Red fox, Mountain Chickadee, GGO (20140810) A productive Northwest run

Sunday morning finds us once again up before dawn, and headed out to find things. As always we are hoping that today will be "a good day". As it turns out, today is a great day.We managed to find 4 young Muleys with their mothers very early on.

Next up we spent a little time with some mystery birds, here is one in flight. We will hunt down their names later.

We spent about 10-15 minutes with this Great Grey. He was at a location where we have never spotted a GGO before in the region and came as a bit of a surprise:) It is always nice to find them when you know they are hunting. given awayby the morning dew on the feathers.

Jamie then pointed out this little gem of activity that we had missed all summer long. This small wap nest just inches off the water made for great reflections.

Then for the first time all year we were grasced with the presence of the Belted Kingfisher. She must have had her brood in this area and we just kept missing her.

Next up was a well healed Redtailed Hawk. They never seem to allow us this close. It was a pleasure as the bird allowed us a couple of images before retreating to the Aspens.

I always love when I cna get the "first ever or first of the year" image for the blog, and today it was a Mountain Chickadee that makes the first of the year appearance. It was hanging out with a mixed flock as they usually do.

Somewhere nearby had to be a generous foster mother as I believe that this is a Juvenile Brownheaded Cowbird.

Next I grabbed another mysterybird in flight. Again I will have to find an ID later, unless you can tell me what it is.

We topped the day off with the sighting of two red fox kits. Jamie got some quick shots that didn't turn out. We pulled over and put the "stakeout" on the spot. Knowing it was the heat of the day and we were not likely to see them again I was able to grab a couple of quick shots after about 20 minutes of waiting.

These are one of our most sought oafter sunbjects and we jave just not been able to find them reliably yet. One day it will be our turn and we will capture these beautiful critters on several days over the summer.To date these have been my best images. I fully expect to have more and better one day.

So a terrific way to finish up the post and the day. It was a treasure filled day that kept us busy snapping all morning long, like so many other Aberta days.
Turbo