On Saturday I drove East of Calgary for a family visit just North of Strathmore. Rather than stick to well travelled paved roads, I kept going east on McKnight Blvd onto Township Road 250. The gravel road was well groomed and I only passed one vehicle travelling the opposite direction, at a stop sign. I had been told about a wonderful place to stop where the fields went on for ever and with just a couple of grain storage bins to break up the landscape. Unfortunately the crop had been taken off and I need to revisit the site next year and hope for some more colour and texture.
Olympus M5ii, 14-150mm, 25mm, ISO 640, 1/1250, f/11. Sept 02, 2023, 2:40 pm.
All along the route there were hawks sitting on fence posts and power lines; so typical of the prairies at this time of year. This Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) perched on the cross-bar and called to its mate. Such a prairie sight! At this time of year these hawks are congregating to migrate to their winter grounds in Argentina - one of the longest migrations of any North American raptor. They only fly over land, so as the land narrows in the southern US and Mexico, they are seen in the hundreds or thousands. It must be quite a sight; probably noisy too. Thanks to allaboutbirds.org for the information.
Olympus M5ii, 14-150mm, 150mm, ISO 640, 1/2500, f/5.6. Sept 02, 2023, 2:50 pm.
All pictures photo-edited with On1 Photo Raw 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated to ensure positivity.