Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Gap Lake

Gap Lake is just a small lake along Highway 1a, about 8 km east of the town of Canmore. Friends and I stopped there yesterday, 23 October 2016, for just a quick visit, to check for any kind of bird life. Gave me just enough time to take a quick, zoomed shot of the distant mountain peaks and the autumn colours edging the lake. Mt. Lougheed and, on the right, the Windtower, which is a local name for this offically unnamed peak that is actually a lower buttress of the four summits of Mount Lougheed. Below, I will add the helpful, detailed report from our leader, Howard Heffler, and the eBird list compiled by Nimali S., with thanks to both of them! "Thirteen participants met at Assumption School at 8:30 AM and spent the day birding several locations west of Calgary. We first stopped at Jumping Pound pond. There were both species of swan and a few puddle ducks. We made another quick stop at Sibbald ponds where there were six swans. It appeared to be a family of five Trumpeters and one lonely Tundra. The (apparent) Tundra was all white but had a mostly pink bill. It was being harassed by the others so we concluded (speculated) was a second year bird that still had a pink bill (or maybe a first year bird that had turned white prematurely??). It was smaller than the others and was obviously an outcast. If anyone has any thoughts they would be most welcome. It was cold and windy at Bow Valley Park and a quick walk on Flowing Waters trail proved fruitless so we moved to the Seebe dam. Again there were a few swans and ducks but the cold winds seemed unfriendly to birds and birders alike. In Exshaw it was still cold and windy and there were few birds. However, a flock of about 45 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch was the highlight of the day. These are such active birds and their feeding habits are fun to watch as the flock seems to roll forward along the ground as the birds in the back leap-frog the leaders. The Canmore Visitor Center was an excellent (warm and comfortable) bathroom and lunch stop. Harvie Heights offered a few boreal birds but not as many as hoped for. An interesting note for future planning is that the community prohibits bird feeders until November 1st in an effort to reduce conflicts with bears or cougars. Thanks to Nimali Seneviratne for keeping track of species and doing the eBird postings. The combined list for the day (including species seen while driving) was: Snow Goose 1 Canada Goose 63 Trumpeter Swan 37 Tundra Swan 30 American Wigeon 3 Mallard 40 Common Merganser 1 Common Loon 2 Western Grebe 1 Rough-legged Hawk 2 Rock Pigeon 9 Downy Woodpecker 1 Gray Jay 2 Clark's Nutcracker 3 Black-billed Magpie 6 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 6 Mountain Chickadee 7 Boreal Chickadee 1 (heard only) Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 45 White-winged Crossbill 1 House Sparrow 2 Howard Heffler Calgary"

This was such a beautiful sight, looking towards the sun at Gap Lake on Sunday, 20 January 2013. We had spent a bit of time there, looking for a pack of four Wolves that we had just been told about. Eventually, the animals appeared along the far side of the lake and I was able to get several very distant (as you can imagine!) shots. Most unfortunately, I received an e-mail later from the person who told us about the "Wolves", saying that it had now been decided that after all, these animals were Coyotes, not Wolves. Hugely disappointing, but we certainly enjoyed the temporary excitement - and seeing the beauty of this lake. I've found myself saying several times recently that I almost think I'll actually miss this winter - when I said or thought these words, it was no doubt after we had had some beautiful, sunny, comparatively mild days. Today, however, I'm getting really fed up of seeing dismal, overcast days with the snow falling!! Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day, but I had a volunteer shift, so it was spent indoors, wishing I was cruising the backroads outside the city : )

Ha, I was determined to post one of the four photos I took yesterday, looking across a lake to the very far side, to where four Wolves were walking near the frozen lake shore! I could just make them out with 48x zoom. A small group of us spent the day in the Sibbald, Harvie Heights and Exshaw areas in Kananaskis, mostly driving, but with the occasional short walk. While we were walking along a few roads in a wooded residential area, checking feeders for any birds, someone told us he had just seen this pack of Wolves. We drove back to that area and were thrilled to bits that the Wolves briefly came into sight, before disappearing back into the forest. I feel really lucky, especially as I had been to the mountains just one week earlier. Normally, this never happens : ) Oh, and by the way, our day had started off well, too, with the sighting of two young Moose : ) Later today: I received a report from the Bow/Kan Christmas Bird Count, to which was added the following information .... "Yesterday, when passing Gap Lake I noticed four “Canis” species animals romping on the ice of Gap Lake. Without my field glasses, they acted and looked like wolves (I was hoping) but a closer inspection revealed that they were in fact Coyotes." Am I disappointed? Yeah, of course, lol! These words were written by the person who had told us about the four "Wolves". That's too bad, Cliff, but thanks anyway for the temporary excitement and a chance to see this lake in beautiful light!

This was such a beautiful sight, looking towards the sun at Gap Lake on Sunday, 20 January 2013. We had spent a bit of time there, looking for a pack of four Wolves that we had just been told about. The photo I posted yesterday of a very distant animal in front of a row of trees, was taken from this spot, looking to the far side of the lake. Amazing that I got any shot from that distance, lol! Most unfortunately, I received an e-mail later yesterday from the person who told us about the "Wolves", saying that it had now been decided that after all, these animals were Coyotes, not Wolves. Hugely disappointing, but we certainly enjoyed the temporary excitement - and seeing the beauty of this lake. Today, I have no choice but to back up some photo files so that I can delete them from my hard drive, before my computer crashes ... sigh. 23 January 2013, 9:30 a.m. Wow, that must be a first - message from Flickr says: "You caught us at a bad time: We're running red hot at the moment, so uploading is temporarily unavailable until things cool down. Please try again soon! (And, sorry for the lame excuse.)" Some of my Contacts have been able to upload this morning, so it's obviously not affecting everyone. Hoping it willl sort itself out before I have to go out for my volunteer shift - if not, I will be posting late afternoon or early this evening. Not a very nice day out today. It's -13C (9F) with a windchill of -22C (-8F) and snowing. The sky looks like there is plenty more snow to come. Looking quite pretty, though I probably won't be thinking in those terms while I'm scraping ice and snow off my vehicle shortly : ) Stay warm, everyone!