LaFarge Meadows June11

Wanting to get out of the house, I walked at LaFarge Meadows this morning. It was really smokey, so any distance in the photographs and they were pretty hazy.  I wore an N95 mask to help with the smoke, but my eyes still feel pretty gritty. But the birds were amazing this morning.

As I started walking I saw this patch of Wild Roses on my way to the river. Such colour when the flowers are new.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/250, f/18. June 11, 2023, 9:00 am.

One of the prettiest little birds in Alberta is the Savannah Sparrow. Such understated beauty! This little one was singing for me, but it took a little while to finally catch my eye so that I could get a picture. The splash of yellow colour over the eyes really sets off the head. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/640, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:10 am.

At about the same time, this little gray/black bird flew across the path and then started to sing in the bushes. I didn't know what it was, but opened Merlin from Cornell Labs and recorded the song. Merlin identified it as a Gray Catbird and it looked just like the picture. This is a new bird for my Life List (116 species and counting). I love the black cap on the head.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/1000, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:12 am.

Across the Bow River this Great Blue Heron was disturbed by some fly fisherman and it headed up river. It was far enough way that the smoke impacted the sharpness of the picture and saturation of the colours. Without any smoke, this would have been a much better picture. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/1000, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:15 am.

As I walked some distance up river toward downtown, the Great Blue Heron had landed and was checking out the shoreline. It is still a little hazy due to the distance and the smoke in between. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/1000, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:35 am.

As I got to the turn-back point, I was lucky enough to spot two separate Blacked Capped Night Herons. These are quite a large, shy bird. I usually don't find these in the trees, but both were up in the branches keeping an eye on the activity on the river. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/1000, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:40 am.

It is always fun to see raptors on these trips. There are a couple of Osprey nests and I was lucky enough to spot three different Ospreys.  As I watched one fly, I thought it might swing back toward the nest, so I got the camera ready and was able to get a shot of it landing on the nest. You can see the head of its nesting partner peeking up over the edge of the nest. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/4000, f/13. June 11, 2023, 9:40 am.

This picture of a Cedar Waxwing had to be added to the day's pictures. This is just such a pretty bird - it is like a painting. Such lovely colours.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 2500, 1/250, f/18. June 11, 2023, 10:20 am.

It was a good morning, lots of tree therapy and bird time. Such a magnificent diversity of birds in the Calgary area!