Sunday, March 10, 2024

Mallard Point & Douglas Park, March 8, 2024

On Friday, March 8, 2024 I went on a hike with Nature Calgary from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.  We started off at Mallard Point, walked across the pedestrian bridge and continued on in Douglas Park on the East side of the Bow River. The biggest highlight of the day was a couple of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) which were gathering nesting material. We were able to watch them snap off large branches off dead trees and carry the branches to their nest. After I saw one eagle leave the nest, I waited on the path for it to fly back to the tree and was able to take some pictures of the eagle in flight. 


Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + M20, 200mm, ISO 8000, f/13, 1/8000. 

We later were able to observe one of the eagles perching in the tree by the river.


Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + M20, 600mm, ISO 2500, f/13, 1/1600.

Some Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) males were demonstrating their attractiveness through an unusual mating dance of laying their head on the their back. 


 Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + M20, 800mm, ISO 8000, f/13, 1/6400. 

We were lucky enough to spot the Barrow's Goldeneye variant. In this picture the Barrow's has a tear-shaped white spot on its cheek.


Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + M20, 800mm, ISO 8000, f/13, 1/10000. 

On the Douglas Park side of the walk, the sun was hitting the Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) just right to bring out the iridescence of the head of the male.  


Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + M20, 371mm, ISO 8000, f/13, 1/8000. 

All pictures photo-edited with On1 Photo Raw 2024

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