Barn roof and cupola
Wednesday, 6 November 2019: -13C (windchill -21C), sunset 5:01 pm.
Today, 6 November 2019, I have just posted six more odds and ends of photos, from way back in my archives. I hadn't intended posting anything today, as I have started (yet again) backing up and deleting photo folders from my hard drive, as I am pretty well out of space. Also, I will have to take my computer in before too long to get it changed over from Windows 7 to Windows 10, seeing as support for Windows 7 comes to an end in January. So, some deleting would be a good thing to do before I take in my computer. Not to mention a good thing before my computer crashes!
This is one of the barns that I saw when we were on the High River Christmas Bird Count, on 15 December 2015. Sometime during the previous 12 months, this and various sheds in the farmyard had been painted red, instead of the previous pink. This barn had also been given a new roof - the previous wooden shingles had worn out.
This photo was taken near the end of a day when 8 brave souls had faced the elements in order to document the birds and other wildlife east of High River. After less than two hours' sleep (for me) and setting our alarm clocks for some unearthly hour, we were rewarded with some nice sightings.
Just like a year ago (December 2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Not sure if some of the frost is called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them.
On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large, 15-mile diameter count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence, so a limit was put on the number of participants.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count.
After our very first stop at Frank Lake, we then drove the various backroads around and near the lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2.
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious potluck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...
Barn roof and cupola
Wednesday, 6 November 2019: -13C (windchill -21C), sunset 5:01 pm.
Today, 6 November 2019, I have just posted six more odds and ends of photos, from way back in my archives. I hadn't intended posting anything today, as I have started (yet again) backing up and deleting photo folders from my hard drive, as I am pretty well out of space. Also, I will have to take my computer in before too long to get it changed over from Windows 7 to Windows 10, seeing as support for Windows 7 comes to an end in January. So, some deleting would be a good thing to do before I take in my computer. Not to mention a good thing before my computer crashes!
This is one of the barns that I saw when we were on the High River Christmas Bird Count, on 15 December 2015. Sometime during the previous 12 months, this and various sheds in the farmyard had been painted red, instead of the previous pink. This barn had also been given a new roof - the previous wooden shingles had worn out.
This photo was taken near the end of a day when 8 brave souls had faced the elements in order to document the birds and other wildlife east of High River. After less than two hours' sleep (for me) and setting our alarm clocks for some unearthly hour, we were rewarded with some nice sightings.
Just like a year ago (December 2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Not sure if some of the frost is called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them.
On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large, 15-mile diameter count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence, so a limit was put on the number of participants.
We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count.
After our very first stop at Frank Lake, we then drove the various backroads around and near the lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2.
Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on.
We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious potluck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated!
A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area.
Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated.
I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them.
www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...