Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 20 February 2016

Does anyone else have a problem adding their photos to albums? For more than a week now, when I click on Add to Album, many of my albums won't show on the list, so I can't add photos to these missing ones. It seems to be a hit and miss thing - sometimes, all the albums will show, other times, just some of them. I can't add this photo to my Winter or Owls albums, though I probably will be able to eventually (it worked later). Ah, I see other people have just started a thread on the Help Forum. We had such a successful and enjoyable day on 20 February 2016, taking part in our annual Snowy Owl Prowl east of the city. We saw so many Snowy Owls, but all except one were extremely far away. The closest one was still way down the road, as with so many cars and people, we stayed way back so as not to stress the owl. The owl in this 48x zoomed photo was perhaps the second closest. It might be far away, but at least it is perched on a fence post, not a utility pole insulator : ) I will add the report of the day, compiled by our leader, Terry Korolyk. Terry, you did such a great job, finding so many birds for us to see! Thank you! "Twenty-four extremely enthusiastic birders showed up for this year's version of the Snowy Owl Prowl. Conditions were almost ideal helped by a snowfall Thursday night and Friday morning. Temperature about 8:00 A.M. in south Calgary was -7 degrees. I had a good feeling as we headed out to our meeting place at Deerfoot Mall with no wind and a thin layer of fog hanging over much of the southwest part of the City. We saw at least 11, possibly as many as 13 Snowy Owls for the day. It appeared as though it was a chance happening that the day picked would have these ideal conditions which resulted in all these birds being around on this day. There were many other highlights of which most noteworthy was a NORTHERN HARRIER. Three adult Bald Eagles were seen and we came in with a total of 11 Rough-legged Hawks, of which the numbers were divided up between 1st. year birds and adult females. We found the first Great Horned Owl of the year on a nest which was south of Langdon. Perhaps, one of the highlights of the day was a lone SNOW BUNTING north of the Cattleland Feedlots slough north of Strathmore which caught everybody's heart as it called repeatedly that plaintive poignant one note it is known for from a fencepost; would fly to the fallow snowy ground, then, return to the fencepost and call some more. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. Other birds seen were a few small flocks of Redpolls and 2 pairs and a covey of 8 Gray Partridge. We also stopped at the houses at the west end of Railway Avenue in Cheadle so participants could see some of the local colony of Eurasian Collared Doves of which we saw 5. Large numbers of Canada Geese, probably a couple of thousand or so were in stubble fields southwest of Chestermere Lake and north of Glenmore Trail. Included in these flocks were some CACKLING GEESE. Given the EARLY late Winter departure of waterfowl from the Bow River in Calgary this year and by their behaviour with lots of resting birds and some feeding, I think these birds were probably migratory birds. We must also consider that the 3 Ring-necked Ducks at Elliston Park are probably overeager Spring migrants as probably are the 2 male Green-winged Teal at Fish Creek PP Burnsmead this past week. Many participants on the trip today were seeing some of these species for the first time. Last year, we had a young student from Australia on the trip; this year, we had a young couple from Massachusetts who have lived in Calgary only a year and had never seen a Snowy Owl." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Temperature in Calgary today, 26 February 2016, is +12C and it is supposed to soar to +18C this afternoon! What craziness - this is winter and so what has happened to -25C temperatures? However, we do return to colder temperatures and some snow for the next few days.

Usually, you don't see just one of these little Snow Buntings all on its own - they are normally in small or large flocks, often in flight. They are beautiful birds, especially when they are flying. This lone individual sat for a while on this fence post - way down the road. Every once in a while, it would let out a single note call, as if calling out for its companions. Very cute to watch. "Appropriately named, the Snow Bunting is a bird of the high Arctic and snowy winter fields. Even on a warm day, the mostly white plumage of a bunting flock evokes the image of a snowstorm." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snow_Bunting/id We had such a successful and enjoyable day on 20 February 2016, taking part in our annual Snowy Owl Prowl east of the city. We saw so many Snowy Owls, but all except one were extremely far away. The closest one was still way down the road, as with so many cars and people, we stayed way back so as not to stress the owl. I will add the report of the day, compiled by our leader, Terry Korolyk. Terry, you did such a great job, finding so many birds for us to see! Thank you! "Twenty-four extremely enthusiastic birders showed up for this year's version of the Snowy Owl Prowl. Conditions were almost ideal helped by a snowfall Thursday night and Friday morning. Temperature about 8:00 A.M. in south Calgary was -7 degrees. I had a good feeling as we headed out to our meeting place at Deerfoot Mall with no wind and a thin layer of fog hanging over much of the southwest part of the City. We saw at least 11, possibly as many as 13 Snowy Owls for the day. It appeared as though it was a chance happening that the day picked would have these ideal conditions which resulted in all these birds being around on this day. There were many other highlights of which most noteworthy was a NORTHERN HARRIER. Three adult Bald Eagles were seen and we came in with a total of 11 Rough-legged Hawks, of which the numbers were divided up between 1st. year birds and adult females. We found the first Great Horned Owl of the year on a nest which was south of Langdon. Perhaps, one of the highlights of the day was a lone SNOW BUNTING north of the Cattleland Feedlots slough north of Strathmore which caught everybody's heart as it called repeatedly that plaintive poignant one note it is known for from a fencepost; would fly to the fallow snowy ground, then, return to the fencepost and call some more. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. Other birds seen were a few small flocks of Redpolls and 2 pairs and a covey of 8 Gray Partridge. We also stopped at the houses at the west end of Railway Avenue in Cheadle so participants could see some of the local colony of Eurasian Collared Doves of which we saw 5. Large numbers of Canada Geese, probably a couple of thousand or so were in stubble fields southwest of Chestermere Lake and north of Glenmore Trail. Included in these flocks were some CACKLING GEESE. Given the EARLY late Winter departure of waterfowl from the Bow River in Calgary this year and by their behaviour with lots of resting birds and some feeding, I think these birds were probably migratory birds. We must also consider that the 3 Ring-necked Ducks at Elliston Park are probably overeager Spring migrants as probably are the 2 male Green-winged Teal at Fish Creek PP Burnsmead this past week. Many participants on the trip today were seeing some of these species for the first time. Last year, we had a young student from Australia on the trip; this year, we had a young couple from Massachusetts who have lived in Calgary only a year and had never seen a Snowy Owl."

We had such a successful and enjoyable day yesterday, 20 February 2016, taking part in our annual Snowy Owl Prowl east of the city. I will add the report of the day, compiled by our leader, Terry Korolyk. Terry, you did such a great job yesterday, finding so many birds for us to see! Thank you! This is the closest photo I was able to get of any of the Snowy Owls. WIth that many cars and people, we needed to keep way down the road in order to not stress out the bird. Most of the Snowies were nicely perched on fence posts, but way off in the distance. "Twenty-four extremely enthusiastic birders showed up for this year's version of the Snowy Owl Prowl. Conditions were almost ideal helped by a snowfall Thursday night and Friday morning. Temperature about 8:00 A.M. in south Calgary was -7 degrees. I had a good feeling as we headed out to our meeting place at Deerfoot Mall with no wind and a thin layer of fog hanging over much of the southwest part of the City. We saw at least 11, possibly as many as 13 Snowy Owls for the day. It appeared as though it was a chance happening that the day picked would have these ideal conditions which resulted in all these birds being around on this day. There were many other highlights of which most noteworthy was a NORTHERN HARRIER. Three adult Bald Eagles were seen and we came in with a total of 11 Rough-legged Hawks, of which the numbers were divided up between 1st. year birds and adult females. We found the first Great Horned Owl of the year on a nest which was south of Langdon. Perhaps, one of the highlights of the day was a lone SNOW BUNTING north of the Cattleland Feedlots slough north of Strathmore which caught everybody's heart as it called repeatedly that plaintive poignant one note it is known for from a fencepost; would fly to the fallow snowy ground, then, return to the fencepost and call some more. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. Other birds seen were a few small flocks of Redpolls and 2 pairs and a covey of 8 Gray Partridge. We also stopped at the houses at the west end of Railway Avenue in Cheadle so participants could see some of the local colony of Eurasian Collared Doves of which we saw 5. Large numbers of Canada Geese, probably a couple of thousand or so were in stubble fields southwest of Chestermere Lake and north of Glenmore Trail. Included in these flocks were some CACKLING GEESE. Given the EARLY late Winter departure of waterfowl from the Bow River in Calgary this year and by their behaviour with lots of resting birds and some feeding, I think these birds were probably migratory birds. We must also consider that the 3 Ring-necked Ducks at Elliston Park are probably overeager Spring migrants as probably are the 2 male Green-winged Teal at Fish Creek PP Burnsmead this past week. Many participants on the trip today were seeing some of these species for the first time. Last year, we had a young student from Australia on the trip; this year, we had a young couple from Massachusetts who have lived in Calgary only a year and had never seen a Snowy Owl."