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Post by kestrel on Mar 21, 2022 19:18:16 GMT -8
My dad and I went on a guided trip in (mostly) the Calgary area last week. The weather was nice and sunny, and there was surprisingly little snow cover in most places. My target birds were Great Gray owl, Northern hawk-owl, Snowy owl, Gray partridge, Gray-crowned rosy-finch, and Black-backed woodpecker. A drive south of the city on day one yielded our first owl of the trip, a Snowy: Snowy owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr I had been hoping to find GCRF in the Rocky Mountain hamlet of Exshaw, but my guide figured that St Henry's Church, near Pincher Creek, would be a better option as there had been consistent reports of them at some feeders there. Sure enough, as soon as we arrived, there they were. Most of the birds were of the Gray-crowned subspecies, the most common one in the Rockies: Gray-crowned rosy-finch by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr One of them, however, represented the more coastal Hepburn's race: Gray-crowned rosy-finch by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr In addition to the rosy-finches, we also had several Sharp-tailed grouse and a Gray partridge. Among a flock of Common redpolls was this lone Hoary: Hoary redpoll by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr The bird of the trip for me was this Eastern screech-owl, in the Medicine Hat area: Eastern screech-owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr After dipping on Black-backed woodpecker on day two, we had an amazing consolation prize in the form of this Northern hawk-owl in the Calgary area: Northern hawk-owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr The final highlight was watching this Great Gray owl hunting in the foothills, and getting mobbed by a pair of Canada jays: Great Gray owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr We ended the trip with 53 species in total. For me, 4 of them were lifers and 21 were year birds.
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Post by Chris on Mar 21, 2022 19:56:30 GMT -8
Looks like it was a great trip, Joel. Very good photos as well, really like that Snowy Owl photo. Was that the only Snowy Owl you saw?
I didn't know Eastern Screech Owls were that far west.
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Post by kestrel on Mar 21, 2022 20:33:53 GMT -8
Yes, Chris, we only saw that one SNOW. As for the Eastern screech-owl, southeastern Alberta is at the very edge of their range.
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Post by ed on Mar 21, 2022 21:23:46 GMT -8
Good trip Joel, I like all the photos!
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Post by Randy on Mar 22, 2022 6:23:33 GMT -8
Awesome report! Which were the lifers?
Are you still using the bridge camera? You're getting some fantastic photos with it!
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Post by birder1942 on Mar 22, 2022 6:45:33 GMT -8
Congratulations on the finding of these great birds, Joel. Wonderful photos as well. John V
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Post by kestrel on Mar 22, 2022 18:18:18 GMT -8
Awesome report! Which were the lifers? Are you still using the bridge camera? You're getting some fantastic photos with it! Thanks, Randy! The lifers were Gray partridge, Hoary redpoll, Eastern screech-owl, and Gray-crowned rosy-finch. Yeah, I'm still using the bridge camera; a Nikon Coolpix P900.
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Post by paulos on Mar 23, 2022 6:42:00 GMT -8
Nice Joel, especially that great Eastern Screech-owl!
If you need a Black-backed Woodpecker I can bring you to some spots if you ever reach 100 Mile House.
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Post by murraybrown on Mar 23, 2022 9:02:01 GMT -8
Like the other comments I'm really impressed with the quality of those shots with your Nikon P900. I believe that's the one with the 83 times zoom, and you can see how efficient it is in those images. It seems like the birds are sitting just a few feet away! Like Chris, I had no idea the Eastern Screech Owl could be found so close to home. I think it's the only Canadian owl species that I still haven't seen. May have to make a road trip one of these days. Would a person need a guide to find it?
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Post by kestrel on Mar 23, 2022 14:16:54 GMT -8
Thanks, Murray! Yes, the camera has an 83X optical zoom. What I really like about it is that it also has a GPS receiver, allowing photos to be geo-tagged. In order to see EASO in Alberta, you would most likely need to hire a guide. Here's a link to the one I enlisted: www.meadowlarkbirding.com/
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Post by murraybrown on Mar 25, 2022 13:59:02 GMT -8
Okay, that seems an appropriate handle. Thanks
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Post by Gord on Mar 25, 2022 20:28:17 GMT -8
Fantastic, Joel! Thanks for sharing. Was it Asher who put you on the rosy-finches by chance?
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Post by kestrel on Mar 25, 2022 22:10:40 GMT -8
Gord, no it was my guide who offered to take me down there to seem them. The guide's name is Gavin McKinnon.
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Post by imperialbirders on Apr 15, 2022 12:16:01 GMT -8
Fabulous trip. I really enjoy your photos.
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