Tuesday 5 November 2013

Great Horned Owl, Nuthatch, Chickadee (20131105) FCPP walk

I have been hung up in the house it seems like for weeks here, but managed to get  out for some fresh air today. I hooked up with the FCPP walk and had a great weather day for some walking and sight seeing.
The highlight this time of the year is the local "citizen" GHO's which live in a white spruce hedge near the park headquarters. This pair have lived in the area for the last several years, finding them in the spruce can be the challenge.
In the same tree a little lower down was the darker mate. As you can see they were very comfortable with the group milling around underneath them.
As we walked along the riverbank there were thousands of Mallard ducks with many Buffleheads and some thrown in Goldeneyes! The highlight today was this Western Grebe, there was a Red necked there as well.
A Bald eagle passed by each way along the river and it was very predictable as the ducks would flush off the river in front of the on coming bird of prey. As we moved away from the river and back towards the woods we found Chickadee's, Whitebreasted Nuthatches and both Downy and Hairy woodpeckers.
We swung around the back of the parking lot and found some Blue Jays, and some Darkeyed Juncos.  When the walk wrapped up I decided to check for the other pair of "citizen" owl just up the road. They weren't there but I had a couple of models drop by for some snaps.
This lady Nuthatch was with several Black-capped Chickadees, among my favourite subjects to shoot:)
And now a shot with a little more action in it.
I found 6 Whitetails  Does today but no bucks, they have to start coming out of hiding soon. If you are the Calgary area don't hesitate to look me up so we can do a "tour" together.
Turbo

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