Coots (Bridlewood Wetland Park, Calgary).
The birds are back—and so am I!
The birds have long been back in town. And while I haven’t been blogging these past few months, my sweet partner and I have been out and about ambling through our city parks, taking long walks whenever we can, armed with our cameras, breathing in the fragrant summer air, and thoroughly enjoying nature and the abundance of bird life in Calgary. And what could be more uplifting than seeing new chicks and ducklings thriving right here in our city parks?
Here are some images my partner captured on our walks this spring:
Common Goldeneye
Goldeneye Mama with her family in tow on the Bow River (Carburn Park, Calgary).
“Wait for me!”
A little Goldeneye trying to catch up with the rest of the family (Bow River, Carburn Park, Calgary).
Coots
After a swim and a feeding from Mama, these two Coot chicks returned to their nest for an afternoon nap. They are such strange-looking yet oddly adorable creatures, aren’t they? (Bridlewood Wetland Park, Calgary).
Common Mergansers
Merganser chicks often hitch a ride on Mama’s back (Bow River, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary).
Great-Horned Owls
Great-horned owlets only days away from fledging (Fish Creek Park, Calgary).
European Starling
“I can fly! I can fly!”
European Starling fledgling taking a few practice flaps (Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary).
Wood Ducks
Mama Wood Duck and her little one (Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary).
Blue-winged Teals
Blue-winged Teal ducklings (Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary).
Bear in the Woods
My Sweet Bear in the woods, photographing Great-Horned owlets in Fish Creek Park, Calgary.
Image Credits:
All images © 2016 madlyinlovewithlife
Photos shot by my partner with a Nikon D7200 and Tamron 150-600 mm lens.
madlyinlovewithlife 
I’m glad your back among us, Jeannie.
Your photos are beautiful, I love birds especially small ducklings and geese.
I wish you a good day.
Hervé
Hello Herve! Thank you very much for you very nice comment. Wishing you a very happy day! :))
Missed you Jeannie with your posts and photos, lovely to have you back with us. Coots are so funny and awkward out of the water. Hope all is well my friend.
Regards Mark
Hello Mark! So nice to see your comment! :)) I totally agree that Coots really are very entertaining to watch when they walk about on shore. All is indeed well with me. Thanks for stopping by.
I love the photos Jeannie…so many beautiful little ones.
Wonderful to see you back. Best to you and your Sweet Bear ;-)
Maria! It’s always a pleasure to hear from you! Thank you for coming by. Wishing YOU all the best too! :))
Welcome back birds and also to you! ;)
Thank you so much! :))
Oh Jeannie,
So happy to see this this morning. What a perfect way to start my day. Thanks for sharing the joy of each moment! And who doesn’t like duckies? :) I’ll be in touch again soon, many things I want to share. In the meantime our best wishes to you, your partner and the Danbo Brothers :)
Hello Takami! I’m so glad you enjoyed all the sweet little duckies. For us, they really are a big part of the joy of spring and summer. As always, it is so lovely to read your comment. Thank you so much for stopping by. Wishing you and your husband all the best! :))
Your photos are fantastic. I can see you truly enjoy birds. So nice to see a post from you ! Have a great summer.
Hello France, thank you so much. Wishing YOU a great summer too! :))
She’s baaaaaaack!!! I was a bit worried about you!
The ducklings are adorable!!
Hello Nancy! Thank you. And, no worries. All is well, I just got busy! Those little ones really are adorable, aren’t they! It always makes my day to see them! Have a happy day! :))
I understand busy! I am at our Pennsylvania LakeHouse and we are renovating it. Busy!!
However, it doesn’t mean I can’t stop to Welcome you back to BlogLand!!
Looking forward to more of your beautiful posts. :)
Thanks, Nancy. I love renovating! Have fun with that! :))
Such a wonderful series of shots Jeannie. The little ones are always a joy to see.. Hope the summer has been going well thus far :)
Sam! So nice to hear from you! The first little Coot chick I ever saw was a great photo of one you shot and posted on your Flickr page. And, ever since, we’ve been wanting to get out there, wanting to see the odd-looking little creatures for ourselves. This spring, we finally found some here in Calgary. Wishing you a great summer! :)))
Great to see you again, Jeannie! And as always, lovely photos. Those Coot chicks are adorable…they look like balding little old men. You’re lucky to have such a variety of bird life around you. Here it’s mostly sparrows and robins, although we do get a few European starlings, too. I had a childhood friend who’s father raised a starling from a chick and taught him to talk. He told us this was possible because starlings and myna birds are related! I look forward to more summer photos from you and your partner. Welcome back!
Hello Lis. Thank you for your wonderful comment. I love the story of your friend’s father who raised a starling and taught it to speak. There are so many birds that have an amazing vocal range. I sometimes think that magpies could also be taught to speak words since they make an astonishing array of sounds and are great at mimicry. Thanks again for your interesting comment. Wishing you and yours a very happy week ahead.
The baby coots and ducklings are all so adorable, awesome photos! Nice to see you back.
So nice to hear from you, Diane! Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a great week ahead! :))
I see you achieved EXCELLENT results with your new bazooka… I mean, lens!! Please tell me you used a tripod or monopod to get these absolutely sharp images!!! If you didnt, don’t tell me! LOL
Hello Koji!
Ha! Ha! Bazooka is a very apt name for that thing! Sorry to tell you this, but all of these shots were taken hand-held. Not by me, though. My partner does the moving bird shots. So far, I only seem to be able to get sharp images of stationary things with that lens. Not that I get much opportunity, as it seems my partner has laid claim to the 600 mm when we go out. In truth, I don’t know how he does it. I find it nearly impossible to hold it steady on something stationery, let alone a fast moving little bird that never stays put. But, yes, this Tamron lens is known for it’s ability to take excellent hand-held shots and it’s relatively light in weight in comparison to other similar lenses, which makes it the perfect lens for us to take out on our nature hikes in the woods (something we both enjoy immensely). My partner tends to focus on the birds while I enjoy seeing them through my binoculars. Mostly, I’ll have my lens stuck in the flora or any birds that happen to fly close enough for my 300 mm.
Koji, your hummingbird shots are truly amazing. We both very much appreciated your post and learned a lot from it, and we were especially taken with the importance of the role the cigar plays in achieving such a successful outcome. Brilliant work!
ps I’m so happy you anD he are enjoying life!
Thanks for stopping by. All my best to you and your family! :))
Great to have you back ~ and those photos of the Golden eye family are incredible, especially the little guy trying to keep up :-) Beautiful work Jeannie ~
Thanks so much, Randall! I love those shots too. I wish I could take credit for them, but they were shot by my partner. Last summer, we got a 600 mm lens and he’s been getting better and better at using it on moving targets. Not that I can pry it out of his hands when we are out together, but I’m not nearly as good at using it on anything that requires fast tracking. It’s heavy and long and I can’t hold it as steady as he can. Perhaps with some practice (and some upper body weight training), I could improve. As it is, I tend to stick to flora, landscapes and birds that I can get close to (and that sit still for a bit). In any case, it’s so fun for both of us to get lost in whatever we are each photographing as we go out on our nature and photography walks. Thanks for stopping by – it’s always a pleasure to hear from you. :))
Really pretty!! Thanks for the share😊
Thanks for stopping by! :)) ~ Jeannie