Sorry about the awful quality, especially of four of the five photos posted this afternoon! Everything was so far away, but I wanted photos for the record.
Sorry about the awful quality, especially of four of the five photos posted this afternoon! Everything was so far away, but I wanted photos for the record. This bird was a new one for me, 5th Snowy Owl of the winter.
Yesterday afternoon, 17 March 2022, I took a last-minute drive SE of Calgary. The sun was shining and I just felt like getting out somewhere for a few hours. The roads are clear of snow, which makes such a huge difference.
No new roads for me this time; just checking out a few of my usual back roads. It was great to see that there was a lot of open water, both sloughs and temporary 'ponds' in fields. We have had so little snow this winter - small amounts on quite a few days - which is not going to help Alberta's drought. March is said to be our snowiest month but, so far, the weather has been beautiful. Looking at the forecast, they are expecting this mild weather to continue, even 19C on 23rd March.
My first sighting yesterday turned out to be a Bald Eagle. When I first spotted the distant dark 'blob' high up in a tree in a tangle of branches, I thought maybe it was a Great Horned Owl. It was almost impossible to get a tiny open spot to take a photo or two. (from my car window), but nice to see.
In places, there were so many birds in the fields. At first, I expected them all to be Canada Geese. However. when I zoomed in, I was delighted to see that there lots of Pintail ducks scattered among the Geese. Pintails are such beautiful, elegant ducks and it is always good to see them return.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I found three Snowy Owls! The first one I found was a new (to me) bird; my fifth Snowy this winter. I had noticed a few birds in a field, mainly Canada Geese, but then took a look at one that looked different and smaller. At first, for some reason, 'gull' came to mind, but when I saw it from a slightly different angle, I realized that I was looking at a Snowy Owl, down on the ground near the Geese.
Continuing my drive, I came across two Snowy Owls, a male and a female, that I had seen before. Couldn't get a half-decent photo of either. Both were skittish, despite my sitting in my car way down the road from them.
A group of European Starlings were fun to see. Love it when they actually stay still for a moment. Though they are not popular birds with many people, they are beautiful, especially in the sunlight.
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