Week 2 bird walk. (20130915)

I didn't do the walk this Sunday morning, but I did pop out twice to through the week, and thought I would put up a post with shots from the week. Monday we started with a Grey Catbird.

We were also able to find some Double crested Cormorants, and Warblers including this flighty little fellow.

We also did a little peeking as the Robin's we were taking a bath.

On the way back we found this young injured gull, with his dinner floating close by.

On day 2, I found these ducklings ahead of the walk heading out.

We found this Great Blue Heron, we believe that it is likely a juvenile, on a gravel bar that didn't exist prior to the flood earlier this year. 

It an area that was a pond prior to the flood we found a tree that had been "bowled over" and the Cormorants are now using it for roost, and drying area.  They don't have oil glands to keep their feathers from getting wet, so they need to get out on a tree and dry off in the sun.

The nice thing about having a new walk is that there are always people who have never fed a bird from their hand and a new batch of Chickadees learn early:)

We found mom keeping an "eye" on her ducklings as we wrapped up the walk on Wednesday. 

I missed the Saturday walk where they spotted a Great Crested Gnatcatcher, is is a very uncommon bird for Calgary.Here is hoping you had a great wildlife weekend.

Turbo

GHO, Perigrine, Yellowlegs, Avocets (20130912) Can we find some shore birds?

The plan was to be  set up before sun up. Dan came down and we headed out a little later than anticipated, but it was looking like a beautiful morning. As we pulled up to an unanticipated closed gate and got out, we spooked an unseen Great Horned Owl. It flew over to a nearby fenceline, only to be "attacked" by both a Northern Harrier and a Swainson's Hawk. Here is the owl trying to regain his perch on a fence post.

It turned out that the harrasement continued until the owl actually went to ground. As we walked in, sharp eyed Dan spotted a Peregrine Falcon land on a tall metal power pole.  It was a long way off, and after a minute it left its perch and made a pass on a bird in flight. The falcon was unsuccessful as it returned to the perch empty handed. I debated about which shot to post, as I only have poor images. As this is my very first confirmed Peregrine sighting in the wild, I thought I should post some "evidence".

As we settled into the blind, the pickings were looking pretty slim. Then we were surpized by this unexpected visitor. Of course we were not "positioned" to get shots of the birds in the reeds.

It should be no surprize that his Lady friend was not far away. This would appear to perhaps be a hang over of the Warbler migration, which is starting to wind down (I think).

Some of the shore birds that were present were American Avocets, and Marbled Godwits.

Here is a group of American Avocet's, that are likeling "staging" and getting a little rest before heading out south to spend the winter.

Just a couple of minutes later there was a flock of about 50 Long Billed Dowitchers that joined them, we found at least one Short bill in the group too.

We shiftred areas, and I was pleased to see that the Whitefaced Ibis were still around, I expect they will be gone very soon.

And now, an in-flight shot. This has been my best year for finding and photoing these birds.

I hope that you have the opportunity to get out an enjoy the wildlife in your  area this week!

Turbo

GGO-raptors (20130910) A Run up 1A, it was a bust:(

Out of bed bright and early and called Dan to let him know I would pick him up in 20 minutes later. I guess he was rrunning late, I had to wait a bit for him, and we were off.  Timing was perfect from a light perspective, and we had a great surprize when I spotted this GGO, a first for me in this area.

I love how these birds are always on alert!

After a few photo's we had him perch in a tree a little further back in the trees to show us his camo and bow tie!

On the way back down 1A Dan showed me where there is an Osprey nest, there was one youngster still on the nest on the bridge over the roadway.

On my "recovery road" we couldn't help but notice all the "Whiskey Jack's" out and about, we stopped several times for photo's, here is an example.

Up the road a way, we were treated to the presence of two cow moose. This cow in particular was interesting, she was the most vocal moose I have ever spoken with, once I got her started she grunted on a regular basis.

 We wandered up the road a bit and we found this flower that was coverd with bees.

This is the first year that I have consistently found Redtail Hawks up here in these hills.

We finished up with our second grop of Sheep on the day. It was great to find this threesome, here are two.

We were able to "save" the day, and come out with some pretty good encounters.  Here is hoping you are having a great wildlife week!
Turbo

Coopers, Osprey, Blue Headed Vireo, Garter snake (20130908) FCPP Sunday morning walk

With rain on Friday and Saturday there was some question as what we might find today. I headed down a little early to see if I could spot the GHO's. No sign of the owls but, I did see this pair of Cooper's hawks, they seemed to playing in the tree tops.

They weren't the only raptors we found, there were many opportunities presented by the local Osprey's.

We were also treated to a new bird for me the Blue Headed Vireo, I was even able to grab an acceptable shot.

Maybe even a second acceptable shot.

Down the trail we found Whitebreasted Nuthatches and Black Capped Chickadees, and furthe down House Wrens. We then broke into the open, and there were  warblers all around in the trees above us. they are very tough to get shots of as they flit aroumd, especially with the colour of the leaves hiding them so well.

That is a Warbling Vireo, and this is a Yellow Rumped Warbler.

While "owl hunting" I found a couple of these Downey Woodpeckers.

And I'll finish the post up with what is probably my most artistic shot of the day, these three Mallard Hens grabbing a little "quiet time" on a log in the low lying water.

Actually I am going to throw a shot of a Wandering Garter Snake that we found on Thursday, it was warming itself on the paved part of the trail.

I hope you have a super wildlife weekend!
Turbo

Sunday walk on Wednesday? (20130904)

Well I signed up for the Sunday walks again this quarter. As I am not working right now, I decided to take advantage of the mid-week walks and keep my weekend open for outings outside the city. So wednesday became my Sunday. On the drive into  the park I was forced to stop to let this Partridge hen get her brood across the open pavement and into the safety of the long grass.

I was a little early for the regualar scheduled time so I took a look around and fount this successful Osprey!

I also found this Accipiter being harrassed by mob of Magpies. We would continue to see this, or other Accipiters all morning. I believ tha this is a Cooper's Hawk. You can see two Magpies in this shot as well.

One particularaspect I loe about this park is that there are Great Horned Owls around, if you can find them.
The swarming of this owl and its mate helped us locate them. I was only able to get one owl as the other must have vacated the area in the time it took me to get in postion.

I have been adding some of the smaller birds lately and a cooperative White Breasted Nuthatch always get the nod on my blog.

Zel will like the inclusion of a flower shot, as close to Landscape contribution that I could muster.

We were provide "fly by's" by several interesting birds; Double Crested Cormorant, Assipiter's, Osprey, Kildeer, and Waxwings. We finished the day with 39 different species, a successful fall day. I will wrap up here with a shot of a Greater Yellowlegs. I like how I was able ot get the bird, the reflection and the shadow.

I hope you have a great wildlife week.
Turbo

Moose, Deer, Grosbeak (20130902) A morning of exploration.

Another early morning, and off to see if we could find a couple of bull elk for photo's, no telling what we might find. The area we are going to has also been productive for moose in the past. I also think we might find some warblers as we walk beside a small creek with good cover for such birds that are beging to "stage" for their trip south. We found Old Grey befor the sun was up this morning which is a real treat, I have been watching this cow moose for the past 4 and a half years. She was enjoying a little "cattle salt".

We knew that she had a young son earlier and the year so we were searching for him, and spotted him about 300 yards away. He is looking trim and healthy. Sporting two points on one antler implies he has some good genes, and we are looking forward to see how he develops into an adult.

Every now and then I have to throw in a "landscape" shot to keep guys like Zel and Tim happy. Here is a nice looking sunrise behind a typical Alberta "ranch".

As we made our way towards our "walking" area we spotted this small Bachelor group of Whitetails. These youngsters probably won't breed this season, they will need to grow up a little more.

Not too far from this group of young bucks we had this opportunity with a "Bambi". No buttons here, so she will likely be woo'd by these boys in the coming years.

As we started walking in we found Robins, a Townsends Solitaire, a Wilson's Warbler and many others. At our first water hole very little wildlife, disappointing. We did find a Doe with her two yearlings still with her.

At our second pond we spoted this hen Mallard, her she is saying "good-bye" to us.

I grabbed this shot of a Lincoln Sparrow, a first for me, I am having a pretty good year for new birds:)

We found Wasp nests, and alot of grasshoppers and dragonflies on our walk out that provided some great "photo opps". We also found many Chickadee's on the way out and I thought I would post one here as I have typically been loading up Boreal's and Mountains as they are more unique to me, but this is Canada's bird.

We also found this immature Rose Breasted Grosbeak, I found the colouring and patterning on this bird to be pretty nice.

We also ran into a mob of Magpies, these are very tough birds for me to capture accurately for some reason.

We planned this to be a shorter trip so we did a short unproductive drive, and headed home. I hope you had a little wildlife in your Labour Day weekend.
Turbo