Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Geese

Yesterday, 6 October 2018, I joined a few birding friends for another day out east of the city. The weather was beautiful, and so different from the trip that was held about a week earlier. As usual, on these bird trips, every bird was far, far away, but I was able to zoom in on these Greater White-fronted Geese. Always a joy to see them when they migrate. The "white-fronted" refers to the patch of white around the bill. Another bird I was happy to see was a Thayer's Gull. I was thinking that I had never seen one before, or at least not ot get a photo. However, I have just checked my photostream and discovered a photo of a juvenile that I took on 25 March 2018. The Thayer's Gull is now called an Iceland Gull. "The darker-winged “Thayer’s” gull of the west used to be considered a different species; the two were lumped in 2017." Like many people, I just don't "do" Gulls. A lack of interest in them does seem to be fairly widespread, Yesterday, however, our leader, Terry Korolyk, who is a Gull expert (along with tremendous knowledge on hybrids and all birds/wildlife), found several huge flocks of various Gulls at different locations, along with other bird species, including a few more Rusty Blackbirds (whose numbers are declining). A delight to see a few distant Swans, a Wilson's Snipe, Yellowlegs and an assortment of other shorebirds. Thank you, Terry, for yet another enjoyable and interesting trip. Thank you, also, for the ride.

This photo and the next one were taken yesterday, 22 October 2016, when I went on a birding day trip with a group of friends, east of Calgary. I will add our leader's eBird list of species seen, as soon as I have it. We had beautiful weather for these few hours and we saw plenty of birds. Unfortunately, all the birds were extremely far away, as usual, so all I got were very distant shots of a mass of birds, plus photos of a somewhat closer Ring-billed Gull and the much smaller Bonaparte's Gull. In the breeding season, the Bonaparte's Gull has a black head, but at this time of year,, it is white with a black dot on each cheek. There were quite a few Geese of different species - Canada Geese, Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese. All the usual ducks were to be seen at the various sloughs. (This morning, I was up at an unearthly hour again, as I have a trip with various friends, this time going west of the city.) The following is our leader, Andrew Hart's, excellent write-up for the trip, plus the eBird lists of species seen, compliled by birder, Rose Painter. Thanks so much to both of you for this very enjoyable day! "Fourteen participants left Carburn Park and headed east of Calgary. When we started out, the temperature was just above freezing with ominous clouds, and an occasional biting wind. By lunchtime, this started to lift and we ended up with a beautiful, sunny afternoon with temperatures around 15 deg C. Our first stops were around Chestermere Lake. Highlights were six Trumpeter Swans, a foretaste of more to be seen later, over 300 Bonaparte's Gulls, a single Lesser Yellowlegs along with the 40+ Greater Yellowlegs, and a pair of Wilson's Snipe. From there we went to McElroy Slough and then worked our way east along Inverlake Road. At the large slough by Hwy 791, we saw several Snow Geese wheeling around in the distance. Obligingly, they saw us and flew towards us and straight overhead. This allowed us to get a fairly accurate count of 300, which included three "blue" geese. We started seeing Rough Legged Hawks along here, the first seven of at least eight seen through the day. Other raptors here included Harriers and Red-Tailed Hawks (two, both dark morph). Leaving that area, we saw a late Great Blue Heron and 30 American Tree Sparrows. We stopped for lunch at Strathmore and then went, in the vastly improved weather, to the south end of Eagle Lake. Approaching, we were lucky enough to see a Northern Shrike, which helpfully perched on a nearby snag, allowing good views for everyone. The first impression at the lake was the relatively large number of swans. The swans were mostly Tundra, but some Trumpeter. Then we noticed about twenty Greater White-fronted Geese swimming around by the near shore. There were waterfowl spread all over the lake, probably thousands in total. As we were watching, we saw a flurry of activity on the far shore and the sky slowly filled up. The reason (culprit) was a lone adult Bald Eagle gliding over the lake. Its presence scared up a cloud of geese, about 1000 each of Greater White-fronted Geese and Snow Geese. Next, we went to the large slough south of Township Rd 230 and west of RR 245. I have heard this called Alkali Lake, but I have also heard this description used for other lakes in the area. From the north end of the lake, we could just about discern a thin line of mixed geese on the west shore. As we drove around to the east side we saw more clouds of geese arriving. When we looked again from the east side, we saw about 3000 Greater White-fronted Geese and 8000 Snow Geese, leaving the lake. There were another 500 Snow Geese at the south end. Our final stop was at Carseland overlooking the weir. The highlight here was a pair of Rusty Blackbirds running around in the base of the drained irrigation canal. The complete Ebird checklists (thanks to Rose Painter) were as follows: Number of Checklists: 6 Number of Taxa: 54 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Chestermere Lake Date: Oct 22, 2016, 8:42 AM (2): McElroy Slough Date: Oct 22, 2016, 9:53 AM (3): West Inverlake Slough (Highway 791) Date: Oct 22, 2016, 10:29 AM (4): Eagle Lake Date: Oct 22, 2016, 12:24 PM (5): Namaka Farms Sloughs Date: Oct 22, 2016, 1:35 PM (6): Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park--Carseland Weir Date: Oct 22, 2016, 2:18 PM 4000 Greater White-fronted Goose -- (4),(5) 9800 Snow Goose -- (3),(4),(5) 1 Cackling Goose -- (1) 2860 Canada Goose -- (1),(2),(3),(4) 60 Trumpeter Swan -- (1),(4) 130 Tundra Swan -- (4) 4 Trumpeter/Tundra Swan -- (2) 124 Gadwall -- (2),(4),(5),(6) 188 American Wigeon -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(6) 359 Mallard -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6) 32 Northern Shoveler -- (1),(3),(4) 205 Northern Pintail -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5) 8 Green-winged Teal -- (2),(4),(6) 1 Canvasback -- (4) 4 Redhead -- (1) 120 Ring-necked Duck -- (2) 70 Lesser Scaup -- (1),(4) 203 Bufflehead -- (1),(2),(4) 9 Common Goldeneye -- (1) 1 Barrow's Goldeneye -- (1) 1 Common Merganser -- (1) 4 Gray Partridge -- (1) 1 Ruffed Grouse -- (6) 1 Common Loon -- (1) 1 Pied-billed Grebe -- (4) 1 Red-necked Grebe -- (6) 9 Eared Grebe -- (1),(2) 1 Double-crested Cormorant -- (6) 3 American White Pelican -- (6) 1 Great Blue Heron -- (3) 6 Northern Harrier -- (3),(4),(5) 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk -- (4) 1 Bald Eagle -- (4) 3 Red-tailed Hawk -- (1),(3) 8 Rough-legged Hawk -- (3),(4) 451 American Coot -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(6) 13 American Avocet -- (4) 2 Killdeer -- (3),(4) 2 Long-billed Dowitcher -- (4) 2 Wilson's Snipe -- (1) 53 Greater Yellowlegs -- (1),(4),(6) 1 Lesser Yellowlegs -- (1) 302 Bonaparte's Gull -- (1),(6) 402 Ring-billed Gull -- (1),(3),(4),(5),(6) 4 Herring Gull -- (1),(6) 42 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (1),(3),(6) 1 Northern Shrike -- (4) 16 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5) 3 American Crow -- (1),(2) 9 Common Raven -- (3),(4),(5) 150 European Starling -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5) 30 American Tree Sparrow -- (3) 2 Rusty Blackbird -- (6) 5 House Sparrow -- (1),(2) Andrew Hart"

A month ago, on 17 May 2015, I finally got out with my camera for a few hours. The previous few days had been dreary and overcast, with rain the last couple of the days. The sense of freedom felt so good, as I stopped in at a wetland in SW Calgary and then drove my usual loop along the backroads SW of the city. At this first pond, I saw the usual Mallards, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, Common Grackle, Red-headed Blackbirds, and a quick glimpse of a distant pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the sunshine. I had intended walking around to where I had seen the Canada Geese nest in other years, but before I did so, I suddenly noticed a distant pair of Geese swimming in my direction. I didn't really think much about it, but as they got closer, I realized that they were escorting 10 little goslings. They swam right up to where I was standing, as if to show off their new little family. And then they were gone, swimming off in the direction from where I had seen them come. After taking a few more photos of the nearby ducks, I carefully looked at each pair of Geese on the pond and none of them had any goslings swimming with them. Maybe they had returned them to the edge of the wetland and hidden them well. These were my very first goslings this spring, so I was happy as can be to see them. A week earlier, on 10 May, my daughter and I had great views of the pair of Red-necked Grebes, who seemed to be building a nest closer to shore than in previous years. It was disappointing to see that the tiny "island" that they seemed to have chosen was now very low in the water, after all the rain we had had. Hopefully, they won't move to a higher mound that is further away, but that is what I am expecting. (A more recent trip showed that they were now nesting further away.) Makes me thankful to have seen the pair earlier, fairly close. From this pond, I continued on my drive, greatly appreciating the sunshine and fairly empty roads, despite this being the Victoria long weekend here. The Brewer's Blackbirds were perched on fence posts, and I always love to see these birds with their white eyes. In one large pond, I watched two pairs of Blue-winged Teal, a Muskrat, a Pied-bill Grebe, and a pair of Red-necked Grebes. Most of these birds were very far away, but I just managed to get a few shots of the Teal. At the next slough that I stopped at, I saw one solitary Swan, too far away to tell if it was a Trumpeter or Tundra. I also spotted a funny little Pied-billed Grebe swimming fairly close to the road, but by the time I had driven a bit further in order to turn my car around, the Grebe was already closer to the far shore. Further on, I stopped to see a pair of Mountain Bluebirds that came to their nesting box just once while I was there. Tree Swallows made a quick appearance at the nest box that was nearby. Continuing my drive, I passed a pair of Wigeon preening themselves at a tiny slough, along with a Green-winged Teal. Further yet, I stopped to take a few photos of Red-winged Blackbirds and - to my great delight - a Wilson's Snipe, one of my favourite birds to photograph. Last year seemed to be such a great year for Snipe, so I was hoping this spring might be the same. When I drove this road in one direction, I was happy to spot a Snipe down in the grasses, but still wished that it had been standing on a fence post. After turning my car around, I slowly drove along the edge of the wetland again and, this time, there it was! Absolutely made my day - anyone would think it was my very first sighting ever of a Snipe! It didn't stay for long, but gave me time to get three or four shots. From here, it was time to return home along some of the backroads before eventually having to get back on to the highway. A dark phase Swainson's Hawk was where I had seen it (same one?) on a couple of other occasions. Took a photo or two through the windscreen, so not the best photos, but I thought it might fly if I got out of the car. It was so good to get out and, though I saw no new or rare birds, I was as always happy to see the more usual ones, especially when they are close enough to photograph.

Yesterday, 17 May 2015, I finally got out with my camera for a few hours. The previous few days had been dreary and overcast, with rain the last couple of days. The sense of freedom felt so good, as I stopped in at a wetland in SW Calgary and then drove my usual loop along the backroads SW of the city. At this first pond, I saw the usual Mallards, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, Common Grackle, Red-headed Blackbirds, and a quick glimpse of a distant pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the sunshine. I had intended walking around to where I had seen the Canada Geese nest in other years, but before I did so, I suddenly noticed a distant pair of Geese swimming in my direction. I didn't really think much about it, but as they got closer, I realized that they were escorting 10 little goslings. They swam right up to where I was standing, as if to show off their new little family. And then they were gone, swimming off in the direction from where I had seen them come. After taking a few more photos of the nearby ducks, I carefully looked at each pair of Geese on the pond and none of them had any goslings swimming with them. Maybe they had returned them to the edge of the wetland and hidden them well. These were my very first goslings this spring, so I was happy as can be to see them. A week earlier, on 10 May, my daughter and I had great views of the pair of Red-necked Grebes, who seemed to be building a nest closer to shore than previous years. It was disappointing to see that the tiny "island" that they seemed to have chosen was now very low in the water, after all the rain we had had. Hopefully, they won't move to a higher mound that is further away, but that is what I am expecting. Makes me thankful to have seen the pair fairly close a week ago From this pond, I continued on my drive, greatly appreciating the sunshine and fairly empty roads, despite this being the Victoria long weekend here. The Brewer's Blackbirds were perched on fence posts, and I always love to see these birds with their white eyes. In one large pond, I watched two pairs of Blue-winged Teal, a Muskrat, a Pied-bill Grebe, and a pair of Red-necked Grebes. Most of these birds were very far away, but I just managed to get a few shots of the Teal. At the next slough that I stopped at, I saw one solitary Swan, too far away to tell if it was a Trumpeter or Tundra. I also spotted a funny little Pied-billed Grebe swimming fairly close to the road, but by the time I had driven a bit further in order to turn my car around, the Grebe was already closer to the far shore. Further on, I stopped to see a pair of Mountain Bluebirds that came to their nesting box just once while I was there. Tree Swallows made a quick appearance at the nest box that was nearby. Continuing my drive, I passed a pair of Wigeon preening themselves at a tiny slough, along with a Green-winged Teal. Further yet, I stopped to take a few photos of Red-winged Blackbirds and - to my great delight - a Wilson's Snipe, one of my favourite birds to photograph. Last year seemed to be such a great year for Snipe, so I was hoping this spring might be the same. When I drove this road in one direction, I was happy to spot a Snipe down in the grasses, but still wished that it had been standing on a fence post. After turning my car around, I slowly drove along the edge of the wetland again and, this time, there it was! Absolutely made my day - anyone would think it was my very first sighting ever of a Snipe! It didn't stay for long, but gave me time to get three or four shots. From here, it was time to return home along some of the backroads before eventually having to get back on to the highway. A dark phase Swainson's Hawk was where I had seen it (same one?) on a couple of other occasions. Took a photo or two through the windscreen, so not the best photos, but I thought it might fly if I got out of the car. It was so good to get out and, though I saw no new or rare birds, I was as always happy to see the more usual ones, especially when they are close enough to photograph.

LOL, looking at this just now, it occurred to me that I could have taken eight shots of the same bird a couple of seconds apart and then cut and pasted (or whatever one does) to create one image. If I'd told you that's what I had done, you may have been more impressed : ) Not a very inspiring photo, but I love hearing and watching Canada Geese fly overhead. Their calls and the sound of their powerful wings beating always give me a good feeling. Only rarely do I try and take flight shots with my little point-and-shoot, for obvious reasons : )

Decided to post this photo after all : ) Taken on a sunny, mid-February morning on a walk along the east side of the Bow River in SE Calgary. Actually, perhaps these Canada Geese have a little more "sense" than those humans who take part in a "Polar Plunge"!

A very typical photo of a family of Canada Geese, swimming on one of the lagoons at Carburn Park.