Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Buteo lagopus

I don't remember the weather forecast saying that we would be getting snow today, 28 October 2016 - I'm sure it only said rain. Anyway, it's snowing again this morning, with a temperature of 0°C (32°F) and windchill -2°C (28°F). Usually, I don't have three long day outings within five days, except during the Christmas Bird Counts, but two days ago, I was lucky enough to go with friends, Shirley and Anne, for a day's outing SW and SE of the city. We had a very early start, 7:00 am, and drove west of the city to start with, driving to the far end of Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66). While at Elbow Falls, we saw a pair of American Dippers flying from rock to rock. They were vocalizing, too, which I had never heard before. Though there seemed to be very few birds to be seen all day, we were so lucky to see a total of four Moose - two at each of two different locations SW of the city. It is always nice to see a Moose, and to see four in one day was a real treat. The second two were fairly young ones. From Elbow Falls Trail, we drove down through the Millarville area and finally ended up east of High River. We found one of the Great Horned Owls that everyone had been following earlier in the year, along with a nearby little American Tree Sparrow. We did see a few Hawks, including this very distant Rough-legged Hawk on a hay bale and a very dark morph Hawk later in the day. A great day, ladies - thank you so much for inviting me along and thanks so much, Shirley, for driving! Greatly appreciated. So glad we didn't have today's weather instead!

It's 10:30 am on 2 February 2016, and there are only two new photos from contacts showing on my Contacts' page. That seems very strange. All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 1 February 2016, when I spent the day east of the city with friends Sandy and Debbie. We were hoping to see a few owls and ended up seeing three species, which was quite a treat – a distant Snowy Owl that was perched on a round, white tank of some sort on the ground, an extremely well-hidden Short-eared Owl and an equally well-hidden Great Horned Owl. Pretty useless for photos, but lovely to see. We were also treated to this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a power pole along one of the backroads. "The Rough-legged Hawk spends the summer capturing lemmings on the arctic tundra, tending a cliffside nest under a sun that never sets. Winter is the time to see this large, open-country hawk in southern Canada and the U.S., where it may be perched on a pole or hovering over a marsh or pasture on the hunt for small rodents. Found globally across northern latitudes, this species occurs in both light and dark forms." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id Not much in the way of other birds, other than endless Black-billed Magpies, a few Ravens and a large flock or two of dainty Common Redpolls. The latter are usually almost impossible to photograph, they are so fast and constantly on the move. The photo I've posted today is a messy shot but these little Redpolls, with the red spot on their forehead, do look rather cute hidden among a tangle of thin branches. The day was a mix of sun and lots of cloud, but very pleasant. It was interesting to see how some areas had quite a lot of snow on the ground, but others had the golden stubble showing in fairly bare fields. The odd barn or two offered a few photo opportunities, too, of course. Many thanks for driving us on this outing, Sandy! Thank goodness that you love driving and that you have a vehicle in much, much newer and better shape than mine or Debbie's : )

I was running late yesterday and had the feeling that I was going to be too late to see the little Long-tailed Weasel - and I was right. No sign of it at all after I arrived, though it had been seen by others earlier. On my drive back through the park, I was lucky enough to see a beautiful female White-tailed Deer with her two young ones, feeing on the dead shrubs around them. They are well-camouflaged when their heads are down low. A little further on, I almost missed this Rough-legged Hawk that was perched at the top of a tree. After trying to get photos through the windscreen, which just doesn't work, I got out of the car, expecting the bird to take off. Luckily, it stayed right where it was. We have a foggy morning today, with a temperature of -6C (windchill -10C). Thankfully, no snow for us here, but how I feel for all the people in the US (where all 50 states fall to freezing or below today!), especially those who live in Buffalo. "Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard Tuesday as more than 150 centimetres (60") fell in parts of the city by Wednesday morning. Authorities said snow totals by the afternoon could top 180 centimetres (71") in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another potential 30 to 60 centimetres (12" to 24") expected by Thursday." From The Weather Network.

The day before yesterday (25 January 2014), I spent an amazing day with friends Cathy and Terry, south of Calgary. I had found an e-mail on my computer around 12:45 a.m., just as I was about to turn off my computer for the night. Did I want to go birding tomorrow and, if so, to meet at 8:00 a.m.? A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. I had been missing being out and taking photos, feeling lethargic and extremely tired, so this invite was welcomed with open arms. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Along one of the roads, we came across this Rough-legged Hawk (?) that was perched on one of the huge power pylons. Can you believe that we saw 17 owls? SEVENTEEN! I didn't photograph quite every single one, but my friends will let me know exactly how many of each owl we found, once they've gone through their photos. It was something like 10 Snowy Owls and 7 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 16 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance!

Such a very heavily cropped photo, but I can get away with it at this size displayed on the computer. It's such a rare thing that I actually manage to find hawks when I'm driving and yesterday I saw about 7 or 8 of them just south of the city. All were circling way, way up in the sky, except for this Rough-legged Hawk who perched in a tree by the side of the road. Guess when a large, noisy truck went zooming by on an otherwise empty road! Luckily, I got this shot before it flew!

Another photo of a Rough-legged Hawk, taken south of the city when I went for a wonderful day out with Flickr friends, Ron and Trish. Still feeling so grateful for the chance to see these amazing birds of prey and get a few photos : ) Lol, I got a lot of blurry photos and a lot of missed shots, but was lucky enough to get several that came out OK. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id

... at least for a short while. Had a great day two days ago, when Flickr friends, Ron and Trish, invited me to go with them to look for Snowy Owls NE and E of the city. No luck with the Snowy Owls, but I was thrilled to bits that we saw at least 35 Rough-legged Hawks to the E and S of the city! Here is one of them, sitting on a fence post just long enough to get a quick shot. Most of the Hawks were really skittish, but I managed to get a few half-decent shots of a handful of them. Unlike Ron and Trish, I don't go for in-flight shots - just can't do it with my little point-and-shoot, though I really should practice : ) Much as I love close shots (of anything), I rather liked seeing this Hawk in its beautiful surroundings. How lucky we are to live in this province! www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id

Had a great day yesterday, when Flickr friends, Ron and Trish, invited me to go with them to look for Snowy Owls NE and E of the city. No luck with the Snowy Owls, but I was thrilled to bits that we saw at least 35 Rough-legged Hawks to the E and S of the city! Here is one of them, sitting for five seconds on a typical, unphotogenic perch. So many of the Hawks were really skittish, but I managed to get a few shots. Unlike Ron and Trish, I don't go for in-flight shots - just can't do it with my little point-and-shoot : ) Thanks so much, you guys, for giving me such an enjoyable day out with you! So much appreciated!

Another shot of this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk, which flew ahead of us (Ron and Trish, who so kindly took me along with them for a wonderful day of birding) as we drove slowly along one of the roads south of Calgary. This wasn't exactly the most photogenic of perches, but the Hawk actually sat long enough to get a shot or two. Usually, they are sitting on a fence post, at the top of a tall electricity pole, on a hay bale in the middle of a field, or in a tree. So many skittish birds that day : )

Another shot of one of the Rough-legged Hawks that I was fortunate enough to see when Flickr friends, Ron and Trish, took me with them east and south of Calgary on November 20th, to look for Snowy Owls (none) and Hawks (35+). These Rough-legged Hawks were so skittish and almost always flew off as the car slowly approached. A few times, one would stay a second or two on its perch, barely long enough to focus my camera when we had pulled to a stop. Took many blurry photos, lol, but am so thankful for the ones that did come out sharp enough (though this one is a little soft). Someone is coming here today, to take a look at my very old heating furnace and water heater and give me an estimate for new ones. This just has to be done for safety reasons, as some furnaces in other units developed cracks about five years ago, so this should have been done at least three years ago. Better to be safe than sorry! Hoping that he can install very soon, as lots of Christmas Bird Counts start in about 12 days' time and I really don't want to miss the ones I usually go on, if possible. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id 7:00 p.m. - Hold Your Clicks a moment please!

A photo taken yesterday, when a very kind friend invited me along for a day east of the city, looking for Snowy Owls. One distant Snowy just south of Highway 22X and another one - a pure white male - east of the city. No photos of them, but we were lucky to find this Rough-legged Hawk at the top of a tree. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen! "A hawk of the North, the Rough-legged Hawk breeds in Arctic tundra and taiga regions around the northern hemisphere. Both dark and light forms are common, with many birds intermediate between the extremes." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/id

Taken from the back passenger side seat,on the far side of the road to where this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk was perched : ). Definitely cropped, but I was still happy to get it : ). This was seen on Sunday, while doing a Christmas Bird Count in the Nanton area, south of Calgary.

This Rough-legged Hawk has only one wing and spends his time in the owl aviary at the Calgary Zoo. It would not have survived as an injured bird in the wild.

REALLY bad quality image, but every once in a while I will TRY and get an in-flight shot. It never works with my little camera, but I'm not sure if this is the first photo I've got of a Rough-legged Hawk in the wild, so I did want to add it to my Birds of Alberta Set. I thought that if I can get my brain to remember this image that shows the dark "elbows" then maybe there is a chance that I'll be able to ID one next time. Seen "wind-hovering" on the way back to Calgary from the Mount Lorette area (Kananaskis).

I decided to drive westwards from the city towards the mountains this afternoon. Though the day started off rather chilly, I discovered that the temperature was warming up nicely. Hardly a sign of snow on the mountains peaks at this eastern edge of the Rockies and just a handful of tiny patches of snow at my destination. Snow will arrive in the city any time now, so I thought this would probably be my last drive westwards till next year. I like to turn off the main Highway 22X along some of the gravel side roads. Endless formations of Canada Geese were flying in the distance and I thought I'd try a few in-flight shots, which I hardly ever try. However, my thoughts turned to this gorgeous Rough-legged Hawk instead. As soon as I had taken a number of shots and watched it fly from tree to tree and circle the fields, I started walking back to my car. I caught a quick glimpse of what looked like some kind of small raptor, probably a Falcon, dive into the field at my side. That, of course, is when two vehicles came speeding along the rough road, churning up a dust storm. I was really lucky when the bird flew up to an electricity pole and I was able to get two blurry, in-flight ID shots. I'll have to check, but I think it might have been a Prairie Falcon, which would be nice.