Uploads from Don Delaney

American Avocet

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:32:28 -0700

A short Shorebird set.

Strathcona County, Alberta, May 19, 2013.

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Mountain Bluebird Pair

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:41:12 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I caught a nice moment when this male Mountain Bluebird offered his mate a morsel. They then posed briefly together on the fence post and flew off.

Strathcona County, Alberta. May 18 2013.

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Flying Waterfowl Pairs Project 2013 # 8 - Blue-winged Teal

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:56:54 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I am back at my flying waterfowl pairs project. I have a lot of fun with this, but it can be very frustrating. This week I have taken hundreds of shots of flying pairs of Blue-winged, Green-winged, and Cinnamon Teals. This is the only one that meets my criteria of having the pair close in the frame, no heavy crop, with good lighting and the best detail I can get. I was lucky today to get this pair lifting off together. Also included is an isolated flight shot of the female.

Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park, St. Albert, Alberta. May 17 2013.

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Male Blue-winged Teal

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:15:38 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I really like catching preening Teals. They have such beautiful scapular feathers and wing patches. I found the Blue-winged Teal here today and the Cinnamon Teal shots were taken in Invermere, BC. on May 08.

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Painted Turtle

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:11:55 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

We never get to shoot at Turtles in our region. I was happy to get this one in Invermere, BC.

Just for fun, I added a very close up shot of part of a different species in the comment box below.

If you feel like playing, try to guess what animal that part belongs to. The fact that the main shot is a reptile might be misleading.

I'll post the whole thing in a couple of days.

Male American Kestrel

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:30:54 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I have never had the opportunity to shoot down on a flying Falcon before. This male Kestrel and his mate live high on the cliffs overlooking the Columbia Wetlands near Invermere, British Columbia.

I added a couple of snapshots of their domain in the comment box below. I was standing on the closest foreground knob when I took the shot of the Kestrel flying below it. The second scene shot is the view to the left.

Invermere, BC. May 11, 2013.

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Lewis's Woodpecker

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:07:25 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

These aren't the sharpest of shots, but they are a first for me.

I was hoping to find Lewis's Woodpeckers on my trip to Invermere, BC. Sibley describes these as uncommon and local. They frequent dry open Pine forests and burned areas. They were a tough subject as they were very active making frequent flights from perches to capture insects in the air.

Their flight is similar to Crow flight, and because they are very dark on the wings and large for a Woodpecker, they do look like Crows in flight from a distance. They would not allow a close approach when perched.

Invermere, BC. May 08, 2013.

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Male Dusky Grouse in Breeding Display

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:58:01 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I am back from the "Wings Over the Rockies" festival in Invermere, BC, with a lifer bird :)

We were very fortunate to find this male in full courtship display. There were a couple of males trying to claim territory and females. They were full of aggression and not about to give up their chosen spaces. This one let me get really close. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says this about them:

"One of North America’s largest grouse, the Dusky Grouse used to be considered the paler, interior subspecies of the Blue Grouse. Recent DNA evidence supports the spilt of the Blue Grouse into two separate species, the Dusky Grouse and the Sooty Grouse. The male’s deep booming call is hard to locate."

The females were much more secretive, but I did get one in a partially open situation while she was scurrying through the underbrush.

"The Hoodoos" near Invermere, BC. May 09, 2013.

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Tundra Swans

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:48:17 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I'll be winging my way over the Rockies tomorrow. I'll actually be driving over the Rockies, but I will be taking part in the "Wings Over the Rockies" festival in Invermere, British Columbia. Check out the link below to find out about this great week long event in a beautiful setting.

www.wingsovertherockies.org/about-us.php

This will be my second year of leading a guided birding tour around Lake Enid near Invermere. I had a wonderful time last year and met some great birders from western Canada and USA, as well as a couple from London, England.

I hope to bring back some nice photos to share. I'll reconnect with flickr in a week or so. Great birding and shooting everyone!

Tundra Swans - Beaver County, Alberta. May 03, 2013.

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Marbled Godwit

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sun, 05 May 2013 18:16:41 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

My first shorebird of the season. This Marbled Godwit let me get close and presented a nice pose showing the lovely pattern on the back and a good look at that great bill.. They are breeders here in central Alberta and even more so in the south of the province.

Beaver County, Alberta. May 03 2013.

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Flying Waterfowl Pairs Project 2013 # 7 - Snow Goose

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sat, 04 May 2013 20:38:37 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

Snow Geese mate for life. The plumage of the male and female is identical and does not change over the year.

Males and females are very difficult to distinguish. Since these two were flying close together, I am calling them a pair. These were part of a huge flock found northeast of Ryley, Alberta. There were tens of thousands. I wish I would have had the presence of mind to switch to a small lens to get the scale of what I observed. I hope I get a chance to do that while they are still around.

If this is not a mated, flying pair, then for sure there is one among those I have included in the comment box below.:)

Northeast of Ryley, Alberta. May 03, 2013.

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Horned Grebe in Breeding Plumage

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:30:11 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton Alberta. May 02, 2013.

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Savannah Sparrow

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:27:17 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

So nice to be seeing migratory songbirds again. This Savannah Sparrow in Hermitage Park let me get really close. Also included is a full shot of the Savannah and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet taken at Beaumaris Lake.

Edmonton, Alberta, May 02, 2013.

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Red-breasted Merganser

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:39:05 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

A Red-breasted Merganser flight take off sequence.

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton, Alberta. May 01, 2013.

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Common Loon aka Great Northern Diver

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:09:37 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

Images from Beaumaris Lake yesterday. There have been at least 10 Loons at Beaumaris Lake over the past few days. This one surfaced pretty close to me.

On the way in to the path around the lake, a Townsend's Solitaire flew to a low branch and posed nicely for me - see comment box.

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton. April 28, 2013.

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Flying Waterfowl Pairs Project 2013 # 6 - Red-breasted Merganser

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:30:53 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

This is my first flight capture of a Red-breasted Merganser. I was fortunate to get the pair together. Not as much detail as I would like, because of the distance and crop, but I may not get another chance this year.

We have a very short window of opportunity to see these birds here. They move up in April from their winter range in the southern US following the melting bodies of water on their journey to northern Alberta and the Canadian sub arctic and Alaska. They also winter along the east coast of the US and the east and west coasts of Canada (Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta and Sibley)

Red-breasted Mergansers are the ninth fastest bird on the planet. In terms of level, non gravity assisted flight; they are the forth fastest flier. They have been clocked at 130 km/hr or 80 mph. They are the fastest duck in flight followed by Canvasbacks and Teals. (Wikipedia and other on-line sources)

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton. April 28, 2013.

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Red-necked Grebe

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:03:31 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

Warm days, melting ice, and the migratory waterfowl are coming back to breed here.

The shots in the comment box show a pair of Red-necked Grebes considering that the platform occupied by a single Canada Goose might be a suitable place for a nest.

They usually build quite flimsy nests constructed from marsh vegetation and very close to the shore. I have never seen a Red-necked Grebe standing upright like that.

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton. April 26. 2013.

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Common Loon

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:11:15 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

This is my first flight capture of a Loon. My European contacts refer to this species as "Great Northern Diver" I think this is a much better name for this most ancient, beautiful, and superbly adapted bird.

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton. April 26, 2013.

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Flying Waterfowl Pairs Project 2013 # 5 - Common Merganser Pair

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:55:26 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

This is my best flying pair capture of Common Mergansers so far. I am counting this as number five in my flying pairs project this year and hope to improve on it.

The rest of the shots in this set are also of Common Mergansers taken today in two locations. The one immediately below captures a nesting Canada Goose not happy with her visitors.

Beaumaris Lake, Edmonton. April 25, 2013.
Hermitage Park, Edmonton, April 25, 2013.

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Male Hooded Merganser

nobody@flickr.com (Don Delaney) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:30:58 -0700

Don Delaney posted a photo:

I was hoping to get a flying pair shot of these, but the female was too far ahead, so I concentrated on the male.

Hermitage Park Edmonton. April 24, 2013.

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