Bow River Float Trip

Yesterday a friend and I floated the Bow River downriver from Calgary. This trip fulfilled a promise that I made to Maria, to take my friend on a Bow River float. We entered the water at McKinnon Flats and floated for a good six hours. We went with local guide Jason Nobel from Bow River Fly Fishing.  Jason is really a good guy: great knowledge of the river and a wonderful ability to read the water in such a way we found ourselves in quiet spots with water moving quickly past us on both sides as we almost stayed still. 

My birding camera and lens was left at home and I took an older camera that I wouldn't stress over if I happened to fall in (not a low likelihood). The weather prediction was 30% chance of rain in the morning and 60% chance of rain in the afternoon with thunderstorms.  Despite the forecast we had great weather all day. 

It was a little smokey during the start of the day. 

Canon EOS M-10, 15-45mm, 37mm, ISO800, 1/2500, f11, 1:35pm.

Close to 4:00 pm we started to hear thunder and see thunderclouds on the distance. The best scenic of the day came at that time.

Canon EOS M-10, 15-45mm, 15mm, ISO800, 1/2500, f11, 3:55pm.

It was amazing how much the landscape changed as we went downstream. 

Canon EOS M-10, 15-45mm, 45mm, ISO800, 1/2000, f11, 4:40pm.

Canon EOS M-10, 15-45mm, 45mm, ISO800, 1/2000, f11, 12:46pm.

This last picture is right before we left the water at the boat dock.

Canon EOS M-10, 15-45mm, 15mm, ISO800, 1/3200, f11, 4:50pm.

There were very different views and cloud formations depending on which direction you looked. 

Yes, fish were caught by my friend, but that is his story to tell. 

And no, I did not fall in!

Inglewood July 02

Calgary dropped its heat wave last night. And this mornings walk at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary was terrific. I saw a little bit of everything - over 16 species in all.  These American Harebells (Campanula alaskana) were on the path on the way to the Bow River on the North side of the park. 

 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/250, f/12. July 02, 2023, 9:15 am.

On leaving the Bow River side, this Mule Deer doe (Odocoileus hemionus) was munching close to the path. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/250, f/11. July 02, 2023, 9:35 am.

Towards the South side of the park, crossing one of the small bridges, I noticed a couple of Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). One had grabbed a fish from the Bow and the other was trying to share rather than do its own fishing. Unfortunately they were a ways away and flying directly away from me, but you can see the fish in its talons.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/2500, f/12. July 02, 2023, 9:50 am.

Towards the end of my walk, I came across a Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) in the trees. As I was taking its picture, it regurgitated a pellet of undigestible substances (usually bone and feathers). It is an unusual picture, and does look a little gross. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/400, f/11. July 02, 2023, 10:00 am.

A couple of less gross poses were also captured. There were a lot of prey species of birds in the tree and they were taking turns dive-bombing the hawk, attempting to encourage it to go elsewhere. An American Robin is caught by the camera as it sped by the hawk. They wouldn't want to fly too slow, the hawk is very quick. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/1000, f/11. July 02, 2023, 10:05 am.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1600, 1/400, f/13. July 02, 2023, 10:05 am.

Spotted Sandpiper

It was a quiet morning at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. I went there with friends, and it was a beautiful morning. We are in a heat wave, but it was very pleasant earlier in the day.  There wasn't too much exciting, but one of my friends spotted this tiny Spotted Sandpiper bobbing along as it foraged on the shore. 

  Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 800, 1/1600, f/13. June 18, 2023, 9:50 am.

The sun was behind the bird, so it was quite dark as it was in the shadows and I wasn't able to identify it until I got home. A very tiny delicate bird. It was much smaller than the ones seen on June 09 (Pretty Bird Day). 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 800, 1/1250, f/13. June 18, 2023, 9:50 am.

Griffin Woods

 

Friday morning, June 23rd, found me on a flower walk in Griffin Woods in SW Calgary. It took us one hour and forty-five minutes to walk the first kilometer. I love the concept of the flower walks, but walking that slow is tiring -- more so than a brisk walk. It is kind of like shopping. Regardless of if the walk is designated a flower walk or a bird walk, I try to keep my mind open to whatever catches my eye. If I was just looking down, I would have missed this view from the path. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 800, 1/1250, f/9. June 23, 2023, 11:05 am. 

This butterfly also caught my eye. This is a Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta). *

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 1250, 1/2500, f/4.5. June 23, 2023, 10:30 am.

It was, however, a wildflower walk and one of the first wildflowers we saw was this Meadow Anemone (Anemonastrum canadense). 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 1250, 1/640, f/4.5. June 23, 2023, 10:15 am.

Everyone wandered by this Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), but I thought it was worth the time to appreciate and photograph. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 1250, 1/5000, f/4.5. June 23, 2023, 11:00 am.

This delicate Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala senega) is a member of the Milkwort family (Polygalaceae).  

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 1250, 1/400, f/4.5. June 23, 2023, 10:35 am.

With a splash of colour (happy yellow) this Pale Agoseris or pale false dandelion  (Agoseris glauca) caught my eye. *

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 800, 1/60, f/9. June 23, 2023, 11:40 am.

* Thanks to Nature Calgary and  iNaturalist.net for help with the identification.  All errors are mine.

Glenbow

Yesterday I went with family to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. This was very meaningful for us because when we were growing up, we used to ride our horses on this land. Eric Harvey was kind enough to us as kids that we were allowed to ride there -- "as long as we closed all the gates". We traveled between 15 and 20 kms in an electric golf cart. The weather was perfect!

We saw lots of big skies on our tour.  The view from the top was pretty inspiring. 

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/3200, f/8. June 22, 2023, 10:05 am.

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/2000, f/8. June 22, 2023, 10:05 am.

The colour of the Bow River was amazing. There was little wind, and the river was very still. This view is close to Haskayne Park. 

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/1250, f/11. June 22, 2023, 10:40 am.

We saw at least eight Mule Deer, especially at the beginning of the trip.

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/1000, f/8. June 22, 2023, 10:15 am.

And lots of flowers and interesting insects. I believe this wasp like insect is a Prionyx globosus, a member of the Thread-waisted wasps.* 

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/1250, f/11. June 22, 2023, 11:00 am.

This fuzzy little insect is most likely an Anastoechus barbatus, a member of Bee Flies (Family Bombyliidae).*

Olympus EM-5 MII, 14-150mm, ISO 1000, 1/800, f/11. June 22, 2023, 10:55 am.

* thanks to INaturalist.org for identifications. Any errors are mine. 

(Wow, a post with no birds!)

Nose Hill Park -- Wild Flowers

This morning I went on a Nature Calgary walk with the president. It was a small group, so I learned a lot.  Just a few highlight pictures are here. The first one isn't even a flower!

This is just an Aspen leaf. The Aspen Serpentine Leafminer (Phyllocnistis pupuliella) is a small moth that lays its egg on the leaf. The miner feeds inside the leaf, between the layers. The black track is its ... poop.  It then moves to the edge of the leaf, curls a small amount up, forms a pupae and then changes into a small moth. Very cool! 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/250, f/18. June 17, 2023, 11:00 am. Nose Hill Park, Calgary.

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/200, f/18. June 17, 2023, 11:00 am. Nose Hill Park, Calgary.

There were lots of roses in the hill, but amongst the roses were some StickyPurple Geraniums (Geranium viscossimum). These really stood out as the colours didn't seem to fade in the sun like the roses do. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/250, f/18. June 17, 2023, 10:50 am. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

The next flower seems to mean that Spring is finally here in Alberta. These flowers are American Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia).  These are quite a delicate little wildflower and are just about done for this year. The contrast of the yellow from the faded rose really highlights the blue. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/40, f/16. June 17, 2023, 11:30 am. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

This Bog Wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia) was hidden in the Aspens, in the shade. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/25, f/16. June 17, 2023, 11:20 am. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

No, the following picture is not an Aster, it is a Smooth Fleabane (Erigeron glabellus). I only know that because I was told.  

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/250, f/18. June 17, 2023, 10:50 am. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

And finally, my favourite of the day is this Mountain  Deathcamus (Anticlea elegans).  It is quite a small delicate flower and I love the small green hearts on the petals. Given its name, it is a little more dangerous than it appears. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/160, f/18. June 17, 2023, 10:45 am. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

This large erratic boulder near the top of the hill caught my attention. The lichen formed an interesting pattern on the sun side of the boulder. 

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/6400, f/18. June 17, 2023, 11:51 pm. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

The view from the top of the hill, toward the end of our walk was worth the uphill hike.

Olympus OM-1, 30mm Macro ISO 400, 1/400, f/18. June 17, 2023, 12:05 pm. Nose Hill Park Calgary.

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!