Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: migrant

Yesterday, 27 May 2019 - one of the new problems on Flickr today is having comments and faves not appear. If you get a first comment or make a first comment on someone else's photo, that comment will disappear. The comment is listed under the "bell", but does not appear under the photo. The "bell" stated that I had a comment under each of the five photos I posted today. These were the first comments to be made. Two of the comments stayed, but there was no sign of the other three. The same with faves - some show up, others don't. Other people are having the same problem and have reported it to the Help Forum. Looks like the same problem exists today. On 23 May 2019, Flickr was unusable and some of the channels on TV were also not working. Combined, these two things made me decide that enough is enough, and that I needed to go for a short drive. My first stop was at a local pond in the city, where I enjoyed seeing this Lesser Scaup, a Coot, Mallards, and a Common Grackle or two. It was also fun to come across a small group of children with their "care-givers". I identified a Coot for them and told them that it was not a duck and that their babies were so ugly that they were very, very cute. I did see one Red-necked Grebe swimming, but I didn't venture further along the path as I zoomed in on two Police officers checking out a parked car along the pathway. After spending a bit of time at this location, I drove westwards to my "usual" area, wondering if I would see Mountain Bluebirds and a Snipe. I was in luck with both. This is the area that my small "team" covers for the annual May Species Count, so I was curious as to what I/we might see. The 23rd annual Count took place the day before yesterday, on 26 May. The weather was good (3C - 17C) - no sign of the rain that we've been getting on far too many days recently. However we desperately need the moisture. There are already wild fires in Alberta and the number will only increase over the summer. It is supposed to be another bad summer with fires and smoke. There were nine of us on the May Species Count, travelling in two cars. We were out for 7 hours, travelling 52 km in our Count area, and saw 66 bird species. I will add the list of species in a comment box below so that I will be able to look back in a year's time and remind myself of what we saw in 2019.

Yesterday, 27 May 2019 - one of the new problems on Flickr today is having comments and faves not appear. If you get a first comment or make a first comment on someone else's photo, that comment will disappear. The comment is listed under the "bell", but does not appear under the photo. The "bell" stated that I had a comment under each of the five photos I posted today. These were the first comments to be made. Two of the comments stayed, but there was no sign of the other three. The same with faves - some show up, others don't. Other people are having the same problem and have reported it to the Help Forum. On 23 May 2019, Flickr was unusable and some of the channels on TV were also not working. Combined, these two things made me decide that enough is enough, and that I needed to go for a short drive. My first stop was at a local pond in the city, where I enjoyed seeing this Lesser Scaup, a Coot, Mallards, and a Common Grackle or two. It was also fun to come across a small group of children with their "care-givers". I identified a Coot for them and told them that it was not a duck and that their babies were so ugly that they were very, very cute. I did see one Red-necked Grebe swimming, but I didn't venture further along the path as I zoomed in on two Police officers checking out a parked car along the pathway. After spending a bit of time at this location, I drove westwards to my "usual" area, wondering if I would see Mountain Bluebirds and a Snipe. I was in luck with both. This is the area that my small "team" covers for the annual May Species Count, so I was curious as to what I/we might see. The 23rd annual Count took place the day before yesterday, on 26 May. The weather was good (3C - 17C) - no sign of the rain that we've been getting on far too many days recently. However we desperately need the moisture. There are already wild fires in Alberta and the number will only increase over the summer. It is supposed to be another bad summer with fires and smoke. There were nine of us on the May Species Count, travelling in two cars. We were out for 7 hours, travelling 52 km in our Count area, and saw 66 bird species. I will add the list of species in a comment box below so that I will be able to look back in a year's time and remind myself of what we saw in 2019.

Yesterday, 27 May 2019 - one of the new problems on Flickr today is having comments and faves not appear. If you get a first comment or make a first comment on someone else's photo, that comment will disappear. The comment is listed under the "bell", but does not appear under the photo. The "bell" stated that I had a comment under each of the five photos I posted today. These were the first comments to be made. Two of the comments stayed, but there was no sign of the other three. The same with faves - some show up, others don't. Other people are having the same problem and have reported it to the Help Forum. On 23 May 2019, Flickr was unusable and some of the channels on TV were also not working. Combined, these two things made me decide that enough is enough, and that I needed to go for a short drive. My first stop was at a local pond in the city, where I enjoyed seeing this Lesser Scaup, a Coot, Mallards, and a Common Grackle or two. It was also fun to come across a small group of children with their "care-givers". I identified a Coot for them and told them that it was not a duck and that their babies were so ugly that they were very, very cute. I did see one Red-necked Grebe swimming, but I didn't venture further along the path as I zoomed in on two Police officers checking out a parked car along the pathway. After spending a bit of time at this location, I drove westwards to my "usual" area, wondering if I would see Mountain Bluebirds and a Snipe. I was in luck with both. This is the area that my small "team" covers for the annual May Species Count, so I was curious as to what I/we might see. The 23rd annual Count took place the day before yesterday, on 26 May. The weather was good (3C - 17C) - no sign of the rain that we've been getting on far too many days recently. However we desperately need the moisture. There are already wild fires in Alberta and the number will only increase over the summer. It is supposed to be another bad summer with fires and smoke. There were nine of us on the May Species Count, travelling in two cars. We were out for 7 hours, travelling 52 km in our Count area, and saw 66 bird species. I will add the list of species in a comment box below so that I will be able to look back in a year's time and remind myself of what we saw in 2019.

One of the new problems on Flickr today is having comments and faves not appear. If you get a first comment or make a first comment on someone else's photo, that comment will disappear. The comment is listed under the "bell", but does not appear under the photo. The "bell" stated that I had a comment under each of the five photos I posted today. These were the first comments to be made. Two of the comments stayed, but there was no sign of the other three. The same with faves - some show up, others don't. Other people are having the same problem and have reported it to the Help Forum. On 23 May 2019, Flickr was unusable and some of the channels on TV were also not working. Combined, these two things made me decide that enough is enough, and that I needed to go for a short drive. My first stop was at a local pond in the city, where I enjoyed seeing this Lesser Scaup, a Coot, Mallards, and a Common Grackle or two. It was also fun to come across a small group of children with their "care-givers". I identified a Coot for them and told them that it was not a duck and that their babies were so ugly that they were very, very cute. I did see one Red-necked Grebe swimming, but I didn't venture further along the path as I zoomed in on two Police officers checking out a parked car along the pathway. After spending a bit of time at this location, I drove westwards to my "usual" area, wondering if I would see Mountain Bluebirds and a Snipe. I was in luck with both. This is the area that my small "team" covers for the annual May Species Count, so I was curious as to what I/we might see. The 23rd annual Count took place yesterday, 26 May. The weather was good (3C - 17C) - no sign of the rain that we've been getting on far too many days recently. However we desperately need the moisture. There are already wild fires in Alberta and the number will only increase over the summer. There were nine of us on the May Species Count, travelling in two cars. We were out for 7 hours, travelling 52 km in our Count area, and saw 66 bird species. I will add the list of species in a comment box below so that I will be able to look back in a year's time and remind myself of what we saw in 2019.

The last 7 images that I have just uploaded were taken yesterday afternoon, 11 May 2017, at a pond in Calgary. Love seeing these beautiful Redhead males. Much as I would rather not interrupt my Trinidad photos, I did want to post these local birds, otherwise I might forget. Sorry that I have added so many photos, and at such a fast rate! Seeing my calendar filling up rather quickly, I know that I will be getting various chances to take photos, and it would help greatly if I can get my holiday photos finished. This morning, I finished the last few photos taken at Manzaniila Beach, Trinidad. From there, we drove the Nariva Swamp area, which is mainly agricultural habitats with some wetlands. Some good birding there and I will be posting various new species. Also, at least a couple of plants that we enjoyed seeing, especially the Sacred Lotus. This is one of my favourite things to photograph in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "With a gleaming cinnamon head setting off a body marked in black and business gray, adult male Redheads light up the open water of lakes and coastlines. These sociable ducks molt, migrate, and winter in sometimes-huge flocks, particularly along the Gulf Coast, where winter numbers can reach the thousands. Summers find them nesting in reedy ponds of the Great Plains and West. Female and young Redheads are uniform brown, with the same black-tipped, blue-gray bill as the male." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/id

The last 7 images that I have just uploaded were taken yesterday afternoon, 11 May 2017, at a pond in Calgary. Love seeing these beautiful Redhead males. Much as I would rather not interrupt my Trinidad photos, I did want to post these local birds, otherwise I might forget. Sorry that I have added so many photos, and at such a fast rate! Seeing my calendar filling up rather quickly, I know that I will be getting various chances to take photos, and it would help greatly if I can get my holiday photos finished. This morning, I finished the last few photos taken at Manzaniila Beach, Trinidad. From there, we drove the Nariva Swamp area, which is mainly agricultural habitats with some wetlands. Some good birding there and I will be posting various new species. Also, at least a couple of plants that we enjoyed seeing, especially the Sacred Lotus. This is one of my favourite things to photograph in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "With a gleaming cinnamon head setting off a body marked in black and business gray, adult male Redheads light up the open water of lakes and coastlines. These sociable ducks molt, migrate, and winter in sometimes-huge flocks, particularly along the Gulf Coast, where winter numbers can reach the thousands. Summers find them nesting in reedy ponds of the Great Plains and West. Female and young Redheads are uniform brown, with the same black-tipped, blue-gray bill as the male." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/id

It snowed overnight and is heavily overcast and dreary this morning, 11 December 2015. Temperature is -1C (windchill -5C) and humidity is 93%, and the Fog Advisory continues from yesterday. In other words, it doesn't look or sound very welcoming outside. Yesterday, when I picked up my car from being repaired (after the accident I was involved in, but was not at fault), I got a free carwash. (Turned out that the heat shield had been damaged by the impact and that was what was causing the rattling.) Unfortunately, by the time I had run an errand or two, my car windows were fogged up badly and I suspect they may all have a covering of ice on the inside this morning, which will not be good. However, it does feel good to have a drivable car again, thank goodness. This photo was taken at a wetland in SW Calgary on 7 July 2015, when I called in for just an hour after a doctor's appointment. Lesser Scaup (as opposed to Greater Scaup) are beautiful birds with their golden eyes and feather patterns. The Lesser Scaup has a slight bump or peak on back of head, (not seen from the angle this photo was taken). The Greater Scaup is extremely similar, but is slightly larger and has a smoothly rounded head. "Two scaup species live in North America: the Greater Scaup prefers salt water and is found in America and Eurasia, while the Lesser Scaup prefers freshwater and is found only in North America. The Lesser Scaup is one of the most abundant and widespread of the diving ducks in North America." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Scaup/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_scaup

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 (male, seen in this photo), Redheads, Common Grackle, Red-headed Blackbirds, and a quick glimpse of a distant pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the sunshine. Something I didn't know is that many female Redheads make no nests of their own, but instead lay their eggs in the nests of other ducks. The Lesser Scaup has a slight bump or peak on back of head, as can be seen in this photo. The Greater Scaup is extremely similar, but is slightly larger and has a smoothly rounded head. "Two scaup species live in North America: the Greater Scaup prefers salt water and is found in America and Eurasia, while the Lesser Scaup prefers freshwater and is found only in North America. The Lesser Scaup is one of the most abundant and widespread of the diving ducks in North America." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Scaup/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_scaup 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 which 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 a 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. Makes me thankful to have seen the pair fairly close 10 days 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 did manage to get a few distant 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 (apparently a Trumpeter). 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 American 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 distant 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! Surprisingly, 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.

Three days 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 (seen in this photo), Common Grackle, Red-headed Blackbirds, and a quick glimpse of a distant pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the sunshine. Something I didn't know until a few minutes ago is that many female Redheads make no nests of their own, but instead lay their eggs in the nests of other ducks. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Redhead/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redhead_%28bird%29 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 which 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 a 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. Makes me thankful to have seen the pair fairly close 10 days 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 did manage to get a few distant 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 (apparently a Trumpeter). 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 American 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 distant 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! Surprisingly, 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.

Took this photo of a beautiful Swainson's Hawk, NW of Calgary, on 15 June 2013. When I left Calgary, the weather was pleasant, but as I got nearer to my hoped-for destination, a massive, black cloud was hanging over the area. I did drive northwards on paved road, but turned around just before the hilly, gravel roads began. They are not good roads to drive on when it is, or has been, raining. Ten minutes later, on the return drive, I saw a white field that looked strangely out of place, lol. In just that short time, it had hailed heavily over just that one huge field, piling up along the edge of the road, too. We do have some strange weather where I live, ha! Little did I know about the major flooding (Alberta's Flood of the Century) that was about to happen on 20 June! Passed this Hawk and presumably its mate, perched on nearby fenceposts. This one flew off after just one shot, but the other one gave me a chance for a few photos. Such spectacular birds of prey. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_Hawk www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/swainsons_hawk/id Something is definitely wrong with Flickr this morning. I posted my "daily three" images almost four hours ago and it shows only a total of 10 views for the three photos together. Not one comment, which is highly unusual. I mention this only because it's obvious that Flickr is not working properly. Anyone else experiencing this? Just checked My Contacts' new photos and there are only photos uploaded by four people, so my photos are most likely not showing up on their pages, either! I guess that's another problem, sigh. 8 hours later - just got home, and found that there has been basically no activity on my photos from today. Just left a message on the Help Forum. Hey, Flickr - what's going on? Something needs fixing! Please ...

Not the kind of photo I like taking - distant and a "mess", LOL. However, I just wanted to share the amazing sight I saw this afternoon, when I pulled over on a gravel road just west of the city. I noticed a cloud of these little Snow Buntings and walked a little way into a farmer's field. It felt as if the whole field burst open when hundreds of these pretty little birds took off en masse! They are most attractive when in flight - though would prefer one at a time, as far as trying for a shot is concerned - especially when the sun makes the white feathers glisten. If you have time, large size does make it easier to see what these small birds look like.