Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 26 October 2015

In a comment box below, for comparison, I've added a previously posted photo of a "regular" Red-breasted Nuthatch taken on 30 April 2014. Today's photo was taken on 26 October 2015. I had timed my arrival at the park to coincide with the arrival back at the parking lot of various friends who had just been on a 3-hour walk. There was one particular bird I wanted to ask about, to know if they had managed to find it - and, no, they hadn't seen it. However, they had seen a Great Horned Owl not too far from the parking lot and friend Sandy very kindly said she would come back with me and show me the location. When the two of us got back to the cars, another friend was just arriving, I told her about the Great Horned Owl and offered to show her where it was, if I could find it again. Well, hardly surprising with my sense of direction and inability to find something again, we were out of luck. Sorry, Ursula, but at least you now knew the small area where it was perched (or had been perched - it could always have flown!). We continued to look for a bird we had hoped to find, but no luck, just like everyone else. We did find this leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch, though, and that was a nice sighting. By the way, apparently its name is Bob : ) "Many birders enjoy lifelong hobbies relying birds’ plumage alone to distinguish the hundreds of different species on their life lists, but not all birds have predictable plumage and conditions such as bird leucism can make identification more of a challenge. Leucism is an abnormal plumage condition caused by a genetic mutation that prevents pigment, particularly melanin, from being properly deposited on a bird’s feathers. As a result, the birds do not have the normal, classic plumage colors listed in field guides, and instead the plumage have several color changes, including white patches where the bird should not have any; paler overall plumage that looks faint, diluted or bleached; or overall white plumage with little or no color discernable. The degree of leucism, including the brightness of the white and the extent of pigment loss, will vary depending on the bird’s genetic makeup. Birds that show only white patches or sections of leucistic feathers – often in symmetrical patterns – are often called pied or piebald birds, while birds with fully white plumage are referred to as leucistic birds." From birding.about.com. birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/leucism.htm "An intense bundle of energy at your feeder, Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_nuthatch

Today's photo was taken two days ago, on 26 October 2015. I had timed my arrival at the park to coincide with the arrival back at the parking lot of various friends who had just been on a 3-hour walk. There was one particular bird I wanted to ask about, to know if they had managed to find it - and, no, they hadn't seen it. However, they had seen a Great Horned Owl not too far from the parking lot and friend Sandy very kindly said she would come back with me and show me the location. When the two of us got back to the cars, another friend was just arriving, I told her about the Great Horned Owl and offered to show her where it was, if I could find it again. Well, hardly surprising with my sense of direction and inability to find something again, we were out of luck. Sorry, Ursula, but at least you now knew the small area where it was perched (or had been perched - it could always have flown!). We continued to look for a bird we had hoped to find, but no luck, just like everyone else. We did find this leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch, though, and that was a nice sighting. "Many birders enjoy lifelong hobbies relying birds’ plumage alone to distinguish the hundreds of different species on their life lists, but not all birds have predictable plumage and conditions such as bird leucism can make identification more of a challenge. Leucism is an abnormal plumage condition caused by a genetic mutation that prevents pigment, particularly melanin, from being properly deposited on a bird’s feathers. As a result, the birds do not have the normal, classic plumage colors listed in field guides, and instead the plumage have several color changes, including white patches where the bird should not have any; paler overall plumage that looks faint, diluted or bleached; or overall white plumage with little or no color discernable. The degree of leucism, including the brightness of the white and the extent of pigment loss, will vary depending on the bird’s genetic makeup. Birds that show only white patches or sections of leucistic feathers – often in symmetrical patterns – are often called pied or piebald birds, while birds with fully white plumage are referred to as leucistic birds." From birding.about.com. birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/leucism.htm "An intense bundle of energy at your feeder, Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_nuthatch

For CHIARA, an amazing 6-year-old young lady that I was lucky enough to spend time with on Sunday. She loves owls, so yesterday, I went down to Fish Creek Park to see if I could find an owl, big or small, to photograph for her. Saw this beautiful Great Horned Owl. You can see that one eye is just open a tiny bit, to keep an eye on us. Overslept by an hour and a half, so gotta post and run and see if there is any way to find the group of people I'm supposed to meet up with this morning! Later: I had been invited to visit friends on Sunday, east of the city. Spent a few most enjoyable hours, catching up on the last few years. One very cute little three-year old girl was very shy, as she hadn't met me before : ) Hopefully, next time, I will get the chance to get to know her much better. Chiara, three years older, is a grown-up, very smart little girl (just like her Mom!), with an interest in photography. Her camera, much better than mine (lol), is very heavy compared to mine, yet she carries it around with no complaints. She showed me some of her photos, including ones taken when she did a photography course this summer - wow!!! Had to smile when she showed her mother that she had found the Flickr app on her iPad mini and asked if she could download it, as it was free! How different kids are today, but even so, I was taken aback at how grown-up this child is! She likes owls and was wearing a beautiful owl T-shirt. Even the placemats on the kitchen table were covered in owls. I can only imagine the photography skills Chiara will have if she continues to have an interest in taking photos. Such a joy to talk to. Thanks so much, Jenn, for encouraging me to drive out to see you all. That was so kind of you and so very much appreciated! Kevin, it was so good to see you after all this time - we had so much to catch up on. Thank you both for lunch, too - including the banana bread you made specially, Jenn. Thank you both for being so very welcoming! Definitely a day to remember.