Tag Archive | white-tailed deer

Cold Weather Bird Photos

Well, it’s turning into a very long, cold, and ridiculously snowy winter here in Calgary. I’m sure the poor road and pathway conditions are keeping many local birders at home more than usual, but if you do go out, you may be treated to some spectacular winter sights, as the following pictures show. All photos were taken by Ron Chiasson in Calgary this winter, with the exception of the American Dipper photo, which was taken in Kananaskis.

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles

Mallards

Gray Partridge

Gray Partridge

American Dipper

Downy Woodpecker

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneyes with Canada Geese

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Northern Goshawk

House Finch

House Finch

Mule Deer

White-tailed Deer in chest-high snow.

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan with Canada Geese

Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan

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To see more of Ron’s photos, go to his website here, or follow him on Instagram.

68 Street Wetlands and Carburn Park with the FFCPP

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society’s birding course groups went to the 68 Street wetlands (east of Elliston Lake, just off 17 Avenue SE) during the week of October 23-29. Max Ortiz Aguilar took a few photos on the outing with the Sunday morning group.

Trumpeter Swan, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Trumpeter Swans, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Canada Geese, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

The following week the groups went to Carburn Park, on the Bow River in the community of Riverbend.

Likely Cackling Goose (left rear) with Canada Geese, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note its small size, short neck, dark breast where it joins the black of the neck, and very small bill. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Bufflehead group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Common Goldeneye group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Coyote, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Killdeer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Mallard drake, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Red-breasted Mergansers, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note the much thinner bill on this species compared to that of a Common Merganser. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Tundra Swan, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-tailed Deer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

To see more of Max’s photos, see his Flickr page.

The friends of Fish Creek are now taking registrations for the winter birding course, which runs from January 8, 2018 to the end of March. Register here.

 

Furry Friday: Deer of Calgary

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

I still find deer identification tricky. Let me know if I’ve misidentified any of these!

Mule Deer Buck, Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, November 13, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer Buck, Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, November 13, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer, Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, November 13, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer Buck, Fish Creek Park, November 14, 2016. Photo by Judi Willis.

White-tailed Deer Buck, Carburn Park, January 31, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer Bucks, Carburn Park, January 31, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Mule Deer, Weaselhead, October 18, 2015. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer Deer, Weaselhead, October 18, 2015. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Deer with fawns, Carburn Park, August 3, 2015. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Sunday Showcase: Carburn Park, September

Photos by Tony LePrieur, taken at Carburn Park in Calgary on September 4-5, 2016.

Can you identify the warblers? Put your ID’s and reasons in the comments.

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House Wren.

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Fall Warbler #1.

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Fall Warbler #2.

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Fall Warbler #3.

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Fall Warbler #4.

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Least Flycatcher.

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Least Flycatchers.

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Great Horned Owl.

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White-tailed Deer.

Sunday Showcase: Summer in Alberta, Part 3

Birds and Mammals photographed by Tony LePrieur on August 7, 2016 in Fish Creek Provincial Park and in Carburn Park in Calgary.

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Juvenile American Robin feeding on Chokecherries.

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Black-crowned Night-Heron (adult).

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Black-crowned Night-Heron (a first-summer bird, not yet in adult plumage).

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Eastern Kingbird.

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A wet Black-billed Magpie.

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Orange-crowned Warbler.

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White-tailed Deer.

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North American Beaver.

 

Sunday Showcase: Summer in Alberta, Part 2

Tony LePrieur took these photos on the weekend of July 23-24, 2016. The Stilts were at Frank Lake; the rest in Fish Creek Provincial Park in Calgary.

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Black-necked Stilt chick.

Black-necked Stilts are a relatively new arrival in Alberta. They were first observed to breed in Canada in 1977, and are now found in several provinces. They breed as far north as the Edmonton area now. We are lucky to be able to see them breeding at many areas in the region, including at Frank Lake and Weed Lake.

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Black-necked Stilt adult.

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House Wren.

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This looks like a young LeConte’s Sparrow.

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And some mammals: North American Beaver…

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… and White-tailed Deer fawn.

 

Mammals abound at Votier’s Flats

Posted by Dan Arndt

Last week’s outing at Votier’s Flats was rather incredible. With extremely warm, spring-like temperatures, it seemed that things were really going to start picking up. Mammals were all active and out of their winter slumber (or at least their winter shyness), and a few birds even looked like they were preparing to begin their preparations for nesting!

Votier's Flats March 8, 2015

Votier’s Flats
March 8, 2015

Early on, I got separated from our group and took a little detour, only to find one of the White-tailed Deer that are resident to this area of the park stopped right in the middle of the pathway in front of me. I probably should have taken this as a cue that a group of fifteen people hadn’t just walked by this way, but what can I say? Daylight Saving Time had just occurred the night before, and maybe I was a little bit tired from losing an hour’s sleep. Either way, this deer didn’t really even seem to mind my presence this close to her, so I took the opportunity to take a portrait.

White-tailed Deer Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@150mm 1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

White-tailed Deer
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@150mm
1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

After a few missed directions and a bit of miscommunication, I did finally find our group just as this little American Mink came out of hiding and scampered across the ice in front of us.

American Mink Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

American Mink
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

American Mink Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

American Mink
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/320sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

The morning was still quite good for birds though, but it seemed that being out and about so early in the day made the mammal observations come rapid fire. Around the corner and a little west from where we spotted the mink, we found this Snowshoe Hare, entirely frozen in place as we walked by, only to run off as soon as the last of our group passed by it.

Snowshoe Hare Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/200sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Snowshoe Hare
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/200sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Snowshoe Hare Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/320sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Snowshoe Hare
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/320sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

As we came out of the woods and into a small clearing, we had some great views of a Townsend’s Solitaire, who responded quite readily to a recorded call, giving us some of the best views any of us had ever had of this beautifully grey bird.

Townsend's Solitaire Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/7.1, ISO 800

Townsend’s Solitaire
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/7.1, ISO 800

Townsend's Solitaire Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400

Townsend’s Solitaire
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400

We walked for a while in the mixed woods of this part of Fish Creek Provincial Park seeing or hearing the occasional distant woodpecker, raven, or flyover of geese, but we did stop for a few minutes below Raven Rocks to observe a few Canada Geese who appeared to be picking out nest spots right on the edge of the sandstone outcrops of the Porcupine Hills formation.

Canada Goose Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400

Canada Goose on the rocks
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400

As we reached the westernmost part of our walk before turning and heading to finish out our day, we scanned the trees for Northern Pygmy Owls, Northern Goshawks, or any of the other typical birds we find in that area, and sure enough we found an immature Northern Goshawk flying far above us, circling a nearby neighborhood.

Northern Goshawk Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 250

Northern Goshawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 250

Thanks again for reading, and good birding!

Furry Friday: Skunk and Deer

This curious young White-tailed Deer was playing with fire, in the form of a Striped Skunk. The photos were taken by Bill Thompson on April 6, 2009 on his acreage near Bragg Creek.

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Here are some shots of the skunk foraging :

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Furry Friday: White-tailed Deer

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

I spotted these two White-tailed Deer peeking out over a grain field in the SW corner of Calgary on September 9, 2013. The shots of them running away show the distinctive white tails which indicate that they are alarmed, and which alerts other deer to possible danger.

Taken with a Canon EOS 40D with 100-400 mm lens.

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Furry Friday: White-tailed Deer Buck

Paul Turbitt first saw this magnificent ten-point White-tailed Deer buck in Fish Creek Provincial Park last December. He photographed it, and its young companion, in late December and early January.

121202 monarch

121230 Tenner

121230 Littlee buck

1212330 Tenner-2

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130105 BH3

130105 BH1

For more of Paul’s photos, see his blog, Turbo’s Track and Tour.