Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 14 January 2017

Yesterday, 14 January 2017, this was the sight to greet me when I drove to Fish Creek Park to meet with others to go east of the city, looking for birds. There was far more dense mist rising from the river than appears in this photo. Everywhere looked so pretty, and this frost-covered bush was a delight to see. I think there were about 8 cars in convoy, as we headed eastward, out of the city. For much of the day, birding was extremely slow, especially as we were not seeing any owls : ) As the day wore on, several cars returned to the city. The first owl to be seen was a Great Horned Owl, perched in a row of trees alongside the road. It was so well hidden by a tangle of thin twigs and branches, making it impossible to photograph. Eventually, we saw our first Snowy Owl at 2:30 pm, perched on a very distant fencepost. A second Snowy was seen 15 to 20 minutes later, again very, very distant. Then, shortly before the trip ended, the friends in the car in which I was travelling, decided to go back to a certain area to see if we could see any Short-eared Owls. On the way there, we spotted another Snowy Owl, on a power pole way, way down the road. Managed to get a quick couple of very distant shots before it flew off to hunt. I had found no Snowy Owls or Short-eared Owls the previous afternoon, when I had gone there on my own. This time, we spotted two Short-eared Owls, perched far, far away along a fence line. Useless for photos, though. Thanks so much for driving the whole day, Carolyn - greatly appreciated by all of us! So glad you wanted to stay a bit longer than the actual trip, as we had a few lucky sightings, even if they were all very distant. A beautiful, sunny day to be out, too, and thankfully the deep-freeze had just ended. Thanks so much, Terry, for organizing this trip! It always makes for a very enjoyable day out.

Awful quality, but couldn't bring myself to delete it : ) This Snowy Owl, seen way off down the road, decided to take off just when I clicked. I like my owls to be sitting still - I know most people want in-flight shots of birds, especially owls. Taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm, and then cropped. I love those mighty wings. Yesterday, 14 January 2017, I drove to Fish Creek Park to meet with others to go east of the city, looking for birds. Everywhere looked so pretty down by the river when I arrived, with everything covered in frost and a thick layer of mist rising from the water. I think there were about 8 cars in convoy, as we headed eastward, out of the city. For much of the day, birding was extremely slow, especially as we were not seeing any owls : ) As the day wore on, several cars returned to the city. The first owl to be seen was a Great Horned Owl, perched in a row of trees alongside the road. It was so well hidden by a tangle of thin twigs and branches, making it impossible to photograph, but still a treat to see. Eventually, we saw our first Snowy Owl at 2:30 pm, perched on a very distant fence post. A second Snowy was seen 15 to 20 minutes later, again very, very distant. Then, shortly before the trip ended, the friends in the car in which I was travelling, decided to go back to a certain area to see if we could see any Short-eared Owls. On the way there, we spotted another Snowy Owl (seen in this photo), on a power pole way, way down the road. Managed to get a quick couple of very distant shots before it flew off to hunt. I had found no Snowy Owls or Short-eared Owls the previous afternoon, when I had gone there on my own. This time, we spotted two Short-eared Owls, perched far, far away along a fence line. Useless for photos, though. Thanks so much for driving the whole day, Carolyn - greatly appreciated by all of us! So glad you wanted to stay a bit longer than the actual trip, as we had a few lucky sightings, even if they were all very distant. A beautiful, sunny day to be out, too, and thankfully the deep-freeze had just ended. Thanks so much, Terry, for organizing this trip! It always makes for a very enjoyable day out. Nice to see a few other birds, too, including Horned Larks and Snow Buntings.