Photos, videos and docs of Anne Elliott, with the keywords: "Hawk"

Rough-legged Hawk / Buteo lagopus

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 13:34:03 +0000

I am doing a superb job of bombarding everyone with photos - sorry! My main aim is to work on and finish all the photos from my trip mid-March to Trinidad & Tobago. However, I am getting the odd day when I go out and needless to say, I take photos, even though I really don't need/want any more to look through and edit, ha.

This photo is from the day before yesterday, 28 April 2017, when I spent the day with my daughter. She was not up to a long day's drive, so we went to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast and a wander round their grounds. I always love to see and photograph their Artichokes and Sunflowers, at any season.

Afterwards, we called in at Spruce-it-Up Garden Centre, which neither of us had visited before. From there, I drove westwards as far as the Priddis area, where we had hoped to see a few birds. Not too much to be seen, though we did see a very welcome little Yellow-rumped Warbler, various hawks including this rather distant, Rough-legged Hawk perched on a lichen-covered fence, American Kestrels, and several Mountain Bluebirds.

We had typical weather - a mix of sun, cloud, rain and even a few snowflurries, but at least it didn't rain heavily all day. Thanks for an enjoyable day, Rachel! Lovely to spend it with you.

I have two back-to-back day trips coming up, so editing time will be very scarce. I have to get up in the middle of the night for the second trip (just after 2:00 am), or I may even stay up the whole night to make sure I don't oversleep. What we birders/photographers do for the chance of taking photos!

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 13:28:05 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Just over a week ago, a fellow birder had sent out an email to everyone, saying that he was going east of the city on 7 September 2016, to visit Lynn Gratz and her partner at Marsland Basin, and that anyone else was welcome to join him. This was enough incentive to make me do the drive eastward. I have been out there maybe three or four times before, but by carpooling. This day was the very first time I had ever driven there myself. So much traffic and construction on the eastern edge of the city, so I really don't like that drive, until I am way past it all. I certainly hadn't intended doing a long drive like this is my new car, at least not until it has been 'broken in'.

The weather was beautiful all day and there were a fair number of birds, especially shorebirds in the water and on the mudflats. Too far away, really, for photos, though I did take some.

Just before I got there, I spotted this beautiful juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a fence post. Didn't see it till I was almost past it, and then I couldn't figure out how to put my widow down, lol, so had to turn around. Then I found that the Hawk was too low down because of a ditch, so I couldn't see it from the driver's seat through the passenger window. Silly new cars with the front console!!! In my old car, I could slide across and point out the passenger window, if needed. So, had to drive down the road and turn around again! This time, I found how to put down my window and managed three quick shots before the hawk flew away. My photo is horribly blown out on the chest feathers, but better than nothing. These were really the main photos I took that afternoon - and by the time I had driven all the way back to Calgary, I was exhausted.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 13:15:39 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I overslept just half an hour this morning, but it was enough to result in unfinished descriptions. Our birding walk today was at the east end of Fish Creek Park, in the Sikome area and also a little way along the river, south of Highway 22X.

Yesterday, though, was much longer drive for me. A fellow birder had sent out an email to everyone, saying that he was going east of the city yesterday, to visit Lynn Gratz and her partner at Marsland Basin, and that anyone else was welcome to join him. This was enough incentive to make me do the drive eastward. I have been out there maybe three or four times before, but by carpooling. Yesterday was the very first time I had ever driven there myself. So much traffic and construction on the eastern edge of the city, so I really don't like that drive, until I am way past it all. I certainly hadn't intended doing a long drive like this is my new car, at least not until it has been 'broken in'.

The weather was beautiful all day and there were a fair number of birds, especially shorebirds in the water and on the mudflats. Too far away, really, for photos, though I did take some.

Just before I got there, I spotted this beautiful juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a fence post. Didn't see it till was almost past it, and then I couldn't figure out how to put my widow down, lol, so had to turn around. Then I found that the Hawk was too low down because of a ditch, so I couldn't see it from the driver's seat through the passenger window. Silly new cars with the front console!!! In my old car, I could slide across and point out the passenger window, if needed. So, had to drive down the road and turn around again! This time, I found how to put down my window and managed three quick shots before it flew away. My photo is horribly blown out on the chest feathers, but better than nothing. These were really the main photos I took that afternoon - and by the time I had driven all the way back to Calgary, I was exhausted.

Rough-legged Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 16:16:19 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I was running late yesterday and had the feeling that I was going to be too late to see the little Long-tailed Weasel - and I was right. No sign of it at all after I arrived, though it had been seen by others earlier.

On my drive back through the park, I was lucky enough to see a beautiful female White-tailed Deer with her two young ones, feeing on the dead shrubs around them. They are well-camouflaged when their heads are down low. A little further on, I almost missed this Rough-legged Hawk that was perched at the top of a tree. After trying to get photos through the windscreen, which just doesn't work, I got out of the car, expecting the bird to take off. Luckily, it stayed right where it was.

We have a foggy morning today, with a temperature of -6C (windchill -10C). Thankfully, no snow for us here, but how I feel for all the people in the US (where all 50 states fall to freezing or below today!), especially those who live in Buffalo.

"Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard Tuesday as more than 150 centimetres (60") fell in parts of the city by Wednesday morning. Authorities said snow totals by the afternoon could top 180 centimetres (71") in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another potential 30 to 60 centimetres (12" to 24") expected by Thursday." From The Weather Network.

Red-tailed Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:11:33 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Not as sharp as I wish it had been, but I got the chance for just one rapid shot of this beautiful bird of prey before it flew off. Yesterday, 13 September 2014, I finally got out for a drive. I hadn't been out of the house for nearly a week and was beginning to get cabin fever : ) Driving down my street, I finally got a look at just how much tree damage the late summer snowstorm (actually two storms, on 9 and 10 September) had caused. My street is lined with huge piles of cut-down branches, waiting for the city's machines to come and remove them.

My drive took me as far as Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, SW of the city, as I just wanted to see how much snow was on the ground in the forest. From the muddy parking lot, I could see that the ground between the trees was covered with a lot of snow, hiding everything that might have been there, including wildflowers and mushrooms. It will take some time for all this sheltered snow cover to melt. I saw practically nothing during my drive, other than a Magpie, this Red-tailed Hawk, horses and cows. Looks like we may have to wait till spring arrives next year before getting the chance to photograph much, if anything, other than snow photos. Many parks and natural areas are now closed because of the damage caused by the snowstorms. It's feeling rather like the situation last summer, when everywhere was closed for months because of the damage caused by the Alberta Flood of the Century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-tailed_hawk/id

Red-tailed Hawk with tree bokeh

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 09:35:40 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

The weather forecast was not good for this day, 19 August 2014, but we were so lucky that, apart from a few raindrops, the rain stayed away. The sun actually came out at two locations we stopped at for a short while. Our 18-hour day (from 6;00 a.m. till midnight!) started off with the thrill of seeing two or three small American Pikas (also called Rock Rabbits) and ended with a brief sighting of a black Wolf (could it be Skoki?) crossing the road ahead of us in the dark. It disappeared into the blackness, but shortly afterwards, we heard three separate Wolves howling (possibly four). We just stood there, in total awe, listening to this amazing sound. The only wild Wolf I had ever seen before was when I was in Yellowstone National Park two years ago. Friends and I saw two Wolves feeding on a Bison carcass across a huge valley - so they were just distant specks that became larger specks when my camera was in full zoom, ha.

In between these two highlights, we saw several Deer, a small group of Mountain Sheep on the road, a tiny Chipmunk, a few Cedar Waxwings, Columbian Ground Squirrels, the beautiful Red-tailed Hawk in my photo above that sat on a branch out in the open for a long time, and two tiny Bats that flew very close over our heads when it was getting dark. We also saw a female and two young Spruce Grouse.

Then, of course, there is the scenery! Blue sky to go with the splendour of the mountains would have been wonderful, but we've been having cold and gloomy weather recently. Highway 40 and the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Trail both run through such spectacular scenery, so it was a real treat for me, especially as I won't drive those areas myself. Thanks so much, Cathy & Terry! Thanks, too, Terry, for spending at least an hour (?) removing one of the car wheels and fixing whatever was wrong with it!

"This is probably the most common hawk in North America. If you’ve got sharp eyes you’ll see several individuals on almost any long car ride, anywhere. Red-tailed Hawks soar above open fields, slowly turning circles on their broad, rounded wings. Other times you’ll see them atop telephone poles, eyes fixed on the ground to catch the movements of a vole or a rabbit, or simply waiting out cold weather before climbing a thermal updraft into the sky." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-tailed_hawk/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk

Avian beauty

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 17:58:39 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Taken on 16 June 2014, on a dull, rainy afternoon. I had a late afternoon physiotherapy session (shoulder and back), and had already decided that I would go for a short drive SW of the city straight afterwards, no matter what the weather. Well, dark clouds filled the sky and part way there, the rain started. This beautiful Swainson's Hawk was sitting on a high fence that ran along an embankment on that side of the road. On a sunny day, it would have been perfect conditions, but, grainy photos are better than nothing, especially as this bird of prey was all that I saw to photograph during the whole drive. The bird was little more than a dark silhouette, so needed a lot of brightening.

Swainson's Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 15:12:25 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I was out all evening on Monday, 7 July 2014, on Don Stiles' annual Bluebird Route trip. Don has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years, so has great experience with Bluebirds - also with Tree Swallows and an occasional Wren that also use the wooden nest boxes! His route is along some of the backroads SW of the city. This time, we didn't see any baby Bluebirds, as all the young ones had already fledged and none of the pairs had a second clutch. We did see nest boxes with tiny Tree Swallow eggs in the nest, and also several nest boxes that had baby Tree Swallows in, around 12 days old. One box had 12 babies in - obviously belonging to two adult females! Can't imagine how they will all cope inside the box when they get bigger. Nice to see a very distant Baltimore Oriole - my first for this year - and various other birds, too. Near the beginning of the trip, this Swainson's Hawk flew and landed at the top of a tree, way down the road from us, but still within camera reach. Another great evening, Don - thanks so much for taking a few of us out with you!

"Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, or even run after insects on the ground. In fall, they take off for Argentine wintering grounds—one of the longest migrations of any American raptor—forming flocks of hundreds or thousands as they travel." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/swainsons_hawk/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_hawk

According to the weather forecast, it looks like we are in for more very hot weather - love the sunshine, but can't cope with the high temperatures.

Harris's Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:44:19 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This photo is from deep down in my archives, taken on 16 May 2009, at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge. A few, rare sightings have been reported in Alberta.

"The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk, formerly known as the Bay-winged Hawk, (Parabuteo unicinctus), is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo, which literally means 'similar to Buteo'.

Its habitat is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range, including mangrove swamps, as in parts of its South American range. It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching.

It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2 pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males.

Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey (group hunting). In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at all gregarious.

This social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980, Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate.

Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together, as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes.

They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris's_hawk

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/id

Swainson's Hawk on a rainy day

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 12:52:39 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Taken late yesterday afternoon, in the rain. I had a late afternoon physiotherapy session (shoulder and back), and had already decided that I would go for a short drive SW of the city straight afterwards, no matter what the weather. Well, dark clouds filled the sky and part way there, the rain started. This beautiful Swainson's Hawk was sitting on a high fence that ran along the top of an embankment on the side of the road. On a sunny day, it would have been perfect, but, grainy photos are better than nothing, especially as this bird of prey was all that I saw to photograph during the whole drive. The bird was little more than a dark silhouette, so needed brightening.

At just after 7:00 a.m. this morning, it's still raining. I got up early, hoping to meet up with friends for one last bird walk, but I just don't feel like getting soaked. I would only be able to manage a very short distance, anyway, thanks to an extremely painful back, so I might just climb back into bed instead .... sigh.

Almost one year ago to the day of southern Alberta's devastating Flood of the Century in June 2013, people are getting anxious about the amount of rain that has been falling and continues to fall. Most of the flooding concerns seem to be from just south of Calgary, especially in places like Pincher Creek. I guess we will all be finding out in the next while.

Swainson's Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 13:11:27 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Just not getting time to either get out and take new photos - or else the weather has been really bad. Will be so glad when I don't need to grab photos from my archives! Photographed on 16 May 2009 at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, Southern Alberta.

"The Swainson's Hawk is a fairly common hawk of the prairies, and is identified by the dark breast and contrasting light throat and abdomen. The head, back, primaries and breast are all a dark brownish grey. The belly is cream to white in color. The tail is finely barred with a dark terminal band. A rare dark phase, where the entire body appears all black except for the face and banded tail, does exist. In flight, the wings are tilted slightly upwards, similar to the northern harrier.

Most of western North America is included in the breeding range, but winters are spent as far south as Argentina.

Open areas, as found in the grassland, foothill and parkland regions, fit the lifestyle of the Swainson's hawk.

Nests are built in bushes or trees, and three to five eggs are laid. Swainson's hawks are late nesters and the young birds may not leave the nest until the end of July.

The Swainson's hawk is classified as Sensitive in the General Status of Alberta Wild Species report. Population is dependent on healthy ground squirrel population."

esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wild-species/birds/large-ha...

Harris's Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:32:56 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I saw this Harris's Hawk at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre, southern Alberta, on 16 May 2009. A few, rare sightings have been reported in Alberta.

"The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk, formerly known as the Bay-winged Hawk, (Parabuteo unicinctus), is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo, which literally means 'similar to Buteo'.

Its habitat is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range, including mangrove swamps, as in parts of its South American range. It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching.

It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2 pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males.

Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey (group hunting). In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at all gregarious.

This social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980, Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate.

Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together, as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes.

They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles." From Wikipedia.

Enjoying the sun

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:24:56 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This Swainson's Hawk was hanging around a farm when I went for a drive SW of the city, on 26 June 2013. I'd noticed it in the area previously, but never close enough for a photo. Wish the sun was shining that brightly today, instead of the totally overcast sky.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_Hawk

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/swainsons_hawk/id

Just read the results of the 17th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (Feb 14 to 17, 2014), when scientists and citizens around the world joined forces for the Great Backyard Bird Count. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada and support from sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited. A couple of interesting facts are:

"It was another exciting, record-breaking year for the Great Backyard Bird Count. The final 2014 GBBC results are in! Participants in 135 countries around the globe submitted more than 144,000 checklists. Canada made a stellar contribution with 13,458 checklists.

The Northern Cardinal appeared on more checklists than any other bird, while the Red-winged Blackbird was the most numerous species, with more than 1.6 million individuals counted." From BirdStudiesCanada.

"Last year’s bird count went beyond North America for the first time and shattered records for the number of bird species that were identified. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, people from 111 countries and territories from all seven continents recorded more than 34.5 million birds, representing almost 4,000 species, in just four days." From CBC News.

www.cbc.ca/news/technology/great-backyard-bird-count-appe...

Too bad that people around the world can't get together like this when it comes to politics, not just birding! Well done, everyone!

Resting on a pylon

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:04:48 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

The day before yesterday (25 January 2014), I spent an amazing day with friends Cathy and Terry, south of Calgary. I had found an e-mail on my computer around 12:45 a.m., just as I was about to turn off my computer for the night. Did I want to go birding tomorrow and, if so, to meet at 8:00 a.m.? A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. I had been missing being out and taking photos, feeling lethargic and extremely tired, so this invite was welcomed with open arms. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Along one of the roads, we came across this Rough-legged Hawk (?) that was perched on one of the huge power pylons.

Can you believe that we saw 17 owls? SEVENTEEN! I didn't photograph quite every single one, but my friends will let me know exactly how many of each owl we found, once they've gone through their photos. It was something like 10 Snowy Owls and 7 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 16 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance!

Swainson's Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 05:36:36 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I'm not too good at identifying Hawks, but I'm guessing that this one is Swainsons's Hawk? Would appreciate it if someone could correct me if I'm wrong - thanks! Saw this one on 15 June 2013, NW of Calgary. Just checked my old folder and there were two Hawks perched just a few fence posts apart and the other one stayed for a short while, but the one in this photo flew off before I could get more than just this one quick shot.

"This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the Grasshopper Hawk or Locust Hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae (locusts and grasshoppers) and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available. Their breeding habitat is prairie and dry grasslands in western North America. They build a stick nest in a tree or shrub or on a cliff edge. This species is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Argentina; there is a single record of a vagrant from Norway. There are two main color variations. Over 90% of individuals are light-morph; the dark morph is most common in the far west of the range." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_Hawk

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/swainsons_hawk/id

A watchful eye

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:26:22 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I had just finished a walk at the southern edge of the Cross Conservation Area on Sunday morning and started driving down a few country roads on my way home. I realized that I had no idea at all which gravel roads I needed to take, so returned to where a couple of the people were still talking. My sense of direction seems to be almost non-existant, so I said that I needed to follow behind someone till I got to familiar ground. That's when I noticed this beautiful Hawk perched on a fence post. I'm not good at Hawk ID, but my guess would be a Swainson's Hawk. If it is, then it is one of these birds that swooped down very low over my head yesterday, while I was taking photos in northwest Calgary, on the Bearspaw Lasso Trail!! It had already swooped down over all four of us, but I then seemed to be singled out as a good target for further attacks, LOL. There must have been a nest in the area.

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!

Soaring

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:22:16 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

You'd laugh if you knew just how far away this hawk really was! I so rarely even bother to try and get birds in flight, but I think this image is just about fit to add to my Birds of Alberta set : ) Taken on 23 September 2012, when I was still within city limits on the south west edge of the city. I was trying to get a few shots of combine harvesters (or similar) and there must have been about a dozen of these hawks circling way, way overhead. I got in and out of my pulled-over car endless times - somehow, every time I got out, the Hawks would fly even further away. By the time I had got myself settled back in my vehicle, I'd glance upwards and find that the raptors were now that much closer, ha.

Basking in the early morning sun

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:42:17 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This rather fine Swainson's Hawk (juvenile) flew on to the roof at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary yesterday morning, when I went with a group of friends for a morning walk. I don't go to this area very often, partly because it just seems like too far to drive and I never used to see much, if anything, when I used to go on my own. However, we saw several birds close enough to photograph yesterday, though heavy cropping was necessary for most of them.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_Hawk

Injured Rough-legged Hawk

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:10:31 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A zoomed-in shot of this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk, taken at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre on 27 July 2012. They have two enormous, outdoor "cages", one for Owls and the other for various species of Hawks and Eagles that have been injured. We were taken inside both cages - quite a feeling to be in the same space as several Great Horned Owls and Hawks and Eagles. Hopefully, they will all recover from their injuries and can be eventually released. Vehicles are responsible for so many injuries to wildlife, including all these wonderful birds of prey.

"Founded in 1984, the Medicine River Wildlife Centre is a nonprofit organization operating under federal and provincial permits to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. MRWC now treats close to 1200 wildlife patients annually. MRWC's education programs encourage people to respect our environment and do their part in keeping wildlife safe. MRWC presents to almost 200 groups annually from schools to youth groups, to seniors to service clubs." From the MRWC website.

The Centre also does an amazing job of placing orphaned wildlife with foster families of the same species and this, along with all the other endless tasks, keeps them busy non-stop. Their dedication is something to witness - their respect for wildlife (shown through wildlife rehabilitation, education and research), awe-inspiring. Busy, busy, busy, day after day.

They have a new dream - unfortunately, a very necessary dream - to replace the old building with a brand new one. Grants help with this, but there is also a lot of public fund-raising that goes on. They welcome every bit of help.

If you would like to assist injured wildlife so that they can receive proper medical treatment, be rehabilitated and then re-introduced into the wild, please contact Carol at (403) 728–3467 or email her at info@mrwc.ca.

Their new website is:
www.medicineriverwildlifecentre.ca/

www.facebook.com/pages/Medicine-River-Wildlife-Centre/754...

culture.alberta.ca/communityspirit/profile/medicineriver....

www.medicineriverwildlifecentre.ca/

24 Hour Emergency Line (403) 728-3467