Sunday 25 January 2015

Deer, Ducks and Scenery - Jan 22 2015

Weather turned really nice, +4C for January is pretty exceptional. So Dave and I lunched at Burger King and headed for Fort Whyte.
Was a great outing, lots of school kids, was nice to see them out taking in nature and enjoying the toboggan run.
We came across 2 Deer sleeping in the bush and we saw another two running through the bush.
We saw a Woodpecker flying in the distance. I suspect it was a Hairy Woodpecker.
We also saw a flock of about 12 Ducks flying off in the distance and came across a small group of Mallards landing on some open water in one of the lakes.
We walked around Fort Whyte for over 3 hours and finished off with a warm beverage at Fort Whyte's Buffalo Stone Cafe.

Bird Houses and Toboggan Run

Deer we disturbed from a nap



Flock of Ducks about 1 mile distant

Mallards

Old Plow

Edge of a Pond

Looking Across a Pond

Trail

Cross Country Ski Run

Trail

Saturday 10 January 2015

Birds, Buffalo and a Prairie Dog - September 2014

A great outing, saw lots of nature and took a lot of pictures.
It was a very dull day and seeing as how I can't change ISO settings anymore was stuck with it on auto.
Most photos turned out OK but the Kingfisher photos were a disappointment as I can't get a setting now to take a decent photo of birds in flight.
My equipment is now 4 or 5 years old so I'm waiting for spring to decide what to do, repair, replace or bumble along with what I have.

Gold Finches

Belted Kingfisher - Approximately 60 feet distant

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher hovering 

Bison resting by a rubbing stone

House Sparrow

House Sparrows

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

Orange Crowned Warble - immature?

Prairie Dog

Wood Ducks