I wasn't going to edit and post any photos this morning, as there are things that I have to get done on a deadline, and it will take me many hours to do. Changed my mind this morning, as I wanted to post a couple of photos taken yesterday, 10 April 2018, just as a record of a three-hour walk with friends in Fish Creek Park. A dull, overcast morning, and definitely not the greatest for photography. However, I don't often get the chance to photograph either a Ring-necked Pheasant or a Hooded Merganser, both of which were a long way off, but within camera reach.
"“Hooded” is something of an understatement for this extravagantly crested little duck. Adult males are a sight to behold, with sharp black-and-white patterns set off by chestnut flanks. Females get their own distinctive elegance from their cinnamon crest. Hooded Mergansers are fairly common on small ponds and rivers, where they dive for fish, crayfish, and other food, seizing it in their thin, serrated bills. They nest in tree cavities; the ducklings depart with a bold leap to the forest floor when only one day old." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/id
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_Merganser
Tags: Calgary Alberta Canada Fish Creek Park Mallard Point nature wildlife ornithology avian bird birds waterfowl duck Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus male circular crest partly raised breeding plumage river Elbow River water aquatic bird swimming snow outdoor spring 10 April 2018 Nikon Coolpix B700 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2018 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Once again, a giant leap from the tropical rainforest of Trinidad to the latest Alberta snowfall that arrived this morning. Sigh ... will this ever end, lol? Our temperature just before noon is -1C (windchill -7C). Thinking ahead to next month, it is not that unusual for us to have a major May snowstorm. Hopefully not this year.
From the Weather Network:
"Snowfall Warning Issued at 10:39 Monday 16 April 2018
Snowfall with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm is expected. 10 to 20 cm of heavy wet snow are likely.
Snow will end from south to north tonight, with 10 to 20 cm generally expected.
Near the eastern edge of the warning, including the city of Calgary, snowfall amounts will be highly variable and dependent on elevation. Lower portions of Calgary may see less than 10 cm while higher areas, most notably the northwestern part of the city, will likely see higher amounts.
Rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow."
Sure, this sounds and feels like spring : )
I feel so glad that I finally got out for a few hours yesterday, 15 April 2018, joining a group of friends on a birding trip SE of the city. It was a cloudy day, but beautiful. Deep snow everywhere - no one would ever think this was spring. We found three Great Horned owls, each at a different location. Any day when an owl is seen is a GOOD day : )
Tags: Alberta Canada SE of Calgary Frank Lake and area nature wildlife ornithology avian bird birds owl bird of prey predator Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus adult male? perched tree branch front/side view tangle of branches outdoor spring 15 April 2018 Nikon B700 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2018 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Once again, a giant leap from the tropical rainforest of Trinidad to the latest Alberta snowfall that arrived this morning. Sigh ... will this ever end, lol? Our temperature just before noon is -1C (windchill -7C). Thinking ahead to next month, it is not that unusual for us to have a major May snowstorm. Hopefully not this year.
From the Weather Network:
"Snowfall Warning Issued at 10:39 Monday 16 April 2018
Snowfall with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm is expected. 10 to 20 cm of heavy wet snow are likely.
Snow will end from south to north tonight, with 10 to 20 cm generally expected.
Near the eastern edge of the warning, including the city of Calgary, snowfall amounts will be highly variable and dependent on elevation. Lower portions of Calgary may see less than 10 cm while higher areas, most notably the northwestern part of the city, will likely see higher amounts.
Rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow."
Sure, this sounds and feels like spring : )
I feel so glad that I finally got out for a few hours yesterday, 15 April 2018, joining a group of friends on a birding trip SE of the city. It was a cloudy day, but beautiful. Deep snow everywhere - no one would ever think this was spring.
Tags: Alberta Canada SE of Calgary Frank Lake and area Frank Lake nature scenery white grass field gravel road snow snow-covered rural scene people birders birding recreation friends tripod scope cloud sky outdoor spring 15 April 2018 Nikon B700 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2018 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Flickr problems again - so many photos are not appearing in groups or on other people's photostreams. Just white spaces.
Once again, a giant leap from the tropical rainforest of Trinidad to the latest Alberta snowfall that arrived this morning. Sigh ... will this ever end, lol? Our temperature just before noon is -1C (windchill -7C). Thinking ahead to next month, it is not that unusual for us to have a major May snowstorm. Hopefully not this year.
From the Weather Network:
"Snowfall Warning Issued at 10:39 Monday 16 April 2018
Snowfall with total amounts of 10 to 20 cm is expected. 10 to 20 cm of heavy wet snow are likely.
Snow will end from south to north tonight, with 10 to 20 cm generally expected.
Near the eastern edge of the warning, including the city of Calgary, snowfall amounts will be highly variable and dependent on elevation. Lower portions of Calgary may see less than 10 cm while higher areas, most notably the northwestern part of the city, will likely see higher amounts.
Rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow."
Sure, this sounds and feels like spring : )
I feel so glad that I finally got out for a few hours yesterday, 15 April 2018, joining a group of friends on a birding trip SE of the city. It was a cloudy day, but beautiful. Deep snow everywhere - no one would ever think this was spring.
Tags: Alberta Canada SE of Calgary Frank Lake & area nature wildlife ornithology avian bird Meadowlark Western Meadowark Sturnella neglecta Family: Icteridae songbird side view perched fence barbed-wire field snow like winter outdoor spring 15 April 2018 Nikon B700 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2018 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1440 mm. I went for a short walk by the Bow River yesterday afternoon, as I needed to check the Nikon B700 which I bought two weeks ago. I wanted to check how often the camera makes a loud "clunk" and pushes a photo that is in my viewfinder upwards, downwards or off to one side or the other, when I press the shutter button to take the photo. My guess would be that this happened with at least half the photos I tried to take, resulting in useless images. In the end, I simply gave up and went home. The reason I bought this camera was that I will need, very shortly, a camera with a powerful optical zoom (my old FZ200 only has 24x optical, whereas the B700 has 60x). I carefully avoided buying the Nikon P900 because I had seen so many very blurry, blown-out photos taken by other people, which totally turned me off. The Nikon P900 has 83 (?) times optical, which is far too much for a point-and-shoot. My Panasonic FZ1000 (with only 16x optical) is still somewhere "out there", after being sent off for repair on 21 December 2017, returned to me with exactly the same Playback problem, sent off again and they needed a spare part that was going to take at least 4 weeks to get, meaning I would not get the camera back in time for a trip. I told them to have it returned to me, unfixed, as I needed it sooner than that. This was told to them two weeks ago and I still have no camera. Am I fed up of cameras? Yes, I am!!!! That is two cameras I have bought that were faulty right from the start. Back to the store again today!
These birds are so spectacular and it is always such a treat when they return to the city each spring. This group was on a band of snow in the middle of the Bow River yesterday.
"The American white pelican rivals the trumpeter swan, with a similar overall length, as the longest bird native to North America. Both very large and plump, it has an overall length of about 50–70 in (130–180 cm), courtesy of the huge beak which measures 11.3–15.2 in (290–390 mm) in males and 10.3–14.2 in (260–360 mm) in females. It has a wingspan of about 95–120 in (240–300 cm). The species also has the second largest average wingspan of any North American bird, after the California condor. This large wingspan allows the bird to easily use soaring flight for migration.
The bill is huge and flat on the top, with a large throat sac below, and, in the breeding season, is vivid orange in color as are the iris, the bare skin around the eye, and the feet. In the breeding season, there is a laterally flattened "horn" on the upper bill, located about one-third the bill's length behind the tip. This is the only one of the eight species of pelican to have a bill "horn". The horn is shed after the birds have mated and laid their eggs. Outside the breeding season the bare parts become duller in color, with the naked facial skin yellow and the bill, pouch, and feet an orangy-flesh color.
Apart from the difference in size, males and females look exactly alike. Immature birds have light grey plumage with darker brownish nape and remiges. Their bare parts are dull grey. Chicks are naked at first, then grow white down feathers all over, before moulting to the immature plumage." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_white_pelican
Tags: Calgary Alberta Canada Fish Creek Park nature wildlife ornithology avian bird Pelican American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos group gathering resting one bird preening middle of the river on snow bank water snow outdoor spring 18 April 2018 Nikon B700 zoomed annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2018 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved