Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: May Species Count 2019

Tree Swallow / Tachycineta bicolor

04 Jun 2019 58
After at least a week of disrupted TV channels and function, Internet service was lost for a few hours this afternoon/evening, just as I was about to upload my first photo for today. Finally, service has returned, and I have now posted the remaining photos taken during the annual May Species Count on 26 May 2019. I couldn't decide which Tree Swallow photo I liked best, so I posted all four of them. Such a gorgeous bird. I only have a handful of photos left to post tomorrow, taken on a couple of very recent birding walks in the city. Not sure if i will be able to get back to sorting and editing photos from Day 8 of our trip to South Texas in March. From 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up the next morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. Many of the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it, just for the record.

Tree Swallow / Tachycineta bicolor

04 Jun 2019 79
After at least a week of disrupted TV channels and function, Internet service was lost for a few hours this afternoon/evening, just as I was about to upload my first photo for today. Finally, service has returned, and I have now posted the remaining photos taken during the annual May Species Count on 26 May 2019. I couldn't decide which Tree Swallow photo I liked best, so I posted all four of them. Such a gorgeous bird. I only have a handful of photos left to post tomorrow, taken on a couple of very recent birding walks in the city. Not sure if i will be able to get back to sorting and editing photos from Day 8 of our trip to South Texas in March. From 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up the next morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. Many of the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it, just for the record.

Tree Swallow / Tachycineta bicolor

04 Jun 2019 71
After at least a week of disrupted TV channels and function, Internet service was lost for a few hours this afternoon/evening, just as I was about to upload my first photo for today. Finally, service has returned, and I have now posted the remaining photos taken during the annual May Species Count on 26 May 2019. I couldn't decide which Tree Swallow photo I liked best, so I posted all four of them. Such a gorgeous bird. I only have a handful of photos left to post tomorrow, taken on a couple of very recent birding walks in the city. Not sure if i will be able to get back to sorting and editing photos from Day 8 of our trip to South Texas in March. From 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up the next morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. Many of the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it, just for the record.

Tree Swallow

04 Jun 2019 1 1 104
After at least a week of disrupted TV channels and function, Internet service was lost for a few hours this afternoon/evening, just as I was about to upload my first photo for today. Finally, service has returned, and I have now posted the remaining photos taken during the annual May Species Count on 26 May 2019. I couldn't decide which Tree Swallow photo I liked best, so I posted all four of them. Such a gorgeous bird. I only have a handful of photos left to post tomorrow, taken on a couple of very recent birding walks in the city. Not sure if i will be able to get back to sorting and editing photos from Day 8 of our trip to South Texas in March. From 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up the next morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. Many of the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it, just for the record.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak male / Pheucticus ludovicia…

01 Jun 2019 143
From yesterday, 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfire in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up this morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. All the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it soon, just for the record.

Western Tanager / Piranga ludoviciana

01 Jun 2019 1 1 141
From yesterday, 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfire in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up this morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. All the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it soon, just for the record.

Baltimore Oriole / Icterus galbula

01 Jun 2019 131
From yesterday, 31 May 2019: Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfire in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up this morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged, but it looks OK so far. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Posting a few more photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. All the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it soon, just for the record.

Western Tanager / Piranga ludoviciana

31 May 2019 106
What a sweet little bird this was! I know some people refuse to post or even take feeder photos, but I am just happy to get any photo I can. Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfire in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up this morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. What a performance to get images posted just now! The main problem was that Shaw Internet was not available. There have been problems with certain TV channels for the last week, too. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Finally managed to start posting a few photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. All the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it soon, just for the record.

Baltimore Oriole / Icterus galbula

31 May 2019 2 1 160
What a sweet little bird this was! I know some people refuse to post or even take feeder photos, but I am just happy to get any photo I can. Oh, my goodness, the smoke from the wildfire in northern Alberta reached us yesterday evening. I was out at a meeting and all was as usual on my drive there. When I came out later, the air reeked of smoke and visibility was poor. The Weather Network had warned that this summer would be a smoky one - again. Last summer was dreadful and not good health-wise to go out in, so I stayed home on so many days. When I woke up this morning, my whole house smelled strongly of smoke. It always makes me think of the poor people close to any forest fire - how on earth do they breath?! "The Air Quality Health Index in Calgary has reached 10+, or high risk, with most of the province under a special air quality alert due to smoke blowing in from wildfires in northern Alberta. Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a Calgary physician, says the particulate in the air on Friday has the same health effects as smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day." From CBC News. What a performance to get images posted just now! The main problem was that Shaw Internet was not available. There have been problems with certain TV channels for the last week, too. Flickr staff seem to have solved several issues, especially in connection with views statistics. The number of views has never been accurate, we all know that, but very recently, the number of views has been out of control. Now things seem to be back to a more realistic number, thank goodness, I haven't yet tested out the issue of comments and faves, to see if all comments and all faves are acknowledged. That would be great to know that when someone comments on an image, their comment/fave can be seen, especially after going to the trouble of writing a comment. Finally managed to start posting a few photos today taken during our May Species Count on 26 May 2019. All the photos posted this afternoon were taken at our first stop on the Count, which was at the Castell Ranch, SW of Calgary. This is such a rewarding and enjoyable place to be, with so many species flocking to the feeders, grounds and pond. Unfortunately, most of my shots were taken through a glass window that had netting on the outside, to prevent birds from flying into the window. We had to look from this room, in order for the birds to come down - standing outside tends to keep the birds away. On the Count last year, the same thing happened and almost all my photos were blurry. This year, I think I can manage to rescue a few of the less blurry images, sharpening them as much as I dare. After this early morning treat, we drove a few of the back roads in the area, calling in at several acreages. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was also one of our stops - has an outhouse (yay!) and a picnic table where we sat for our lunch. The park is not part of our Count area, but each year, we stop there for the outhouse and table and also to take a short walk into the forest to check and see if there are any Calypso Orchids in bloom. We managed to find one tiny flower in full bloom, so we were content. Afterwards, we made one last drive to see if there was any sign of a Bobolink. One or two people have been seeing them already this spring. A couple of cyclists came by and one of them asked if we were looking for a Bobolink - he told us he had seen one just a few hours earlier in a particular place. Sure enough, with a bit of patience, we suddenly realized that there was one behind us on the far side of the road. Will post a dreadful photo of it soon, just for the record.