Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014June01

I rarely see Dark-eyed Juncos and get photos, but this little Dark-eyed Junco sat for a short while. Probably the best chance I've ever had, to photograph a Junco, though unfortunately this cropped shot looks far too grainy on my screen (24"). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-eyed_junco www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/dark-eyed_junco/id Sunday, 25 May 2014, was the annual May Species Count, and it went really well. There were seven people in my group and we travelled in two vehicles, covering a large area SW of Calgary and W of Priddis. The Count lasted from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the weather was mostly clear but clouded up by noon, with a short shower while we were having lunch at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. Heavy clouds for the rest of the day, calm, 9-18°C, with 88km travelled by car. 69 bird species were found, plus 15 White-tailed Deer and two Moose. Most species were seen from far away, but I did manage to get just a few photos of several of the species. A good day : ) Thanks for driving Rob and myself, Phil! Much appreciated! Each year on this Count, a highlight is calling in to see the much sought-after Evening Grosbeaks at Barb Castell's acreage. They didn't let us down, and even gave us some chances to get a few photos. Feeder photos are not my favourite, but we were also able to catch them in the trees, too. After the Count ended, it was pointed out that we could return to the city by one of two different routes. If we had chosen the other route, we would have missed the other highlight of the day - a Great Gray Owl! It didn't stay around for more than a few minutes, as it was busy hunting, but we did manage to get a handful of shots. We also saw a Ring-necked Pheasant in a field, just within camera range. I will add the list (compiled by the Count leader, Gus Yaki), of the 69 bird species seen, for my own memory. It probably won't be of much interest to most of you : ) I should add that I didn't see every single one of these species. Canada Goose-60 ad/30 juv. Gadwall-3 Mallard-19 Blue-winged Teal-16 Cinnamon Teal-2 Northern Shoveler-10 Green-winged Teal-6 Redhead-2 Ring-necked Duck-9 Lesser Scaup-19 Bufflehead-10 Barrow's Goldeneye-2 Ruddy Duck-10 Ring-necked Pheasant-1 heard. Common Loon-1 Pied-billed Grebe-1 Great Blue Heron-1 Swainson's Hawk-1 Red-tailed Hawk-7 Sora-5 American Coot-6 Killdeer-3 Spotted Sandpiper-3 Wilson's Snipe-10 Wilson's Phalarope-5 Black Tern-22 Mourning Dove-1 Great Gray Owl-2 Red-naped Sapsucker-1 Downy Woodpecker-1 Northern Flicker-1 Western Wood-Pewee-2 Least Flycatcher-7 Eastern Phoebe-1 Eastern Kingbird-4 Warbling Vireo-1 Blue Jay-7 Black-billed Magpie-8 American Crow-7 Common Raven-6 Tree Swallow-213 Barn Swallow-4 Black-capped Chickadee-12 Mountain Chickadee-5 Boreal Chickadee-2 White-breasted Nuthatch-1 House Wren-7 Ruby-crowned Kinglet-5 Mountain Bluebird-24 American Robin-12 Gray Catbird-2 European Starling-7 Tennessee Warbler-6 Yellow Warbler-3 Northern Waterthrush-1 Chipping Sparrow-9 Clay-colored Sparrow-26 Savannah Sparrow-3 Song Sparrow-2 Dark-eyed Junco-3 Red-winged Blackbird-164 Brewer's Blackbird-11 Common Grackle-8 Brown-headed Cowbird-9 Baltimore Oriole-1 Purple Finch-2 American Goldfinch-1 Evening Grosbeak-15 House Sparrow-4 Red Squirrel-4 Richardson's Ground Squirrel-1 Columbian Ground Squirrel-1 Meadow Vole-1 White-tailed Deer-15 Moose-2

This particular Black Bear gave us a great chance for some photos. Even from the safety of the car, though, I still found my feelings changed when the Bear turned from slowly walking parallel to the road, to taking a step or two towards us. It was just a brief moment, and the Bear showed no interest in us at all. I'll add here that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we'd had in about eight months. The sun shone most of the time and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair to the bear, too, as it's almost always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was (as always) happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )