Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: plumage

Tomorrow, I will be able to start sorting and editing images taken on Day 7 of our 13-day trip! Slowly but surely, I WILL get to the end of this holiday : ) I am still in absolute awe at just how many wonderful things we saw in South Texas, and almost everything was a new species for me. What a mess Flickr was the night before last! I had difficulty adding titles to my uploaded images, comments didn't save and, after I had added a description to each of the 20 photos, the descriptions all disappeared. When I opened Flickr next morning, there was still no sign of them. Then, suddenly, they re-appeared. I also discovered that all the hundreds of photos from this trip that I added to the map are no longer on the map!!! Someone on the Help Forum told someone else to refresh a page and the map will appear again - and it works. Now, I can't add photos to albums - it looks like they are added, but when I check the album, some of yesterda's photos had not appeared. Suddenly, now appeared. Also, my descriptions appeared in duplicate! Today, 13 May 2019, everything I try to do on Flickr takes a long time to do. My photos taken at the National Butterfly Centre, Mission, South Texas, have now come to an end, so you can sigh a huge sigh of relief : ) Today I added 22 photos taken at another place that we called in at later in the afternoon, the Valley Nature Centre. Unfortunately, we only had an hour there before closing time, but how glad we were that we found this place. The highlight there was watching 25 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons coming in to roost for the night in the trees, right where we were standing! What a great sight this was, and we were lucky enough to have a good, close view of these gorgeous birds, though in very poor light. We also saw some Purple Martins and their circular, hanging nesting "gourds". An interesting Youtube video about the Valley Nature Center: youtu.be/rEWp5A3Dt14 On Day 6 of our birding holiday in South Texas, 24 March 2019, we left our hotel in Kingsville, South Texas, and started our drive to Mission, where we would be staying at La Quinta Inn & Suites for three nights. On the first stretch of our drive, we were lucky enough to see several bird species, including a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Harris's Hawk, Pyrrhuloxia male (looks similar to a Cardinal) and a spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. This stretch is called Hawk Alley. We had a long drive further south towards Mission, with only a couple of drive-by photos taken en route (of a strangely shaped building that turned out to be a huge, deserted seed storage building). Eventually, we reached our next planned stop, the National Butterfly Centre. This was a great place, my favourite part of it being the bird feeding station, where we saw all sorts of species and reasonably close. Despite the name of the place, we only saw a few butterflies while we were there. May have been the weather or, more likely, the fact that I was having so much fun at the bird feeding station. We also got to see Spike, a giant African Spurred Tortoise. All the nature/wildlife parks that we visited in South Texas had beautiful visitor centres and usually bird feeding stations. And there are so many of these parks - so impressive!

Got up this morning, 25 April 2017, to find it's still snowing, and heavily. Actually, the weather forecast for this week is for rain and snow. This morning, I posted four more photos from Day 5 (of 8 days) of our trip to Trinidad & Tobago. Also added this Hummingbird photo that was taken on 20 March 2017, at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the island of Trinidad. I'm not 100% sure that I have the correct ID. Of course, this is a telemacro shot - the actual bird is tiny in comparison with the size in this photo. This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way. Even after five weeks, I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

This photo was taken on 6 October 2015 at the Calgary Zoo. I always find it difficult to get decent photos in this building - it's so hot and humid, with poor light and a camera lens that steams up. I'm not sure, but I think this was the first time I had seen this kind of Ibis at the Zoo. “Hadada ibises have a wide range across sub-Saharan Africa, south to South Africa. They are Africa's most common and least aquatic ibis. Hadadas live in open grasslands, savannahs and rain forests, especially along wooded streams, marshes and river courses. They are also common around small towns and villages, in pastures and cultivated land and in timbered areas and are occasionally seen in the glades of deep forests. They are carnivores. In the early 1900s, Hadada Ibis underwent a marked decline in South Africa due to hunting during a period of colonial expansion. Since 1910, it has been expanding toward western Africa, probably as a result of reduced human persecution following legal protection; proliferation of imported tree species, providing new sites for resting and nesting in formerly treeless areas; construction of reservoirs; increase in irrigated land; and arrival of cattle in zones recently colonized by mans, as cow dung favors expansion of coprophagous insects, frequent prey of the species. The bird's name comes from its raucous call of "ha-ha-a-a-a-a," usually uttered on the wing. Hadadas typically call around dusk or sunrise, when returning to the roost or leaving it. One bird starts, followed by others. In large roosts, several groups may call simultaneously.” From the Oregon Zoo. www.oregonzoo.org/discover/animals/hadada-ibis en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadada_ibis

Leaving the paths at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is not allowed, even by a few feet, so it's very difficult to get a good, close shot of these Wood Ducks. I tend to view any really close shot with suspicion, ha. Several Wood Ducks were on this branch (seen through a gap in the trees and bushes) and this is about as close an image as I'm likely to get - so I'll happily take it. The poor males (the one on the left) are looking quite different in this non-breeding season, though their colours are still amazing. I always think the females have their own beauty, with their little touches of colour. Taken on 3 September 2012. Yesterday afternoon, I had to drive to a store in quite strong wind. The car felt a little strange, but then it usually does when I'm driving on a very windy day. As soon as I reached my destination, my mind was taken off my vehicle. Drove towards home and called in at another place, where, to my absolute horror, I discovered that my two rear tires were almost flat (down by 25 lbs!!). Seemed very strange that this had happened to two tires. Very fortunately, I could see an Auto place nearby, so slowly drove across to their parking lot. Someone filled all four tires with air for me, so I will have to take a look at them this morning and then really must go back this afternoon and wait a couple of hours at least, while they check the tires and repair them if necessary. I suspect that the wheel rims are corroded (car is getting on for 14 years old) and air is leaking for that reason. Much later: wasted most of the afternoon, sitting waiting for my two rear tires to be checked and repaired. Can you believe that there was a screw in one and a piece of metal in the other?!!! Hmm, I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that there was so much renovation going on around here, when they replaced all the windows. Who knows, though I find it hard to think of where else I might have been that would have these metal things lying around.

Posted for interest, not quality, ha! I rarely see one of these beautiful Baltimore Orioles - usually only when I take part in the annual, provincial May Species Count. Barb Castell's property, SW of the city, is one of our stopping places and each year she has these amazing birds come to her feeders. Not easy to catch a photo or two, but I'm always happy to get any photo of these colourful birds. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Oriole www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/baltimore_oriole/id

This was a young House Sparrow that I saw while visiting Heritage Park with my oldest daughter on 21st June. It offered me the chance to get two or three nice shots : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

This fledgeling House Sparrow posed so nicely for me on a fence at Heritage Park back in June. Who would imagine that a little House Sparrow would be the photographic highlight of a day out with my oldest daughter? : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

I hadn't been to the Zoo for many weeks, but someone had mentioned that the Snowy Owl enclosure near the Tigers was closed off. I suspected that maybe the pair of Snowy Owls had nested and that they were being given some privacy. A few years ago, though, I happened to check and discovered three little, dark grey owlets. Anyway, I have just been so ridiculousy busy with botanizing over the summer, that it was only yesterday that I finally got to see this new addition to the family. S/he was active and curious, while Mom and Dad just sat there with eyes often closed. Oh, those eyes! I'm hoping that this will be a good winter for seeing Snowy Owls in the wild, just in case I get a chance to get out of the city : ).