Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Pine Coulee Reservoir trip

This photo was taken at Pine Coulee Reservoir three days ago, on 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Couleee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of this latest drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. We crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, I have just been reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and discovered that in fact I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a rough, wooden fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new (or forgotten) places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where.

"As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/id This zoomed and cropped photo of two little Common Redpolls was taken three days ago, on 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Couleee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of this latest drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. We crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, I have just been reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and discovered that in fact I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a rough, wooden fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new (or forgotten) places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where.

A new Great Horned Owl for me yesterday and one the previous day (in Fish Creek Park). Lucky me! The one in this photo was seen at one of our stops yesterday. A second owl was perched just above this one, but was half hidden by branches. I had seen Great Horned Owls in this tree before - though I have no idea where we were and would never be able to find the tree again. All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Couleee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of yesterday's drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. We crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, I have just been reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and discovered that in fact I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. This owl and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry (Korolyk), you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where. I see that eBird is down this morning, so I can't yet access your lists again.

This photo was taken through the windscreen of the car in which I was travelling, so needed touching up - added a bit of filter in post-processing, as the original image was not quite as sharp as I would have liked. All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Couleee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it. Several previous trips had covered part of yesterday's drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. We crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. Actually, I have just been reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and discovered that in fact I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is just a small part from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago: "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a fence. Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : ) Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many "new" places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where. I see that eBird is down this morning, so I can't yet access your lists again.

This was our last sighting, towards the end of a great day out. This huge Skunk ran fast across the road, right in front of our moving car, and disappeared into the grass. It was too quick for me to catch a decent shot, but I wanted to add a photo to my albums, just for the record. Two days ago, on 25 September 2017, I spent the day with a friend, travelling south of the city to the Pine Coulee Reservoir and area. I absolutely love the rolling hills scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Most of the birds we saw were far away, needing Tony's spotting scope or at least binoculars, except for a Eurasian Collared-Dove, a Belted Kingfisher and several small birds. Meanwhile, I was also enjoying the scenery and anything else that caught my eye. We called in at the Pine Coulee campground and the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground and did a walk at each. Both were deserted and so peaceful. At the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground, the silence was broken by the call of a Belted Kingfisher. There was a bright yellow sign warning that there was a bear in the area, but it was nowhere to be seen. The weather was perfect all day, starting off chilly, but getting up to about 20C in the afternoon, and a sky full of clouds. Thanks so much for the invite, Tony - much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed! Pure luxury, too, not having to drive. "Located 119kms south of Calgary. 9kms west of Stavely on road #527. Willow Creek Basin Southern Alberta. The campground is situated on the south west shore of Pine Coulee Reservoir and contains 25 campsites for both RV's and tents. Most of the sites are surrounded by willow bushes creating a wind break and some privacy. A few choice sites are located near the lake. Amenities include, group camping, fire pits but no firewood available, dry toilets, water, garbage bins, power, boat launch, and picnic tables. Pine Coulee Reservoir is excellent for water skiing, wind surfing and fishing. Due to the lack of lakes located near Calgary you can expect to see hordes of boaters here during the summer. Boaters should use caution near the southeast end, there are a several large rocks submerged just under the surface that have destroyed many props and claimed a life. The reservoir was created for irrigation and is approximately 18kms long. It holds strong Walleye and Northern Pike populations and there is a public dock located next to campground where you can sit and fish. You'll need a fishing license to try your luck. The well maintained grassy area in the center of the campground is a good spot for astronomers and star gazers." From AlbertaWow. www.albertawow.com/campgrounds/Pine_Coulee/Pine_Coulee_Ca...

"With a flash of white tail feathers and a flurry of dark-tipped wings, the Eurasian Collared-Dove settles onto phone wires and fence posts to give its rhythmic three-parted coo. This chunky relative of the Mourning Dove gets its name from the black half-collar at the nape of the neck. A few Eurasian Collared-Doves were introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s. They made their way to Florida by the 1980s and then rapidly colonized most of North America." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Collared-Dove/id Yesterday, 25 September 2017, I spent the day with a friend, travelling south of the city to the Pine Coulee Reservoir and area. I absolutely love the rolling hills scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Most of the birds we saw were far away, needing Tony's spotting scope or at least binoculars, except for a Eurasian Collared-Dove, a Belted Kingfisher and several small birds. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the scenery and anything else that caught my eye. We called in at the Pine Coulee campground and the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground and did a walk at each. Both were deserted and so peaceful. At the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground, the silence was broken by the call of a Belted Kingfisher. There was a bright yellow sign warning that there was a bear in the area, but it was nowhere to be seen. The weather was perfect all day, starting off chilly, but getting up to about 20C in the afternoon, and a sky full of clouds. Thanks so much for the invite, Tony - much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed! Pure luxury, too, not having to drive. "Located 119kms south of Calgary. 9kms west of Stavely on road #527. Willow Creek Basin Southern Alberta. The campground is situated on the south west shore of Pine Coulee Reservoir and contains 25 campsites for both RV's and tents. Most of the sites are surrounded by willow bushes creating a wind break and some privacy. A few choice sites are located near the lake. Amenities include, group camping, fire pits but no firewood available, dry toilets, water, garbage bins, power, boat launch, and picnic tables. Pine Coulee Reservoir is excellent for water skiing, wind surfing and fishing. Due to the lack of lakes located near Calgary you can expect to see hordes of boaters here during the summer. Boaters should use caution near the southeast end, there are a several large rocks submerged just under the surface that have destroyed many props and claimed a life. The reservoir was created for irrigation and is approximately 18kms long. It holds strong Walleye and Northern Pike populations and there is a public dock located next to campground where you can sit and fish. You'll need a fishing license to try your luck. The well maintained grassy area in the center of the campground is a good spot for astronomers and star gazers." From AlbertaWow. www.albertawow.com/campgrounds/Pine_Coulee/Pine_Coulee_Ca...

Yesterday, 25 September 2017, I spent the day with a friend, travelling south of the city to the Pine Coulee Reservoir and area. I absolutely love the rolling hills scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Most of the birds we saw were far away, needing Tony's spotting scope or at least binoculars, except for a Eurasian Collared-Dove, a Belted Kingfisher and several small birds. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the scenery and anything else that caught my eye. We called in at the Pine Coulee campground and the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground and did a walk at each. Both were deserted and so peaceful. At the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground, the silence was broken by the call of a Belted Kingfisher. There was a bright yellow sign warning that there was a bear in the area, but it was nowhere to be seen. The weather was perfect all day, starting off chilly, but getting up to about 20C in the afternoon, and a sky full of clouds. Thanks so much for the invite, Tony - much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed! Pure luxury, too, not having to drive. "Located 119kms south of Calgary. 9kms west of Stavely on road #527. Willow Creek Basin Southern Alberta. The campground is situated on the south west shore of Pine Coulee Reservoir and contains 25 campsites for both RV's and tents. Most of the sites are surrounded by willow bushes creating a wind break and some privacy. A few choice sites are located near the lake. Amenities include, group camping, fire pits but no firewood available, dry toilets, water, garbage bins, power, boat launch, and picnic tables. Pine Coulee Reservoir is excellent for water skiing, wind surfing and fishing. Due to the lack of lakes located near Calgary you can expect to see hordes of boaters here during the summer. Boaters should use caution near the southeast end, there are a several large rocks submerged just under the surface that have destroyed many props and claimed a life. The reservoir was created for irrigation and is approximately 18kms long. It holds strong Walleye and Northern Pike populations and there is a public dock located next to campground where you can sit and fish. You'll need a fishing license to try your luck. The well maintained grassy area in the center of the campground is a good spot for astronomers and star gazers." From AlbertaWow. www.albertawow.com/campgrounds/Pine_Coulee/Pine_Coulee_Ca...

Much as I had hoped to upload the first batch of photos taken on Day 5 of my trip to Trinidad, I thought I'd better first add several photos taken today, 22 April 2017. Nothing too inspiring, but wanted them for the record. Tomorrow morning, I will add one bright, colourful bird from Trinidad. After the dull colours of today, I need it. A group of us had a very enjoyable day today, driving the roads way SW of Calgary, including the Pine Coulee Reservoir. I absolutely love the scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Almost every bird was seen at a great distance, apart from a Eurasian Collared Dove, a Western Meadowlark, and a Starling. Along one of the gravel roads, our leader stopped for us to enjoy a field of Prairie Crocuses - such a beautiful sight. We were very lucky with the weather, especially when I look at the weather forecast for this coming week - rain, rain, rain and snow.