Saturday, May 19
6:10 am
It is +1 °C, with a high forecast of +15 °C.
From the Environment Canada website:
Today Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 15. UV index 7 or high.
Tonight Clearing late this evening. Low plus 2 with risk of frost.
1:00 PM Birding
We decided to drive out to Picture Butte and see if there were any birds at the reservoir. By the time we arrived the wind had picked up and the water was choppy. There were only a few coots to be seen. On our return drive we took a short detour to Park Lake Provincial Park. As we approached the entrance to the park we saw two large hawks in a nearby tree. I was able to identify them (once we returned home) as Cooper's Hawks. A promising beginning to the morning. We spent 2 hours walking along the lakeshore and in that time we identified 31 different species. Here is a list, in the order that we first saw them:
- Cooper's Hawk [2] (new for 2012)
- European Starling [1]
- House Wren [1]
- House Sparrow [1] (new for Alberta & Canada for 2012)
- Northern Flicker [1]
- Mourning Dove [2] (new for 2012)
- Western Kingbird [12]
- Eastern Kingbird [2]
- Chipping Sparrow [3]
- Baltimore Oriole [3]
- White-crowned Sparrow [1]
- Spotted Sandpiper [1]
- Downy Woodpecker [1] (new for 2012)
- Mallard [2]
- Yellow Warbler [1]
- Tree Swallow [1]
- Bank Swallow [1]
- Bufflehead [3]
- Blue-winged Teal [4] (new for 2012)
- Olive-sided Flycatcher [1] (LIFER)
- Northern Shoveler [2] (new for 2012)
- Franklin's Gull [2]
- American White Pelican [1]
- Veery [2] (new for 2012)
- Canvasback [2] (new for 2012)
- American Coot [2]
- American Robin [4]
- Redhead [2]
- Ruddy Duck [1] (new for 2012)
It is always a special treat to have a new LIFER - this time it was the Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Cooper's Hawks
Western Kingbird
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Ruddy Duck
Veery
9:00 PM Photography
When we returned home from our birding outing and I began reviewing the photos I quickly realized that there was a problem with most of the photos I took of the two Cooper's Hawks. Most of the images showed the bird to be out of focus as the camera was focusing in on branches that were in the foreground. I thought I had the camera set to focus on just the center point rather than the whole picture.
A review of the camera manual this evening revealed that although I had the focus set properly I also needed to change the exposure setting to "P" (for program setting). I have never done this! I'm surprised I have as many good photos as I have.
I tested this indoors by aiming the center point at some books about 8 feet away while most of the image consisted of stuff on my desk that was only 2 feet away. When I looked at the image on my computer screen, the books were in focus and the nearby stuff was blurry. I am now eager to see what happens when I am next in the field.