White Admiral on Cow Parsnip
Cabbage White on Creeping Thistle
Back-lit Goat's-beard
Back view of an orange Sunflower
Purity
NSR228 - underside 01
NSR228 - underside 02
Common Wood-Nymph / Cercyonis pegala
Canon SX60 'artistry'
White Admiral
Peacock (Aglais io) butterfly
Our leader for fungi walks, Karel Bergmann
Not "The Sickener"
Swainson's Hawk in flight
Purple Rain
Leopard Lacewing / Cethosia cyane
A patch of polypore
Owl butterfly / Caligo sp.
The dreaded Goat's-beard / Tragopogon dubius
Corizus hyoscyami
Leopard Lacewing / Cethosia cyane
White Admiral
Common Sargeant
Banded Orange / Dryadula phaetusa
Owl butterfly
Paper Kite
Graecian Shoemaker male / Catonephele numilia
Graecian Shoemaker, female underside
Underside of Fern
Beauty beneath
A different view
Beauty from below
Turtle Road Rescue
Cydno Longwing / Heliconius cydno
Hewitson's Longwing / Heliconius hewitsoni
Tree Frog Underside
Gotta love those eyes - the real and the false
Paper Kite
Up close with an Owl
Fungus on a fallen branch
Split gill fungi / Schizophyllum commune?
A Monarch in the wild
Banded Orange / Dryadula phaetusa
Common Indian Crow / Euploea core
Take-off
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278 visits
Merlin removing dragonfly's wings
Hello, winter - again! Our forecast is "Temperature deep dive, snow on the horizon for Alberta." This morning, it is -1C (windchill -4C) and it has just started snowing at 10:00 am. Looks like we should have this kind of temperature for the next two weeks. I'm so glad I went on a birding walk yesterday and did some grocery shopping.
On 26 September 2016, I had planned to join a group of friends for a birding walk at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. By the time I had had breakfast, I was feeling somewhat queasy and thought I had better not go on the walk after all. Felt a bit better later in the morning and decided to go to the Park after all, getting there about noon. Met a young man standing on the bridge over the creek, pointing out to me a perched bird of prey. My first thought was Merlin, but it seemed to be too big to be a Merlin. It took a while to decide just what it was - helped by birder, Nimali, who happened to come along the path. We decided it was a Cooper's Hawk ('C' for curved edge of tail tip and 'C' for Cooper's). Looking at my photos later that evening, I was still not sure that we had made the right decision. Lol, even the best of birders (which definitely does not include me!) sometimes make mistakes : )
This bird stayed around for ages and gave some nice opportunities for photos, including of it 'mantling' (spreading out its wings to form a cloak) when it captured a large dragonfly and returned to the same branch. When two of us were first standing on the bridge, this bird flew down right over our heads two or three times - maybe because we were attracting insects around us? We noticed a second similar bird, too, and we wondered if they were maybe juveniles, especially as the main one was very comfortable with us standing nearby. Made my day : ) Later: really appreciate everyone's help with identifying this bird as a Merlin!
"Merlins are small, fierce falcons that use surprise attacks to bring down small songbirds and shorebirds. They are powerful fliers, but you can tell them from larger falcons by their rapid wingbeats and overall dark tones. Medieval falconers called them “lady hawks,” and noblewomen used them to hunt Sky Larks. Merlin populations have largely recovered from twentieth-century declines, thanks to a ban on the pesticide DDT and their ability to adapt to life around towns and cities." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Merlin/id
I even spotted several mushrooms earlier in my walk, which was a surprise. Can't believe I was out in the park for about five hours! A very enjoyable walk - glad to have your company, Nimali, and that of the very knowledgeable young man we had just met.
On 26 September 2016, I had planned to join a group of friends for a birding walk at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. By the time I had had breakfast, I was feeling somewhat queasy and thought I had better not go on the walk after all. Felt a bit better later in the morning and decided to go to the Park after all, getting there about noon. Met a young man standing on the bridge over the creek, pointing out to me a perched bird of prey. My first thought was Merlin, but it seemed to be too big to be a Merlin. It took a while to decide just what it was - helped by birder, Nimali, who happened to come along the path. We decided it was a Cooper's Hawk ('C' for curved edge of tail tip and 'C' for Cooper's). Looking at my photos later that evening, I was still not sure that we had made the right decision. Lol, even the best of birders (which definitely does not include me!) sometimes make mistakes : )
This bird stayed around for ages and gave some nice opportunities for photos, including of it 'mantling' (spreading out its wings to form a cloak) when it captured a large dragonfly and returned to the same branch. When two of us were first standing on the bridge, this bird flew down right over our heads two or three times - maybe because we were attracting insects around us? We noticed a second similar bird, too, and we wondered if they were maybe juveniles, especially as the main one was very comfortable with us standing nearby. Made my day : ) Later: really appreciate everyone's help with identifying this bird as a Merlin!
"Merlins are small, fierce falcons that use surprise attacks to bring down small songbirds and shorebirds. They are powerful fliers, but you can tell them from larger falcons by their rapid wingbeats and overall dark tones. Medieval falconers called them “lady hawks,” and noblewomen used them to hunt Sky Larks. Merlin populations have largely recovered from twentieth-century declines, thanks to a ban on the pesticide DDT and their ability to adapt to life around towns and cities." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Merlin/id
I even spotted several mushrooms earlier in my walk, which was a surprise. Can't believe I was out in the park for about five hours! A very enjoyable walk - glad to have your company, Nimali, and that of the very knowledgeable young man we had just met.
Pam J, Don Sutherland have particularly liked this photo
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