Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: one of a pair

Just added the final 23 images taken on DAY 8, 26 March 2019, at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, South Texas. Too many problems with uploading today - usually, photos upload quickly and without issues for me. Sorry, so many blurry photos in this batch, but a lot of things were far away, or taken on a drive-by, or, in the case of this amazing little owl, taken in the evening just when it was getting/got dark and from a long way off. We had been told about this pair and after spending a few hours at the Santa Ana NWR, we made the drive to this special, undisclosed location. This was such a huge thrill, to see a pair of the smallest owls in the world, the Elf Owl. When we arrived, it was beginning to get dark. This owl was already in its cavity and then its mate flew to it, and then both owls flew off into the trees. "The elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) is a member of the owl family Strigidae, that breeds in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is the world's lightest owl, although the long-whiskered owlet and the Tamaulipas pygmy owl are of a similarly diminutive length.[2] It is also the world's smallest owl.[3] The mean body weight of this species is 40 g (1.4 oz). These tiny owls are 12.5 to 14.5 cm (4.9 to 5.7 in) long and have a wingspan of about 27 cm (10.5 in).[4] Their primary projection (flight feather) extends nearly past their tail. They have fairly long legs and often appear bow-legged. They can often be heard calling to one another just after dusk or at sunset. Their call is a high-pitched whinny or chuckle. The male and female dart around trees and call back and forth. Elf owls usually choose abandoned, north-facing woodpecker cavities in saguaro cacti, sycamores, cottonwoods, and other hardwood trees, to raise their young. During dusk and just before dawn are the times this owl is most active, however, hunting is performed mostly during nocturnal hours. The Elf Owl migrates to the southwest United States; California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, in the spring and summer for breeding. In the winter, it is found in central and southern Mexico. Migrant elf owls return north in mid-April to early May. Resident populations occur in a couple of places in south central Mexico and along the Baja peninsula." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_owl

Three more photos from our High River Christmas Bird Count - I need a change of things to photograph! This is the same owl that I posted two days ago, just taken from a different angle. We had five other Great Horned Owls on our Count, which was great. Four days ago, on 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant, with low visibility. Looked like there were about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence by the next morning. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon the next day! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night! I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it. One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow. Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders. "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open. Mallard-500 Northern Shoveler-1 f. Northern Pintail-2 Common Goldeneye-3 Gray Partridge-8 Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake Prairie Falcon-1 Rock Pigeon-56 Great Horned Owl-6 Snowy Owl-1 Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-17 Common Raven-4 Song Sparrow-1 Snow Bunting-150 Common Redpoll-790 House Sparrow-202 Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind. Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m. Coyote-4 Skunk track by observation blind Meadow Vole-1 Mule Deer-6 Moose-1 f. Km by Car- 58 Km on foot -5 Total km - 63 Time by car – 2 hrs Time on foot-5 hrs Total party hours-7 hrs"

HAPPY WINTER, everyone! Today, we are one day closer to spring. Two days ago, on 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant. Looks like there could be about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence today. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon yesterday, which is why I posted so late yesterday! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night! I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it. This Great Horned Owl was one of six that we saw in the Count area, perched nicely out in the open. We saw a second owl in the same farmyard - that one had a very pale grey face. One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow. Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders. "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open. Mallard-500 Northern Shoveler-1 f. Northern Pintail-2 Common Goldeneye-3 Gray Partridge-8 Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake Prairie Falcon-1 Rock Pigeon-56 Great Horned Owl-6 Snowy Owl-1 Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-17 Common Raven-4 Song Sparrow-1 Snow Bunting-150 Common Redpoll-790 House Sparrow-202 Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind. Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m. Coyote-4 Skunk track by observation blind Meadow Vole-1 Mule Deer-6 Moose-1 f. Participants: Km by Car- 58 Km on foot -5 Total km - 63 Time by car – 2 hrs Time on foot-5 hrs Total party hours-7 hrs"

A new Great Horned Owl for me yesterday and one the previous day (in Fish Creek Park). Lucky me! The one in this photo was seen at one of our stops yesterday. A second owl was perched just above this one, but was half hidden by branches. I had seen Great Horned Owls in this tree before - though I have no idea where we were and would never be able to find the tree again. All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Couleee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of yesterday's drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. We crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, I have just been reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and discovered that in fact I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. This owl and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry (Korolyk), you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where. I see that eBird is down this morning, so I can't yet access your lists again.

GOOD LUCK, AMERICA!! GOOD LUCK, WORLD!! Today is THE day - voting for the next U.S. President. May the BEST person win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We had all hoped to have a much closer view of a pair of rare Long-tailed Ducks yesterday, 7 November 2016, but this was the 'best' I could do : ) Better than nothing, though. At least you can see its long tail. They were out in the middle of the Glenmore Reservoir, if not closer to the far side, and I could only see them through someone's scope. I believe I had only ever seen a Long-tailed Duck on three occasions before. I have photos from each occasion posted on Flickr. 1. 20 October 2009 on the Glenmore Reservoir 2. 12 January 2010, on the Bow River, south of H'way 22X 3. 5 November 2012, saw about 6 of them on Glenmore Reservoir I have added our leaders' list of species seen yesterday, in a comment box below. "The Long-tailed Duck, formerly known as the Oldsquaw, breeds across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic, and spends the winter on the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it is only a rare transient through Alberta. A very few Long-tailed Ducks appear in Alberta in late October and early November. Very occasionally, one will overwinter on an open river or lake in the province. They are even scarcer on spring migration from March to May." Written by Andrew Slater for talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=47 . "The Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis) is a medium-sized sea duck. It is the only living member of its genus, Clangula .... Adults have white underparts, though the rest of the plumage goes through a complex moulting process. The male has a long pointed tail (10 to 15 cm) and a dark grey bill crossed by a pink band. In winter, the male has a dark cheek patch on a mainly white head and neck, a dark breast and mostly white body. In summer, the male is dark on the head, neck and back with a white cheek patch. The female has a brown back and a relatively short pointed tail. In winter, the female's head and neck are white with a dark crown. In summer, the head is dark. Juveniles resemble adult females in autumn plumage, though with a lighter, less distinct cheek patch." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_Duck

I have just watched this short (maybe 13 minutes?) video about a young girl who is removed from her home and placed in foster care. A friend had added it to her Facebook page and it is so beautifully acted by the young actress, and powerful. Maybe not to everyone's taste but, in my opinion, important to watch. www.littlethings.com/removed-foster-care?utm_source=fbsp&... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 22 May 2016, when my daughter and I spent a great day together, as a slightly early treat for my birthday : ) Always my favourite way to spend a day! We weren't quite sure what we would be doing, as it depended on how my daughter was feeling - so much pain, while waiting for surgery. We did know for sure that we were going straight to the Saskatoon Farm for a delicious meal, though. Not a day for walking outside, as it poured with rain the whole day. In fact, it has barely stopped at all the last couple of days, with the added surprise of a few minutes of falling snow early yesterday morning. If we could only send at least some of our rain up north to help with everyone fighting the devastating wildfire that continues to spread! That whole area has been getting some rain apparently, but not enough to put an end to the destructive path. The whole province has been a tinder box, waiting to go up in flames, so we are very grateful for the rain that's falling. Just a shame that it is on our long weekend for Victoria Day. I haven't checked yet, but especially the mountain area was forecast to have a lot of snow, so I woud imagine a lot of campers will have returned to the city already. The temperature yesterday morning was 2C (windchill -2C) and it remained cold all day, just like the day before, when I was out with my camera all day. After the Saskatoon Farm, we went westwards into Okotoks, so that we could visit the little rustic antique place, All through the House. From there, we drove various back roads, looking for any birds that might not be hiding from the cold and rain. I was so happy that we saw a couple of Snipe standing on fence posts, as they make such beautiful photos. We even saw several hawks - more than I usually see when I go for a drive. The one in my photo was one of a pair of Swainson's Hawks. Its mate was in a nearby tree. Very often, photos I take from inside the car tend to not come out properly and I get too many blurry shots. Thankfully, some did come out OK. In fact, I have been amazed at how some of my photos came out the last two days, despite the awful weather. Normally, I would have stayed at home on such wet, dreary days, as I get mostly blurry, grainy shots in bad weather with low light. Not sure how I ended up with lots of sharp images, but maybe I need to get out more, even when the weather is not encouraging at all. "A classic species of the open country of the Great Plains and the West, Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, or even run after insects on the ground. In fall, they take off for Argentine wintering grounds—one of the longest migrations of any American raptor—forming flocks of hundreds or thousands as they travel." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Hawk/id Thanks so much, Rachel, for a much-enjoyed day and thank you for the (as always) carefuly chosen gifts and cards. Most of all, thank you for spending the day with me!

About two weeks ago, on 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 stand, let alone take photos. The very first thing I saw when I reached the gravel road off 23 at Frank Lake, was a beautiful Western Meadowlark. 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 against the stubble and dried grasses in a field. The Curlew is North America's largest shorebird. 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. The angle in this photo also makes the bill look just a little shorter than it is. The female has a much longer bill than the male. Hopefully, someone will correct my ID if I am wrong - thanks! “Long-billed Curlews spend summers in areas of western North America with sparse, short grasses, including shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies as well as agricultural fields. After their young leave the nest they may move to areas with taller, denser grasses. In winter they migrate to the coasts and to interior Mexico, where you can find them in wetlands, tidal estuaries, mudflats, flooded fields, and occasionally beaches.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Long-billed_Curlew/lifehistory 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. So, all in all, an enjoyable, quite rewarding afternoon, spent in one of my favourite areas.