Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: hoarfrost

Hope this doesn't make you shiver, Pam! Before I start on Day 7 of our two-week holiday in May 2018, I wanted to quickly add 8 photos taken the day before yesterday, 7 December 2018. I don't get over to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary very often, but I decided to join four friends for a birding walk there on Frriday morning. It was cold, but a beautiful sunny day. Not much in the way of birds, though there were so many Canada Geese gathered on the river. Nice to see and hear three Killdeer. There was a hoarfrost, too, which turned everywhere into a winter wonderland. "The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre have been providing migratory birds with a place to rest their wings since 1929. That's more than 80 years of conservation! To date, 270 species of birds, 21 species of mammals and 347 species of plants have been recorded at the Sanctuary and Nature Centre by members of the public, volunteers and staff. In 1883, Colonel James Walker settled the land that is now occupied by the sanctuary. In 1910, the current brick house - then named Inglewood - was built, and the surrounding area was named for the most prominent property in the area. From 1929 to 1952, several Chinese families leased land from Colonel Walker and established market gardens to serve the needs of a growing city. These highly productive gardens were used to grow vegetables and bedding plants, and represent an early example of urban agriculture and horticulture in the city. As part of the engagement process for Bend in Bow, it was discovered the descendants of one of the families, the Koo family, still reside in Calgary. Colonel Walker's son, Selby, applied to the Federal government in 1929 to have 59 acres on the west side of the Bow River be designated as a Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. His request was granted and the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary was born. When Selby died in 1953, Ed Jefferies acquired the property and leased it to the Alberta Fish & Game Association. In 1970, The City of Calgary purchased the property and has been managing it as a natural reserve ever since. The sanctuary's Nature Centre was built in 1996 and grassland restoration projects began in that same year. The Colonel Walker House is currently used by Parks staff and volunteers as a classroom and office." www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/Locations/SE-parks/Inglew...

Before I start on Day 7 of our two-week holiday in May 2018, I wanted to quickly add 8 photos taken the day before yesterday, 7 December 2018. I don't get over to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary very often, but I decided to join four friends for a birding walk there on Frriday morning. It was cold, but a beautiful sunny day. Not much in the way of birds, though there were so many Canada Geese gathered on the river. Nice to see and hear three Killdeer. There was a hoarfrost, too, which turned everywhere into a winter wonderland. "The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre have been providing migratory birds with a place to rest their wings since 1929. That's more than 80 years of conservation! To date, 270 species of birds, 21 species of mammals and 347 species of plants have been recorded at the Sanctuary and Nature Centre by members of the public, volunteers and staff. In 1883, Colonel James Walker settled the land that is now occupied by the sanctuary. In 1910, the current brick house - then named Inglewood - was built, and the surrounding area was named for the most prominent property in the area. From 1929 to 1952, several Chinese families leased land from Colonel Walker and established market gardens to serve the needs of a growing city. These highly productive gardens were used to grow vegetables and bedding plants, and represent an early example of urban agriculture and horticulture in the city. As part of the engagement process for Bend in Bow, it was discovered the descendants of one of the families, the Koo family, still reside in Calgary. Colonel Walker's son, Selby, applied to the Federal government in 1929 to have 59 acres on the west side of the Bow River be designated as a Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. His request was granted and the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary was born. When Selby died in 1953, Ed Jefferies acquired the property and leased it to the Alberta Fish & Game Association. In 1970, The City of Calgary purchased the property and has been managing it as a natural reserve ever since. The sanctuary's Nature Centre was built in 1996 and grassland restoration projects began in that same year. The Colonel Walker House is currently used by Parks staff and volunteers as a classroom and office." www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/Locations/SE-parks/Inglew...

This photo was taken on 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were barely close enough were two of the Snowy Owls. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! Most of the photos I took of anything were so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted they are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). Many thanks for driving some of us, Andrew.

HAPPY WINTER, everyone! Today, we are one day closer to spring - yay!. Two days ago, on 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant. Looks like there could be about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence today. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon yesterday, which is why I posted so late yesterday! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night! I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it. Some years, we have a beautiful hoarfrost and amazing sunrise at our first stop on this Count, at Frank Lake. This year, we had just a slight touch of hoarfrost and barely any colour in the sky at sunrise. One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow. Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders. "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open. Mallard-500 Northern Shoveler-1 f. Northern Pintail-2 Common Goldeneye-3 Gray Partridge-8 Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake Prairie Falcon-1 Rock Pigeon-56 Great Horned Owl-6 Snowy Owl-1 Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-17 Common Raven-4 Song Sparrow-1 Snow Bunting-150 Common Redpoll-790 House Sparrow-202 Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind. Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m. Coyote-4 Skunk track by observation blind Meadow Vole-1 Mule Deer-6 Moose-1 f. Participants: Km by Car- 58 Km on foot -5 Total km - 63 Time by car – 2 hrs Time on foot-5 hrs Total party hours-7 hrs"

On 25 January 2017, I had such a great day, spent with friend, Phil. We drove the main roads and zig-zagged along the back roads SE of the city, hoping to find owls and any other birds that we might be lucky enough to see. I haven't been able to get out much this winter, and have had very little luck finding certain owls, including Snowies, Short-eared Owls and a Long-eared Owl. Phil has an unusual ability to see things that are almost invisible to the naked eye; things that I know I would never spot if I was driving on my own. Amazing how some people can do this - and, of course, the rest of us always benefit from their ability. I was confident that we would see a Snowy Owl, but had no idea that we would see 11 of them by the end of the day! In the morning, there were few birds of any kind to be found, but thankfully more gradually appeared as the day wore on. Birds for the day included the 11 Snowy Owls, 3 Rough-legged Hawks (one a very dark individual), 2 Prairie Falcons, quite a few Grey Partridge, and a beautiful, distant Bald Eagle down on the ground the far side of a field. It was bathed in beautiful sunset light, which showed the detail of each and every feather. Mammals for the day included a number of Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer, some of them surrounded by hoar-frosted stubble. We also saw a very distant Red Fox hunting, 3 Elk (which surprised both of us), and several Coyotes. Everywhere was covered in hoar frost, which made for a nice setting for these two distant deer. Thanks so much, Phil, for such a great day! A day of hoar frost and glorious cloud formation, beautiful landscape, and more than enough Snowy Owls to keep anyone happy. Perfect company, too, of course. Greatly appreciated!

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.

This photo was taken on 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were barely close enough were two of the Snowy Owls. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! Most of the photos I took of anything yesterday are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted they are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks for driving some of us. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Snowy Owl 6 Short-eared Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow

On 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue for some of the time - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were close enough were two of the Snowy Owls and even they were quite a long way from us. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. The splash of pink in an otherwise white world meant that that this distant barn just had to be photographed. Unfortunately, the image was very distorted due to heat haze distortion and was only fit to be deleted. So, I tried putting it through a filter in post-processing and quite liked the result. Most of the photos I took of anything yesterday are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from the heat distortion - and distorted they are! I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks for driving some of us. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Snowy Owl 6 Short-eared Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow

Flickr - Bad, bad Panda. A fully zoomed and cropped shot of this beautiful female or juvenile Snowy Owl, so it's far from the greatest quality. However, I did want to add this record of it to my owl albums. This owl has quite a few dark feathers on top of its head. Ten days ago, on 9 January 2016, I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were just close enough were two of the Snowy Owls - the one in this photo and another one that was a bit closer. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! We could have driven closer to this Snowy, but chose to keep our distance, meaning that 48x zoom and cropping were needed. I'm amazed (and thankful) that this photo came out at all, as most of the photos I took of anything that day are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted many of them are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks, as always, for driving some of us - imuch appreciated! Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and greatly appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 SNOWY OWL 6 SHORT-EARED OWL 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow

Now that's heavy hoar frost! This photo was taken a week ago, on 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a thick blanket of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were close enough were two of the Snowy Owls, and we kept our distance from those. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! Most of the photos I took of anything yesterday are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted they are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks for driving some of us. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Snowy Owl 6 Short-eared Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow Link to this photo on Flickr: flic.kr/p/CCSFEM

This photo was taken four days ago, on 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were close enough were two of the Snowy Owls. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! Most of the photos I took of anything yesterday are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted they are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. These three old barns/sheds were by the last red barn photo I posted. I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks for driving some of us. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Snowy Owl 6 Short-eared Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Update about my daughter: She is out of the hospital and back at home, but now knows that she will most likely have to have major surgery. She is in shock, me too, and I feel very upset for her.

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 9 January 2016, when I took part in a Mid-winter Bust-out trip east of the city, led by Terry Korolyk. Eight of us, plus our leader, took part in this day trip - maybe when everyone else saw what the temperature was first thing in the morning (-23C, not counting windchill, which would have made it much colder), they changed their mind about going! Everything was covered in a heavy layer of hoar frost, which turned everywhere into a beautiful winter wonderland. The sky was blue - what more could anyone want? Well, a few birds would be nice, of course : ) The highlight of the day was seeing 6 Short-eared Owls, in addition to 6 Snowy Owls (7 seen by the people in the other cars, when we split up at the end of the day). As a photographer, though, the only birds that were close enough were two of the Snowy Owls - the one in my previous photo and another one that was even further away. All the Short-eared Owls were tiny dots in the landscape. I don't know how anyone was able to spot them! We could have driven closer to this Snowy, but chose to keep our distance, meaning that 48x zoom and cropping were needed. I'm amazed (and thankful) that this photo came out OK, as most of the photos I took of anything yesterday are so blurry and not fit for use. Zoomed in shots, especially, suffered from heat distortion - and distorted they are! Our meeting place was right across the city; a drive that I never enjoy at all, but I really didn't want to miss this outing. Some of the roads we travelled were ones that I had driven several times before. Most of the time, though, I had no idea where we were : ) As always happens on any day that I go anywhere, I turned my camera lens to anything else of interest/beauty, even more so when the birds are way, way off in the distance. I know this is not the most photogenic barn, and it's obviously more modern, but the splash of red in an otherwise white world meant that it just had to be photographed. I will add the list of bird species seen that Andrew H. compiled. Many thanks for driving some of us. Thank you, Terry - it was a great day and much appreciated, as always! You did an excellent write-up of the whole day (not posted here). 3 Canada Goose 4 Rough-legged Hawk 6 Snowy Owl 6 Short-eared Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 34 Black-billed Magpie 46 Common Raven 73 Horned Lark 1 Black-capped Chickadee 75 Snow Bunting 511 Common Redpoll 1 Hoary Redpoll 32 House Sparrow

I was really hoping that we would call in at this particular farm, when we were SE of Calgary two days ago. In December 2014, we had called in and had a long chat with the lady who lives there. She had five (?) most beautiful kittens that were hanging around one of her old barns, and two days ago, we caught sight of a grey cat that we think was one of last year's kittens. All the old barns and sheds had been given a new coat of paint, so were now red instead of pink : ) I spotted this old Ford truck at rest along one of the hedgerows. On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our small group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were at our first stop and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water of the outlet at Frank Lake. So beautiful. After our very first stop there, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls (4 of them at one farm). It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

This is just a quick shot taken yesterday. The hoar frost looked so pretty, especially when backlit. It was cold yesterday morning, when I met friends for a three hour walk at Griffith Woods. Temperature was -10 to -4°C. Eventually, the warmth of the sun could just be felt, which always makes such a welcome difference. Not a huge variety of birds - but we saw so many Bohemian Waxwings (a total of 600+) flying overhead and sometimes landing near the tops of very tall Spruce trees. Canada Goose-110 Mallard-10 Bald Eagle-1 juv. Merlin-1 Downy Woodpecker-1 Hairy Woodpecker-1 Northern Flicker-2 Northern Shrike-1, chasing a Blue Jay Blue Jay-4+ Black-billed Magpie-7 Common Raven-3+ Black-capped Chickadee-25 Boreal Chickadee-4+ Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-3 Golden-crowned Kinglet-1 Bohemian Waxwing-600+. Pine Grosbeak-4 White-winged Crossbill-4+ Common Redpoll-2 House Sparrow-1 On a totally different note, I had a wonderful surprise yesterday. After receiving a notificiation e-mail telling me that someone had 'buzzed' me on the FriendsReunited website that I had joined quite a few years ago, I discovered two words, "Remember me?" To my amazement, it was from someone who had been in the class I taught for one year in England (my very first year of teaching, in a mixed class of Grade 5/6 (equivalent). He had been a delightful, quiet, shy boy and I remembered hm as if it was yesterday : ) I am so impressed with what he has done with his life - I'm still in awe today! Most of his 36 years of working were spent teaching. When he sent me the message yesterday, he had just finished taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - the boat he was on came in third place out of twelve! Such a good, good feeling to hear that a student from so many years ago has used his life so well!

This is a reminder of the new snow that had fallen overnight, seen on a morning walk on 19 November 2015. Various friends had seen a family of three Bobcats two days earlier, and, though I knew it was highly unlikely that they would be seen again, I didn't want to learn later that I had again missed seeing them. Needless to say, there was no sign of them. Also, I had missed the walk last week, so didn't feel guilty about going on two mornings this week. As it turned out, there wasn't much of anything to be seen during this three hour walk in Weaselhead, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day, despite the temperature being -6°C to -2°C. There was a fair amount of new snow, but it had been packed down and so was reasonably safe for walking. This is the leaders' list of the 21 bird species seen: Canada Goose-300+ Mallard-8 Bald Eagle-2 (1 ad/1 juv.) Downy Woodpecker-5 Hairy Woodpecker-1 Northern Flicker-4+ PILEATED WOODPECKER-1 Northern Shrike-1 Blue Jay-3+ Black-billed Magpie-12 Common Raven-2+ Black-capped Chickadee-40+ Boreal Chickadee-2 Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-3 Bohemian Waxwing-150+ Dark-eyed Junco-3 Pine Grosbeak-10 House Finch-6 White-winged Crossbill-100+ Common Redpoll-20 The temperature this morning, 23 November 2015, is -2C (windchill -5C). We were supposed to get snow today, but it has been postponed till this evening. The sky is dreary and overcast, though, so I will stay home and get on with writing "early" Christmas letters. My overseas letters have already been sent, as I still hadn't told some friends and relatives that my older daughter had died in January. Didn't want them to receive this news right at Christmas time. Also, I know I won't feel like writing the closer it gets, so this is something I must get done in the next few days. How my daughter loved Christmas - it will be a sad time for all of us.

This beautiful old barn was seen on 12 February 2015, which was spent SE of the city, with friends Cathy and Terry. This photo was taken about half an hour after sunrise, so there was still a touch of glorious, early morning glow. My friends picked me up around 7:00 am and I think I was home somewhere around 7:30 pm, after a great day of searching for owls, barns, and anything else that caught our eye. The weather was beautiful, as you can see in this photo.. The temperature reached a brief high of 13C around 1:00 and 2:00 pm, which felt so good, especially for mid-winter. Many of the roads we travelled along were roads that I had driven on myself, some of them a number of times. A few of the roads were new to me, which was a treat, including a "trail" that was so deeply rutted and snow-covered that I'm amazed that we ever got out of there! This track and another backroad that was new to me led to a few old barns that I really appreciated being shown. I think my friends were amused that I fell asleep on this very rough track - after only an hour and a half's sleep the previous night, on top of always being very sleep-deprived, I'm really not surprised. It's strange how some fields in the whole area were more or less bare and yet others had a lot of snow covering the stubble, with piles of snow lining the edges of the road. As far as wildlife was concerned, we saw 11 owls - 8 Snowy Owls and 3 Great Horned Owls. The Snowies, other than the one perched on the "Wrong Way" sign that I posted yesterday, were all extremely distant, so my photos are of white specks in a nice setting, ha. If I hadn't been with two people who can spot "everything", I'm sure that I would never have found most of these owls! Other birds included a flock of Snow Buntings, plus two individuals that were perched on a fence - haven't checked yet to see if I have a sharp enough photo. Another bird we saw was a beautiful Falcon perched on an electricity pylon - not a large bird, so presumably a Prairie Falcon, not a Gyrfalcon. Also a group of Grey Partridge that suddenly flew before we had noticed them. We had to deal with a lot of heat distortion during the day, so some photos are far from sharp. Many thanks, as always, Cathy and Terry, for a great day out, including the delicious chili you made and brought along. A fun and rewarding day! Really appreciated being with you, doing what we all enjoy so much. Thanks, too, for patiently giving me time to photograph the various barns we came across!

April 27 (2014) was a day that was spent with a group of friends, driving around Frank Lake, SE of Calgary, checking to see what bird species we could find. It started off extremely foggy with a touch of hoarfrost. Perhaps not the ideal weather for seeing birds, but the fog did eventually clear and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and most enjoyable, with a good number of bird species found - a total of 53 species. All the birds were extremely distant, apart from a couple of owl nests and a pair of Tree Swallows, so my photos are more or less limited to landscape, hoarfrost, etc., all of which I love. I always tend to miss quite a few of the birds, as I get distracted by other things, such as this melting hoarfrost with refractions of the blue sky and grassland.

On 27 April 2014, the day was spent with a group of friends, driving around Frank Lake, checking to see what bird species we could find. It started off extremely foggy with a touch of hoarfrost. Perhaps not the ideal weather for seeing birds, but the fog did eventually clear and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and most enjoyable, with a good number of bird species found - a total of 53 species. All the birds were extremely distant, apart from a couple of owl nests and a pair of Tree Swallows, so my photos are more or less limited to landscape, hoarfrost, etc., all of which I love. Not completely sure, but I think this seedhead belongs to a Maximilian's Sunflower / Helianthus maximiliani. This is the only location I know of, where this species grows - I believe it usually grows in eastern Canada. Never sure how to spell the name, as some websites called it Maximilan's Sunflower and others use "Maximilian's Sunflower. You would think it would be the latter, going by the scientific name.