Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: nestlings

Happy Father's Day, everyone! Back to posting after missing yesterday. I was so absolutely tired the previous evening, that I just didn't manage to find and edit photos to post early yesterday morning. I know part of the reason is lack of sleep, but I have felt overwhelmingly tired since getting back from Trinidad & Tobago. I need to get more sleep and then see if that helps. If not, I guess it is always possible that I picked up something during our trip. This photo was taken yesterday, 17 June 2017, when five of us went east of the city for the day, to visit our friend, Shirley, at her seasonal trailer. Most of our birding was done at and near Shirley's trailer site, including seeing a wonderful Great Horned Owl family, two Killdeer and their nests, a Baltimore Oriole, and (finally!) a Brown Thrasher. I had hoped for several years to see one of these birds, so it was a real treat to see a 'lifer'. It was far away and so high up, but I managed to get a couple of shots just for the record. We were so happy to be able to see the Great Horned Owl family - three owlets and both adults. There had been a fourth owlet, but it died recently. When I was posting a photo of two of the owlets this morning, I realized that one youngster was clutching a small bird in its talons! As we were walking around the grounds, two ladies stopped us and showed us some baby birds that they had had to remove from the engine of their vehicle, as they needed to drive. They wondered if we knew what kind of birds they were, but we were unable to help. I posted a photo of them this morning, just in case someone can ID them. I know some groups don't allow photos of nestlings, so I hope this photo is OK for the Bird Identification Help Group. If not, it can be removed. The ladies had an empty bird house that they were going to put the babies into, hoping that the parents would hear them calling and be able to continue feeding them. Thank you so much, Shirley, for inviting us all out to visit you while you were there for the weekend! It was such a pleasure to see some of "your" birds that you enjoy so much. Such a great variety of species! Wow, what a lunch we had, sitting at a table under the Tree Swallow tree, with a very vocal American Robin just a few feet away and a pair of busy Tree Swallows flying back and forth with food for their babies. How DO birds manage to sing non-stop like this Robin?! Hot chili made by Shirley, and a whole array of delicious salads and desserts left me feeling full till the early evening. Many thanks, Anne B, for picking up three of us and for driving us east across the prairies. Hugely appreciated!

Finally got out of the city southwestwards just a short way yesterday evening, to go with Don Stiles again on his Bluebird Route. He has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years! We pass a Buffalo and Elk farm in that area and several of these maginficent animals happened to be on a hill that was near to the fence. The light was not too good, so I'm surprised that any of the photos I took came out at all. In fact, we hadn't been sure whether to go or not, because of some rather black clouds. You'd never know there had been devastating floods the past week, that have affected the whole of southern Alberta. I was expecting to see flood water everywhere, so was hugely relieved to see none! It felt SO good to get out - anywhere - though I did drive a few minutes away from home just before this evening trip, as a friend had mentioned that there were mushrooms growing in a place where they had been last year. Again, you would never know that we have been experiencing the "flood of the century" for almost a week now. Thanks for a great Bluebird evening, Don - lovely to see various other birds, too, including a Snipe, House Wren, Tree Swallows, American Goldfinch, Swainson's Hawk, a yet-unidentified Hawk with what I think was an Eastern Kingbird "piggy-backing" on it, etc., etc.. I missed getting it actually riding on the back, but did get it just a few inches above the Hawk - see my second photo posted today. Most of Don's boxes have Tree Swallow nests in them now, but the one box had these six gorgeous baby Bluebirds all huddled together. It was such a relief to see so much wildlife - I had feared the worst! Of course, many parts of the city have now started on clean-up, and what a monumental task that is going to be!!! I saw yesterday that the first billion dollars have now been made available towards this clean-up! People just amaze me, how they get to work to clear all the mud from inside their homes and get rid of all their ruined possessions. I think everyone is so impressed by the way the city has, and still is, handling the whole situation. Our Mayor, Naheed Nenshi (36th mayor, sworn in on October 25, 2010), has proved that people made the right choice when they elected him Mayor! He is working tirelessly to protect his city and get it back to as normal as possible!!

The best shot of this Great Horned Owl family that I've been able to get so far, but really hope I'll see the young ones higher up on the nest or on a branch one of these days. Meanwhile, you can see Mom in the background with her little family. Most of the time I stood and watched them, the owlets were further down in the tree. When I looked at my photos after I got home, I was amazed at how much larger the older one (on the right) is, compared to the youngest one. Ever feel like you are being watched, LOL?