Album Birds of Alberta 5 from Anne Elliott

Northern Pygmy-owl with Meadow Vole, false eyes on back of head

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:57:24 +0000

Not the greatest photo, but it is a chance to show the back view of this tiny owl (the size of a popcan or a human's fist) not only with a Meadow Vole but also showing the "false eyes" on the back of its head. Heavily cropped : )

Purple Martins

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:08:05 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This is just a small part of the large, condominium-style birdhouse that a family built and placed in their garden, east of the city. I was out south and east of the city with a friend for a good part of today and was thrilled to see some of these beautiful birds for the very first time. I had seen and heard reports of Purple Martins being seen, so it was a thrill to finally see some ourselves. The lady to whom this birdhouse belongs was so kind and welcoming to us, which we appreciated greatly. These birds are uncommon in Alberta (May to August). They live in colonies in these fancy birdhouses (will post a photo showing the whole birdhouse another time).

Into the great wide open

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:00:47 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Let me introduce you to one of the two Great Horned owlets at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park! Presumably, this is the older one, and s/he has now left the nest and ventured up the branch to higher "ground". Adorable to watch and always amusing when they lift up a foot and appear to examine their talons, as if wondering what it is, LOL. Would love to have been there when this large baby climbed upwards for the very first time. Balance still needs to be worked on, ha, ha.

Golden Eagle

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:23:11 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

It's probably just about the worst photo you've ever seen, but hey, do YOU have a photo of a Golden Eagle, ha, ha? I really just wanted this as a record for my Birds of Alberta Set. I do have lovely close shots of a Golden Eagle, but not taken in the wild. If you only knew how far away this beautiful bird was - and the light was really low. All I captured was a black silhouette, but lighened it to this. Didn't get photos of the other FOUR Golden Eagles we saw that day - they were more or less little specks on the tops of poles in the far, far, far distance. The Eagle above was a slightly bigger, dark blob. Seen on the Audubon Christmas Bird Count in the Nanton area on January 2nd, south of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Four of us covered the south west quadrant of the Count circle.

January 13th: just had an e-mail from a person who also did the Nanton Bird Count, but a different quadrant of the area circle, saying that: "MY THINKING IS THAT THE EAGLE ACTUALLY IS A JUVENILE BALD EAGLE. THE MASSIVE BILL AND THE WHITE FLECKING IN THE PLUMAGE RULES OUT GOLDEN EAGLE. FROM A DISTANCE, AND BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF GOLDENS IN THE AREA, I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT IDENTIFICATION BEING MADE." Anyone have any ideas? Sorry it's such a poor photo for ID.

Sharp-tailed Grouse

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:09:36 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A very heavily cropped shot of a Sharp-tailed Grouse taken on January 2nd, when we went on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count south of the city, in the south west quadrant of the Nanton and area circle. Too many annoying little branches, but I liked the beautiful feather pattern on the breast.

Long-eared Owl

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:26:51 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Not the sharpest photo, unfortunately, but I was SO thankful just to get anything of this rare to uncommon (in Alberta) owl.

My description that I added to a previously posted photo of this owl was:

"My little point-and-shoot camera just didn't do well yesterday morning, when we were SO lucky to see a Long-eared Owl in Fish Creek Park. It was high up in a Spruce tree, behind a tangle of branches, low light, camera pointed up towards the sky and too much towards the sun ... sigh. Almost every photo was very blurred - my camera had such a hard time focusing and even when the image looked fine in the view finder, the image still came out a blur. I did use flash on some shots, but I think it made things even worse : ) However, this was definitely a time to be very thankful for ANY photo (only about three) that came out well enough to keep - and post, LOL. This medium-sized species of Owl is rare to uncommon in Alberta, so this sighting was a real treat! 31–37 cm (12-15 in) in length with an 86–98 cm (34-39 in) wingspan. Thanks so much, Tony! Brilliant spotting, as usual.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_Owl

Eyes bigger than its stomach

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:01:51 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Poor little Meadow Vole, but at least it will provide this beautiful popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl with supper.

Northern Pygmy-owl

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:23:49 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

One of my least favourite recent shots of this tiny Northern Pygmy-owl - they are the size of a popcan or a person's fist! However, despite the messy background, it does show the feather patterns - and a beak that has changed colour after a recent snack of Meadow Vole : ) I hope they've been able to find enough food the last few days, while we've been in a very unpleasant deep-freeze. Frozen meals are fine when you have a microwave, LOL. All my photos of this little bird of prey were taken in Fish Creek Park and are heavily cropped. If anyone is interested, I have 32 shots of these tiny, rare to uncommon in Alberta owls in my Northern Pygmy-owl Set.

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/sets/72157625428490406/...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pygmy-owl

For those of you who THINK you had cold weather today, read this, LOL!!!! Apparently, here in Calgary, we were the second coldest place on earth this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I noticed this link on my son's Facebook page just now.

www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Calgary+coldest+place+Ea...

Partial compression

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:57:02 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A lot of birders never get to see a tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl go into compression mode. Well, most birders never get to see one of these owls, period : ) They are rare to uncommon in Alberta. When we were watching this one in Fish Creek Park a week ago, it started shrinking, but only got this far.

"Despite their small size, Northern Pygmy Owls are quite fierce, and will attack prey or drive off intruders several times their own size. When one of these owls is threatened, it will puff up its feathers and spread its tail to make itself look larger. When hiding, it tries to look thin, faces the danger, and closes its eyes into slits." From OwlPages.com.

The demise of a Meadow Vole

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:48:11 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

We were SO lucky to see not just a Northern Pygmy-owl (rare to uncommon in Alberta), but to see it swoop down and catch this unfortunate little Meadow Vole. Witnessed at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on November 13th. This tiny owl is popcan-sized, about the size of a person's fist, and it is a vicious predator and will attack and kill prey that is larger than itself. Average length of a female Northern Pygmy-owl is 18.5 cm (7.3"), male: 16.5 cm (6.5"). A heavily cropped image : )

talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=164

"Measurements of average adult male Meadow Voles are: total length, 150 mm (6 in); tail, 37 mm (1.5 in); weight, 31.5 g (1 oz). Females are only slightly smaller."

talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=542

Looking for lunch

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:23:35 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Another photo of the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl that we saw at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on 13th November (oh, that was just yesterday, ha!) These little birds of prey are rare to uncommon in Alberta and are such a treat to see. No bigger than fist-sized, so this photo isn't that much smaller than life-sized. They are SO hard to find - usually, you can be made aware of one when a bunch of Chickadees start making a loud noise or else you happen to notice this owl in flight. They always seem to be so intent on looking and listening for a snack or meal. Vicious little raptors, but they look so cute : )

An old friend

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:11:46 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This is a photo I took on 12th May 2006, of an incredible Great Horned Owlet that was learning to fly down in Weaselhead. I posted a few other photos of it back then, but didn't get round to posting this one. It seemed as curious about me as I was of it : )))) Mom and Dad were both in nearby trees as this youngster flew to first one tree and then to the tree near where I was standing in absolute awe. I barely moved for ages, other than lifting up my camera to my eyes. It was one of those totally magical experiences that you can relive as if it were only yesterday.

Rough-legged Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:59:59 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Such a very heavily cropped photo, but I can get away with it at this size displayed on the computer. It's such a rare thing that I actually manage to find hawks when I'm driving and yesterday I saw about 7 or 8 of them just south of the city. All were circling way, way up in the sky, except for this Rough-legged Hawk who perched in a tree by the side of the road. Guess when a large, noisy truck went zooming by on an otherwise empty road! Luckily, I got this shot before it flew!

Her first time experience

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:59:36 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

The lady to whom this hand belongs had never had a litttle Black-capped Chickadee fly down to her hand before. Always a very humbling experience : ) Seen down in Weaselhead.

Was out in Fish Creek Park all morning - checked on the nesting Great Horned Owl, but we couldn't see any sign off little white balls of fluff yet. It was another gorgeous day - wonderful, after six months of snow and ice! As soon as I'm ready, I'm heading for the nearest backroads in search of (hopefully) a Mountain Bluebird : )

Gray Jay

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:51:24 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

When I was out in the mountains yesterday with friends at the Golden Eagle Migration area near Mt. Lorette, two or three of these curious Gray Jays flew down to check us out. A lot of low cloud and low light, so my photos aren't as good as I wish they had been, but it was so nice to actually see a bird reasonably close, unlike the Golden Eagles, which were little more than very distant specks. The Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) is also called "Camp Robber", "Canada Jay" and "Whiskeyjack".

"The Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, is a member of the crow and jay family (Corvidae) found in the boreal forests across North America north to the tree-line and in subalpine forests of the Rocky Mountains south to New Mexico and Arizona.... To the delight of modern campers, many individual Gray Jays quickly learn that we can be an excellent source of food, even coming to the hand for bread, raisins, or cheese." From Wikipedia.

Ring-billed Gull

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:24:20 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

"Just" a Gull, LOL! However, they really are quite striking, I think. This was my only wild bird shot taken on my last visit to the Zoo, but I was still happy to get it, even though it is "just" a Gull : ) These are the common ones which we see everywhere, including hanging around shopping mall parking lots, hoping someone will throw a French fry or two, LOL.

Gull

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:10:47 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I know this is "just" a Gull, but I kind of liked the diagonal pose and the way the tail (or are they the wing?) feathers are crossed. The colour of the water along the edge of the lagoon in Bowness Park was also different from what I would normally see, and I thought it went well with the colouring of the bird.

As I type, Calgary is under a Wind Warning, and we are going through a real wind storm, with rain just starting, too. Have visions of my roof being lifted off, I'm in such an exposed place. Spent this morning walking in South Glenmore Park, by the Glenmore Reservoir, wearing a fleece jacket and my thick winter jacket ... brrr! Temperatures will be around 2C or 4C for the next few days. Nothing to photograph this morning, so I decided to go over to the Zoo for the afternoon, where I attempted to take photos even though it was far too windy for much success. Was hoping to get a few last photos before our weather turns for the worst. Winter is definitely on its way - possibly a bit of snow again overnight.

American Goldfinch

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:33:05 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A distant shot of this little American Goldlfinch. He was flitting from one stretch of barbed-wire to the next, near the row of 5 red sheds/granaries south of 22X three days ago. So, I had a real good dose of brilliant yellow, as I was standing next to a field of bright yellow Canola while watching this bright yellow bird.

Orange-crowned Warbler

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:39:43 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

At least I THINK that's what it is (a female). If I'm wrong, perhaps someone could let me know the correct ID - thanks! Taken in a friend's garden - thanks, Phil and Jen! Very distant photo, but I believe it's the first shot I have of one of these tiny birds, so bear with me : )

White-crowned Sparrow

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:11:30 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Another view of one of the little White-crowned Sparrows that I saw in a nearby bush along the edge of Vermillion Lakes, Banff, on 3rd July. This was the first time I had ever been close to one of these Sparrows, so I enjoyed being able to see what it really looked like.