A White-tailed Jackrabbit track left in the fresh snow. Note that the smaller prints are from the forelegs while the larger ones are from the rear, but the animal was traveling from left to right. The front feet come down first, followed by the hind. Unfortunately we didn’t see any of the animals, but there were little rabbit highways in the snow all over the place in the area we were walking. There must be a lot of rabbits in that area at some times during the day!
I love these birds! They are so incredibly beautiful and I really get excited every time I find one. I’ve been lucky enough to find two this year, and also lucky enough that they both allowed me to make a few portraits!
Snowy Owl’s are considered to be very common on the Prairies east of Calgary, and there are reports of them almost daily during the winter months. But that certainly doesn’t mean that they are easy to find. I’ve actually seen very few in the wild yet I look for them every time I’m out and about on the country roads.
I stopped to make a few images of a really great sunset tonight, with a couple of grain bins in a massive Prairie field. It was very beautiful and I managed to catch the indigo sky rising up out of the horizon while the pink glow remained above it. It was one of those magical skies that you really have to visit the Prairies to see.
While I walked back to my truck when I realized that I had parked underneath a beautiful Snowy Owl perching on a power pole. I’ve spent many hours searching for these elusive birds over the last couple of winters and have only rarely seen them. This one wasn’t very happy to have me there, but it must not have minded too much or it would have flown away when I first arrived. I can’t believe I didn’t see it when I first pulled up, and it’s even more amazing that it just stayed there and ignored me. I got to watch it and make images for several minutes before it got too dark. I’m still excited about it several hours later!
Carseland Weir is home to dozens of these beautiful birds every spring and summer. The weir is designed to divert water from the Bow River into a canal system that provides irrigation water for agriculture. Pelicans congregate below the weir because fish cannot pass the structure and become trapped below it. For birds it’s an all you can eat buffet. A similar weir near downtown Calgary has also been a regular attraction for the Pelicans in recent years; however, it is currently being redeveloped in an attempt to allow fish to pass and to make the river safer for boaters. As a result it is expected that the Pelicans will no longer congregate on the river in the city.
This was my third visit to the Carseland Weir this season, but it was the first time I found Pelicans. There were nearly two dozen of them gathered together below the weir looking for a meal, and several dozen more sitting on a small island in the river above the weir.
They were initially wary of me as I approached the edge of the river, but I sat down on the rocks and waited. Eventually they relaxed and floated close enough for me to make some great images.
I’m not totally sure on the identification of this bird. I believe that it’s an intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawk, but I’ve never seen one before so I can’t tell for sure. It really doesn’t look much like any other kind of Hawk that I’m familiar with, but it also doesn’t look clearly like a Swainson’s either. The light morphs (which account for over 90% of Swainson’s Hawks) have a much more pronounced white chin and a dark band across the upper chest that this bird doesn’t display.
Can anyone help me confirm the identification???
UPDATE – I’ve added another picture, although it doesn’t really reveal anything new. I’ve had one suggestion that it may be a Broad-winged Hawk, but really no better information than what I’ve already posted…
