Monday, 31 May 2021: our temperature is PLUS 21C (windchill PLUS 21C) at 12:30 pm. Sunrise is at 5:27 am, and sunset is at 9:40 pm. Sunny. We are in for a few hot days this week, reaching a high of 32C on Thursday.

This morning, I have posted the first five photos taken yesterday, 30 May 2021, during our annual May Species Count. Every year, I look forward to this day, especially as the group of three birders with whom I went, covered so many of the roads that I drive many times.

Our group of four travelled in three cars, abiding by the latest pandemic restrictions. "Avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors." We were driving almost the whole time, apart from a special visit to a very welcoming ranch that I look forward to greatly, and the occasional stop for a few minutes to check for birds at various locations. A great day, and one that we made sure was a safe one.

My alarm clocks were set for 4:45 am, but I woke up at 4:00 am, after just a couple of hours of sleep. An extremely early start does not go well with being a complete night-owl! I left home shortly after 6:30 am, hoping to have just enough time to check for Wilson's Snipes on fence posts at their usual place, before going to our meeting place. This year, I found three of them and managed to grab a few shots. At the end of our day, I drove past this area again, and there was not a single Snipe to be seen.

Most of the birds that were seen were species that i had either not yet seen this year or not taken photos of them. Not necessarily unusual birds, such as the Blue Jay and Pine Siskins, but I have been able to get out so few times this spring, especially for walks.

The highlight of the day for me was when our leader spotted a Bobolink perched on a barbed-wire fence! I had quickly looked for them a couple of times recently, but no luck. They are beautiful birds, with a glorious song, and rarely seen here. Funnily enough, it was in almost the exact spot where i saw one last year, possibly even next to the same fencepost.

Other years, we would call in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and eat our lunch in the parking lot. We were able to do this last year, eating lunch in our separate cars, but this year, the parking lot was completely full and the narrow road was lined on both sides with endless cars. So, instead, we pulled over at the side of a road in another area and ate our lunch separately.

A great day to be out and, as always, I really appreciated being out with birders who have so much knowledge and skill.
Thank you, guys! Total mileage from home and back home was approximately 147 km.

Oh, I almost forgot to add that when we were driving along one of the roads - perhaps my most often driven road! - towards the end of the day. a car stopped us and said that a Grizzly Bear had just been seen about 400 metres (or was it feet?) further along the road in the direction we were travelling. Needless to say, we kept an eye open, but there was no sign of it.

Tags:   Alberta Canada SW of Calgary

© All Rights Reserved

Monday, 31 May 2021: our temperature is PLUS 21C (windchill PLUS 21C) at 12:30 pm. Sunrise is at 5:27 am, and sunset is at 9:40 pm. Sunny. We are in for a few hot days this week, reaching a high of 32C on Thursday.

This morning, I have posted the first five photos taken yesterday, 30 May 2021, during our annual May Species Count. Every year, I look forward to this day, especially as the group of three birders with whom I went, covered so many of the roads that I drive many times.

Our group of four travelled in three cars, abiding by the latest pandemic restrictions. "Avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors." We were driving almost the whole time, apart from a special visit to a very welcoming ranch that I look forward to greatly, and the occasional stop for a few minutes to check for birds at various locations. A great day, and one that we made sure was a safe one.

My alarm clocks were set for 4:45 am, but I woke up at 4:00 am, after just a couple of hours of sleep. An extremely early start does not go well with being a complete night-owl! I left home shortly after 6:30 am, hoping to have just enough time to check for Wilson's Snipes on fence posts at their usual place, before going to our meeting place. This year, I found three of them and managed to grab a few shots. At the end of our day, I drove past this area again, and there was not a single Snipe to be seen.

Most of the birds that were seen were species that i had either not yet seen this year or not taken photos of them. Not necessarily unusual birds, such as the Blue Jay and Pine Siskins, but I have been able to get out so few times this spring, especially for walks.

The highlight of the day for me was when our leader spotted a Bobolink perched on a barbed-wire fence! I had quickly looked for them a couple of times recently, but no luck. They are beautiful birds, with a glorious song, and rarely seen here. Funnily enough, it was in almost the exact spot where i saw one last year, possibly even next to the same fencepost.

Other years, we would call in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and eat our lunch in the parking lot. We were able to do this last year, eating lunch in our separate cars, but this year, the parking lot was completely full and the narrow road was lined on both sides with endless cars. So, instead, we pulled over at the side of a road in another area and ate our lunch separately.

A great day to be out and, as always, I really appreciated being out with birders who have so much knowledge and skill.
Thank you, guys!

Oh, I almost forgot to add that when we were driving along one of the roads - perhaps my most often driven road!) - towards the end of the day, A car stopped us and said that a Grizzly Bear had just been seen about 400 metres (or was it feet?) further along the road in the direction we were travelling. Needless to say, we kept an eye open, but there was no sign of it.

© All Rights Reserved

Monday, 31 May 2021: our temperature is PLUS 21C (windchill PLUS 21C) at 12:30 pm. Sunrise is at 5:27 am, and sunset is at 9:40 pm. Sunny. We are in for a few hot days this week, reaching a high of 32C on Thursday.

This morning, I have posted the first five photos taken yesterday, 30 May 2021, during our annual May Species Count. Every year, I look forward to this day, especially as the group of three birders with whom I went, covered so many of the roads that I drive many times.

Our group of four travelled in three cars, abiding by the latest pandemic restrictions. "Avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors." We were driving almost the whole time, apart from a special visit to a very welcoming ranch that I look forward to greatly, and the occasional stop for a few minutes to check for birds at various locations. A great day, and one that we made sure was a safe one.

My alarm clocks were set for 4:45 am, but I woke up at 4:00 am, after just a couple of hours of sleep. An extremely early start does not go well with being a complete night-owl! I left home shortly after 6:30 am, hoping to have just enough time to check for Wilson's Snipes on fence posts at their usual place, before going to our meeting place. This year, I found three of them and managed to grab a few shots. At the end of our day, I drove past this area again, and there was not a single Snipe to be seen.

Most of the birds that were seen were species that i had either not yet seen this year or not taken photos of them. Not necessarily unusual birds, such as the Blue Jay and Pine Siskins, but I have been able to get out so few times this spring, especially for walks.

The highlight of the day for me was when our leader spotted a Bobolink perched on a barbed-wire fence! I had quickly looked for them a couple of times recently, but no luck. They are beautiful birds, with a glorious song, and rarely seen here. Funnily enough, it was in almost the exact spot where i saw one last year, possibly even next to the same fencepost.

Other years, we would call in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and eat our lunch in the parking lot. We were able to do this last year, eating lunch in our separate cars, but this year, the parking lot was completely full and the narrow road was lined on both sides with endless cars. So, instead, we pulled over at the side of a road in another area and ate our lunch separately.

A great day to be out and, as always, I really appreciated being out with birders who have so much knowledge and skill.
Thank you, guys! Total mileage from home and back home was approximately 147 km.

Oh, I almost forgot to add that when we were driving along one of the roads - perhaps my most often driven road!) - towards the end of the day, A car stopped us and said that a Grizzly Bear had just been seen about 400 metres (or was it feet?) further along the road in the direction we were travelling. Needless to say, we kept an eye open, but there was no sign of it.

© All Rights Reserved

Monday, 31 May 2021: our temperature is PLUS 21C (windchill PLUS 21C) at 12:30 pm. Sunrise is at 5:27 am, and sunset is at 9:40 pm. Sunny. We are in for a few hot days this week, reaching a high of 32C on Thursday.

This morning, I have posted the first five photos taken yesterday, 30 May 2021, during our annual May Species Count. Every year, I look forward to this day, especially as the group of three birders with whom I went, covered so many of the roads that I drive many times.

Our group of four travelled in three cars, abiding by the latest pandemic restrictions. "Avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors." We were driving almost the whole time, apart from a special visit to a very welcoming ranch that I look forward to greatly, and the occasional stop for a few minutes to check for birds at various locations. A great day, and one that we made sure was a safe one.

My alarm clocks were set for 4:45 am, but I woke up at 4:00 am, after just a couple of hours of sleep. An extremely early start does not go well with being a complete night-owl! I left home shortly after 6:30 am, hoping to have just enough time to check for Wilson's Snipes on fence posts at their usual place, before going to our meeting place. This year, I found three of them and managed to grab a few shots. At the end of our day, I drove past this area again, and there was not a single Snipe to be seen.

Most of the birds that were seen were species that i had either not yet seen this year or not taken photos of them. Not necessarily unusual birds, such as the Blue Jay and Pine Siskins, but I have been able to get out so few times this spring, especially for walks.

The highlight of the day for me was when our leader spotted a Bobolink perched on a barbed-wire fence! I had quickly looked for them a couple of times recently, but no luck. They are beautiful birds, with a glorious song, and rarely seen here. Funnily enough, it was in almost the exact spot where i saw one last year, possibly even next to the same fencepost.

Other years, we would call in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and eat our lunch in the parking lot. We were able to do this last year, eating lunch in our separate cars, but this year, the parking lot was completely full and the narrow road was lined on both sides with endless cars. So, instead, we pulled over at the side of a road in another area and ate our lunch separately.

A great day to be out and, as always, I really appreciated being out with birders who have so much knowledge and skill.
Thank you, guys! Total mileage from home and back home was approximately 147 km.

Oh, I almost forgot to add that when we were driving along one of the roads - perhaps my most often driven road! - towards the end of the day, a car stopped us and said that a Grizzly Bear had just been seen about 400 metres (or was it feet?) further along the road in the direction we were travelling. Needless to say, we kept an eye open, but there was no sign of it.

© All Rights Reserved

Monday, 31 May 2021: our temperature is PLUS 22C (windchill PLUS 22C) at 11:00 am. Sunrise is at 5:27 am, and sunset is at 9:40 pm. Sunny. We are in for a few hot days this week, reaching a high of 32C on Thursday.

This morning, I have posted the first five photos taken yesterday, 30 May 2021, during our annual May Species Count. Every year, I look forward to this day, especially as the group of three birders with whom I went, covered so many of the roads that I drive many times.

Our group of four travelled in three cars, abiding by the latest pandemic restrictions. "Avoid in-person interactions with people outside your household, especially indoors." We were driving almost the whole time, apart from a special visit to a very welcoming ranch that I look forward to greatly, and the occasional stop for a few minutes to check for birds at various locations. A great day, and one that we made sure was a safe one.

My alarm clocks were set for 4:45 am, but I woke up at 4:00 am, after just a couple of hours of sleep. An extremely early start does not go well with being a complete night-owl! I left home shortly after 6:30 am, hoping to have just enough time to check for Wilson's Snipes on fence posts at their usual place, before going to our meeting place. This year, I found three of them and managed to grab a few shots. At the end of our day, I drove past this area again, and there was not a single Snipe to be seen.

Most of the birds that were seen were species that i had either not yet seen this year or not taken photos of them. Not necessarily unusual birds, such as the Blue Jay and Pine Siskins, but I have been able to get out so few times this spring, especially for walks.

The highlight of the day for me was when our leader spotted a Bobolink perched on a barbed-wire fence! I had quickly looked for them a couple of times recently, but no luck. They are beautiful birds, with a glorious song, and rarely seen here. Funnily enough, it was in almost the exact spot where i saw one last year, possibly even next to the same fencepost.

Other years, we would call in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and eat our lunch in the parking lot. We were able to do this last year, eating lunch in our separate cars, but this year, the parking lot was completely full and the narrow road was lined on both sides with endless cars. So, instead, we pulled over at the side of a road in another area and ate our lunch separately.

A great day to be out and, as always, I really appreciated being out with birders who have so much knowledge and skill.
Thank you, guys! Total mileage was approximately 147 km from and back to home.

Oh, I almost forgot to add that when we were driving along one of the roads - perhaps my most often driven road! - towards the end of the day, a car stopped us and said that a Grizzly Bear had just been seen about 400 metres (or was it feet?) further along the road in the direction we were travelling. Needless to say, we kept an eye open, but there was no sign of it.

Snipe are one of my absolute favourite birds to see and photograph.

"These plump, long-billed birds are among the most widespread shorebirds in North America. They can be tough to see thanks to their cryptic brown and buff coloration and secretive nature. But in summer they often stand on fence posts or take to the sky with a fast, zigzagging flight and an unusual “winnowing” sound made with the tail." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wilsons_snipe/id

"Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) is a small, stocky shorebird. This species was considered to be a subspecies of the Common Snipe (G. gallinago) until 2003 when it was given its own species status. Wilson's Snipe differs from the latter species in having a narrower white trailing edge to the wings, and eight pairs of tail feathers instead of the typical seven of the Common Snipe. Its common name commemorates the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_snipe

According to Fisher and Acorn's book, "Birds of Alberta", "the common Snipe is both secretive and well camouflaged, so few people notice it until it flushes suddenly from a nearby grassy tussock. As soon as the Snipe takes to the air, it performs a series of quick zigzags - an evasive maneuver designed to confuse predators. Because of this habit, Snipes were among the most difficult birds to shoot (in the days when shorebirds were hunted for sport), and skilled sportsmen were known as "snipers" - a term later adopted by the military."

youtu.be/Z16CUdX2g5Q

Tags:   Alberta Canada SW of Calgary May Species Count 2021 nature wildlife ornithology avian bird Snipe Wilson's Snipe Gallinago gallinago shorebird adult side view perched fence post field bokeh early morning light outdoor spring 30 May 2021 Canon SX60 Canon SX60 Powershot annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2021 © All Rights Reserved

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