This week I bore witness to a great battle outside in the garden, thankfully my attention was drawn to the window because of the commotion. Looking out I saw an american goldfinch with heel spurs raised crashing into battle. Bouncing back through a cloud of feather dust after the initial confrontation he soon composed himself and returned to meet his adversary head on.
Because they were so equally matched the battle continued this way for several minutes, first backing off then charging heels up meeting perfectly together every time and bouncing back again. Feather dust flew, bits of feather wafted off on the slight breeze and no quarter was given as the battle drew out. Luckily I had grabbed the camera in time, and fired off a number of shots, looking straight on at this wonderful spectacle, perfectly aligned to capture the battle. I know what you are thinking....how.... how are you directly in line with the fight. My secret, this little fellow was fighting his reflection in the house window, and I was on the inside observing, what a wonderful angle to capture, maybe a once in a lifetime occurrence.
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For a few days now I have been mentioning to Sarah that the water in the bird bath is going down fast. In the heat of summer it evaporates entirely after 2 days, but this year it hardly lasts a day and it's not so hot just yet.
Sarah insisted that it must be the heat, after all what else could it be, but it just didn't feel right. I even went out to check if there was a leak somewhere. I couldn't see any leak so refilled the bowl again and came back indoors. Within 10 minutes a Blue Jay appeared and hopped into the water, then he began thrashing around like a Tasmanian Devil, as he did the water was lapping over the sides in great quantity and suddenly the mystery of the missing water was solved. Looks like I'll be refilling daily this year!! We both love the spring sunsets we get at the back of the house at this time of year. By now the sun has moved as far north as it is going to go (quite literally, as today is the summer solstice) As a result of this northern maximum, we are treated to some truly wonderful sunsets along the foothills behind the house. Spoiled as we are, I rarely shoot them anymore, but occasionally I just can't let them go undocumented.
This beauty was shot on June 15th, a three shot panorama using the 400 mm lens, showing the distant foothills and those beautiful illuminated cloud formations above. There is a second sunset shot, taken a little earlier, in the gallery below. There's also some better images of the Common Grackle that has been around for a few weeks now, and thus far had proved evasive, and, of course, a spring catch up with Peg Leg, our favourite squirrel. As the season warms, and more and more birds come passing through the area on their migration routes, we see new birds almost daily. It's nice to spend an hour or two by the window watching the comings and goings with the camera in my hand.
Lets start today with the main shot, a Cedar Waxwing, one of a pair we had visit early this month. They don't stay in Canada for winter, unlike their cousins the Bohemian Waxwings that will overwinter here. We also had a Common Grackle, a first for us in the garden, which belies the name 'common' really. Another first was the Brown Headed Cowbird, and our final 'first' was the Brewers Blackbird, as well as a few of our old favourites. The gallery has captions so you know who is who. In the garden this week we have three new visitors, firstly, as seen in the main image is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. This means we have now seen every available Grosbeak in Canada, all from the comfort of our own house.
Next up was a new adult squirrel who we named Panda because he has two light grey patches on his very dark fur. Soon after that came Titch 2, the first baby squirrel we've seen this year, he already looks like a character. He reminded us of one of our very first visitors years ago who we named Titch. The spring rain has arrived now so expect storms, sunsets and green, green growth over the next few weeks. The main image is of the fine looking Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the gallery has captions to identify other individuals. Springtime has seen some new visitors to the garden as well as the return of some of the regulars. The main shot below shows an Evening Grosbeak enjoying a drink, it's the first we have seen of this guy. He has since returned daily with his mate and another two pairs of the same.
There is also a smaller Yellow-rumped Warbler who we saw for the first time this week too, they seem to come in groups of 4-8 and flit around so quickly it's difficult to catch them on camera. The deer are still munching the plants but less frequently now, and we saw a huge grass fire across the hills opposite. It's all going on in the garden this week. The gallery has captions to identify the birds. It is over 2 weeks since Sarah and I returned from the UK. We have completed our quarantine and are enjoying a walk by the river daily, obviously we're still social distancing along the river but there are few people around to worry about.
Photography has taken a back seat for quite some time now, I didn't take the camera to England due to the amount of plans we had for travel across the country and nights out with friends. I'm always concerned about security of my gear when roaming so opted for an easy life. I wish I had taken a camera because our new little grandson Declan joined the tribe in February and I should have made a few shots but I foolishly thought I would be seeing him again soon.....bloody virus. Fortunately Hayley and Mark sent us plenty of pics and we made a few phone shots ourselves, so it's not like we don't have any. Anyway, I have made a few shots this week from the house window showing the usual suspects in the garden, more for something to post than anything of great interest but we like our garden visitors and the memories will be of value when our time here comes to an end. The main image is of 'Two Eyes' braving a passing snow storm to make the most of the walnuts on offer this week. The gallery below has captions as usual. As winter settles in, the garden is still busy with bird life and our ever present squirrels. The coyotes have become regulars, as have the deer now the cold nights and snow cover has them foraging in gardens once again.
There's still an abundance of colour thanks to the birds with their vibrant reds, yellows and blues, and an abundance of characters thanks to the squirrels. As always the wildlife is a beautiful distraction on a cold winter day stuck in the house and makes for great photo practice. I made a shot of a little sparrow this month (second shot in the gallery below) which is a favourite from the bunch. There are captions in the gallery and the main shot is the white winged crossbill who still returns with a group of others frequently. Tuesday saw a good 20 cm of snowfall in Cochrane and more in the mountains beyond. I opted to stay at home and let it fall, with an eye on a hike on Wednesday. I was working on the laptop close to the dining room window and had the constant distraction of the birds and squirrels looking for food under the blanket of white outside.
Obviously I had to make a few images, sure we've seen these guys before but I think they are worth capturing repeatedly. Watching them scavenge through deep snow really brings home just how difficult their existence can be. I've put captions on the gallery shots to identify the critters, the main image is one of our spectacular bluebirds with a good beak full of peanuts. Another new traveller in the garden this week, the White Winged Crossbill. Quite an impressive bird they are 'year round' in our area though I have never seen them in the garden before.
Each individual bird can eat up to 3000 conifer seeds per day (yes three thousand). They moult their feathers each year in autumn and the pink hue slowly changes to vibrant red by springtime. It will be interesting to see them in spring if they stick around. They are also known to breed year round and will begin nesting at any point when sufficient food allows them to do so, maybe we'll see some winter chicks in a month or two. |
AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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January 2024
The Shaman, West Texas
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