Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: fledgeling

This morning, 16 July 2019, I woke up to find that it's raining - again! It definitely feels like it has rained almost every day for weeks. "Risk of a thunderstorm" seems to be the norm these days. Our temperature is only 11C (windchill 9C) at 10:00 am.. Yesterday afternoon, I just needed to get out for a quick drive, so, despite the forecast for rain, I drove SW of the city along several usual roads. I soon discovered that one of the roads I was going to drive had roadworks going on - oiling the road. With a car that was already covered in dead insect "splats", from my 12-hour drive south of the city, the last thing I wanted was to add oil to the mix. So, yesterday's drive ended up being very short; just a couple of hours in total. Amazing what one can come across in a short time, though. A Wilson's Snipe was perched on a fence post, giving me yet another chance for a few photos. A Red-winged Blackbird was perched on another fence post, happily and noisily displaying its scarlet and yellow shoulder patches. Down a different road, a fluffy Tree Swallow fledgeling sat on the barbed-wire by its nesting box, all alone. Leaving the area, ready to go home, I came across two immature Red-tailed Hawks, both perched on the same wooden beam at the top of a utility pole. Such beautiful birds. Further on, I suddenly decided to drive up a road that I don't think I have ever driven before. What a treat I discovered - a gorgeous old barn! Absolutely made my day.

I hadn't been downtown for many years, but two days ago (16 March 2014), I had the chance to meet several friends for a birding walk at Pearce Estate, along the Bow River. After the walk, we carpooled to nearby downtown, hoping to find the Great Horned Owl family that people have been seeing. It was a much longer walk than I was expecting, but we were so lucky to find them, and not where I had been expecting them to be. As is often the case, Mom (?) and the three owlets were high up in different trees, not posing too well for most of the time, and not in good light. This owlet, the oldest owlet of the family, had its back to me, but did eventually turn its head slightly, so I was able to get this shot. The ice in that area was so treacherous, so I moved as little as possible, and extremely cautiously. A real treat to see this little family, though, and so early in the year! Mom must have laid the eggs around 1st January, as the owlets were pretty much adult-sized and either branched or fledged. Most unusual - wonder why this happened. We were half expecting the family to have moved from this particular area, but were so relieved to find that they hadn't. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for giving me a ride to downtown and back to my car! Without it, I would not have had the chance to see these precious little owls. Thanks also for the coffee and a treat afterwards - amazing how much better coffee tastes after walking for a few hours! It really hit the spot : )

Thanks to Phil, here is yet another photograph of one of the five Blue Jay fledgelings whose parents wisely chose Phil and his wife's beautiful, inviting garden for their home. This (not so) little guy/gal flew down to the tiny pond for a drink.

It looks as if this young Great Horned Owl was just above my head, but actually it (along with its sibling and Mom) was so high up in one of the very tall trees at Burnsmead that I didn't see them when I first started looking. With the leaves starting to grow, it's getting harder and harder to see anything, but I managed to find just one spot where I could get a clear view through the tangled mass of branches. You can see just a few feathers of the sibling in the top left corner. I searched the whole area after not finding them where I half expected them to be and was about to search just one last place before leaving, when I heard an owl calling from behind me. Sure enough, there they were, way, way up : ) This little one looked like he had coughed up a pellet (in a different photo) and was pecking at it and eating it. I didn't think they would do that. Linda, I hope this little ball of fluff can put a tiny smile on your face. Thinking of you and remembering Jim (Garnite). Hope you are doing OK. Later: just came across this video from The Camera Store here in Calgary (like the short video I posted a couple of days ago), shot down in Fish Creek Park. It compares shooting with a DSLR with massive lens (a Nikon D700 with comparable lenses) to a small, bridge camera (the Fuji HS20) - tongue-in-cheek, but still interesting results. youtu.be/rfnv9pRUJrU

This was a young House Sparrow that I saw while visiting Heritage Park with my oldest daughter on 21st June. It offered me the chance to get two or three nice shots : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

I was happy to spot this young House Sparrow yesterday, when I went with my oldest daughter to Heritage Park. I so rarely see baby birds of any species. Did you know that the House Sparrow originated in the Middle East? Had a great walk from the Boat Launch to south of Highway 22X this morning - a good variety of birds (47 species) including a Western Kingbird, Great Blue Heron and Baltimore Orioles (all very distant I should add!), a couple of insects, and a few species of wildflowers. After this walk, several of us went to a different part of the park where we were shown the nesting tree of a Great Horned Owl, and then three young owls and Mom of another owl family not far away. What a sight to see. Will be out all evening on a Mountain Bluebird route. Wow, we are in a dreadful thunder, lightning and RAIN storm - not sure I've ever heard such torrential rain!! I have a parking lot behind my place and it has turned into a shallow lake in just a matter of minutes! Hope we aren't in for serious flooding like further south in Alberta. I also hope that places like Medicine Hat are not having this same storm that we are getting, to add to their misery. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

This fledgeling House Sparrow posed so nicely for me on a fence at Heritage Park back in June. Who would imagine that a little House Sparrow would be the photographic highlight of a day out with my oldest daughter? : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

Alternative title: "Mom - I'm hungry!". Mom was nearby to answer the hunger call of this young one and its four siblings. A photo of a Blue Jay has been at the top of my photography Wish List for maybe four years. Thanks SO much to Phil (on flickr, PhilPete) and his wife for letting me go round to their amazing backyard this evening to see a family of Blue Jays with five young ones! These babies allowed me to get within just a handful of feet - the evening light was not good, though, with my little point-and-shoot, so my photos are grainy. However, I was THRILLED to be given this great opportunity. I'd never seen a young one before! "Everyone" has Blue Jays come to their garden - except ME, LOL! Thank you, thank you, thank you, both of you!! So much appreciated! Looking forward to seeing YOUR Blue Jay photos, Phil!

When I visited the Zoo this afternoon, I was so happy to find a new member of the Burrowing Owl family in the Conservatory! It was SO cute! What big feet it has! Can never get a decent photo looking into this little corner, because of all the grasses. The owls are free to fly around the whole room and often sit on the high window ledges.