Birding at 70 miles/hour

Since we have seen so many photos of the prairie on Peter's blog,

I rather wanted to show you what else there was to see while we raced along the American highways.

I always keep my eyes open for the feathered creatures around.
Boy is it ever so difficult to get a decent shot out of the side window while driving at a speed of 70m/h! So bear with me for the blurriness.

A hawk on a pole. Probably a red tailed, because of the colour of it's tail feathers.

This long legged shore birds were hard to find,

but their colours where so distinct that I opted for "American avocets" in non breeding mode.

On a photo I borrowed from the net you see what it was that I actually saw.


When we had lunch the other day I looked at a huge coal shovel parked on the ground.

Movement around these holes in the side of it captured my eye.

 Clever sparrows had taken the openings in the metal as their dwellings.

 When we slowly drove bye I could take these shots.

 Cute.

Finally I found out: it helps to put the camera on manual. Then keep tuning the viewfinder while shooting multiple frames.

One of the shots will be sharp! :))

Another day I was scanning the darkening evening sky. What was that? See all those dots in the air!

Hundreds of migrating Canada geese up there.

An amazing view. A sure sign of the winter to come.

And of course - the vast prairie landscape and endless sky. 

For ever captivating.

@@@

The poem of the day

Saskatchewan Summer (Charles Nichols)

Wide the open spaces lie, 

Fields of yellow cheerfulness, 

Circled all by wheat and trees, 

Ruled soft by blue and white

Roads to nowhere but afar, 

Scattered perfectly with farms, 

Fences sent for ages outward, 

Clear broadness touched by prairie towns

Rippled ponds enclosed by rushes, 

Distant rivers pulling streams, 

Rolling earth, arms widely steady, 

Fields and cattle, wooden barns 

In and Out - not what you think

Rural Montana on the way towards the Albertan border.

While Peter went into the customs office to do the paper work for the trailer I had plenty of time to watch sparrows doing their home construction. I is amazing where they choose their nesting places.

Definitely adapted to the man made nesting opportunities.

Everything works.

An opening in the siding....

...or behind a sign.

"Is there someone watching me?"

***

Finally we were back on Canadian soil. 

Hallmark of the prairie - grain storage

Worn out barns or grain bins, and the view for

hours and hours and hours of this...

wide open spaces.

***

We made it to Calgary on Tuesday.

(Peter will have a posting about that.)

After a restful night we woke up 

to an approaching snowstorm. That turn in the weather,

and the forecast for more snow over the weekend, 

made us turn quickly south back into the US - today.

But the snow is following us slowly....:((

Are we able to outrun it?