Here is another picture with a starling for size reference.

Shilla

I think I just figured it out - Clark`s nutcracker - have seen them up in the hills and at Waterton Lakes Nat`l Park but never in town - just goes to show you that you need to think outside of the box every now and then!!!

shilla

Nice find Shilla!
Never knew this one existed, ..thanks for the post!
I lived a bit east for several years, [Lethbridge], I'm guessing this bird doesn't come this far east.

Those Starlings must be International by now.

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you konrad. I am in Fort Macleod so I was surprised to see it this far from the Porcupine Hills.

shilla

Interesting birds. I saw a TV show (maybe on Nature) about them a few years ago. The one's featured on the show only ate seeds from a certain kind of Pine. The seeds were only available for a short time each year and each bird would harvest and hide enough to last it all year - up to 100,000 seeds. The bird could remember where he hid each one - if he didn't he didn't eat.

This bird is very feisty. It(or Clarkie-boy as I like to call him) waits for the hairy woodpecker to grab a peanut and fly up into a tree with it and then he swoops in and scares off the woodpecker, collects the peanut and either eats it or flies off with it, presumably to stash it for later. There is always some little drama going on in the world of backyard bird watching!

Yes..so much fun!
Fort Macleod,.. not far from Lethbridge, been going through
many times when going to Calgary in the seventies,...must have been grown now. I don't mind to be away from the gusty Chinook area.

Well, it hasn`t changed too much over the last 50+ years but the wind is still howling through. I`ve spent a long time in the NWT and actually missed those winds so I don`t really mind them - seems like perpetual spring down here!

Really,... I was a member of the model air plane club in Lethbridge, we had a field to fly on the west side, [University] that wind surely made it difficult at times.

Going skying to Fernie or Kimberly on the Crowsnest Highway
I have fond memories seeing the HUGE nest in town, not sure anymore which town. At times it was above 0 degree in the hills, going back to Lethbridge it would still be in the deep freeze!

Yes, konrad, the nest is still there, one one each end of the Crowsnest Pass. There is a little ski hill the town of Blairmore runs - it can be as calm as can be there on account of the way the mountain is situated and just howling outside of the pass.