I could be wrong, but, to me, it looks like this beautiful bird has had either an injury to its right leg/foot, or maybe it is deformed?
Today, I have posted five odds and ends from recent drives. The Forster's Tern and the Western Meadowlark were seen on the same trip.
Having gone through weeks of water use restrictions, Calgary is now back to Stage 1 Outdoor Water Restrictions again, because of discovery of further water main pipe damage. These new repairs will begin on August 26, and will continue until the end of September. During this repair period, Calgarians will have to return to Stage 4 Water Restrictions - no outdoor water use and limited indoor use!
My destination on 29 July 2024 was McKinnon Flats. east of Calgary. Many years ago, a group of us had visited the area on a birding outing. There was just something about the place that made me feel a little uncomfortable, but, eventually, I knew I just had to go there. Back on 24 August 2020, I finally made this drive alone and wrote: "On a few other occasions, I had driven much of the same route, but had missed out on the pot-holed road going south. As for the narrow, switchback gravel road going down the cliffs, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had read a warning to not do the drive if the road was wet. Once there, I really, really hoped that no other vehicle would be coming in the opposite direction, as I knew there was no way I would be able to reverse either uphill or downhill. Luckily, I was the only vehicle on the "road" for long enough. Actually, McKinnon Flats is going to be closed from 31 August 2020 onwards for road reconstruction, to make access down to the river safer." SInce then, a new road surface has been constructed, making it slightly less of a challenge.
The temperature down in the valley yesterday was around 30C when I got out of my car. It felt too hot to do anything more than just a short wander to see the old steel wheeled tractor and the stone wall remains of one of the old buildings that had once formed the LK Ranch. The Ranch lay against the north slope of the valley, with the Bow River just beyond a grassy area - a spot that is popular with fishermen."
From 2020: "I had also read about snakes there, but was rather thankful that none were to be seen. Found a few butterflies and an insect with beautiful wings that I think might be a Bee Fly. Some wildflowers were still in bloom, such as Blazingstar. If I had gone for a longer walk, maybe I would have discovered more. The heat, and feeling anxious to find out if my car would make it back up the gravel switchbacks to the cliff top, kept my visit short."
As well as McKinnon Flats yesterday, I drove some backroads on my way to the highway back home. Was so happy to see a Loggerhead Shrike again. This was the second Loggerhead Shrike that I have seen recently, the other one seen on 20 June 2024. Normally, I go years between sightings, so this latest bird was another nice surprise. I was also happy to come across a Swainson's Hawk, perched on a fence post, clutching what appeared to be a Black-billed Magpie.
Along one gravel road, I stopped to take photos of a Western Meadowlark. I'm not sure if this is a juvenile. It did sing and I don't know if juveniles sing? I am also not sure if it has an injured or deformed right leg. When I first saw the bird, it was standing on just one leg, During the time I took a few photos and a bit of video, it spent most of the time lying down on the fence post. When it did stand up, it stood using just one leg. Once or twice, I caught a quick, partial view of a second leg, but it looked deformed or maybe injured in the past. I hope this bird is able to thrive, if it does have only one leg to use.
A few old, familiar barns were good to see, after four(?) years of not driving east of the city. Lots of hawks were seen, mainly Swainson's.
A very brief stop at Weed Lake for a few moments gave me the chance to take a few photos of a Tern species perched on a rock. Hopefully, someone would be able to give a positive ID. Google Lens says Common Tern. I don't have binoculars, but wondered where were all the birds?? Maybe they were not liking the wildfire smoke that was present all day.
From 2020: "Another very enjoyable few hours spent on a sunny day. A drive of only 128 km gave me a good variety of things to see and photograph. On the drive home, I could see signs that the smoke from B.C. and California wildfires was starting to reach us."
