Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: food for his babies

This morning, I decided to edit and post, in one fell swoop, all of the photos that were taken on 25 June 2019, during a walk at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park. I don't usually do any evening walks, but all our birding walks have come to an end until the next session starts, towards the end of summer. As usual, I have missed most of the walks from the session that has just finished. Burnsmead is quite a good place for birds and I don't have to drive across the city to get there. I do find the walk, for me, is a bit too far, and a few of us chose to leave before the end. We lucked out with the weather, fortunately. Glad we weren't out two evenings later, when we had a huge storm that resulted in a lot of flooding in the city and around Southern Alberta. Some people had a lot of hail, too. One of the highlights for me was seeing an Osprey land on a distant, tall utility pole, with a fish in its talons. We also enjoyed watching a pair of tiny Yellow Warblers collecting delicate insects to feed their babies. These brightly coloured birds are so small and so fast and, needless to say, not easy to photograph! We were surprised to see a Northern Rough-winged Swallow perched on a fence near the path. I've only ever "seen" a handful and always in rapid flight overhead. This one just sat there and gave us the chance to take photos. I don't get out enough to search for wildflowers, so it was also nice to come across a few species in the park. Thanks, Anne B, for organizing and leading the walk. Even more appreciated as there are no more morning walks available for now.

This morning, I decided to edit and post, in one fell swoop, all of the photos that were taken on 25 June 2019, during a walk at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park. I don't usually do any evening walks, but all our birding walks have come to an end until the next session starts, towards the end of summer. As usual, I have missed most of the walks from the session that has just finished. Burnsmead is quite a good place for birds and I don't have to drive across the city to get there. I do find the walk, for me, is a bit too far, and a few of us chose to leave before the end. We lucked out with the weather, fortunately. Glad we weren't out two evenings later, when we had a huge storm that resulted in a lot of flooding in the city and around Southern Alberta. Some people had a lot of hail, too. One of the highlights for me was seeing an Osprey land on a distant, tall utility pole, with a fish in its talons. We also enjoyed watching a pair of tiny Yellow Warblers collecting delicate insects to feed their babies. These brightly coloured birds are so small and so fast and, needless to say, not easy to photograph! We were surprised to see a Northern Rough-winged Swallow perched on a fence near the path. I've only ever "seen" a handful and always in rapid flight overhead. This one just sat there and gave us the chance to take photos. I don't get out enough to search for wildflowers, so it was also nice to come across a few species in the park. Thanks, Anne B, for organizing and leading the walk. Even more appreciated as there are no more morning walks available for now.

After the mishap with my photos three days ago, on 3 August 2018, I decided to spend a bit of time yesterday afternoon at a park SW of the city. Two days earlier, while I was taking photos at Rod Handfield's, I suddenly noticed that the image seen in my FZ200's viewfinder was smaller than it should be and also that I could no longer take 48x zoom, just 24x. I had no idea why this was happening, until I got home and downloaded my photos to my computer. Somehow, no idea how, I must have caught the "burst" button, setting my camera to take multiple shots at a time - and when I say multiple, I mean MULTIPLE! I couldn't tell that the camera was taking more than one shot. I found that the default setting in my camera for burst was 60 images. So, every time I thought I was taking one photo, my camera was taking 60 basically identical shots. Sigh! Normally, I never use burst mode. Worst of all, the resolution of each shot is ridiculously tiny, so they are useless for almost anything other than displaying on a computer screen. This is a long weekend here, thanks to a Civic Holiday today (Monday). I was pretty sure that there would be plenty of people at this park, so I felt somewhat more confident about going a bit further into the forest. Also, there was a cycle race (?) going on, along the road that runs alongside the park. and there were a few more people in the area - just in case I came across a bear or a cougar! "In 2018 Civic Holiday is on Monday, August 6. The Civic Holiday is celebrated on the first Monday of August and it's a public holiday in some provinces and territories. The civic holiday is not a statutory holiday although it's a day off for many employees across the country." www.statutoryholidays.com/civic-holiday.php On the way home from the park, I stopped to see if any Mountain Bluebirds were still around. This male looked so dishevelled - I don't remember it being windy. So much work goes into feeding a young family. I took this photo from a distance and it's not as sharp as I wish it was.

Little did I know what I was going to miss when I went on a short drive SW of the city yesterday afternoon, 23 July 2018! Only when I checked the weather forecast for today did I see photos and videos of the severe hail storm that hit the city while I was gone! Of course, it may not have covered my part of the city. When I was taking photos yesterday, very black clouds did start rolling in, as seen in photo #5 that I posted this morning. However, I had no idea what was happening back in the city. It was windy, too, and COLD, which actually felt really, really good. www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/severe-weather-so... The forecast for today gives an 80% chance of thunder storms for this afternoon. I had planned on finally getting out on another botany walk with friends, but I'm not sure I want to risk getting soaked. The temperature at the moment is just 13C at 10:45 am.

This morning, I am posting three photos from my archives, all taken in June 2014. I just haven't been getting out and, on the very occasional time I have been out with my camera, there has been so little to photograph. As for Mountain Bluebirds, I have seen one very distant male so far this spring. Ha, is it really spring? We had yet another snowfall yesterday! In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... This photo was taken on a drive along some of the backroads SW of Calgary, on 21 June 2014. This male Mountain Bluebird was busy helping to catch insects to feed to their babies. He caught a very nice Grasshopper this time : ) It had rained the few days before this, so I really, really wanted to get out for a short time, even though I needed to get my things ready for a very early start the next morning, for a day trip with a group of friends, to Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Six days ago, on 6 June 2015, my place was beginning to get uncomfortably warm inside. That meant I needed air-conditioning and the only place to find it was in my car. So, off I went along the backroads SW of the city. I wasn't expecting to see anything different, but there were certain birds that I was certain I would see - birds that I really enjoy photographing. I really do need to drive somewhere different, but this drive is just a fairly short drive and fits nicely into an afternoon or early evening. The "usual" included Mountain Bluebirds, and this male (head feathers ruffled a little by the slight breeze) obliged, bringing a fat, hairy caterpillar for his babies. Dad seems to bring the larger, heavier insects, especially Grasshoppers, while Mom tends to choose lighter, more delicate ones. Funny how the nearby Tree Swallows will sometimes "tease" their Bluebird neighbours by flying and landing very near the Bluebird nesting box. Out of nowhere, the brilliant flash of blue of the male flies at top speed to chase the Tree Swallows away. Yesterday, I noticed the female Bluebird landed just a couple of feet from the Tree Swallow nesting box and just sat there with a Swallow on either side of her. No idea why she did this, as it annoyed the Swallows, and of course she was chased away. In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... Other sightings on my drive included the usual Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Terns, a pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the bright sunlight, a distant Coot feeding her little ones, a Pied-billed Grebe who was annoying an adult Coot who kept racing across the top of the water to chase the Grebe further away. My final sighting was a Coyote in a field of Dandelions. By the time I had pulled over and raised my camera, it was already heading off in the opposite direction, stopping once to look back as Coyotes tend to do. I almost forgot to mention the highlight of my drive! Not far from home, I noticed a Canada Goose in the distance, standing in the grasses right at the edge of the road. I thought it might just step out in front of me, so I stopped in my lane on this fairly busy road and turned on my hazard flashers. Sure enough, it did exactly what I was suspecting - and it was followed by its family of half a dozen or so goslings walking in a very disciplined single file, with Mom/Dad bringing up the rear. Fortunately, the cars coming behind me in the other lane also slowed down and stopped till everyone was safely to the other side. May sound silly, but I find it such an amazing, humbling experience when this happens : )

I just needed a change of colour and subject, so had to dig into my archives last night. Thought this would be a change from winter scenes, old barns, and tiny owl images! Last summer (2014), I was lucky enough to take so many photos of Mountain Bluebirds, many of which I've never posted. This photo was taken on a drive along some of the backroads SW of Calgary, on 21 June 2014. This male Mountain Bluebird was busy helping to catch insects to feed to their babies. He caught a very nice Grasshopper this time : ) It had rained the few days before this, so I really, really wanted to get out for a short time, even though I needed to get my things ready for a very early start the next morning, for a day trip with a group of friends, to Dinosaur Provincial Park. In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... Once again, sleep was more important, so I'm posting really late again today, shortly after noon.

Taken on a drive along some of the backroads SW of Calgary, on 21 June 2014. This male Mountain Blackbird was busy helping to catch insects to feed to their babies. He caught a very nice Grasshopper this time : ) It had rained the few days before this, so I really, really wanted to get out for a short time, even though I needed to get my things ready for a very early start the next morning, for the day trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park. In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...