Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Poecile

I'd like to thank each and every one of you who left a very kind, supportive comment on my last photo, posted to let people know that my oldest daughter passed away early in the early evening of 3rd January 2014. Your thoughtful words are of great comfort. Life will certainly never be the same without Fiona - she has left a huge hole that can never be filled. I try to take comfort in knowing that she is no longer in constant pain, no longer has to think about the two knee replacements that were to take place before too long, and no longer struggle with everyday things. Rest in Peace, Fiona. flic.kr/p/qD8TEb

This photo was taken on 23 November 2014, when I went for part of a birding walk with friends. I can’t remember whose hand you see in this photo, but hopefully the owner of the hand will recognize herself when I send this photo round to everyone. During the long, cold winter months, these tiny birds are just 24 hours away from death - they need to be able to get enough food to create a layer of fat on their body to keep warm enough to survive. In the winter, their brain expands in order to let them remember where they hide every single seed that they find. Wish this happened to humans, too - I could do with that all year round : ) I was lucky enough to get a quick sighting of the Long-tailed Weasel that day, too, when I called in after the walk. Only managed to take a handful of shots and most didn’t come out well enough to post, but it was still nice to see this little animal in its beautiful white, winter coat. Also good to see a few friends down there as well. I wonder if anyone has been seeing the Weasel in the last 7-10 days or so. I called in briefly three days more recently, as I was in the area, but there were no signs of the Weasel or any tracks in the snow. If we don’t see it again, we can be so happy that it gave us some much-appreciated photo opps. "The Black-capped Chickadee is notable for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (they can feed from the hand)." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/id

We are seeing so few birds and so few species at the moment, when we go on our birding walks. There are no cones on many of the coniferous trees, meaning that there will be no food for birds such as Crossbills this winter, and birds such as Redpolls will be either non-existant or very low in numbers. It's not expected to be a good winter for Snowy Owls, either. That's why I say "Thank heavens for Chickadees"!! They are there to greet us, no matter what! Such tough little guys, though they are always only 24 hours away from death if they can't get enough fat stored into their body to last overnight. This was a lucky shot, taken through the snow-laden trees somewhere between Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace in Fish Creek Park, on 29 October 2013. It makes you wonder what kind of numbers will be recorded for each species during the upcoming Christmas Bird Counts, within the city, but especially in surrounding areas such as High River, Drumheller and Cochrane. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-Capped_Chickadee/id www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/10611446056

Can't remember if this was the first time this person had ever had a little Chickadee fly down to her hand - something every human being should be able to have happen at least once in their lifetime : ) Taken at Sikome, Fish Creek Park, on 17 February 2013. During the long, cold winter months, these tiny birds are just 24 hours away from death - they need to be able to get enough food to create a layer of fat on their body to keep warm enough to survive. In the winter, their brain expands in order to let them remember where they hide every single seed that they find. Wish this happened to humans, too - I could do with that all year round : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id&quot ;

January 19th was one of our cold, cold days and every bird I managed to photograph looked like this - feathers all fluffed up to try and keep warm. This photo of a little Black-capped Chickadee was taken on a morning walk in Weaselhead. UPDATES: 1. To those of you who knew our dear friend Doug Waylett, I had an e-mail from Flo (his wife) this morning, letting me know that she has extended Doug's extensive Flickr account, so that his valuable photos can continue to be enjoyed and be of use. I was so concerned about this, so thank you, Flo, for doing this. Doug's images provide a most valuable resource, especially for those who are interested in lichens, fungi, etc.. www.flickr.com/photos/dougcwaylett/ 2. To those of you who were curious about the make of the old motorbike in a photo of my Dad in his younger days, my son contacted the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, here in Alberta, and they told him that it is an Ascot Pullin. These were produced in the UK between 1928-1930. Thanks so much, Steven, for thinking of contacting the Reynolds-Alberta Museum and finding out this information and for adding a link to Wikipedia under the photo. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascot-Pullin_Motorcycles history.alberta.ca/reynolds/