Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Spruce

"Thirteen keen birders showed up for the trip this morning (28 January 2017) at 8:00 a.m. The initial meeting place was Fish Creek Glennfield. After car pooling, We planned to meet again at the Truck Stop south of Nanton. From here, We drove West along 533 to our starting point-William's Coulee. Most of the day was spent birding in the Western half of the Nanton Christmas Bird Count circle. Our target for the trip was Golden Eagle, and the birds didn't disappoint. We found six, plus one more bird that we thought may have been a duplicate, so was not counted. We watched a group of four adult Bald Eagles, and thirty Ravens feasting on a carcass. Sharp-tailed grouse numbers came in at 44, but the four groups that we saw only gave us quick glimpses. A late afternoon treat was a Prairie Falcon circling over the parked cars, and giving everyone a great look. A second Prairie Falcon was found in a coulee, several kilometres to the East. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day, take in the beautiful scenery, and help spot the birds. Golden Eagle 6 Bald Eagle 7 Rough-legged Hawk 1 Prairie Falcon 2 Great Horned Owl 5 Sharp-tailed Grouse 44 Gray Partridge 10 Common Raven 40 Black-billed Magpie 25 European Starling 10 Rock Pigeon 5 Tony Timmons" I absolutely love the area that we covered yesterday, and I couldn't resist going on Tony's day trip. The scenery is spectacular and, even if no birds had been seen, I would still go, just to be driven in this seemingly endless area of foothills, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Though this is winter, we were surprised at how little snow was on the ground. I think the temperature got up to about +11C, but the wind was very strong - too strong to be able to hold my camera steady. For me, the highlights of the trip were the scenery and a Spruce tree in which three (though I only saw two) Great Horned Owls were hiding. Also, I loved the sight of this herd of horses who made their way in our direction, against a beautifully wild landscape. How different this whole area would look in the summer time. A most enjoyable day, Tony! Thanks so much for giving up a Saturday for us - much appreciated! Pat, thank you for the ride out there, and Tony for the ride the rest of the day.

HAPPY CANADA DAY! Just had an email from a lady in England, so that she could confirm my address before sending me a DVD that had been made from a very old cine film that my Father had taken of the Liverpool Dock area, possibly just post war, around September 1946. In a previous email, this lady (Anne Gleave, Curator of Photographic Archives, National Museums Liverpool), said that the film "is full of maritime references and clearly identifiable as Liverpool. There is a strong focus on shipping and docks along with some lovely shots of a carter and the Liverpool Overhead Railway. Obviously a much clearer image could be obtained if it was projected using the correct spool; also if it were copied to CD or DVD more detail could be viewed." So, this cine film was sent to be transferred to DVD and now it is completed. The film has been deposited with the North West Film Archive (NWFA). Anne told me: "We now have a high definition version of your father’s film which means that we can use it for display in exhibitions (it has already been included in one exhibition, On the Waterfront, which featured your father’s film on a television screen), it really is an excellent addition to our collections." So, thank you so much, Anne (and everyone involved)! And thank you to my wonderful friends, Linda and Tony, for saving all my parents' personal belongings after my brother died in England a few years ago and shipping them out to me here in Canada. Also travelling to various places in England to personally deliver various films and photos that were lovingly taken by my father many years ago. It means so much to me and I will forever be grateful for all you did for us. Yesterday, 30 June 2016, was a rather weird day : ) In the morning, I just made it in time for a botany visit to our naturalist leader's home and garden. He and his wife have an amazing garden, full of so many kinds of flowers, including a good variety of native plants. One of my favourites is Showy Milkweed - love the cluster of individual flowers growing on a rounded head. These plants have spread over a lot of the front garden. All they need now is for Monarch butterflies to fly a bit further north than they usually do and discover this little bit of butterfly heaven. In 2012, though, it was very unusual, as people were seeing a few of these amazing butterflies in Alberta, including in Calgary. I even got to see and photograph a few Monarch caterpillars in this garden, for the very first and last time. Our leader also has a large vegetable garden. One thing that always fascinates me is the Egyptian Walking Onion. Each one seems to take on its own artistic shape and I love to photograph these - will add a photo or two, eventually. After this enjoyable visit, which included a welcome cup of coffee at the end, I went home, spent some time on the computer,. This is when a storm blew in, bringing winds and hail! At least this time I did see the storm. Two days earlier, there was apparently a terrible storm, with masses of hail and flooding in the city and its surrounding areas. Not sure if my area missed this storm or maybe it was less severe right where I live, but I heard nothing and saw no evidence of it! For once, I fell into bed around 5:00 pm, unable to stay awake one minute longer. Maybe I was in such a deep sleep that I slept right through the storm. Thankfully, the hail had ended and the weather brightened up by early evening, when I headed out for the annual Bluebird route trip led by Don Stiles. I always look forward to going with Don on his nest box route, checking on a few of the boxes and finding either Bluebird or Tree Swallow eggs or babies. Don records all the information about numbers and dates, and also demonstrates how he carefully bands the young birds. Thanks, as always, Don, for an enjoyable evening outing and thank you for all the many, many years (must be somewhere around 35?) you have spent helping to preserve our beautiful Bluebirds. We all enjoyed seeing the various other bird species during the evening, too.

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

If only birds would all sit and face the same direction at the same time, lol. At least two of these Bohemian Waxwings gave me a nice pose for a split second. They are such beautiful, sleek birds. It was cold yesterday morning, when I met friends for a three hour walk at Griffith Woods. 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. This was the best I could do, 48x zoom then cropped. 10000birds.com/cedar-waxwing-vs-bohemian-waxwing.htm 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 On a totally different note, I had a wonderful surprise yesterday. After receiving a notificiation e-mail telling me that someone had 'buzzed' me on the FriendsReunited website that I had joined quite a few years ago, I discovered two words, "Remember me?" To my amazement, it was from someone who had been in the class I taught for one year in England (my very first year of teaching, in a mixed class of Grade 5/6 (equivalent). He had been a delightful, quiet, shy boy and I remembered hm as if it was yesterday : ) I am so impressed with what he has done with his life - I'm still in awe today! Most of his 36 years of working were spent teaching. When he sent me the message yesterday, he had just finished taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - the boat he was on came in third place out of twelve! Such a good, good feeling to hear that a student from so many years ago has used his life so well!

This photo was also taken yesterday, 24 October 2015, when I went on a walk with a small group of birding friends. It was around 2C when we started our walk and it was cold. Can’t believe I was wearing two fleece jackets and a fleece vest, light jacket, jeans and long-johns, woollen hat and two pairs of gloves! I always like this view, from one of the small bridges, looking along the lagoon towards the historic Colonel Walker House, built in 1910. This building is currently used by Parks staff and volunteers as a classroom and office. “The Colonel James Walker House is an early twentieth century, two-storey building constructed of red bricks and featuring sandstone trim, a low hipped roof and a wide verandah on the south and west sides. It is located on 0.98 hectares of land backing onto a lagoon on the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in the Inglewood district of Calgary. The original brick carriage house adjacent to the building is also included in the designation.” From historicplaces.ca. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=5137 I will add the list of species seen, thanks to our leaders, Janet and Bernie. Thanks, both of you, for a most enjoyable walk in beautiful sunshine. We were especially lucky to see the Red Crossbills, Great Blue Heron, Common Redpolls and a very distant Porcupine sitting very high up in a tall tree. It was great going for lunch at the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner afterwards, too. www.blackfootdiner.ca/ Inglewood Sanctuary, Calgary. 9-11:15 a.m. Sat. Oct 24/15. Sun/cloud mix, light North wind, 2 to 5C. 1. Double-crested Cormorant - 1 2. Great Blue Heron - 1 3. Wood Duck - 13 4. Mallard - 15 5. Hooded Merganser - 1 6. Rough-legged Hawk - 1 7. Bald Eagle - 1 8. Ring-billed Gull - 20 9. Feral Pigeon - 1 10. Northern Flicker - 2 11. Downy Woodpecker - 1 12. Black-billed Magpie - 10 13. American Crow - 4 14. Black-capped Chickadee - 10 15. White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 17. European Starling - 20 18. RED CROSSBILL - 25 19. COMMON REDPOLL - 4 Mule Deer - 7 Porcupine - 1 Eastern Gray Squirrel – 2

In Canada, this weekend is a long weekend. According to the federal government, May 24 was first declared a holiday by the legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845 to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday. However, in 1952, Parliament declared that Victoria Day would be celebrated on the Monday before May 24 every year. As a result of this convention, the long weekend sometimes falls well before May 24. This year, for example, May 24 falls on a Sunday, but due to the parliamentary decree, the long weekend will run from May 16 to May 18. The May 24 weekend is thought to be the unofficial start to summer. Many people go away for the long weekend, so the roads will be really packed. After two days of dreary, overcast skies and some rain, and rain forecast for today, it’s too bad the long weekend wasn’t last weekend. Drive carefully if you will be out on the roads! I had planned to go on a half-day birding trip this morning. Woke up at 5:00 am (after an hour and a half's sleep), hoping that maybe the forecast had changed. Instead, it's raining and looks most unpleasant out there. I really don't feel like walking in this, and not be able to take any photos, so decided I would post my "daily three" to Flickr and then go back to bed. Hope I don't miss any really special sightings : ( It's back to the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl today. I had this 'telemacro' photo already edited, so only needed to edit the other two photos late last night. It was taken on 20 February 2015, roughly a week before I saw it (and its mate) for the last time. People who have been seeing it in the months since then must be keeping very quiet about it. No reports, no photos posted anywhere. Gotta love the 48x zoom on my point-and-shoot : ) Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. In the afternoon of 20 February 2015, there were just a couple of friends down in the park and, happy to say, they had already found this tiny, popcan-sized owl. This was its perch during the time I was there, giving some nice out in the open views, but all very similar. It's such a beautiful owl. This is the female, all puffed up to keep warm on a cold winter's day - the male is smaller, has a more rusty colour especially around the neck, and he has a thicker, white eyebrow line. "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca... www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

Yesterday morning, I went on a birding walk with a group of friends, to Fish Creek Park. When owls are seen, they tend to be the highlight of a walk, and yesterday we were able to see six Great Horned Owls, 4 adults and 2 young ones. The owl in this photo is a male, Dad to three young ones. We only saw two of the babies yesterday morning - this was the first time I had seen two. I had only been to see these owls once before. As males always do, they perch and rest in a tree that has a good view of the nest, keeping watch over the female and the babies. Even though this owl looks like he's fast asleep, he will be wide awake in a split second if anything, such as a Canada Goose, threatens the nest. "With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics. Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl

A special gift from me to you, if you live in a place that never gets snow, LOL!! This happened last night, so we are back to winter yet again. Hope this image cools you down!

Well, what can I say? Those of you who know me, know I love Owls : ) This was the second time I had been to see this beautiful owl family, that has three youngsters, but this time, my youngest daughter came with me : ) It was the first owl she had ever seen, so it was an exciting and amusing thing to see, including a bit of head-bobbing. It never fails to amaze me, year after year, how quickly owlets grow. These ones are now large, but still covered in those fluffy, downy feathers that make them look so cute. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rather blurry, unfortunately, but this beautiful female Great Horned Owl was sitting on her nest deep within a Spruce tree, so the lighting was not good. There were a lot of blown-out tree branches around her in the original image, so I decided to heavily crop. Apparently, she has two very young ones, but I couldn't see them when I was there that day, 22 April 2013.

A far more distant view and shot of a tiny Hummingbird than people are able to get when photographing a Hummingbird at a garden feeder, but it just feels so different to see one in the wild. This Rufous Hummingbird was photographed in north Weaselhead on June 4th. A little later that morning, we watched a couple of the more common Calliope Hummingbirds on the opposite side of the river.

Sometimes, I get a really strong feeling that I should go to a local park, so I went yesterday, despite feeling a little light-headed - and this is what I saw!! I watched this Porcupine for maybe half an hour at least, chewing away on Spruce branches, hoping that he/she might come out a little further away from the trunk. It was late afternoon and wasn't far from starting to get dark by the time I left. Haven't had a chance to go through all my (very similar!) photos to find the "best" one, if there is such a thing, but have lightened this one (for which I used flash). Love those tiny hands. What a treat!

This was the only bird photo I managed to get on our Christmas Bird Count in the Cochrane Wildlife Preserve/Water Valley area on 29th December! The few birds we did see were far away, much too distant to get photos. I don't usually see Pine Grosbeaks, so wanted to add this to my Birds of Alberta Set, even though it's a distant and rather uninspiring capture, LOL.

I can never remember which cone belongs to which kind of Spruce tree, even though I was told this just yesterday morning - this was maybe 3" in length.

I don't often get to see a sunrise, LOL, but it really is worth getting up at some ridiculously early time to be reminded of the beauty I usually miss. Spent the whole day on Saturday 22nd December, from 6:10 a.m.. (to those of you who know me well, yes, A.M.!) till early evening, on a Christmas Bird Count north-east of the city, in the Drumheller area. I hadn't been out this way for maybe 12 years, so I REALLY appreciated the chance to be driven out there! Drumheller is a fascinating area, out in the Prairies, and is the land of the badlands and the dinosaurs. Not a bad day weather-wise, though it was very cold. Dropped down to -21C, but had soared to a balmy -4C when we got back to Calgary. Don't you just hate electricity/telephone wires, LOL? They seem to be everywhere.

On my walk in North Glenmore Park yesterday afternoon, I kept coming across the bright splashes of orange made by Cotoneaster bushes. Unfortunately, Cotoneaster is spreading rapidly into natural areas, forcing out the native plants. Insects do not live on these introduced plant/bush species, so the more non-native plants/bushes that grow, the fewer insects there are for birds to feed their young. Consequently, we are losing more and more of our songbird species.