Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Warbler

Just added another 13 extra photos tonight, taken on Day 4 of our trip to Point Pelee (Ontario) and Tadoussac (Quebec). I did not take many photos on this last day at Point Pelee. This was a special bird to see, to our delight. The few photos I did manage to get are just about fit to post and, as I will probably never see this species again, I have posted several shots. "These birds are declining in numbers due to loss of habitat. They are also parasitized by the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), or outcompeted for nest sites by the house wren (Troglodytes aedon). It is listed as endangered in Canada." From Wikipedia. Day 4 of our holiday was 10 May 2018. We had a ridiiculously early start to the day, as we had been told that American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) tend to gather in and around the hotel parking lot. That information was just too good to ignore, so I think it was sometime after 4:00 am that we were out there, searching. As it turned out, in vain, though we did hear two individuals vocalizing in the dark bushes across the road. The American Woodcock is "a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcocks spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_woodcock This last day was spent at Pt Pelee, walking a few trails including at The Tip again. We also drove to The Onion Fields, just north of Pt Pelee, between Hillman Marsh and Pt Pelee, where we had a great sighting - a very, very distant male Snowy Owl, sitting way out in a field, next to a white post!! Awful photos, but will eventually post one of them, just for the record. As always, I did not manage to see every species of bird this day, but was happy to see at least some of them! The next morning, 11 May, we had to do the very long drive from Pelee to Toronto, where we caught a plane to Quebec City, arriving there at 2:45 pm. From there, we had a long drive east to reach the small village of Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence Seaway. There, we would be staying for a week at the summer 'cabin' of one of our group of friends. For a more detailed account of our two-week trip east, see www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/45038233955/in/datepost...

Yay, I actually managed to get a photo of a Warbler yesterday evening! Yes, it's poor quality, but I gave up on finding Warblers and especially on ever getting photos of them, a few years ago. Basically, I never go for walks any more, which is not good, but yesterday evening, I pushed myself out the front door and drove to Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park. People have been seeing all sorts of birds there recently, thanks to bird migration. Several friends had the same idea, too, and they were very helpful and patient, telling me where this tiny Canada Warbler and a Redstart female/juvenile kept moving to. As any birder/photographer knows, Warblers are not easy (almost impossible!) to see and photograph! A huge amount of patience is needed. "A colorful, active warbler of northern forests, the Canada Warbler spends little time on its breeding grounds. It is one of the last warblers to arrive north in the spring, and one of the first to leave in the fall, heading early to its South American wintering grounds." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Warbler/id I also walked along the edge of the Bow River, just as far as the bridge, which is where I took the photo of a Yellowlegs, which I posted this morning. A Gull sp. was the only other thing I photographed. At least one Osprey was circling the river from way, way up.

A quick, less than sharp, shot from driver's seat out through the passenger window of a bird that I usually see only at a great distance, flitting constantly. Taken yesterday, 29 April 2017, when I spent the day with my daughter. She was not up to a long day's drive, so we went to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast and a wander round their grounds. Afterwards, we called in at Spruce-it-Up Garden Centre, which neither of us had visited before. From there, I drove westwards as far as the Priddis area, where we had hoped to see a few birds. Not much to be seen, though this little Yellow-rumped Warbler was most welcome, plus a beautiful, but rather distant, Rough-legged Hawk and several Mountain Bluebirds. "Yellow-rumped Warblers are impressive in the sheer numbers with which they flood the continent each fall. Shrubs and trees fill with the streaky brown-and-yellow birds and their distinctive, sharp chips. Though the color palette is subdued all winter, you owe it to yourself to seek these birds out on their spring migration or on their breeding grounds. Spring molt brings a transformation, leaving them a dazzling mix of bright yellow, charcoal gray and black, and bold white." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-rumped_Warbler/id Typical weather - a mix of sun, cloud, rain and even snowflakes, but at least it didn't rain heavily all day. Thanks for an enjoyable day, Rachel! Lovely to spend it with you. I was so short of sleep and ended up sleeping all morning today, which is why I'm posting rather late. If I have time, I might just add later a few more photos taken yesterday, so that I can get back to dealing with my Trinidad & Tobago captures. Two back-to-back day trips coming up, though, so editing time will be very scarce. I have to get up in the middle of the night for the second trip, or I may even stay up the whole night to make sure I don't oversleep. What we birders/photographers do in the hope of taking photos!

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 28 June 2016, when I went with friends, Dorothy and Stephen, to Bow Valley Provincial Park They are leading a day trip out there in the near future and wanted to do a dry run and very kindly invited me to go with them. These mountains are the first ones you come to, when you drive westwards on Highway 1A from Calgary. Mt. Yamnuska is a spectacular sight, and very popular with rock-climbers and hikers. I've never hiked up there - and am never likely to : ) The flat area at the foot of these mountains is Bow Valley Provincial Park, very popular with botanists and birders. It is less than an hour's drive west from Calgary. The view from the particular spot seen in my first photo is so beautiful - my favourite view in Bow Valley Provincial Park. We stood for a while and soaked it all in. The Many Springs trail is perhaps the most rewarding in the park. On the way out of the park, we stopped at Middle Lake and walked down the path as far as the lake. We were horrified at how low the water level was - we had seen the same thing at Many Springs, too. We saw a reasonably good variety of wildflowers, including Western Wood Lilies, Yellow Lady's-slippers, Sticky False Asphodel, and lots of Gaillardia. Though the end of June is usually the best time to go for the wildflowrs, you still never know what you will find. We barely had a spring this year, it was so hot and so dry, more like summer. Birds were much harder to find, even though we heard them. There were quite a few small birds flitting about, but our best sightings were of this brightly coloured male Yellow Warbler and some kind of flycatcher near the boardwalk at Many Springs. Both were on the move constantly, catching insects, though I did manage to get a few less-than-good photos. One of my Warbler shots made me smile when I saw it on my computer. The bird was perched, with a beak full of insects, right next to a large spider's web. Kind of robbing ones neighbour. The weather forecast for yesterday mentioned the risk of thunderstorms, but we were so lucky. The sun shone all day and the sky was full of puffy clouds. Once our visit was over and we were ready to drive back to Calgary, a bit of rain did arrive. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such an enjoyable day! It was a real treat to go to the mountains, as I so rarely go. www.albertaparks.ca/bow-valley-pp/ The link below is a map showing the turn off to the park and the layout of the lake areas. The roads at the junction with highway 1A are quite confusing! x-powered.com/camping/maps/BowValleyPP_Map.gif

Lol, NO NEED TO COMMENT! I told myself that no matter how bad the only shot I managed to get of this beautiful little Hooded Warbler turned out, I was going to post it : ) And BAD it is, probably the worst photo I've ever posted. However, I think this is the most sought-after bird here at the moment and I'm just happy to have caught a very quick glimpse of it and get even an extremely poor shot. You can see where it got its name from, despite the blur. These Warblers' range is over in the east, but somehow this male has ended up so far west, in Alberta. A rarity, for sure. "The hooded warbler is a small bird and mid-sized warbler, measuring 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighing 9–12 g (0.32–0.42 oz). It has a plain olive/green-brown back, and yellow underparts. Their outer rectrices have whitish vanes. Males have distinctive black hoods which surround their yellow faces; the female has an olive-green cap which does not extend to the forehead, ears and throat instead. Males attain their hood at about 9–12 months of age; younger birds are essentially identical to (and easily confused with) females. The song is a series of musical notes which sound like: wheeta wheeta whee-tee-oh, for which a common mnemonic is "The red, the red T-shirt" or "Come to the woods or you won't see me". The call of these birds is a loud chip." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_warbler

A really, really BAD photo, I know, but this is the first (and very quick!) shot I've taken of a Tennessee Warbler, and I wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta 9 album. 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. This was when we saw this little Tennessee Warbler, not far from the parking lot. 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!

Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and got home at something like 12:15 a.m. midnight yesterday (Thursday, 15 May 2014), 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 happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) 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 made many stops and at each one, we usually came across something different. This time, it was a little Yellow-rumped Warbler, which looked like a black silhouette until I brightened the image. They are such pretty birds. I usually see the Myrtle form, which has a white throat, but this yellow-throated bird is an Audubon's form. (Thanks, Dee!) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-rumped_Warbler www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-rumped_warbler/id One thing that was proven to me while we were away was that taking photos, even with a fairly light-weight point-and-shoot camera, is what is either causing, or making much worse, the awful pain in my arms and shoulders. Not a good thing, and it made it very unpleasant, every second of the day, unfortunately. In fact, the whole of my body felt as if it was inflamed. Just holding the camera and trying to keep it as steady as I could, was really awkward as well as intensely painful. Too much mouse clicking when using the computer at home is another cause of this pain. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects! And now I'm back to all the frustrating problems of Flickr, including search problems and very definite Stats (views) problems. Ha, I'm away for just two days (didn't post any photos for just one of the days) and now things aren't working? Barely any new photos from My Contacts showing, either. What a mess!

There were several of these little Yellow-rumped Warblers some distance from where we were standing the other morning at Sikome, Fish Creek Park, on 29 September 2013. They were constantly on the move (and fast), but I was lucky to catch this one on a branch for a second or two. Not a good photo at all, but I so rarely get to photograph this species.

At least I THINK that's what it is (a female). If I'm wrong, perhaps someone could let me know the correct ID - thanks! Taken in a friend's garden - thanks, Phil and Jen! Very distant photo, but I believe it's the first shot I have of one of these tiny birds, so bear with me : )

I was thrilled to bits to get ANY photo of a tiny Yellow Warbler, even a distant shot! This gorgeous male visited the wonderful garden of friends Phil and Jan and I was given the chance to take a few photos yesterday. I find it amusing because it just seems to be admiring the bright yellow flowers that grow at the edge of a little pond with flowing water. Phil and Jan have had some amazing birds visit their back garden.

This is the only quick shot I managed to get of this little bird and I only took it because I thought it might be a Yellow-rumped Warbler, but I wanted to check. When I was asked if it was an eastern Myrtle Warbler (ssp coronata), or its western counterpart, Audubon's Warbler (ssp group auduboni), I said that the throat was white with a patch of yellow. In other words, it's a hybrid of the two. I don't really know anything about these birds, so I'm not even sure if this is a female or male. If anyone knows, I would really appreciate any info - thanks! Taken when seven of us spent the day two days ago, 28 June 2013, at Bow Valley Provincial Park, recording all species of flora and fauna that were seen. ID from flickr member, birder74: "Looks like an inter-grade 'Audubon' X 'Myrtle' Yellow-rumped Warbler female". Thank you! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-rumped_Warbler www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-rumped_warbler/id www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9176172624

A distant shot of this little Warbler, taken on 10 June 2011, at Maclean Pond (off Elbow Falls Trail), Kananaskis. Not the greatest of photos, but there's just something about it that prevents me from deleting it : ) Such an adorable little bird. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wilsons_warbler/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Warbler

There is only one place, out in Kananaskis (Maclean Pond), that I ever see Wilson's Warblers even remotely close enough to photograph - this is a zoomed and very heavily cropped image. Love their little black cap : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Warbler

Yes, I know, this is a really, really bad photo - but it's the first time I've properly seen a Palm Warbler (uncommon in Alberta) and the first photo I've ever taken. This little bird was way, way down the path at Burnsmead and I would never have paid any attention to it or known what it was. I was lucky because the friend I was with is an excellent birder - thanks for not only adding this new bird to my "collection", Tony, but for also pointing out all the main ID features so that maybe I'll recognize it if I see one again! Note the chestnut cap, light yellow throat and undertail coverts, yellow eyebrows and olive brown upperparts. Not sure how accurate the colouring is in my image, as it is very "noisy" and I had to try and salvage the image a little. The bird's tail-wagging habit is as good a field mark as any.

Several of these small, yellow birds were flitting from branch to banch and tree to tree yesterday at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail. I just knew that they weren't Yellow Warblers, but had to wait till I got home to my bird book to see which Warblers have a black cap. Thanks to those below who confirmed the ID for me - much appreciated! This is my first Wilson's Warbler shot (ID only).

Well, with little Yellow Warblers, I'll take any shot I can get, even a very distant one like this one! Love its bright splash of yellow, flitting from tree to tree. I'm posting this in the hope that one day I WILL manage to get a closer shot : )

This is such a bad photo, but perhaps the sharpest one that I've taken. How I dislike branches - hey, Phil, here's a challenge for you, LOL! However, I am uploading this, in the hope that I will one day get a much better shot of one of these pretty little Yellow-rumped Warblers. This little one was flitting around at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.

I decided to go down to the Bow River late this afternoon to see how high the water was after a major rainstorm yesterday. Our average total precipitation for the month of June (our wettest month) is something like 76 mm and yesterday 98.6 mm fell in just 18 hours!! Felt a little too much like the major flooding of June 2005 for everyone's liking. My camera batteries died soon after I got there and my spare set died a few minutes later, for some unknown reason. Just had time to snap a few quick shots of this distant Yellow Warbler, so will have to go back again sometime. Couldn't crop it any more than this.