Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: nesting box

This bird house was on the tree right outside a friend's seasonal trailer. Five of us went east of the city for the day, on 17 June 2017, to visit our friend, Shirley. This pair of Tree Swallows was busy taking turns to fly off or return to the nest. Each time, the exchange was rapid. Most of our birding was done at and near Shirley's seasonal trailer site, including seeing a wonderful owl family, two Killdeer and their nests, a Baltimore Oriole, and (finally!) a pair of Brown Thrashers. I had hoped for several years to see one of these birds, so it was a real treat to see a 'lifer'. It was far away and so high up, but I managed to get a couple of shots just for the record. As we were walking around the grounds, two ladies stopped us and showed us some baby birds that they had had to remove from the engine of their vehicle. They wondered if we knew what kind of birds they were, but we were unable to help. I posted a photo of them yesterday morning, just in case someone can ID them. The ladies had a bird house that they were going to put the babies into, hoping that the parents would hear them calling and be able to continue feeding them. Thank you so much, Shirley, for inviting us all out to visit you while you were there for the weekend! It was such a pleasure to see some of "your" birds that you enjoy so much. Such a great variety of species! Wow, what a lunch we had, sitting at a table under the Tree Swallow tree, with a very vocal American Robin just a few feet away. How DO birds manage to sing non-stop?! Hot chili made by Shirley, and a whole array of delicious salads and desserts left me feeling full till the early evening. Many thanks, Anne B, for picking up three of us and for driving us east across the prairies. Hugely appreciated!

Two days ago, on 13 June 2016, I went for a drive SW of the city, along my "usual" backroads. I had been watching a pair of Mountain Bluebirds and, while watching the parents bring insects to feed them, I suddenly noticed two little beaks push through the hole in the nesting box. A few seconds later, this baby Bluebird poked its head through the hole and took a look at the big, big world beyond its cozy little nest. Such a cute little thing! I suspect I will miss the last chance to see them, as I have been without my vehicle since yesterday afternoon. Hoping it will be serviced and repaired in time for me to pick it up late this afternoon. I have only ever once seen baby Bluebirds that have fledged and that was a number of years ago, when I happened to spot them down on the ground, in the grasses. Usually, they are in the nest box one day and then gone the next and I don't see them again till the next year.

Last night, I made the big mistake of turning on the TV after I turned off my computer. Surfing the channels, I discovered that the Queen's 90th birthday celebration was about to start. I don't follow The Royals closely, but this time, I watched. As a result, I am posting my "Daily Three" around noon. A week ago, on 4 June 2016, I had the chance to visit somewhere that I had longed to go to for years - the Ellis Bird Farm. This was thanks to the annual Nature Calgary Bus Trip, which goes to a different location each year. When I read where this year's outing was going to be, I was so excited and registered immediately and, apparently, was the first person on the list : ) I believe there were 66 people on the trip, enjoying a great day. The sun was shining and the temperature got up to around 25C - too warm for me and for many others, especially when the whole day is spent outdoors. It was a very early start, with my alarm clocks set for 4:30 am. Unfortunately, they had also been set for 4:30 am the previous day, when I went on a Bio-blitz to the Square Butte Ranch. Being a dreadful 'night owl', this meant that I ended up doing these two trips on about 5 hours sleep total over the two nights. Not good! It is such a treat to go somewhere by bus - everyone can relax and chat. Some of the $50 charge per person went towards a donation to the Ellis Bird Farm (and to the JJ Collett natural area), which was good to know. The drive from Calgary to the Ellis Bird Farm takes about an hour and a half. When we arrived, we were greeted by a long line of bird nest boxes along the fence line. Within the farm area, there were even more nest boxes - everywhere! People donate and send them from all over the province. I believe the Farm has the largest collection of outdoor boxes in the world - 300+! This photo shows a male and a female Purple Martin - there were so any of these birds that you couldn't tell which were actual pairs. They are very social birds, who apparently like people too, and nest in condominium-style nest boxes. They spend "most of the year in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and come up to Alberta just long enough to raise a family." What a long way to come to do that! These birds are uncommon in Alberta. We started off by watching a very touching old video about Charlie Ellis - what a delightful, very shy, modest man he was. ""Ellis Bird Farm is both a non-profit company and a working farm. It was established in 1982 to carry on the legacy of Lacombe-area conservationists, Charlie and Winnie Ellis, when their farm was purchased by Union Carbide Canada Ltd. At the time, Charlie and Winnie operated one of the largest bluebird trails in Canada and had established their farmstead as a haven for wildlife. The Ellis family of Parkenham, Ontario, came west in 1886 to settle on a ranch near Calgary. Their son John, then a teenager, was married in 1894 to Agnes Clark who had come west from Ontario in 1888 to teach school. They lived near Calgary until 1906 when they moved with their family of four children to a quarter section homestead in the Joffre district. In 1907 they built a two-storey frame house and subsequently enlarged the farm by the purchase of an additional five quarters. After John and Agnes passed away in the early 1950s, two of their children, Charlie and Winnie, took over the farm operations. And about this same time, Charlie began a project that was to dominate the rest of his life; he set out his first nesting box for the Mountain Bluebirds." From Ellis Bird Farm website. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/ After the video, we were divided into two large groups and then further divided again. Not easy to organize such a large number of people and it was rather confusing, Have to admit that I ended up, like varous friends, wandering around, taking photos. I always prefer to be free to do this, as there is a lot of information on the Internet, which can be read before and after such a visit. "​Ellis Bird Farm made science history on Tuesday May 31 when University of Manitoba Grad Student, Alisha Ritchie, and her EBF team (Cheyenne Knight, Claudia Lipski and Myrna Pearman) retrapped a very special yearling Purple Martin. This bird had been retrofitted with a light level geolocator last season, as a nestling, and is the first songbird EVER(!) to be tracked on its first migration. The bird had evaded several attempts to trap it, so it has been named Houdini." Information about their Purple Martin Geolocator Program: www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/purple-martin-geolocators.html Following our visit to the Farm, we boarded the two buses and were driven about half an hour's drive away, to the JJ Collett natural area, where the amazing Dr. Charles (Charlie) Bird took us on a walk (longer and faster paced than I was expecting, ha) along one of the trails (Trail #1). This is an interesting place to visit - will have to add information about it when I eventually post an image or two taken there. www.jjcollett.com/ Not sure what time we got back to the meeting place in Calgary - around 5:15 pm? I sat in my car and gulped down a mug of black coffee before driving for maybe 45 minutes to the far side of the city. My vehicle had been sitting in the sun all day and my coffee was as hot as if freshly made! Thank you, Nature Calgary and Leslie, for organizing this special day trip for us! Thank you, also, to Myrna Pearman at the Farm, who organized us all and helped make this a very successful and greatly enjoyed visit! Kate, thank you for your company on the drive there and back - made the time go faster and was so enjoyable.

We are having continued hot weather, which always knocks me out! Today, it is supposed to get up to 28C (to feel like 30C). My place is feeling like an oven (no air-conditioning) after the last few hot days, and this is expected to continue for a few more days. A Heat Warning is still in effect and there is also a .Severe Thunderstorm Watch. Three days ago, on 4 June 2016, I had the chance to visit somewhere that I had longed to go to for years - the Ellis Bird Farm. This was thanks to the annual Nature Calgary Bus Trip, which goes to a different location each year. When I read where this year's outing was going to be, I was so excited and registered immediately and, apparently, was the first person on the list : ) I believe there were 66 people yesterday, enjoying a great day. The sun was shining and the temperature got up to around 25C - too warm for me and for many others, especially when the whole day is spent outdoors. It was a very early start, with my alarm clocks set for 4:30 am. Unfortunately, they had also been set for 4:30 am the previous day, when I went on a Bio-blitz to the Square Butte Ranch. Being a dreadful 'night owl', this meant that I ended up doing these two trips on about 5 hours sleep total over the two nights. Not good! It is such a treat to go somewhere by bus - everyone can relax and chat. Some of the $50 charge per person went towards a donation to the Ellis Bird Farm (and to the JJ Collett natural area), which was good to know. The drive from Calgary to the Ellis Bird Farm takes about an hour and a half. When we arrived, we were greeted by a long line of bird nest boxes along the fence line. Within the farm area, there were even more nest boxes - everywhere! People send them from all over the province, even from overseas. I believe the Farm has the largest collection of outdoor boxes in the world - 300+! This photo shows one of the Purple Martin condominium-style nest boxes. They are very social birds, who apparently like people too, and nest in condominium-style nest boxes. We started off by watching a very touching old video about Charlie Ellis - what a delightful, very shy, modest man he was. ""Ellis Bird Farm is both a non-profit company and a working farm. It was established in 1982 to carry on the legacy of Lacombe-area conservationists, Charlie and Winnie Ellis, when their farm was purchased by Union Carbide Canada Ltd. At the time, Charlie and Winnie operated one of the largest bluebird trails in Canada and had established their farmstead as a haven for wildlife. The Ellis family of Parkenham, Ontario, came west in 1886 to settle on a ranch near Calgary. Their son John, then a teenager, was married in 1894 to Agnes Clark who had come west from Ontario in 1888 to teach school. They lived near Calgary until 1906 when they moved with their family of four children to a quarter section homestead in the Joffre district. In 1907 they built a two-storey frame house and subsequently enlarged the farm by the purchase of an additional five quarters. After John and Agnes passed away in the early 1950s, two of their children, Charlie and Winnie, took over the farm operations. And about this same time, Charlie began a project that was to dominate the rest of his life; he set out his first nesting box for the Mountain Bluebirds." From Ellis Bird Farm website. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/ After the video, we were divided into two large groups and then further divided again. Not easy to organize such a large number of people and it was rather confusing, Have to admit that I ended up, like varous friends, wandering around, taking photos. I always prefer to be free to do this, as there is a lot of information on the Internet, which can be read before and after such a visit. "​Ellis Bird Farm made science history on Tuesday May 31 when University of Manitoba Grad Student, Alisha Ritchie, and her EBF team (Cheyenne Knight, Claudia Lipski and Myrna Pearman) retrapped a very special yearling Purple Martin. This bird had been retrofitted with a light level geolocator last season, as a nestling, and is the first songbird EVER(!) to be tracked on its first migration. The bird had evaded several attempts to trap it, so it has been named Houdini." Information about their Purple Martin Geolocator Program: www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/purple-martin-geolocators.html Following our visit to the Farm, we boarded the two buses and were driven about half an hour's drive away, to the JJ Collett natural area, where the amazing Dr. Charles (Charlie) Bird took us on a walk (longer and faster paced than we were expecting, ha) along one of the trails. This is an interesting place to visit - will have to add information about it when I eventually post an image or two taken there. www.jjcollett.com/ Not sure what time we got back to the meeting place in Calgary - around 5:15 pm? I sat in my car and gulped down a mug of black coffee before driving for maybe 45 minutes to the far side of the city. My vehicle had been sitting in the sun all day and my coffee was as hot as if freshly made! Thank you, Nature Calgary and Leslie, for organizing this special day trip for us! Very successful and greatly enjoyed! Kate, thank you for your company on the drive there and back - made the time go faster and was so enjoyable.

Yesterday, 4 June 2016, I had the chance to visit somewhere that I had longed to go to for years - the Ellis Bird Farm. This was thanks to the annual Nature Calgary Bus Trip, which goes to a different location each year. When I read where this year's outing was going to be, I was so excited and registered immediately and, apparently, was the first person on the list : ) I believe there were 66 people yesterday, enjoying a great day. The sun was shining and the temperature got up to around 25C - too warm for me and for many others, especially when the whole day is spent outdoors. It was a very early start, with my alarm clocks set for 4:30 am. Unfortunately, they had also been set for 4:30 am the previous day, when I went on a Bio-blitz to the Square Butte Ranch. Being a dreadful 'night owl', this meant that I ended up doing these two trips on about 5 hours sleep total over the two nights. Not good! It is such a treat to go somewhere by bus - everyone can relax and chat. Some of the $50 charge per person went towards a donation to the Ellis Bird Farm, which was good to know. The drive from Calgary to the Ellis Bird Farm takes about an hour and a half. When we arrived, we were greeted by a long line of bird nest boxes along the fence line. Within the farm area, there were even more nest boxes - everywhere! People send them from all over the province, even from overseas. I believe the Farm has the largest collection of outdoor boxes in the world! We started off by watching a very touching old video about Charlie Ellis - what a delightful, shy, modest man he was. ""Ellis Bird Farm is both a non-profit company and a working farm. It was established in 1982 to carry on the legacy of Lacombe-area conservationists, Charlie and Winnie Ellis, when their farm was purchased by Union Carbide Canada Ltd. At the time, Charlie and Winnie operated one of the largest bluebird trails in Canada and had established their farmstead as a haven for wildlife. The Ellis family of Parkenham, Ontario, came west in 1886 to settle on a ranch near Calgary. Their son John, then a teenager, was married in 1894 to Agnes Clark who had come west from Ontario in 1888 to teach school. They lived near Calgary until 1906 when they moved with their family of four children to a quarter section homestead in the Joffre district. In 1907 they built a two-storey frame house and subsequently enlarged the farm by the purchase of an additional five quarters. After John and Agnes passed away in the early 1950s, two of their children, Charlie and Winnie, took over the farm operations. And about this same time, Charlie began a project that was to dominate the rest of his life; he set out his first nesting box for the Mountain Bluebirds." From Ellis Bird Farm website. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/ After the video, we were divided into two large groups and then further divided again. Not easy to organize such a large number of people and it was rather confusing, Have to admit that I ended up, like varous friends, wandering around, taking photos. I always prefer to be free to do this, as there is a lot of information on the Internet, which can be read before and after such a visit. Information about their Purple Martin Geolocator Program: www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/purple-martin-geolocators.html Following our visit to the Farm, we boarded the two buses and were driven about half an hour's drive away, to the JJ Collett natural area, where the amazing Dr. Charles (Charlie) Bird took us on a walk (longer and faster paced than we were expecting, ha) along one of the trails. This is an interesting place to visit - will have to add information about it when I eventually post an image or two taken there. www.jjcollett.com/ Not sure what time we got back to the meeting place in Calgary - around 5:15 pm? I sat in my car and gulped down a mug of black coffee before driving for maybe 45 minutes to the far side of the city. My vehicle had been sitting in the sun all day and my coffee was as hot as if freshly made! Thank you, Nature Calgary and Leslie, for organizing this special day trip for us! Very successful and greatly enjoyed! Kate, thank you for your company on the drive there and back - made the time go faster and was so enjoyable.

Yesterday evening, 29 June 2015, a small group of us met at 6:30 pm and went SW of the city with Don Stiles, who has been a dedicated Mountain Bluebird Monitor for something like 38 years! It was around 10:00 pm when I arrived home. I told the group that I would post three of the photos I took, on Flickr today. The light was not good for photos, at least not with my camera, and the later it got and the light faded, the worse they turned out. The last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that many of my photos are not turning out how I would have expected. There seems to be a somewhat green cast on some of them, along with being grainy. I always dread the year and a half mark with any camera I buy – that is when a few things start not working the same. This drive is an annual trip along Don’s Bluebird Route. We get the chance to see Mountain Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Wrens nesting in various wooden nesting boxes along the country roads. Some boxes have eggs in the nest, others have tiny babies all packed tightly together. One of the boxes had a female Tree Swallow adult in it, too, and, as it hadn't been banded before, Don demonstrated how he carefully puts a metal band around the tiny leg. At the one particular Bluebird box, Mom and Dad were waiting nearby, insects in their beaks ready to feed their babies as soon as we had finished. They are such good parents. Along the route, we saw a few other birds and animals, including a pair of beautiful American Goldfinches, various Blackbirds and a few ducks. We were lucky to see several Elk, too, that were wild – not sure if I can rescue one of the photos I took of them, but will try later. Many thanks, as always, Don, for letting us come along with you. It is an evening I look forward to every year, and I could tell how much everyone enjoyed themselves yesterday! In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... For anyone who might wonder if a baby bird is handled, will its parents pick up my scent and abandon it? The answer below is from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: A. It's a myth that parent birds will abandon young that have been touched by humans—most birds have a poor sense of smell, and birds in general identify their young using the same cues we humans do—appearance and sound. It's perfectly safe to pick up a fallen nestling and put it back in the nest, or to carry a fledgling out of danger and place it in a tree or shrub." Same would apply to bird banding. NO BIRD OR WILD ANIMAL SHOULD EVER BE KEPT AS A PET!

I'm never sure exactly what these poles, with an orange "can" on top, are used for, but they can be seen along so many backroads. I wonder what the diameter of the holes is (the other is directly opposite the small hole you can see) and if it was deliberately decided on for certain birds to be able to use as nest "boxes". Lots of Tree Swallows, like this pair, seem to like them. At the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house on 5 July 2014. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, maybe it was a Mule Deer - and this pair of Tree Swallow that was perched on a bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and off flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one. Would love to get in my car and go out again today, but I have things to get done and I don't want to overdo the driving, in case I make my shoulders any worse.

Each year, a very experienced Mountain Bluebird monitor, Don Stiles, takes a few of us out on his Bluebird route, SW of the city. Population numbers for this beautiful species have continued to drop year after year, despite the dedicated monitors who have their own routes to check on. This outing gives me the chance to see something that I normally never see and to take a handful of photos that I would otherwise not be able to get. Thanks, Don!

Though the female Mountain Bluebird lacks the amazing colour of the male, I always think she has a definite beauty of her own. The female chooses where to build a nest, so I guess this one liked one of the orange metal containers rather than a wooden nesting box. Seen NW of the city on May 4th. Not the nicest of perches, but I did get some photos of natural ones, too.

Recently, I posted a photo of a different nesting box, changing the ID from Mountain Bluebird to Tree Swallow nest. The previous photo had just one (maybe two) feathers. The photo today shows a far more typical Tree Swallow nest, with an assortment of feathers arranged in a circle around the eggs. These nests really are beautifully made. Normally, of course, I never get the chance to take photos looking into nests, and would never get that close to a nest even if I had the chance. When a person approaches a nest of any kind, you leave a trail of human scent, which can attract predators to the nest, so nest photos are always to be discouraged. However, I was kindly invited to go along on a friend's Bluebird route mid-June, so was able to hold my camera over the top of the wooden nesting box, hold my breath, and click. Meanwhile, Sue was checking the number of eggs, or young ones, and recording all the necessary information.

Took this photo on 12th June, when I was invited by friend, Sue, to go with her when she did her Mountain Bluebird route out towards Bragg Creek. Each time she goes out, she has to record whether the nest belongs to a Bluebird or a Tree Swallow (occasionally something else such as a House Wren or a House Sparrow), how many eggs or babies there are, and then place a band around the leg of the appropriate birds. I was able to get a quick shot or two - sometimes, the nesting box is too high to see into to take a photo, so I had to hold my camera over the box, click, and just hope for the best, LOL. Later: I had been wondering why there were a couple of feathers in this nest, as Bluebirds have featherless nests. Thought they might just have got in there by accident. I didn't have time to do a bit of reading on Google, as I drove out to the beginning of the mountains this afternoon to check on certain plants, but now that I have had time to look on Google, I realize that of course Mountain Bluebirds DO have blue eggs and so these are obviously Tree Swallow nest and eggs! Usually, they have a lot more feathers lining the nest. Sorry for the mix-up! Here is a link to a Mountain Bluebird nest, taken three years ago. I haven't figured out how to post a photo in a comment box with this new Flickr layout, only a link. farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/549298588_986aaa3a13_z.jpg

Just one of the many beautiful Tree Swallows I saw yesterday, south of the city. This one flew to the bright blue nesting box with peeling paint and stayed in that position long enough for me to take several shots. Does anyone know if this is a female?

We watched this gorgeous pair of Mountain Bluebirds getting into an argument with the local Tree Swallow over who would get the nesting box this year, LOL. For now, Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird seem to have won. We had a lovely day out of the city today and were treated to these Bluebirds, a beautiful Yellow-bellied or hybrid Sapsucker that was cleaning out a tree cavity, and a pair of nesting Great Gray Owls (sorry, location is being kept secret). The female was on a very high nest - all we could see was the underneath of the end of her tail. The male was a little way away, perched in a very tall tree, deep within the branches. I took plenty of photos of him in the hope that I might get one that was OK, but the light was atrocious and so all but maybe one or two will have to be deleted. We also saw an American Dipper sitting very still in the middle of the Elbow River. The rest of the day we've had heavy rain : (. Actually, you can see some rain streaks in my photo. I did ask my youngest daughter to please leave the rain behind in Vancouver, but she seems to have brought it to Calgary today : ) "Bluebirds have no blue pigments in their feathers. Instead, each feather barb has a thin layer of cells that absorb all wavelengths of color except blue. Only the blue wavelength is reflected and scattered, resulting in their blue appearance to our eyes." From Wild Birds Umlimited. Fascinating stuff : )

These tiny, blue eggs were in one of the nesting boxes on Monday evening's drive to check one of the Mountain Bluebird nesting box routes south of Highway 22X. Mountain Bluebirds use grass for their nests, whereas the Tree Swallows, who take over some of the boxes, use a delightful selection of bird feathers to line their nest.