Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 21 March 2018

On 21 March 2018, this was one of the beautiful Great Gray Owls I was lucky enough to see. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack. I thought the weather was supposed to be sunny on this day, but it was overcast, at least while I was there. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl

It is way past time that I add apologies for falling way behind, especially with my commenting on other people’s photos, but also on keeping up with my own postings. Over the last three or four months, it has been one thing after another that needed to be dealt with – why is it that the unwelcome things never seem to come one at a time, ha? Times like Thanksgiving and Christmas are always difficult times for me, along with various 3rd anniversaries connected to my older daughter. For some reason, this season was more difficult than last year. I could definitely have done without the whole hassle of having to sort out and fix the mess that was caused when someone (or two separate people) tried to make suspicious purchases using my credit card, resulting in my card being cancelled (without any notification from the Bank!) and various services being shut down. Took about five weeks to get everything sorted out. Throw in a long issue with a camera that I bought more than a year ago and am still trying to get the manufacturer to fix the problem. When I use Playback, the camera keeps skipping over some of the photos, and it has done this since I first used the camera. When I went back to the store at the beginning, I was told that it would have to be sent off for repair. I couldn’t do that because I needed it for my Trinidad & Tobago trip. Finally, I let it be sent off just before the warranty ended, shortly before Christmas. It was so-called “repaired” and returned, but in fact it was exactly the same as before. Now I am without it for the second time, hoping that this time it will actually be fixed. Not the end of the world, that’s for sure, though photography is vital to me. I am still working on a major photo contract, which I will describe once the whole thing is finished. I’ll just say that it is a very special and exciting project for someone, involving a set of images that I took a few decades ago. Stress over my daughter’s upcoming major surgery is unavoidable and we will both be enormously relieved when it is all over with. Heavily overshadowing everything during the past three or so months was my own health. After worrying myself sick, and for much too long, I finally saw my doctor, who ordered various tests including an ultrasound, to see if I had cancer. Three days ago, I was told that nothing of any concern had been found, to my huge relief. I’d like to think that I will never be in that situation again, as ‘terrifying’ would be the word to describe it. How I feel for all those who are not so fortunate to get good news. Anyway, all these things left me feeling totally stressed out and drained, with no energy to do much at all. The day before I had my tests done, I knew I just had to get out and look for an owl, and I was so lucky : ) I have taken so few photos the last few months, which I always find depressing. Yesterday and the day before, too, I just had to get out on a couple of day trips with friends. Too tired to add descriptions on Flickr the last two mornings, but hopefully I will catch up. Thank you to anyone who happens to read this! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 21 March 2018, this was one of the beautiful Great Gray Owls I was lucky enough to see. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack. This was one of the best views of this owl that I was lucky enough to get, captured at Focal Length (35mm format) - 810 mm. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl

It is way past time that I add apologies for falling way behind, not only with my commenting on other people’s photos, but also on keeping up with my own postings. Over the last three or four months, it has been one thing after another that needed to be dealt with – why is it that the unwelcome things never seem to come one at a time, ha? Times like Thanksgiving and Christmas are always difficult times for me, along with various 3rd anniversaries connected to my older daughter. For some reason, this season was more difficult than last year. I could definitely have done without the whole hassle of having to sort out and fix the mess that was caused when someone (or two separate people) tried to make suspicious purchases using my credit card, resulting in my card being cancelled (without any notification from the Bank!) and various services being shut down. Took about five weeks to get everything sorted out. Throw in a long issue with a camera that I bought more than a year ago and am still trying to get the manufacturer to fix the problem. When I use Playback, the camera keeps skipping over some of the photos, and it has done this since I first used the camera. When I went back to the store at the beginning, I was told that it would have to be sent off for repair. I couldn’t do that because I needed it for my Trinidad & Tobago trip. Finally, I let it be sent off just before the warranty ended, shortly before Christmas. It was so-called “repaired” and returned, but in fact it was exactly the same as before. Now I am without it for the second time, hoping that this time it will actually be fixed. Not the end of the world, that’s for sure, though photography is vital to me. I am still working on a major photo contract, which I will describe once the whole thing is finished. I’ll just say that it is a very special and exciting project for someone, involving a set of images that I took a few decades ago. Stress over my daughter’s upcoming major surgery is unavoidable and we will both be enormously relieved when it is all over with. Heavily overshadowing everything during the past three or so months was my own health. After worrying myself sick, and for much too long, I finally saw my doctor, who ordered various tests including an ultrasound, to see if I had cancer. Three days ago, I was told that nothing of any concern had been found, to my huge relief. I’d like to think that I will never be in that situation again, as ‘terrifying’ would be the word to describe it. How I feel for all those who are not so fortunate to get good news. Anyway, all these things left me feeling totally stressed out and drained, with no energy to do much at all. The day before I had my tests done, I knew I just had to get out and look for an owl, and I was so lucky : ) I have taken so few photos the last few months, which I always find depressing. Yesterday and the day before, too, I just had to get out on a couple of day trips with friends. Too tired to add descriptions on Flickr the last two mornings, but hopefully I will catch up. Thank you to anyone who happens to read this!

Interesting, I don't usually follow Stats this closely, but I just happened to notice that I have just suddenly lost about 1,000 views for today. I have read others' comments about this happening, but don't remember noticing it with my own stats before. I could tell that there was something "wrong", anyway, as the graph is barely moving. If you only knew how far away this Great Gray Owl was! The far side of a field, perched on top of a very tall, wooden power pole. From that distance, the owl looked like part of the pole itself, and I'm sure I would never have noticed it by myself. Thought I would try a heavily zoomed in shot, despite the distance and the overcast sky. One or two photos came out well enough to keep, but the rest need to be deleted. The colour of the owl's plumage is not really accurate. This was the first of three Great Gray Owls that I photographed on 21 March 2018. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack, but they were all sharply focused on hunting. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl I thought the weather was supposed to be sunny on this day, but it was overcast, at least while I was there. Yesterday was even worse, with dense fog. More snow was expected and it arrived yesterday afternoon. I had a very important appointment to go to in the afternoon, plus I had to remove my car from the parking lot for five hours, so that at least some of the snow and ice could be removed. No street parking without a permit, so I knew I had five hours to kill. In the end, I decided to drive out of the city, but after maybe five minutes of driving on a major highway, I knew I had made a foolish mistake. I couldn't see any other vehicles or even much of the road ahead of me, because of the fog. In the end, I had to turn up a back road, as it would have been very dangerous to try and cut across several lanes when I could see absolutely nothing. It was a relief when I finally reached home. This week has been full of appointments of one kind or another, so convenient time has been very limited. This afternoon, I have to get my Taxes seen to, and that will be great to get out of the way. Hoping to get out with my camera at the weekend, though. Our temperature this morning is plus 2C and the sun is shining.

Yesterday, 21 March 2018, this was one of the beautiful Great Gray Owls I was lucky enough to see. There is still so much deep snow in the fields and there could be a crust on top after the recent melting and freezing. Also, apparently, so few Meadow Vole tracks have been seen this winter, so maybe food is in shorter supply. I didn't see any of the owls dive down in an attempt to catch a snack. I think this was perhaps the best view of this owl that I was lucky enough to get, captured at Focal Length (35mm format) - 810 mm. "The great grey owl or great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length..... In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species." From Wikipedia. The link below shows how small the skeleton is, compared to the size of the bird. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl I thought the weather was supposed to be sunny yesterday, but it was overcast, at least while I was there. The forecast for today, and for both Saturday and Sunday, was for yet more snow, so I really wanted to get out there before everywhere turns freshly white. After checking, I now see the weekend has an improved forecast, though we are under a Fog alert this morning - "Widespread fog has developed over a large portion of southern Alberta. The fog is expected to dissipate later this morning. Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations." From The Weather Network. This week has been full of appointments of one kind or another, so convenient time has been very limited. Another one today and, very annoyingly, I got notice yesterday afternoon that everyone has to move their vehicle for five hours so that some snow removal can take place. No street parking without a parking pass, which I don't have, so I will have to kill most of those hours one way or another, before my appointment.