Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Falco sparverius

This photo was taken with my old FZ200, posted mainly to compare with the photos taken with the Nikon B700 that I am having all the trouble with. I was curious to see the EXIF data. The photo above was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm (and looks terrible if seen any larger!). The Nikon B700 has 60x optical zoom, compared to just 24X optical for the FZ200. The very close shot of this bird that I posted yesterday was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1440 mm and is nowhere near as grainy as the above image when clicked on. Which is why I really, really wanted a camera with more powerful optical zoom - but a camera that is working properly. On 22 April 2018, I took my usual short drive SW of the city to find some things that I could photograph with the B700. Not a whole lot to be found, but a group of three competing American Robins made my first stop. Later, three distant Mountain Bluebirds were in fighting mode and two of them were down on the ground in quite a vicious attack. Too far away for more than snapshots. I also stopped to watch three distant Hawks that were competing. You know what they say : "Two's company, three's a crowd". A very cooperative American Kestrel gave me a good chance to try out the camera at different zoom distances. Cars were a different thing - and I was not on the best road for stopping, so I ended up driving the same stretch of road several times. These birds are so beautiful. I knew that this one caught something to eat, but it was timed just when another car came down the road and I needed to move on. Of course, an old barn is always a bonus. The one I posted yesterday shows how fields are still covered in snow. This should disappear before too long, as we have much warmer temperatures coming up. Unfortunately, after so much snow this winter, there is now flooding in fields and over roads south of us. Before heading out that way, it is a good idea to check which roads are closed. The sun was shining for most of my drive, with cloud moving in towards the time I needed to leave. A stop to pick up some delicious chili was the final stop of the afternoon.

Happy Earth Day 2018, everyone! This wonderful planet needs all the help we can give it. This photo was taken mainly to test the power of the Nikon B700 and see how 'sharp' the resulting images were when zoomed (not fully in this shot - the fully zoomed shots were terrible). This Kestrel was on the far side of a wide road and perched up on a high wire. All my life, I have used cameras with a great lens, that produce sharp photos. Seeing a shot like the one above does not make me happy : ( I am still having the problem regarding image shifting. Someone on the excellent dpreview website suggested that it might be a Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization issue. I already have the camera set to normal VR, but he thought that maybe the camera needs longer to stabilize when the shutter button is pressed half way. Just given that a try, but it makes no difference. The day before yesterday, 20 April 2018, I had no choice but to go out somewhere to test this Nikon Coolpix B700. I had returned the original one to the store as soon as I got a chance to use it, as it had a major problem. When taking maybe half the photos, the camera would give a loud "clunk" that could be heard and felt. Fortunately, I had just come across someone's review online and it mentioned what his camera was doing - when the shutter button was pressed, the image was suddenly shifted upward, downward or to one side. This was exactly what was happening with my camera each time the clunk was heard and felt. As a result I was getting headless birds or birds without the tail or feet (like the Robin in the next photo)! So, I took the camera back to the store and was given a replacement to try out. I am finding the same problem with shifting, but there is no "clunk" to be heard or felt. The extra zoom on this camera, along with it having 60x optical (instead of the 24X optical on my Panasonic FZ200) is what I need. Photos are not as sharp as with my FZ200, though. Anyway, I took my usual short drive SW of the city to find some things that I could photograph. Not a whole lot to be found, but a group of three competing American Robins made my first stop. Later, three distant Mountain Bluebirds were in fighting mode and two of them were down on the ground in quite a vicious attack. Too far away for more than snapshots. I also stopped to watch three distant Hawks that were competing. You know what they say : "Two's company, three's a crowd". A very cooperative American Kestrel gave me a good chance to try out the camera at different zoom distances. Cars were a different thing - and I was not on the best road for stopping, so I ended up driving the same stretch of road several times. These birds are so beautiful. I knew that this one caught something to eat, but it was timed just when another car came down the road and I needed to move on. Of course, an old barn is always a bonus. The one I posted today shows how fields are still covered in snow. This should disappear before too long, as we have much warmer temperatures coming up. Unfortunately, after so much snow this winter, there is now flooding in fields and over roads south of us. Before heading out that way, it is a good idea to check which roads are closed. The sun was shining for most of my drive, with cloud moving in towards the time I wanted to leave. A stop to pick up some delicious chili was the final stop of the afternoon.

Yay - finally got this image to upload! Good luck, SmugMug! You've got your work cut out for you, now that you have taken over the Flickr website, but keeping it as a separate site. Sounds very hopeful, though : ) I have a good many of my photos (same ones as on Flickr) already on the SmugMug site. Adding a link to my main page, in case anyone is not familiar with SmugMug. annkelliott.smugmug.com/ www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157692729336502/ Yesterday afternoon, 20 April 2018, I had no choice but to go out somewhere to test a Nikon Coolpix B700. I had returned the original one to the store as soon as I got a chance to use it, as it had a major problem. When taking maybe half the photos, the camera would give a loud "clunk" that could be heard and felt. Fortunately, I had just come across someone's review online and it mentioned what his camera was doing - when the shutter button was pressed, the image was suddenly shifted upward, downward or to one side. This was exactly what was happening with my camera each time the clunk was heard and felt. As a result I was getting headless birds or birds without the tail or feet (like the Robin in the next photo)! So, I took the camera back to the store and was given a replacement to try out. I am finding the same problem with shifting, but there is no "clunk" to be heard or felt. Now I need to try and find out the connection between this image shifting and perhaps Image Stabilization/Vibration Reduction. The extra zoom on this camera, along with it having 60x optical (instead of the 24X optical on my Panasonic FZ200) is what I need. Photos are not as sharp as with my FZ200, though. Anyway, I took my usual short drive SW of the city to find some things that I could photograph. Not a whole lot to be found, but a group of three competing American Robins made my first stop. Later, three distant Mountain Bluebirds were in fighting mode and two of them were down on the ground in quite a vicious attack. Too far away for more than snapshots. I also stopped to watch three distant Hawks that were competing. You know what they say : "Two's company, three's a crowd". A very cooperative American Kestrel gave me a good chance to try out the camera at different zoom distances. Cars were a different thing - and I was not on the best road for stopping, so I ended up driving the same stretch of road several times. These birds are so beautiful. I knew that this one caught something to eat, but it was timed just when another car came down the road and I needed to move on. Of course, an old barn is always a bonus. The one I posted today shows how fields are still covered in snow. This should disappear before too long, as we have much warmer temperatures coming up. Unfortunately, after so much snow this winter, there is now flooding in fields and over roads south of us. Before heading out that way, it is a good idea to check which roads are closed. The sun was shining for most of my drive, with cloud moving in towards the time I wanted to leave. A stop to pick up some delicious chili was the final stop of the afternoon.

Very poor quality - posting just for the record : ) Almost always when I do see an American Kestrel, it is perched way off in the distance. Yesterday, 23 September 2016, was no different. I had a few errands that needed to be run and then I called in at Fish Creek Park, hoping that I might just see the juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons that some people are still seeing down there. Totally out of luck, though I did see a Belted Kingfisher perched off in the distance. Luckily, I had seen the Night-Herons a few weeks ago, during a birding walk. This was the second time this Kestrel flew to this branch. The first time, it landed with a dragonfly that it had caught. After eating the tasty parts, it flew off, circled and then returned to this perch. The sky turned blue just at the right time. I wonder if Kestrels eat Mosquitoes - there were quite a few of those around. I don't know if those are Mosquitoes that you can see flying nearby. "North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/lifehistory

This started off as a photo of a very distant black silhouette. At the time, I thought it could be an American Kestrel, a small bird of prey that I don't see very often. Managed to brighten the image to reveal my guess was correct.. Though not a good quality image, I still liked its talons, and posted it for the record. The Kestrel is the smallest of our five falcons and they typically perch on power lines. "North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id In the afternoon of 19 July 2016, I really wanted to go and check on the family of Mountain Bluebird fledglings, SW of the city. It was also getting uncomfortably warm in my place and I needed to spend a bit of time in the air-conditioning of my car. I only felt like a short drive, after the very enjoyable full day of driving with my daughter the previous day. I discovered that the fledglings had grown up a lot in the three days since I had first seen them - constantly on the move and impossible to photograph. There were so few birds to be seen in my usual location - the road had been resurfaced in the three days I hadn't been there. Whether that was the reason for the lack of birds, who knows. I did catch a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds and saw a female with a beak full of bright green larvae for her babies. No sign of any WIlson's Snipes. The distant Black Tern baby was still being fed.

Yay, finally a fix for the Flickr uploading problem this morning! Posting my daily three right before 1:00 p.m., after a few hours of waiting. Unfortunately, I was sitting in the front passenger seat of a friend's car yesterday, 29 May 2016, when we suddenly came across this male American Kestrel on the opposite side of the road. I managed to twist and bend and just managed to see the bird and get a quick couple of shots. Qute a sighting, and probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don't get to see a Kestrel very often at all, even without food. We were so lucky to see it dive to the ground to catch its prey. "North America’s littlest falcon, the American Kestrel packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. It's one of the most colorful of all raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id It was the annual May Species Count yesterday and the day before, so I've had no time for anything else the last couple of days. The Saturday Count was down in Fish Creek Provincial Park, Votier's Flats and Shaw's Meadow. Yesterday, our usual small group (six of us in two cars) covered an area SW of the city - which happens to be one of my favourite and most visited areas. I will add the final list from our leader, Gus Y - 70 bird species seen, wow! "The count goes May 28-29: Calgary birders have been out in force every May since 1979, contributing to a broad census of the constantly changing patterns of bird distributions in North America. Last year (2015) we found 212 species. The count circle is the same as previous years, extending from Olds to Nanton, and from Exshaw to Standard, and includes a variety of environments." From NatureCalgary. "May species count, Terr. #22, Priddis Area: Plummers Rd, from Hwy 22 to #762, SW of Calgary, 0730-1530, Sun. 29May2016. 58 km. Mostly sunny, becoming overcast at noon, S wind, becoming gusty, 10 -20 kph. 13-18°C. Canada Goose-45 Gadwall-2 American Wigeon-6 Mallard-29. Blue-winged Teal-16 Cinnamon Teal-8 Northern Shoveler-3 Green-winged Teal-4 Redhead-6 Ring-necked Duck-12 Lesser Scaup-29 Bufflehead-5 Hooded Merganser-1 f. Ruddy Duck-11 Ring-necked Pheasant-3 Great Blue Heron-1 Swainson’s Hawk-2 Red-tailed Hawk-6 American Kestrel-2 Sora-6 American Coot-10 Killdeer-5 Spotted Sandpiper-8 Wilson’s Snipe-10 Wilson’s Phalarope-4 Black Tern-22 Mourning Dove-1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1 Red-naped Sapsucker-1 Black-backed Woodpecker-2 Northern Flicker-3 Western Wood-Pewee-5 Least Flycatcher-6 Easterm Phoebe-1 Easterm Kingbird-1 Gray Jay-2 Clark’s Nutcracker-1 Black-billed Magpie-6 American Crow-4 Common Raven-5 Tree Swallow-86 Cliff Swallow-6 Barn Swallow-2 Black-capped Chickadee-3 Mountain Chickadee-1 Boreal Chickadee-2 Red-breasted Nuthatch-2 House Wren-9 Mountain Bluebird-29 American Robin-13 Gray Catbird-2 European Starling-8 Tennessee Warbler-11 Yellow Warbler-6 Cape May Warbler-1 Chipping Sparrow-8 Clay-coloured Sparrow-13 Savannah Sparrow-4 Song Sparrow-1 Lincoln’s Sparrow-4 White-throated Sparrow-1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak-7 Black-headed Grosbeak-1, or hybrid. Red-winged Blackbird-178 Western Meadowlark-2 Yellow-headed Blackbird-2 Brewer’s Blackbird-7 Brown-headed Cowbird-6 Baltimore Oriole-4 American Goldfinch-5 Richardson’s Ground Squirrel-11 Muskrat-1 Mule Deer-1 White-tailed Deer-4 Boreal Chorus Frog-10+ Green Comma Butterfly-2 Western White-1 Tiger Swallowtail-2 Gus Yaki"

When I was out for the day with friends Ron and Trish on 24th April, we were very lucky to come across this beautiful female American Kestrel perched on a high wire, south west of the city. The males especially are such beautiful birds, maybe the most colourful raptor in the world. When I do see these birds, they are always far, far away : ) Length is 22–31 cm, 8.7–12.2 in Wingspan is 51–61 cm, 20.1–24 in www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_kestrel/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Kestrel

Although I have far better images of American Kestrels, they were taken at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, southern Alberta. I believe the photo above is the first photo I have taken of a Kestrel in the wild that is close enough to be recognizable. It has been cropped to death, so very bad quality, but, hey, it's an American Kestrel (female) at last! Saw it perched way up on a wire when I drove up and down a few gravel side roads, just south west of the city two days ago.

Laurien and Joe, this one is for you! This is the species of bird that was perched on the wire at Burnsmead this afternoon, though the bird in my photo was taken on Saturday at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre. I still have to download my (very distant) photos to my computer, but I did check, and it was definitely an American Kestrel that we saw. Not sure yet if it was a male (as in my image) or female. Is this more or less how you remember the "orange" colouring that you mentioned? It was so much fun to unexpectedly bump into you both down there! Finally, we've met : )

Unfortunately, not taken in the wild! I do see American Kestrels in the wild here, but always from a great distance. Seeing this particular bird at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, southern Alberta, gave me a chance to see a Kestrel up close. This is a male, as it has a rusty back and blue/grey wing feathers. Really, a very attractive bird. These falcons typically perch on power lines, which helps identify them.

I spent a wonderful day on Monday with a friend who had asked if I'd like to go to the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, southern Alberta. It was just over a two-hour drive there and the temperature down south was 37C (roughly 106F)! This Centre is "Canada’s largest birds of prey facility. Situated on a 70-acre wetland area site, the centre is a celebration of nature featuring the hawks, falcons, eagles and owls of Alberta. Throughout the site and along the pathways, a number of birds of prey are sitting on their perches only feet away from visitors. These birds are all in various stages of training and receive lots of exercise in the daily flying programs. At the centre, they have one of North America's largest captive breeding populations for the endangered Burrowing Owl." This is a male American Kestrel. The Kestrel is the smallest of our five falcons. They typically perch on power lines.