Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: flock

Yesterday morning, 19 October 2019, 10 of us set out on a day birding trip south of the city, to Pine Coulee Reservoir. Each year, I never expect to come home with photos of birds, as they are always very, very distant. However, I love that whole area, with its rolling hills and endless Alberta sky, but I have not yet driven there myself. On day outings, we always carpool to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We spent just over three hours driving around the lake, a distance of almost 24 km, making stops at various points to check for (mainly) waterfowl. Several distant, sunlit Swans flew over, and an extremely distant Rough-legged Hawk kept our attention for a few minutes. At one location, a few Swans were mixed in with Canada Geese and ducks - somewhat closer, but photos were not really worth posting. We stopped at a campsite along the edge of the reservoir and did a short walk. A lone Pine Grosbeak did what Grosbeaks like to do - find a really tall tree and perch at the top of it. I posted a photo of it, just for the record. Hopefully, this bird will eventually find the rest of its flock or be able to join a new group. As always happens, my camera lens turned to other things as well. Scenic shots tend to be the main subject, including a few taken looking into the sun, along with some reasonably interesting skies. At one viewpoint, I spotted a lonely caterpillar slowly making its way over one of the large rocks that edged a parking lot. No idea what species of moth it will turn into. Normally, we would have stayed out a bit longer, but our day was cut short as a few of us needed to get back to the city, ready to go to the annual "Banquet" in the evening. This year's guest speaker was Dr. Robert Berdan, who spoke mainly about micro-photography. Amazing what micro images and videos he captures. I had first met him when he did some work for me. The brand new National Museum of Qatar had requested to use 24 of my very old Middle East photos taken in Doha, Qatar. They needed the photos to be scanned at museum quality, and Dr. Berdan did this for me. Many thanks for the ride, Tony! Appreciated so much, as I had planned to take a cab. You did brilliantly, getting us out of the awful, tangled web of new roads/construction on the way home. A total maze, even more so in the dark. Thanks for a very enjoyable trip, Tony, as always. You guys did really well to find 41 species!

The 10 images posted tonight were all taken on the morning of 14 May 2018, Day 8 of our two-week holiday in Point Pelee (Ontario) and Tadoussac (Quebec). Thankfully, I have reached a few much larger birds, which were a pleasure to see and photograph after struggling to get any shots of the small birds that we had just been seeing. However, those small birds were a real treat, especially the beautiful Lapland Longspurs. Though we do get them in Alberta, I have never seen one here. Most likely, I will never see one again, hence the distant shots that I have uploaded. I still have to track more or less where we saw these particular Snow Geese. The photo of a mass of distant Snow Geese was taken about 50 minutes after the shot of the Great Blue Heron, so the last few photos I have just uploaded were taken in the early afternoon. We get Snow Geese in Alberta, but on the few occasions that I have seen them, they have been far, far away. "Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid a cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Among them, you might see a dark form with a white head—a color variant called the “Blue Goose.” Snow Geese have skyrocketed in numbers and are now among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent. The Snow Goose is a white-bodied goose with black wingtips that are barely visible on the ground but noticeable in flight. The pink bill has a dark line along it, often called a "grinning patch" or "black lips." You may also see dark morph Snow Geese, or "Blue Geese," with a white face, dark brown body, and white under the tail. Snow Geese don’t like to travel without the company of another couple dozen geese and can form flocks of several hundred thousand. Family groups forage together on wintering grounds, digging up roots and tubers from muddy fields and marshes. In flight, they are steady on the wing with even wingbeats." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snow_Goose/id

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 28 October 2018. A group of 15 of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Chain Lakes and Pine Coulee Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out. As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. We saw so many Swans (Tundra and Trumpeter) on various sloughs and in flight. What a sight they were, with the sun shining on their pure white feathers. Love to hear the Trumpeter Swans "trumpeting". A huge thrill was when our leader led us to a small creek where there were four American Diippers, happily bobbing and dipping, and swimming under water. They weren't bothered by our presence at all. Terry, you took us on yet another amazing trip! You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Thanks so much, Linda and Robin, for the ride all day - greatly appreciated! I have been off my computer all day today, too. My daughter came down for the day, as she had offered to come and help me with sorting through some things and getting rid of all my old electronics at recycle places. It saved me a whole lot of bending (which kills my back) and a lot of lifting. Her help was hugely appreciated! Tonight is THE night, ha, ha! I am going to set two or three mouse traps (which is how I started out about 6 months ago, but I caught nothing). I absolutely dread going downstairs tomorrow morning, in case the traps have caught something. If they were successful, friends are coming over straight away to remove it/them for me!! I just hope I don't hear the snap of a trap or any squealing!!!

This photo makes me smile. Is anyone actually looking at the breathtaking Ibis at this moment, or is everyone using Playback on their cameras? This photo was taken on 19 March 2017, our last but one day on the island of Trinidad. On that day, we hiked to see the unusual Oilbirds in the morning and then we went to the Caroni Swamp in the afternoon and evening. We were lucky enough to see a Masked Cardinal near the Caroni Swamp, before going on a boat to see the Scarlet Ibis arriving. The Scarlet Ibis is one of the two national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. At the Swamp, my six friends and I were privileged to be able to watch the arrival of huge flocks of amazing Scarlet Ibis flying in to roost. Will add this YouTube link (not my video) to give an idea of what our boat ride was like - including the large snake curled up in a tree over our heads! All the other boats we saw were packed full of people, but we were given a boat to ourselves, which was great. Boats have to stay the far side of the huge body of water, in order to not put stress on the birds, so my photos are very distant, fully zoomed, but at least they give an idea of the breathtaking colour of the Ibis. It was sunset when we returned through the mangrove swamp to our vehicle. We didn't even miss the daily Rum Punch that is always served at the Asa Wright Nature Centre - our guide came fully prepared! youtu.be/vV9XvW2JSVE This outing really was the highlight of our holiday, kept to the last but one day on Trinidad. There was just one more outing the following morning, and then we spent that afternoon hanging out at the Asa Wright Nature Centre, photographing some of the birds and packing our bags ready for leaving in the middle of the night to catch our flight home. This adventure was only the second holiday of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my dear friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could choose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! We were so lucky with our flights, as we were just in time to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up the mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a minibus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way. I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure. This is a video that I came across on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it. youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015. youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk

This photo was taken on a trip to Pine Coulee Reservoir a week ago, on 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Coulee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills, and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of this latest drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. Later in the drive, we crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, the other day, I was reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and I discovered that, in fact, I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a rough, wooden fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new (or forgotten) places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where.

My thoughts continue to be with all the people of Fort McMurray, Alberta, who are being devastated by a massive wildfire at the moment. All 88,000 people were forced to flee the city, many leaving everything behind and many will be returning to nothing. Now, much-needed rain and cooler temperatures are helping. "Monday, May 9, 2016, 7:28 AM - After a week of fighting a devastating wildfire that sent thousands of Fort McMurray residents fleeing, it seems firefighters have been holding the line -- and the weather has actually been cooperative." From The Weather Network. www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/weather-factoring... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My plan yesterday, 8 May 2016, was to join friends for an afternoon walk at Carburn Park. Closer to the time, I knew I was going to be late and decided at the last minute that I would instead go for a short drive SE of the city. I knew that I was far more likely to see a few closer birds and get some photo opportunities if I went SE. I stayed around Frank Lake for most of the time. When I checked the weather forecast before I left, I knew that there was a possibity of rain later on. I totally forgot to check how windy it was going to be, and ended up barely being able to hold my camera steady enough to try and get a few shots. The strong wind was causing mini waves both on the lake itself and also on the very small slough I stopped at, creating a few neat water patterns. Shorebirds included the always beautiful American Avocet and Black-necked Stilts and a couple of different birds including the one in this photo. I don't see shorebirds very often and I am not good at IDs for them. I'm hoping someone might just see this shot and be able to let me know what species it is. A pair of Killdeer were making a lot of noise, as usual. Saw several kinds of ducks, but they were too far to get any photos worth keeping. I was happy to see a pair of Canvasbacks. After Frank Lake, I called in at a slough that used to be so good for shorebirds, only to find that there was not a drop of water left. The whole area was white ground (salt?). So disappointing, as last year I had White-faced Ibis walking just 8 or 10 feet from my car, and I had been longing to go back again this spring! Yesterday, I didn't see any Ibis at all, but someone I was talking to had seen some earlier. There were so many Yellow-headed Blackbirds - everywhere! They were in quite large groups, flying from fields over the road ahead of me, in fields amongst the stubble, and at one location they were feeding on the ground at the feet of cows. ust as I was leaving the area to start my drive home, the rain arrived. Greatly needed, though we need a whole lot of precipitation to do any good. Alberta is a tinder box, ready to go up in smoke. In fact, yesterday, I saw on the News that there was a small wildfire in Edmonton. "The breeding habitat of the Yellow-headed Blackbird is cattail (Typha spp.) marshes in North America, mainly west of the Great Lakes. The nest is built with and attached to marsh vegetation. They nest in colonies, often sharing their habitat closely with the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). During the breeding and nesting season the males are very territorial and spend much of their time perched on reed stalks and displaying or chasing off intruders." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-headed_blackbird www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-headed_blackbird/id For the sound: youtu.be/6-Pk-VMtZM0

On 22 February 2015, on my way out of Fish Creek Park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again. "Waxwings often drink water or eat snow in winter, since the sugar in their fruit diet tends to dehydrate the birds through an osmotic effect. In the summer, the fruits are juicier and water is less of a problem" (from Wikipedia). These Bohemian Waxwings visit us in winter and then fly north for the summer, to breed. Here, in summer, we get the Cedar Waxwings instead. I pulled over to try and get a shot or two - quite the feeling to have so many of these beautiful, sleek birds flying around you when you are standing there. Earlier in the afternoon, this mass of birds landed in the parking lot trees. Interesting to hear the loud "whoosh" when they all took off so close to where we were standing. "The name "Bohemian" refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. It comes from the inhabitants of Bohemia, meaning those that live an unconventional lifestyle or like that of gypsies. The Bohemian Waxwing does not hold breeding territories, probably because the fruits it eats are abundant, but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song. It does not need one to defend a territory." From AllAboutBirds. "The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. It is less wavering and lower-pitched than that of the cedar waxwing. Other calls are just variants of the main vocalisation; a quieter version is used by chicks to call parents, and courtship calls, also given during nest construction, have a particularly large frequency range. Although not a call as such, when a flock takes off or lands, the wings make a distinctive rattling sound that can be heard 30 m (100 ft) away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bohemian_waxwing/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing

Yesterday, 27 September 2015, I joined friends on a most enjoyable day of birding east of the city. Below, I have added Howard Heffler's report of the day's sightings, adding that, as usual, there were some species that I didn't see myself. We were all delighted to see a huge swarm of Greater White-fronted Geese fly over the wetland at Marsland Basin. In the far distance, we could see a second huge gathering of them, but these didn't fly towards us. People were seeing several Snow Geese mixed in with the flock seen in my photo, but I only spotted them when I got the photo on my computer. I can see four of them towards the left side of the photo, above the right hand edge of the red/purplish bushes. "Breeding across the tundra from Nunavut to Siberia, across Russia, and in Greenland, the Greater White-fronted Goose has one of the largest ranges of any species of goose in the world. In North America, however, it is common only west of the Mississippi River, where it is found in large flocks in wetlands and croplands." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_White-fronted_Goose/l... "It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill. Even more distinctive are the salt-and-pepper markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is colloquially called the "specklebelly" in North America." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_white-fronted_goose It was also nice to see one of the four Badgers in the family that lives on a property adjacent to our friend Lyn's land. On a previous visit, I had been lucky enough to see three of these Badgers. These are so rarely seen. "We had 12 people show up for a beautiful day to explore the sloughs east of Calgary. This included a lovely young family visiting from Lac la Biche. It was a bit chilly for the first two stops at the slough on Glenmore Trail and RR 284 and at Chestermere Lake. We then went directly to Marsland Basin when we spent much of our time. Although Lynn and Sue were not at home, we explored their property and listed 38 bird species and had a good look at one member of the badger family that lives on the adjacent property. By now the sun was up, we were all warm and there were a few passerines to add to the waterfowl. A highlight was an estimated 5000 Greater White-fronted Geese flying over. From there we went to the south side of Eagle Lake where we saw a distant murmuration of an (estimated) 10,000 European Starlings. Even from a distance this is a moving sight. Cattleland Slough did not add anything new to the list so we headed for home. Thanks to everyone for their sharp eyes and to Andrew Hart for his listing skills on eBird. The list below includes birds seen by the group and includes birds seen while driving and even the Downy Woodpecker in the Carburn parking lot. The numbers reported are the (best guess) of totals from all sightings. Errors of omission or commission rest with the author…. Greater White-fronted Goose - 5000 Snow Goose - 8 Canada Goose - 100 Gadwall - 74 American Wigeon - 7 Mallard - 44 Blue-winged Teal - 4 Northern Shoveler - 22 Northern Pintail - 71 Green-winged Teal - 110 Canvasback - 8 Redhead - 6 Ring-necked Duck - 8 Lesser Scaup - 150 Bufflehead - 38 Common Goldeneye - 12 Barrow's Goldeneye - 4 Ruddy Duck - 24 Gray Partridge - 12 Horned Grebe - 21 Eared Grebe - 9 Northern Harrier - 1 Bald Eagle - 2 Red-tailed Hawk - 3 Swainson's Hawk - 1 American Coot - 390 Greater Yellowlegs - 2 Lesser Yellowlegs - 22 Long-billed Dowitcher - 3 Bonaparte's Gull - 36 Franklin's Gull - 42 Ring-billed Gull - 185 Rock Pigeon - 4 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker - 1 Black-billed Magpie - 7 American Crow - 24 Common Raven - 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 American Robin - 2 European Starling - 10000 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8 Wilson's Warbler - 3 Dark-eyed Junco - 5 Savannah Sparrow - 2 Red-winged Blackbird - 8 Yellow-headed Blackbird - 1 Western Meadowlark - 2 Brewer's Blackbird - 2 Common Grackle - 1 Brown-headed Cowbird - 10 American Goldfinch - 1 House Sparrow - 20 TOTAL: 54 species Howard Heffler" Thanks so much, Dan and Cindy, for driving Darlene and myself there and back! We both greatly appreciated it!

I couldn't resist stopping to take a few photos of this busy farmer ploughing (?) his huge, hillside field yesterday, 1 June 2015. There were dozens or hundreds of these Franklin's Gulls swarming around the moving machinery in a huge, noisy cloud. The sun was shining yesterday afternoon, so I decided to take a short drive SW of the city and see if I could find Mountain Bluebirds and Wilson's Snipe. These are two of my favourite birds to photograph and I was lucky with both. Didn't see much else, other than Blue-winged Teal, a Clay-coloured Sparrow, Red-winged Backbirds, Tree Swallows and an Eastern Kingbird. "A small, black-headed gull of the prairies, the Franklin's Gull is a common sight in the interior of North America, following plows to eat exposed worms, insects, and mice." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Franklins_Gull/id

I've never seen Snow Geese when they accumulate in the many thousands that can be seen during migration, but I was happy to see these few very distant ones flying over Frank Lake on 27 April 2014. I've avoided posting this photo because of the graininess, but decided I would post it after all, so that it can be added to my Birds of Alberta 9 album. Anyone who knows the Frank Lake area and how far away the mountains really are, will know how much zoom I used for this : ) Last year, on 9 November 2013, I went on a birding day trip to Pine Coulee Reservoir and Clear Lake area. There, we did see Snow Geese and Ross's Geese (again, extremely distant). Terry Korolyk's report for that great November day trip included the following (to remind myself): "There was still much open water off the Campground at Clear Lake with Canada Geese, Cackling Geese, and, Mallard there in large numbers, and, a generous sprinkling of all the other Duck species. On the ice edge north of the Campground, probably 2,000+ SNOW and ROSS'S GEESE rested. One blue SNOW GEESE was there and, there was a very generous assortment of ROSS'S GEESE in these birds; probably 200+ at least." "The snow goose has two color plumage morphs, white (snow) or gray/blue (blue), thus the common description as "snows" and "blues." White-morph birds are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing the white except on the head, neck and tail tip. The immature blue phase is drab or slate-gray with little to no white on the head, neck, or belly. Both snow and blue phases have rose-red feet and legs, and pink bills with black tomia ("cutting edges"), giving them a black "grin patch." The colors are not as bright on the feet, legs, and bill of immature birds. The head can be stained rusty-brown from minerals in the soil where they feed. They are very vocal and can often be heard from more than a mile away." From Wikipedia. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snow_goose/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_goose