Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Family: Recurvirostridae

My thoughts continue to be with all the people of Fort McMurray, Alberta, who are being devastated by a massive wildfire at the moment. All 80,000 people have been evacuated, many leaving everything behind. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-fire-social... Four days ago, on 2 May 2016, I was incredibly fortunate to be able to witness about 30 (?) Sharp-tailed Grouse, mainly male with just a handful of females, displaying at their "lek" or communal dancing ground. On this particular day, five of us went to see this. There had been a couple of possible chances for me to get out there, but these had fallen through. Then, out of the blue, friend Dorothy phoned me, asking if I had been able to get to the lek yet. She said that if I hadn't been, that her husband Stephen would be willing to drive me there! This was such a wonderful surprise, though anyone who really knows this couple already knows what amazingly kind and generous people they are. I was so happy to get this unexpected chance and the three of us had a great morning, in good weather and in good company. Two young men also went, making their own way there. Delightful guys, highly respectful of not only the Grouse, but also of us, constantly moving form their seats to allow us to get our turn, and vice versa - there are only three tiny windows from which to shoot. They could so easily have left the 'hide/blind ahead of us when the Grouse had all left, but instead they waited till we were all packed up and then made sure that we were all able to safely get over the very awkward stile at the fence line. Having been out there last year, on 13 April 2015, I knew of this problem and had bought a three-step step ladder a few weeks ago, just in case I was able to go sometime this spring. This made so much difference, thank goodness, especially as I was really tired after staying up all night in order to leave at a very unearthly hour of the morning - we had to be there at least an hour before sunrise! So glad we had a nice, sunny day - the day I went a year ago, the weather was overcast and not good for photos. This year, I got to see the Grouse in beautiful sunrise light, too. Of course, the 'problem' of clumps of tall grass was exactly the same this year, lol, keeping the birds somewhat hidden, but every once in a while, a bird would come out into the open. Most of the time, they were quite distant, but we were very lucky that several did give us a closer view. Such magnificent birds, with their yellow 'eyebrows', purple patch (which is revealed when the males are dancing) below the side of the neck on the males, and glorious feather pattern. Their dance display to attract the females is so fascinating to watch. There is also more information about Grouse and their leks under my photos of these Sharp-tailed Grouse. If you have time, the following 2:30 minute YouTube video by the Alberta Conservation Association is very good for showing the action of these birds. There are several still shots first and then the video starts. Pretty amazing! The birds remind me of a child's wind-up toy : ) youtu.be/vRUVIU4UfYo Just after we got back to our cars, another car came along the road and stopped to talk with us. It turned out that this gentleman was indirectly connected to the lek. He voiced his huge concern at how many people had been out there this spring, feeling that this was not good for the Grouse. He said that hopefully no more people would be going, so that the Grouse would be undisturbed in their mating. We agreed with him and thought that maybe people should not be allowed to visit every year, but perhaps every two or three years, if that. I will pass on his words and great concern to our Naturalist leader who organizes these visits. After we left the lek, we travelled a few nearby backroads, hoping to see a Western Meadowlark. We saw 10! It had been so funny, while we sat in the blind at the lek, a Meadowlark was somewhere nearby and sang for us for about four hours! When we at last emerged into the sunlight, there was no sign of it anywhere. We did manage to get a few distant shots of two or three of them. We also stopped at one small slough to take a few photos of the American Avocets. Very elegant shorebirds. "With its elegant profile and striking coloration, the American Avocet is unique among North American birds. In summer it can be found in temporary and unpredictable wetlands across western North America where it swings its long upturned bill through the shallow water to catch small invertebrates." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Avocet/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_avocet Thank you so much, Stephen and Dorothy, for offering to take me - so very kind and thoughtful of you, as always! The stop for having our sandwiches was great and the muffins you brought along with you ended the morning very nicely.

In Canada, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. This happened to be on 10 May 2015 this year, and my daughter had asked if I wanted to spend the day out with our cameras, looking for birds and old barns and anything else that was interesting and/or beautiful. I couldn't imagine a nicer way to spend this special day : ) We started off locally, visiting a wetland in the SW of the city, where we had good or reasonable views of several different bird species, including Lesser Scaup, Redheads, a pair of Red-necked Grebe, a Killdeer, Savannah Sparrow, Wigeon, Common Grackle (which I love to see) and, of course, a few Mallards. From that location, we drove some of my familiar backroads SW of the city, where we saw a Snipe walking across a gravel road (it had such a cute way of walking), another pair of Red-necked Grebe, a quick glimpse of a Mountain Bluebird, and a pair of juvenile Swans (very distant, but I think they were Trumpeters). Our drive then took us further south than I had ever driven before. We knew we wanted to see an old grain elevator at Azure (near Cayley) and we were able to find it. Drove a few of the country backroads in that whole area, eventually ending up at Silver Lake, where we watched some American Avocets (including the one in this photo) and Black-necked Stilts. I'd never even heard of this lake before. From there, we drove the backroads east of Highway 2, all the way north to Frank Lake, where we saw Eared Grebes, a Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, Coots, Canada Geese (of course!), and RAIN! A lot of the day, apart from when we first started the drive, was overcast and we did have a bit of rain on and off. There were some rather black clouds seen from Frank Lake. Managed to get a few photos of a couple of different Swainson's Hawks during the day. Twice, when we had a great opportunity to get photos, they were disturbed by a vehicle driving by. The driver of one car thought it would be fun to drive past as noisily as he could to make the hawks fly. We called in at the Saskatoon Farm on the way home, hoping to have a delicious meal there, or at least we drove as far as the entrance. The parking lots were full and overflowing and there was a constant stream of new arrivals. No idea if it was because it was Mother's Day, or perhaps there was a wedding being held there. Whatever the reason, we knew that there was no chance of ever getting a table in the restaurant. Thanks for the treat at Tim Horton's, Rachel : ) And thank you for spending the whole day with me - it made a lovely Mother's Day!

Yesterday, 4 May 2015, we finally had a day without strong winds. I decided that it might be a good day to drive SE of the city again to see what I could find. The last few times I had been there recently, the wind had been so strong, making it almost impossible to take photos. The very first thing I saw when I reached the gravel road off 23 at Frank Lake, was a beautiful male Western Meadowlark, perched on a fence post. I only see one occasionally, though yesterday I did see a second one later in the afternoon. At, or near, the bird blind/hide, there were a few Eared Grebes, Coots, Canada Geese, numerous and noisy Franklin's Gulls, a Ruddy Duck, a few Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, several Western Grebes (further away and barely within camera range) and American Avocets. White-faced Ibis were either down on the ground in the distance or flying around, mixed in with the Franklin's Gulls. After visiting the blind, I drove around the lake, seeing the second Meadowlark and, to my delight, a pair of Long-billed Curlews that were extremely well-camouflaged with the stubble and dried grasses in a field. I'm sure I have seen one before, probably through someone's scope, but never really "seen" one properly. Managed to get a few shots, though the birds don't show up very clearly. Along one of the roads, friend Greg passed me, going in the same direction. He stopped briefly and said he was on his way to help mutual friend, George. A few hours later, I saw a photo on Facebook of the predicament that George had found himself in. When I say his vehicle was stuck in deep mud, I really mean STUCK, lol! Not sure how he managed to find such wet, muddy ground, as everywhere else is bone dry. Well done, George! The things we birders/photographers sometimes go through to get photos! At the end of the lake drive, I decided to drive north on the Blackie road, stopping at one of the sloughs there, where I was able to get photos of the American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts (seen in this photo. Of course, the background would have been far better if the birds had been in the water, but I was just happy to see them. So, all in all, an enjoyable, quite rewarding afternoon, spent in one of my favourite areas. And no wind, which felt wonderful! "A striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-necked_stilt

Just had a brief problem with Flickr or with the Internet. After I'd typed the description for this photo, I got the message that Flickr was unable to save it. Then I had problems being able to open Flickr again. All seems OK now. After a rather disappointing day on 10 August, I decided yesterday to drive SE of the city and see what I could find. Some of the small sloughs had dried up or were quickly shrinking. The area near the blind at Frank Lake was also drying up. However, I was happy to see Barn Swallows, Eared Grebes, Coots, American Avocets including the one in my photo, and various shorebird species. Happened to notice the deer in my next photo making its way through a huge patch of Foxtails that were swaying to and fro in the wind. Was also glad to see a couple of Maximilians Sunflower plants at Frank Lake - all the rest looked like they had been dug up recently. To stop them spreading - or for someone's garden?? I've looked forward to seeing these flowers for quite a few years, so was happy to see that at least a few of them remain. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_avocet/lifehistory