Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: overwintering

I was so lucky yesterday to see about six of these Long-tailed Ducks, swimming on the Glenmore Reservoir. I had been on a walk all morning at Beaverdam Flats and called in at the Reservoir on my way home. Small duck, big water = full zoom and lots of cropping : ) However, I was glad to get any photo, as we don't usually have these ducks in Calgary. Every once in a while, one will be reported. As you can see, the water was quite choppy, which made it much harder to spot birds out on the water in the distance, After watching these ducks, I stopped off at South Glenmore Park and was very fortunate that another birder was already there, watching a Black Scoter - with a spotting scope. It was a mere pin-prick on the water, towards the far side of the Reservoir : ) However, the view through the scope was much appreciated, especially as I had never seen one of these ducks before. The Black Scoter (Melanitta americana) is a large sea duck. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Scoter "The Long-tailed Duck, formerly known as the Oldsquaw, breeds across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic, and spends the winter on the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it is only a rare transient through Alberta. A very few Long-tailed Ducks appear in Alberta in late October and early November. Very occasionally, one will overwinter on an open river or lake in the province. They are even scarcer on spring migration from March to May." Written by Andrew Slater for talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=47 . "The Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis) is a medium-sized sea duck. It is the only living member of its genus, Clangula .... Adults have white underparts, though the rest of the plumage goes through a complex moulting process. The male has a long pointed tail (10 to 15 cm) and a dark grey bill crossed by a pink band. In winter, the male has a dark cheek patch on a mainly white head and neck, a dark breast and mostly white body. In summer, the male is dark on the head, neck and back with a white cheek patch. The female has a brown back and a relatively short pointed tail. In winter, the female's head and neck are white with a dark crown. In summer, the head is dark. Juveniles resemble adult females in autumn plumage, though with a lighter, less distinct cheek patch." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_Duck

LOL, a really, really bad photo of this Mourning Dove, but wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta Set because I don't yet have a photo in there of this species. After a three-hour walk at Beaverdam Flats yesterday morning, we called in at someone's garden to catch a glimpse of two of these Doves, sitting fairly close together on a branch deep within a huge Spruce tree. There was no way to get a better shot : ) These birds are uncommon to common in Alberta from April to October, so we were lucky to see some overwintering. "A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America." From www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id .

The light was so bad early this morning and, of course, this pretty female Long-tailed Duck was way out in the Bow River, south of Highway 22X. Lightened the image and I think you can at least get an idea of what she looks like. This is one of the most sought-after birds in the city at the moment : ) "The Long-tailed Duck, formerly known as the Oldsquaw, breeds across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic, and spends the winter on the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, it is only a rare transient through Alberta. A very few Long-tailed Ducks appear in Alberta in late October and early November. Very occasionally, one will overwinter on an open river or lake in the province. They are even scarcer on spring migration from March to May." Written by Andrew Slater for talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=47 . The Long-tailed Duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies." From Wikipedia.