Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: female or juvenile?

I know for sure this is a Dark-eyed Junco - female or juvenile? It was seen on a trip east of the city on 27 September 2015, when it flew to a fence near where we were standing and stayed long enough to get a couple of shots. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/dark-eyed_junco/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-eyed_junco A week ago, on 27 September 2015, I joined friends on a most enjoyable day of birding east of the city. Below, I have added Howard Heffler's report of the day's sightings, adding that, as usual, there were some species that I didn't see myself. We were all delighted to see a huge flock (estimated 5,000) of Greater White-fronted Geese fly over the wetland at Marsland Basin. In the far distance, we could see a second huge gathering of them, but these didn't fly towards us. People were seeing several Snow Geese mixed in with the flock, but I only spotted them when I got my photos downloaded to my computer. It was also nice to see one of the four Badgers in the family that lives on a property adjacent to our friend Lyn's land. On a previous visit, I had been lucky enough to see three of these Badgers. These are so rarely seen. "We had 12 people show up for a beautiful day to explore the sloughs east of Calgary. This included a lovely young family visiting from Lac la Biche. It was a bit chilly for the first two stops at the slough on Glenmore Trail and RR 284 and at Chestermere Lake. We then went directly to Marsland Basin when we spent much of our time. Although Lynn and Sue were not at home, we explored their property and listed 38 bird species and had a good look at one member of the badger family that lives on the adjacent property. By now the sun was up, we were all warm and there were a few passerines to add to the waterfowl. A highlight was an estimated 5000 Greater White-fronted Geese flying over. From there we went to the south side of Eagle Lake where we saw a distant murmuration of an (estimated) 10,000 European Starlings. Even from a distance this is a moving sight. Cattleland Slough did not add anything new to the list so we headed for home. Thanks to everyone for their sharp eyes and to Andrew Hart for his listing skills on eBird. The list below includes birds seen by the group and includes birds seen while driving and even the Downy Woodpecker in the Carburn parking lot. The numbers reported are the (best guess) of totals from all sightings. Errors of omission or commission rest with the author…. Greater White-fronted Goose - 5000 Snow Goose - 8 Canada Goose - 100 Gadwall - 74 American Wigeon - 7 Mallard - 44 Blue-winged Teal - 4 Northern Shoveler - 22 Northern Pintail - 71 Green-winged Teal - 110 Canvasback - 8 Redhead - 6 Ring-necked Duck - 8 Lesser Scaup - 150 Bufflehead - 38 Common Goldeneye - 12 Barrow's Goldeneye - 4 Ruddy Duck - 24 Gray Partridge - 12 Horned Grebe - 21 Eared Grebe - 9 Northern Harrier - 1 Bald Eagle - 2 Red-tailed Hawk - 3 Swainson's Hawk - 1 American Coot - 390 Greater Yellowlegs - 2 Lesser Yellowlegs - 22 Long-billed Dowitcher - 3 Bonaparte's Gull - 36 Franklin's Gull - 42 Ring-billed Gull - 185 Rock Pigeon - 4 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker - 1 Black-billed Magpie - 7 American Crow - 24 Common Raven - 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 American Robin - 2 European Starling - 10000 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8 Wilson's Warbler - 3 Dark-eyed Junco - 5 Savannah Sparrow - 2 Red-winged Blackbird - 8 Yellow-headed Blackbird - 1 Western Meadowlark - 2 Brewer's Blackbird - 2 Common Grackle - 1 Brown-headed Cowbird - 10 American Goldfinch - 1 House Sparrow - 20 TOTAL: 54 species Howard Heffler" Thanks so much, Dan and Cindy, for driving Darlene and myself there and back! We both greatly appreciated it!

Normally, I don't get the chance to see and photograph tiny Hummingbirds, so I was thrilled to bits to try and get a few shots of this little one. I think this is probably the last one to post, and this time you can see the whole of the long bill. I'm still not 100% sure if it's a female or juvenile Calliope, or a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird but, with that small white mark behind the eye, I think it must be a Ruby-throated. On 7 August 2015, four of us were extremely fortunate to have the chance to visit the home and highly varied topographic 62-acre property belonging to Frances and David Dover. We felt honoured and privileged to meet and spend time with Frances and David, and also their daughter Carolyn and her husband Clair. A delightful family who welcomed us so warmly into their home and land. This acreage of grassland, forest, rolling hills - and special gardens - is not far from Millarville, SW of Calgary. In fact, it's in an area that I often drive through when I only have time for, or only feel like doing, a short drive. Amazing what little hidden gems exist out there. This is not just a beautiful property, but is very special for various reasons. For one thing, read any history of Alberta and you will find the Dover family, including David's mother, Mary Dover. Second, among the trees and open "lawns", there are Peony flower beds, containing 100-150 heritage Peonies, each one different, that have now multiplied to more than 300 plants. Unfortunately, they bloomed a couple of weeks early this year, and all the flowers had gone to seed by the time we visited. Another open area had a different kind of ground cover - Thyme, which smelled wonderful. If I remember correctly, this was the open space where the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra performed on one occasion! There are two large ponds on the property and another smaller area of water that they hope to turn into a Japanese Garden. There is a total of seven wetland basins, including these. It was while walking around the Japanese Garden that a large brown 'shape' could just be seen through the dense trees - a handsome Moose buck. I will look properly at the four or so photos I just managed to get and might slip one of them into my photostream sometime soon, just for the record, definitely not for the photo quality : ) This was also where a Great Horned Owl was seen flying through the trees by some of us (not me, ha!). There are grassy paths winding through the acreage, up and down hill, that take David seven hours to mow. They are not pristine, velvety paths, but instead, they seem to take nothing away from the wildness of the whole area. One of the animals that have passed through is the Cougar. In fact, several years ago, I saw a video taken on a nearby (or adjacent?) property, where a 'kill' and night-time camera had been set up and a total of six different Cougar individuals were seen! Even the Dover's home is unique and beautiful. It is completely built of concrete (and glass) - floors, walls, ceilings, roof, deck, and so on. A Hummingbird feeder and regular bird feeders, set up on the patio, attract a variety of birds. We sat on the patio after our walk, to eat our packed lunches - and to enjoy a delicious Orange Pound Cake that Frances had kindly made for us, along with refreshing Iced Tea - thank you so much for this, Frances! While I was waiting for one of three tiny Hummingbirds to come back, I was lucky enough to see a little Mountain Chickadee, along with many Pine Siskins. We could also hear a Red-tailed Hawk in the area. Saw a total of 22 bird species. There is just so much I could write about this visit and family. Instead, or for now, I will add several links to more information on the Internet. This was a memorable day for us. Thank you so much, Frances and David, Carolyn and Clair, for being so kind and welcoming us into your home and gardens. books.google.ca/books?id=Tr36Tq_gadcC&pg=PA290&lp... www.westernwheel.com/article/20110727/WHE06/307279983/-1/... David's mother, Mary Dover (her father was A. E. Cross), was "a dynamic and distinguished Calgarian, particularly known for her work with the military during World War II." As well as being an army officer, and an alderman, she was also a preservationist. See the following link. www.albertachampions.org/champions-mary_dover.htm#.VcY1KP... ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesMainResults.aspx?XC=/searc... glencoe.org/documents/10184/637479/The-History-of-Elbow-P... page 44-45