Friday, 28 February 2020: our temperature early this morning is +8C (windchill +6C). A partly sunny day that is supposed to get up to +10C. Sunrise is at 7:23 am, and sunset is at 6:15 pm.

The six photos that I have posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 27 February 2020. One of the main reasons for my drive was that, a few days ago, I had noticed that the Saskatoon Farm was making and selling Pickled Beets. Don't ask me why, but I just longed to try these - they sounded so good. Normally, I don't think of buying pickles of any kind. I'm so glad I went, as these Pickled Beets are so delicious!

Before I stopped at the Farm, to make this drive even more worthwhile, I travelled further, enjoying the back roads in beautiful sunshine. The day had started off very overcast and I almost didn't go, but the afternoon changed to blue sky.

The first two birds I saw were when two Gray Partridge were flushed from somewhere near the edge of the road. They flew off into the field and disappeared from sight. Once they land in the stubble, they can be pretty much impossible to find again. I did manage to get a really bad photo of them, posted just for the record, as I rarely get photos of this species.

I did wonder if I might just be lucky enough to come across a Snowy Owl somewhere down south. I had given up driving east of the city in search of these gorgeous birds of prey, as they seem to be few and far between in that direction. On our recent annual Snowy Owl Prowl, we only saw four of them in a whole day of birding east of the city, all so far away that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I would never have seen them if I had been out driving on my own.

Yesterday, however, I was extremely lucky, seeing two Snowies. The first one, a gorgeous white male, suddenly flew up ahead of me, from either a fence post or from the ground. I didn't notice it till it flew up and away, eventually landing in the snow way, way down a distant fence line. The photo I posted of it is just for the record. Thankful for at least having seen it, I continued driving very slowly, hoping to avoid at least some of the wet mud and gravel that was spraying up on my car. After just a short distance, I noticed what looked like a Snowy, almost hidden by a utility pole. I was so far down the road that I was able to open my car door to get a better look. Sure enough, there she sat. She didn't stay long, though, disappearing somewhere over the huge, snow-covered field. When I made the next turn, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted her way down the road, sitting on a fence post - yes, a fence post, not an insulator : ) Amazingly, not a single vehicle came down the road, until I had grabbed maybe a dozen shots. She was the highlight of my afternoon - along with the Pickled Beets, of course!

Tags:   Alberta Canada SE of Calgary Saskatoon Farm fake barn fake front greenhouse disguise building structure trees wagon wheel outdoor winter 27 February 2020 Canon SX60 Canon SX60 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2020 © All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

Friday, 28 February 2020: our temperature early this morning is +8C (windchill +6C). A partly sunny day that is supposed to get up to +10C. Sunrise is at 7:23 am, and sunset is at 6:15 pm.

The six photos that I have posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 27 February 2020. One of the main reasons for my drive was that, a few days ago, I had noticed that the Saskatoon Farm was making and selling Pickled Beets. Don't ask me why, but I just longed to try these - they sounded so good. Normally, I don't think of buying pickles of any kind. I'm so glad I went, as these Pickled Beets are so delicious!

Before I stopped at the Farm, to make this drive even more worthwhile, I travelled further, enjoying the back roads in beautiful sunshine. The day had started off very overcast and I almost didn't go, but the afternoon changed to blue sky.

The first two birds I saw were when two Gray Partridge were flushed from somewhere near the edge of the road. They flew off into the field and disappeared from sight. Once they land in the stubble, they can be pretty much impossible to find again. I did manage to get a really bad photo of them, posted just for the record, as I rarely get photos of this species.

I did wonder if I might just be lucky enough to come across a Snowy Owl somewhere down south. I had given up driving east of the city in search of these gorgeous birds of prey, as they seem to be few and far between in that direction. On our recent annual Snowy Owl Prowl, we only saw four of them in a whole day of birding east of the city, all so far away that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I would never have seen them if I had been out driving on my own.

Yesterday, however, I was extremely lucky, seeing two Snowies. The first one, a gorgeous white male, suddenly flew up ahead of me, from either a fence post or from the ground. I didn't notice it till it flew up and away, eventually landing in the snow way, way down a distant fence line. The photo I posted of it is just for the record. Thankful for at least having seen it, I continued driving very slowly, hoping to avoid at least some of the wet mud and gravel that was spraying up on my car. After just a short distance, I noticed what looked like a Snowy, almost hidden by a utility pole. I was so far down the road that I was able to open my car door to get a better look. Sure enough, there she sat. She didn't stay long, though, disappearing somewhere over the huge, snow-covered field. When I made the next turn, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted her way down the road, sitting on a fence post - yes, a fence post, not an insulator : ) Amazingly, not a single vehicle came down the road, until I had grabbed maybe a dozen shots. She was the highlight of my afternoon - along with the Pickled Beets, of course!

© All Rights Reserved

Friday, 28 February 2020: our temperature early this morning is +8C (windchill +6C). A partly sunny day that is supposed to get up to +10C. Sunrise is at 7:23 am, and sunset is at 6:15 pm.

The six photos that I have posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 27 February 2020. One of the main reasons for my drive was that, a few days ago, I had noticed that the Saskatoon Farm was making and selling Pickled Beets. Don't ask me why, but I just longed to try these - they sounded so good. Normally, I don't think of buying pickles of any kind. I'm so glad I went, as these Pickled Beets are so delicious!

Before I stopped at the Farm, to make this drive even more worthwhile, I travelled further, enjoying the back roads in beautiful sunshine. The day had started off very overcast and I almost didn't go, but the afternoon changed to blue sky.

The first two birds I saw were when two Gray Partridge were flushed from somewhere near the edge of the road. They flew off into the field and disappeared from sight. Once they land in the stubble, they can be pretty much impossible to find again. I did manage to get a really bad photo of them, posted just for the record, as I rarely get photos of this species.

I did wonder if I might just be lucky enough to come across a Snowy Owl somewhere down south. I had given up driving east of the city in search of these gorgeous birds of prey, as they seem to be few and far between in that direction. On our recent annual Snowy Owl Prowl, we only saw four of them in a whole day of birding east of the city, all so far away that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I would never have seen them if I had been out driving on my own.

Yesterday, however, I was extremely lucky, seeing two Snowies. The first one, a gorgeous white male, suddenly flew up ahead of me, from either a fence post or from the ground. I didn't notice it till it flew up and away, eventually landing in the snow way, way down a distant fence line. The photo I posted of it is just for the record. Thankful for at least having seen it, I continued driving very slowly, hoping to avoid at least some of the wet mud and gravel that was spraying up on my car. After just a short distance, I noticed what looked like a Snowy, almost hidden by a utility pole. I was so far down the road that I was able to open my car door to get a better look. Sure enough, there she sat. She didn't stay long, though, disappearing somewhere over the huge, snow-covered field. When I made the next turn, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted her way down the road, sitting on a fence post - yes, a fence post, not an insulator : ) Amazingly, not a single vehicle came down the road, until I had grabbed maybe a dozen shots. She was the highlight of my afternoon - along with the Pickled Beets, of course!

© All Rights Reserved

Friday, 28 February 2020: our temperature early this morning is +8C (windchill +6C). A partly sunny day that is supposed to get up to +10C. Sunrise is at 7:23 am, and sunset is at 6:15 pm.

The six photos that I have posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 27 February 2020. One of the main reasons for my drive was that, a few days ago, I had noticed that the Saskatoon Farm was making and selling Pickled Beets. Don't ask me why, but I just longed to try these - they sounded so good. Normally, I don't think of buying pickles of any kind. I'm so glad I went, as these Pickled Beets are so delicious!

Before I stopped at the Farm, to make this drive even more worthwhile, I travelled further, enjoying the back roads in beautiful sunshine. The day had started off very overcast and I almost didn't go, but the afternoon changed to blue sky.

The first two birds I saw were when two Gray Partridge were flushed from somewhere near the edge of the road. They flew off into the field and disappeared from sight. Once they land in the stubble, they can be pretty much impossible to find again. I did manage to get a really bad photo of them, posted just for the record, as I rarely get photos of this species.

I did wonder if I might just be lucky enough to come across a Snowy Owl somewhere down south. I had given up driving east of the city in search of these gorgeous birds of prey, as they seem to be few and far between in that direction. On our recent annual Snowy Owl Prowl, we only saw four of them in a whole day of birding east of the city, all so far away that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I would never have seen them if I had been out driving on my own.

Yesterday, however, I was extremely lucky, seeing two Snowies. The first one, a gorgeous white male, suddenly flew up ahead of me, from either a fence post or from the ground. I didn't notice it till it flew up and away, eventually landing in the snow way, way down a distant fence line. The photo I posted of it is just for the record. Thankful for at least having seen it, I continued driving very slowly, hoping to avoid at least some of the wet mud and gravel that was spraying up on my car. After just a short distance, I noticed what looked like a Snowy, almost hidden by a utility pole. I was so far down the road that I was able to open my car door to get a better look. Sure enough, there she sat. She didn't stay long, though, disappearing somewhere over the huge, snow-covered field. When I made the next turn, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted her way down the road, sitting on a fence post - yes, a fence post, not an insulator : ) Amazingly, not a single vehicle came down the road, until I had grabbed maybe a dozen shots. She was the highlight of my afternoon - along with the Pickled Beets, of course!

© All Rights Reserved

Friday, 28 February 2020: our temperature early this morning is +8C (windchill +6C). A partly sunny day that is supposed to get up to +10C. Sunrise is at 7:23 am, and sunset is at 6:15 pm.

The six photos that I have posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 27 February 2020. One of the main reasons for my drive was that, a few days ago, I had noticed that the Saskatoon Farm was making and selling Pickled Beets. Don't ask me why, but I just longed to try these - they sounded so good. Normally, I don't think of buying pickles of any kind. I'm so glad I went, as these Pickled Beets are so delicious!

Before I stopped at the Farm, to make this drive even more worthwhile, I travelled further, enjoying the back roads in beautiful sunshine. The day had started off very overcast and I almost didn't go, but the afternoon changed to blue sky.

The first two birds I saw were when two Gray Partridge were flushed from somewhere near the edge of the road. They flew off into the field and disappeared from sight. Once they land in the stubble, they can be pretty much impossible to find again. I did manage to get a really bad photo of them, posted just for the record, as I rarely get photos of this species.

I did wonder if I might just be lucky enough to come across a Snowy Owl somewhere down south. I had given up driving east of the city in search of these gorgeous birds of prey, as they seem to be few and far between in that direction. On our recent annual Snowy Owl Prowl, we only saw four of them in a whole day of birding east of the city, all so far away that they were barely visible to the naked eye. I would never have seen them if I had been out driving on my own.

Yesterday, however, I was extremely lucky, seeing two Snowies. The first one, a gorgeous white male, suddenly flew up ahead of me, from either a fence post or from the ground. I didn't notice it till it flew up and away, eventually landing in the snow way, way down a distant fence line. The photo I posted of it is just for the record. Thankful for at least having seen it, I continued driving very slowly, hoping to avoid at least some of the wet mud and gravel that was spraying up on my car. After just a short distance, I noticed what looked like a Snowy, almost hidden by a utility pole. I was so far down the road that I was able to open my car door to get a better look. Sure enough, there she sat. She didn't stay long, though, disappearing somewhere over the huge, snow-covered field. When I made the next turn, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted her way down the road, sitting on a fence post - yes, a fence post, not an insulator : ) Amazingly, not a single vehicle came down the road, until I had grabbed maybe a dozen shots. She was the highlight of my afternoon - along with the Pickled Beets, of course!

Tags:   Alberta Canada SE of Calgary nature wildlife avian ornithology bird bird of prey owl Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus female perched post fence fence post front/side view adult barbed-wire sky blue outdoor winter 27 February 2020 Canon SX60 Canon SX60 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2020 © All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved