On Friday I walked the 68th Street Wetlands in SE Calgary. On ebird.org this is noted in the hotspots section as Calgary--Rotary/Mattamy Wetlands (68 Street SE). There seemed to be a much smaller variety of shorebirds; perhaps migration has started for many of them. There were lots of Pelicans and Cormorants. One of my favourite pictures of the day was of this Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum). It is common to see these birds perched with their wings outstretched. This is due to them having less preen oil on their feathers than other water fowl and they must dry out their feathers (allaboutbirds.org).
Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 400mm, ISO 1250, 1/640, f/12. Sept 15, 2023, 9:40 am.
Gadwalls (Mareca strepera) are noted for being pretty bland compared to other male birds. I think this male looks pretty cute with the slightly punked up hair and the creative pattern of feathers on its chest. This couple were pretty talkative and you could hear them across the pond.
Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 772mm, ISO 1250, 1/800, f/13. Sept 15, 2023, 9:25 am.
Parts of the wetlands were very still, and this Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) has quite the reflection as it prepares to grab a morsel from the mud.
Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/1250, f/13. Sept 15, 2023, 10:25 am.
During my walk along the East part of the wetlands I saw at least four juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons. They are such a different colour from the full adult. They can camouflage pretty well in the trees.
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