Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 6 July 2015

On 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for the High River area, SE of Calgary. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos. For some reason, all the birds, including the Ibis near the blind at Frank Lake, were unusually active, which didn't help! There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to photograph when she had a single baby on her back. Luckily, this little Savannah Sparrow decided to land on a fence post at the edge of the road. I always love the way their yellow "eyebrows" match the colour of the Canola bokeh. I was also lucky to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake. So, just a short trip, but an enjoyable one. Today, 5 September 2015, I had planned to go on a birding trip with friends to the same area, but the weather is dreary and raining, so I went back to bed instead. One great thing I read just now about our weather for this coming winter, is that we are forecast to have another mild winter, which would be wonderful!

Almost 3:00 pm and there are only 8 new photos on My Contacts page. Nothing new in 5 or 6 hours, which is most unusual. Wonder if there is a problem with Flickr, or if people just aren't posting. Update on my daughter, 24 August 2015: she is still waiting to find out if she will need surgery. Still feeling a lot better, but no doubt getting more and more bored by the minute : ) She knows quite a few of the staff at the hospital, and they pop in to see her, or she drags her IV stand to go and see them, which all helps. I'm not 100% sure that my ID is correct. If anyone sees that I'm wrong, please do let me know - thanks! On 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for the High River area, SE of Calgary. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos. For some reason, all the birds, including the Ibis near the blind at Frank Lake, were unusually active, which didn't help! Except for these two young Brown-headed Cowbirds. They were standing on one of the rocks that line the edges of the rough road between the gate and the blind, and stayed long enough for me to get a couple of shots. The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasitic icterid, which means that they lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species. ""'Brood parasitic' means that it lays its eggs in the nests of other small passerines (perching birds), particularly those that build cup-like nests. The Brown-headed Cowbird eggs have been documented in nests of at least 220 host species, including hummingbirds and raptors. The young cowbird is fed by the host parents at the expense of their own young. Brown-headed Cowbird females can lay 36 eggs in a season. More than 140 different species of birds are known to have raised young cowbirds." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_Cowbird There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to photograph when she had a single baby on her back. Luckily, a little Savannah Sparrow decided to land on a fence post at the edge of the road. I always love the way their yellow "eyebrows" match the colour of the Canola bokeh. I was also lucky to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake. So, just a short trip, but an enjoyable one.

Note: this is my main image today, i.e. the very last photo that I uploaded. Hopefully, my three photos won't be seen in a different order, as has been happening the last few weeks for some people. Almost a month ago, on 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for the High River area, SE of Calgary. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos. For some reason, all the birds, including the Ibis near the blind at Frank Lake, were unusually active, which didn't help! There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to photograph when she had a single baby on her back. Luckily, this little Savannah Sparrow decided to land on a fence post at the edge of the road. I always love the way their yellow "eyebrows" match the colour of the Canola bokeh. I was also lucky to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake. So, just a short trip, but an enjoyable one.

One of the places where these White-faced Ibis can be seen fairly locally is Frank Lake or, as in this photo, at a slough a short drive from Frank Lake. On 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for that area. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos, as can be seen in this rather grainy shot. For some reason, all the birds at Frank Lake, including the Ibis, were unusually active, which didn't help! There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to really photograph when she had a single baby on her back. I was lucky, though, to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake, one of which is seen in this photo. Caught this one through my rolled-down car window and just managed to catch the light shining on those gorgeous, iridescent feathers. "A dark wading bird with a long, down-curved bill, the White-faced Ibis is a western replacement for the Glossy Ibis. Similar in appearance and habits, the two species can be distinguished only by slight differences in coloring of the face and legs. From AllAboutBirds. In the book, "Birds of Alberta" by Fisher & Acorn, it says that, in Alberta, White-faced Ibis are very rare from May to September. Length is 22-25" (56-64 cm), wingspan 3'1" (94 cm). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-faced_ibis

One of the places where these White-faced Ibis can be seen fairly locally is Frank Lake or, as in this photo, at a slough a short drive from Frank Lake. Yesterday, 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for that area. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos. For some reason, all the birds, including the Ibis, were unusually active, which didn't help! There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to really photograph when she had a single baby on her back. I was lucky, though, to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake, one of which is seen in this photo. Caught this one through my rolled-down car window and just managed to catch the light shining on those gorgeous, iridescent feathers. "A dark wading bird with a long, down-curved bill, the White-faced Ibis is a western replacement for the Glossy Ibis. Similar in appearance and habits, the two species can be distinguished only by slight differences in coloring of the face and legs. From AllAboutBirds. In the book, "Birds of Alberta" by Fisher & Acorn, it says that, in Alberta, White-faced Ibis are very rare from May to September. Length is 22-25" (56-64 cm), wingspan 3'1" (94 cm). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-faced_ibis

Yesterday, 6 July 2015, the weather forecast looked good for the High River area. However, when I got there, the sky was overcast, the distant Rocky Mountains had completely disappeared, and the light was not good for taking photos. For some reason, all the birds, including the Ibis near the blind at Frank Lake, were unusually active, which didn't help! There were three things that I thought I would try and photograph - yellow Canola fields, any kind of bird sitting on a fence post with Canola behind it, and an Eared Grebe with young ones on her back. Managed the first two, but there was just the one Grebe near the blind but too far to photograph when she had a single baby on her back. I was lucky, though, to find several close White-faced Ibis at a slough NE of Frank Lake. Can't remember exactly where these two sheds were seen. This was only a short trip and I really didn't feel like driving around for too long, trying to find a beautiful old barn. Too many outings in the last 10 days or so, plus too much time spent on editing just a few of the photos, and very little sleep, ha.