Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: females?

Today, our temperature is -22°C, with a windchill of -33°C! We are in a deep-freeze, that now looks like it will be here for another week. Today, I am posting just this one photo - I have been spending far too many hours researching other websites and posting a few photos to one of them. With the IPERNITY website shutting down at the end of January 2017, which is very sad, people are looking at alternative websites for posting their images. A lot of Flickr people moved over to ipernity, especially in May 2013, many of them leaving Flickr completely. I have exactly the same photostream on ipernity as on Flickr (i.e. 12,659 photos) and I do like the ipernity layout and use. Basically, I only use it as another place to store my photos and descriptions, as I just don't have time to comment, etc. Of course, I have my photos backed up on external hard drives, so it is really all the descriptions that I want to back up at yet another place. Far, far too time-consuming to post more than a handful of my photos elsewhere, and I have to admit I am getting REALLY fed up of having to spend so much precious time. Quite a few people are suggesting the 23hq website, so I thought I would take a look at it yesterday afternoon. Just in case anyone from ipernity (or Flickr) is wondering what 23hq layout looks like, I'm adding a link to my newly created photostream there - only about 70 photos (so far?). Sorry, but of all the websites I have checked out over the last few years, I still reckon Flickr is the best - despite the fact that there have been two sudden major loss of views in Stats (for me, at least, plus some others) since May 2016, which I don't understand. Too obvious to be a coincidence, and I'm not impressed! Of course, the future of Flickr is uncertain, but hopefully that will all be sorted out with a happy ending! www.23hq.com/annkelliott Another website I tried ages ago (only 8 of my photos there) is 500px: 500px.com/annkelliott I like Smugmug and have quite a few of my photos on there: annkelliott.smugmug.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There was no sign of the sun on 23 November 2016, when I had the chance to go back a second time to look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan in Kananaskis. Friend, Tony, had asked me if I'd like to go with him on 22 November, but I explained that I had already been asked if I'd like to go with mutual friends, Dorothy and Stephen. Tony was free the next day, which was wonderful, and so off we went. On 29 November 2016, I was extremely lucky to go a third time, and the sun was shining that day, The snow was so deep out there, that it made walking extremely difficult, so after our first search from the road, Tony put on his snowshoes and away he went. He quickly disappeared from sight, travelling through the trees. After a long time, there was still no sign of him - at which point I started to get concerned. Then, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of white and a flock of what turned out to be about 14 white birds flew over my head and across to the far side of the road. What a beautiful sight! Tony, who is an excellent, very experienced birder, had been unable to find any birds, until he accidentally flushed them! When I first saw this flock in flight, my mind whirled, as I never thought of these birds flying, lol. Then it clicked in that maybe that was what I had just witnessed. I walked as fast as I could down the road and eventually spotted the white on white. The lack of sun made it more difficult than ever to see them, at first huddled under a tree. Thank goodness they were still there by the time Tony arrived, as this was the first time he had ever seen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The two of us had tried several times in the last few years, without any luck. I believe most people haven't seen them when they turn white for the long winter months. So, to have seen this many individuals and on two days running, I feel extremely fortunate! Thanks so much for this second chance, Tony, and I am so relieved that you finally saw this lifer! These birds tend to walk around in just a very small area, feeding on the buds of small Willow bushes, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process. "The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id "The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan

There was no sign of the sun on 23 November 2016, when I had the chance to go back a second time to look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan in Kananaskis. Friend, Tony, had asked me if I'd like to go with him on 22 November, but I explained that I had already been asked if I'd like to go with mutual friends, Dorothy and Stephen. Tony was free the next day, which was wonderful, and so off we went. The snow was so deep out there, that it made walking extremely difficult, so after our first search from the road, Tony put on his snowshoes and away he went. He quickly disappeared from sight, travelling through the trees. After a long time, there was still no sign of him - at which point I started to get concerned. Then, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of white and a flock of what turned out to be about 14 white birds flew over my head and across to the far side of the main road. What a beautiful sight! Tony, who is an excellent, very experienced birder, had been unable to find any birds, until he accidentally flushed them! When I first saw this flock in flight, my mind whirled, as I never thought of these birds flying, lol. Then it clicked in that maybe that was what I had just witnessed. I walked as fast as I could down the road and eventually spotted the white on white. The lack of sun made it more difficult than ever to see them, at first huddled under a tree. Thank goodness they were still there by the time Tony arrived, as this was the first time he had ever seen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The two of us had tried several times in the last few years, without any luck. I believe most people haven't seen them when they turn white for the long winter months. So, to have seen this many individuals and on two days running, I feel extremely fortunate! Thanks so much for this second chance, Tony, and I am so relieved that you finally saw this lifer! These birds tend to walk around in just a small area, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process and then rest again. As you can imagine, a turn of the head so that a bird is looking away from you, all that remains is something that looks like one of the many lumps of snow everywhere. "The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id "The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/31091966052/in/dateposted-public Today, I am posting just this one photo - I have been so busy and too tired to even think about doing more than that. Also, with this being the very busy Thanksgiving for Americans, there was very little activity on Flickr yesterday and the same again today, anyway. There was no sign of the sun on 23 November 2016, when I had the chance to go back a second time to look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan in Kananaskis. Friend, Tony, had asked me if I'd like to go with him on 22 November, but I explained that I had already been asked if I'd like to go with mutual friends, Dorothy and Stephen. Tony was free the next day, which was wonderful, and so off we went. The snow was so deep out there, that it made walking extremely difficult, so after our first search from the road, Tony put on his snowshoes and away he went. He quickly disappeared from sight, travelling through the trees. After a long time, there was still no sign of him - at which point I started to get concerned. Then, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of white and a flock of what turned out to be about 14 white birds flew over my head and across to the far side of the road. What a beautiful sight! Tony, who is an excellent, very experienced birder, had been unable to find any birds, until he accidentally flushed them! When I first saw this flock in flight, my mind whirled, as I never thought of these birds flying, lol. Then it clicked in that maybe that was what I had just witnessed. I walked as fast as I could down the road and eventually spotted the white on white. The lack of sun made it more difficult than ever to see them, at first huddled under a tree. Thank goodness they were still there by the time Tony arrived, as this was the first time he had ever seen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The two of us had tried several times in the last few years, without any luck. I believe most people haven't seen them when they turn white for the long winter months. So, to have seen this many individuals and on two days running, I feel extremely fortunate! Thanks so much for this second chance, Tony, and I am so relieved that you finally saw this lifer! These birds tend to walk around in just a very small area, feeding on the Willow buds, and then the group lies down, some of them burrowing till just the head and neck are visible, or some will burrow till they disappear completely under the snow. Every now and then, you can hear the little sounds they make. After resting, they repeat the feeding process. "The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id "The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to eight eggs are laid. After hatching, the chicks soon leave the nest. At first they eat insects but later move on to an adult diet, their mother using vocalisations to help them find suitable plant food. The population seems to be stable and the IUCN lists this species as being of "Least Concern". From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_ptarmigan

Yesterday, 22 November 2016, I was finally able to remove the White-tailed Ptarmigan from the top of my Wish List! Over the last few years, I have been with a friend maybe four or five times to look for these in the mountains, without any luck. I had told friends that this year, if I didn't see one of these grouse, I would build a snowman bird and photograph it. A lot of very deep snow in the whole area! It was just so exciting to see 15 of these beautiful birds yesterday, with friends, Dorothy and Stephen. We would definitely never have found them without help from several friends. As you can imagine, spotting a white bird against a snowy background from a great distance is pretty well impossible - this photo was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm with my point-and-shoot. A bit more grainy than I would have liked, but I am still so happy to have seen these birds and get any kind of photos. Shooting white on white is never easy. "The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabits alpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan/id