Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014April05

Photographed this spectacular Ferruginous Hawk at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge in southern Alberta, on 16 May 2009. These large hawks are rare to uncommon in Alberta from April to September. I have seen several of them in the wild, which is pretty special, but only from a very long distance and much too far for photos. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferruginous_Hawk

This Great Gray Owl, seen in Fish Creek Park on 17 February 2014, was such a treat. Normally, we never even get this species of owl within the city at all, but 2014 has been different, with the sighting of this individual plus another Great Gray Owl seen at Griffith Woods, which I was also lucky enough to see and photograph. They are such amazing owls to watch, especially when they are hunting. Their focus and concentration is superb. Other than an occasional glance in our direction, the owl completely ignored us - you see this with Great Gray Owls everywhere, as they are quite tolerant, for the most part, of people. This owl was high in a tree, though it looks like it was very close and more or less at eye level. Unfortunately, no one has reported seeing this owl since around that date. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl