Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Sturnus vulgaris

A group of us had a very enjoyable day on 22 April 2017, driving the roads way SW of Calgary, including the Pine Coulee Reservoir. I absolutely love the scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Almost every bird was seen at a great distance, apart from a Eurasian Collared Dove, a Western Meadowlark, and a Starling. Along one of the gravel roads, our leader stopped for us to enjoy a field of Prairie Crocuses - such a beautiful sight. We were very lucky with the weather that day, especially as the weather forecast for the coming week was for rain, rain, rain and snow.

One of these days, hopefully I will see and photograph a close Starling! They are beautiful birds, even if not at all popular. "First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id This one was seen on 3 November 2016, when I was on a birding walk at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park, all morning with friends, mainly seeing various birds that were just distant silhouettes and much too far away for photos. I will add the list of the 32 bird species seen at Burnsmead, complied by our leaders, in a comment box below. By the way, a note to any local birders - the road down to Bankside has been closed for the winter. I don't remember this happening other years. Now you have to park in the Burnsmead parking lot and walk the rest of the way if you want to go to Bankside. After the walk, I decided that I needed to see something close enough to photograph, so I drove south a little way to look for a Long-tailed Weasel that people had been seeing all last week - but, as usual, not on the day that I went, lol! After 45 minutes of waiting, there was still no sign of the little Weasel. So, my usual plan of desperation took me to a wetland in the SW of the city, where I can usually see Mallards. Sure enough, there were two pairs hanging out together, and I really appreciated their giving me the chance to take a few photos. They were swimming in and out of sunlight and shadow, giving totally different photos.

"First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling This photo was taken on 8 October 2015. Friend Sandy had asked if I wanted to go with her to join friends down at the Irrigation Canal in the city, for a birding walk. This was a long walk - three and a half hours - along both sides of the canal. As you can see in this image, it was a beautiful fall day with a lovely blue sky. Also, enough trees were still dressed in gold to give some colourful reflections in parts f the canal. The water level was very low, creating just a narrow strip of water with a wide mud bank on either side, that had attracted a number of Greater Yellowlegs and a single American Golden-plover juvenile. The latter was a new bird for me and, though I could only get a very distant, poor shot, I did post it on Flickr. To me, a juvenile American Golden Plover looks so similar to a juvenile Black-bellied Plover (from photos I've seen), but the ID for the bird we saw was given as American Golden-plover. Much of the time, there were pale, dead grasses in the background and this bird was almost impossible to see. Great camouflage. I don't often see Hooded Mergansers and, when I do see one, it's always a long way away. They are quite spectacular ducks, especially the males, who have a crest at the back of their head and can raise this black and white "hood" or lower it. The list of the 31 bird species seen (not all by me) from our leaders, Dan and David: 1. Canada Goose - 60+ 2. Mallard - 150+ 3. Northern Shoveler - 1 4. Green-winged Teal - 2 5. Hooded Merganser - 3 males 6. Common Merganser - 20+ 7. Double-crested Cormorant - 4 8. Bald Eagle - 1, immature 9. Red-tailed Hawk - 1 (Harlan’s subspecies) 10. Rough-legged Hawk - 5 (4 dark phase, 1 light phase) 11. AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER 12. Killdeer - 1 13. Greater Yellowlegs - 38+ 14. Long-billed Dowitcher - 11 15. Ring-billed Gull - 400+ 16. Herring Gull - 2 17. Rock Pigeon - 32+ 18. Downy Woodpecker - 1 19. Hairy Woodpecker - 2 20. Northern Flicker - 2 21. Merlin - 2 22. Black-billed Magpie - 15+ 23. American Crow - 6 24. Common Raven - 2 25. Black-capped Chickadee - 7 26. White-breasted Nuthatch - 1 27. American Robin - 8 28. European Starling - 18+ 29. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2 30. American Tree Sparrow - 1 31. House Finch - 1

Thanks to Jack Hayden who identified this as a juvenile European Starling. I don't think I've ever seen a juvenile before, lol! Couldn't resist the Canola field bokeh : ) On 12 July 2014, my first stop was at Frank Lake, where I saw a few more Eared Grebes with their quite large "babies". The light was really bad, so it was impossible to get photos that showed colour and details properly. Saw Soras again - love these little guys, they are so cute. A few very distant White-faced Ibis, but I lucked out later, finding a lone Ibis at a slough somewhere around the lake. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/european_starling/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling

This (blurry!) bird was seen on 12 July 2014, when I spent a few hours driving the backroads SE of Calgary, in the Frank Lake area. It's so unusual for me to see and photograph a bird that I don't recognize, meaning that I don't see a lot of less usual birds, but I saw two that day (the other turned out to be a Vesper Sparrow). If anyone can tell me the ID of the bird in my photo, that would be greatly appreciated! The background was a colourful field of Canola : ) Thanks to Jack Hayden who identified this as a juvenile European Starling. I don't think I've ever seen a juvenile before, lol! My first stop was at Frank Lake, where I saw a few more Eared Grebes with their quite large "babies". The light was really bad, so it was impossible to get photos that showed colour and details. Saw Soras again - love these little guys, they are so cute. A few very distant White-faced Ibis, but I lucked out later, finding a lone Ibis at a slough somewhere around the lake. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/european_starling/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling

This European Starling sat on this fence post long enough for me to take a handful of shots. Usually, I find they fly off straight away, so I was lucky this time. These birds need to be seen close in order to see the patterns and iridescent colours of their beautiful feathers. Taken on 14 April 2014, when I spent the day driving the backroads SE of Calgary with my daughter. "First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks." From allaboutbirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/european_starling/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Starling "The success of the European Starling in North America is nothing less than phenomenal. Although estimates vary, it is commonly believed that a total of about 100 individuals was released into Central Park, in New York City, in 1890 and 1891. The entire North American population, now numbering more than 200 million and distributed across most of the continent, is derived from these few birds. This is arguably the most successful avian introduction to this continent. Although the European Starling is most frequently associated with disturbed areas created by man, it has had a significant impact on our native avifauna. In particular, it offers intense competition for nesting cavities and has had a detrimental effect on many native cavity-nesting species. Because of the starling’s abundance and association with humans, many aspects of its natural history are known in detail, from studies both in its native range and in areas to which it was introduced. It has also served as a model for studying basic avian biology. Recent research has done much to illuminate the mechanics of flight and control of the endocrine system (e.g. see Nicholls et al. 1988; Dial." From birdsofalberta. birdsofalberta.com/List/detail.php?id=307et al. 1991) flic.kr/p/ncipuR

Starlings are not very popular birds, but they really are quite beautiful when you look closely. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't in quite the right place to bring out all the iridescent colours of the feathers, but at least the shine is there. So many of my photos at the moment are fully zoomed and heavily cropped and this is one of them : ) Taken yesterday morning on a walk with friends at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id/ac

This image is so heavily cropped, LOL, but I so rarely manage to photograph a Starling, so wanted to add this one to my Birds of Alberta Set. Though not popular birds, they have spectacular feather patterns and irridescence. Caught this one sitting on a very high wire just south west of the city a few days ago. European Starlings first appeared in Alberta in 1934 and have been regular visitors ever since. A good thing about this photo is that it reminds me what BLUE sky looks like, LOL! The last few days have been so cold and grey, sometimes with a little snow, and the forecast for the next few days points to more of the same.

Finally, a somewhat closer shot of a European Starling - even though it was at the Zoo that I saw it, LOL. These birds seem to like hanging around near the open enclosure of the Grey Wolves for some reason. There just happened to be a Raven in the background, too. Though Starlings are not very popular, they really do have beautiful feather markings. Starlings were introduced from Europe to North America in 1890 and 1891 - about 100 were released in New York's Central Park. They have become one of the most abundant city birds in North America. In 1934, they first appeared in Alberta.

Hardly the best photo, but finally I caught a Starling close enough to get some sort of shot, LOL! I would love to get a really close (uncropped, of course, ha) photo, but at least you can see some of the intricate feather details. Of all places, this was taken at the Zoo, LOL. The Starlings seem to like to hang out around the Wolf enclosure. Starlings first appeared in Alberta in 1934 and are very common.