things, we spotted a little male Tree Swallow working at his nest cavity. Also a Black-capped Chickadee doing exactly the same thing. At one point, we heard a rustling in the dead leaves on the ground and then caught sight of a Meadow Vole. We even heard one litte squeak : ) This male Common Goldeneye was swimming in the tiny creek between the river and the main, paved path. Happened to catch it with its neck stretched upwards and its eye partly closed. "The eyes of a Common Goldeneye are gray-brown at hatching. They turn purple-blue, then blue, then green-blue as they age. By five months of age they have become clear pale green-yellow. The eyes will be bright yellow in adult males and pale yellow to white in females." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_goldeneye Our last stop on our walk was to check on the pair of Great Horned Owls. Dad was sleeping in a tree not far from the nest tree and Mom was on the nest. We couldn't see any young ones. The Balsam Poplar trees were full of bright red (male) catkins - they always look so beautiful, especially when seen against a blue sky. The Aspen trees were also displaying their catkins. We saw one flower on our walk - yellow, and I think it was Silverweed, if I remember correctly. When I returned home later, I was welcomed by another yellow flower - my first Dandelion of the season : ) I happen to be one of those people who love Dandelions. After the bird walk, I had intended going straight home, but on the spur of the moment, I turned on to the small road leading down to Bankside (still in Fish Creek Park). Sometimes, I get the feeling that I am meant to go somewhere, that there is a reason, and usually it ends up with my seeing something beautiful. Well, that day, the 'something' was a gorgeous male Ring-necked Pheasant! On the drive to the parking lot, I had already seen another male, but the second one ended up crossing the path, giving a much closer view. As soon as I got out of my car, I recognized a lady in the distance - it was friend, Shirley, who had already spotted this bird. A fisherman mentioned it to us, as well. After watching the very well-hidden bird, we were treated to a clear view when it walked across the path ahead of us. Such a spectacular bird! I will add the list of species seen on the first walk, compiled by our leaders: Spring Birding, Boat Launch, FCPP, Calgary, 0915-1215, Thu07Apr2016. Sunny, calm, 3 – 15°C. Combined results of three groups. Canada Goose-20 American Wigeon-2 Mallard-20 Common Goldeneye-10 Common Merganser-5 RED-TAILED HAWK-1 WILSON’S SNIPE-1 FRANKLIN’S GULL-5 Ring-billed Gull-15+ Rock Pigeon-2 Great Horned Owl-2 Downy Woodpecker-6 Hairy Woodpecker-2 Northern Flicker-7+ Black-billed Magpie-3 Common Raven-3 TREE SWALLOW-3. One male was excavating nest-hole Black-capped Chickadee-10,One pair were excavating nest-hole White-breasted Nuthatch-2+ American Robin-4 European Starling-40+ SONG SPARROW-2+ RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD-3 m. Meadow Vole-1 Muskrat-2

I'm finding it hard to get motivated to go through my archives and somewhat more recent photos at the moment. I've taken very few photos during the past month and few are remotely inspiring. I really need to get out, period, and definitely need some new places to explore. Our weather forecast has a mix of snow and rain or scattered flurries on three days this coming week, but today is supposed to be OK, so I might go for a drive as long as I don't stay on my computer too long. This photo of a male Common Goldeneye was taken at Mallard Point, Fish Creek Park, on 10 March 2015. You can just see a bit of the green iridescence on the top of its greenish black head, shining in the sunlight. "The eyes of a Common Goldeneye are gray-brown at hatching. They turn purple-blue, then blue, then green-blue as they age. By five months of age they have become clear pale green-yellow. The eyes will be bright yellow in adult males and pale yellow to white in females." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_goldeneye

Two days ago, on 1 March 2015, I went on part of a bird walk with friends, at the east end of Fish Creek Park. One of the things we wanted to check on was the pair of Great Horned Owls that have nested there for quite a few years. Sure enough, the male was perched high up in a tree not far from the nesting snag. The female was on the nest, but out of sight because of the deep cavity. All being well, once young ones hatch and grow bigger, she will gradually be forced higher and eventually she will be seen. I so rarely take photos of waterfowl any more, but took a quick couple of shots of these Common Goldeneye that were swimming in the middle of the river. They just seemed so far away, but I guess it was worth at least trying to get a shot of them. I think I'm right in saying that the bird at top right is an immature male? I can never remember the difference between "immature" and "juvenile" - need to look that up again. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_goldeneye The temperature today, 3 March 2015, is -10C (windchill -17C). Tomorrow morning is forecast to be -17C (windchill -23C) and soaring to 1C in the afternoon. After that, it looks like we should have a string of warmer days, unless things change. March is supposedly our snowiest month, but so far there is no sign of it for the next couple of weeks. This winter has been so incredibly mild for much of the time - wonderful!

Happy SPRING, everyone! I wanted a colourful image to post today, in contrast with my main photo, which shows a winter scene that would more accurately describe today, the first day of spring. Taken at the Calgary Zoo on 9 April 2013, I noticed this male Goldeneye swimming on a small pond there, glowing with spring-time colour created by the reflections from the nearby children's climbing frame : ) Looking out of my window this morning, though, one would never guess that today is the first day of spring. The wind is blowing the heavily falling snow horizontally and I suspect that my planned errands for today might not get done after all. I finally have my new COMPUTER up and running (kind of) after four weeks of total computer stress, complicated by the computer store mess-up, and surgery. Now I am discovering "the good, the bad and the ugly" of Windows 7! Definitely, the"ugly" would apply to the inability to manually rearrange photos in the order you want / need them!!! I am totally amazed and horrified that you can't do this. I searched the Internet and found forums full of endless complaints about this ridiculous issue, many going back to 2010. So, they still haven't changed it, after all this time. I would have thought it would be such a simple thing for Microsoft to change. Every time I want to find a photo, I have to look through many dozens, or more likely many hundreds, of tiny photo icons, trying to find the one photo I need. I would say that being able to arrange photos in the order I (and most photographers, no doubt!) need is one of the most important, necessary functions, so this is not good. If anyone has discovered a way to get round this or has any ideas to make it easier, I would LOVE to hear from you!

When you see a male Common Goldeneye from a distance, it's easy to think it's a black and white bird. In actual fact, the head has beautiful purple iridescence when the sun catches it. Taken at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on 25 May 2013, when I had a wonderful day out with my youngest daughter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Goldeneye www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye/id ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This handsome male Common Goldeneye popped up a little closer than I was expecting, after yet another dive : ) Thought it showed the black and white pattern and the circular, white cheek mark quite clearly. I was happy that he and his mate visited one of the Zoo ponds when I happened to be there on 9 April 2013. Usually when I see Goldeneyes, they are in the middle of the Bow River, so I can only get distant shots. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Goldeneye www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/common_goldeneye/id

... or rather, part of the family, as there were a few more young ones on Forgetmenot Pond as well, just a short distance from Mom and siblings. This Pond is at the far end of Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66) in the mountains. This man-made lake has the most gorgeous coloured water - as you can see, a beautiful turquoise. I like to take my picnic lunch here - takes maybe 45 minutes to an hour to drive from home. I tend to drive straight there to make sure I can enjoy it in sunshine in case rain clouds develop. Then I call in at various places on the drive back towards home.

Couldn't get close to this 1st winter male Common Goldeneye this morning, on a walk along the Bow River at Stanley Park. All my photos of Goldeneye are distant ones : ). Thanks to I-P-S for correcting me - I have changed the ID from a female to a 1st winter male! Much appreciated!

A very typical photo of a male Common Goldeneye.