Weathering the cold
Gaillardia, I believe
Looking upwards
From my July archives
Pine Coulee Reservoir
Ball Cactus fruit
Friendly little Nuthatch
Munching on dead leaves
Eyes like tiny beads
LEST WE FORGET
Flashback to the past
Special light
Fence line in winter
Old times
Purple beauty
Suppertime catch
Not my favourite subject
Water erosion at Johnston Canyon
Straw Flower
Dragonfly and bokeh
Leccinum insigne
Sunstar over Pine Coulee Reservoir
A rather untidy cluster
From the forest
Blues and whites of winter
A fancy chicken
Snow and ice on a bridge
The Famous Five with snow
Thoughts of the Wild, Wild West
Rough-legged Hawk
Sacred Lotus seedpod
View from the Saskatoon Farm
Spiked beauty
Glowing leaves of Mountain Ash
Recycled
Scalloped ice
The power of Mother Nature
Remembering summer colour
Yellow Clematis seedhead with bokeh
The beauty of an orange Lily
If only snowy days could be warm
PLEASE don't litter!
Thank heavens for Chickadees
If I just close my eyes, maybe she'll go away
The road to nowhere
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End of the road


Took this macro of a 7-Spotted Ladybug perched on a Yucca plant on Saturday, 21 September 2013, when we joined a group of people from Medicine Hat College to drive a long way across the prairie of SE Alberta to an area called the Pinhorn Grazing Lease. This species of Ladybug, that you see everywhere, is a non-native species and has caused the population numbers of our native species to be reduced, unfortunately. Yucca plants, which are not found in Alberta, had been discovered in this area and were being closely monitored. Everyone spent a few hours counting every single plant and clone, how many new clones, how many old ones, how many seedpods and how many tiny exit holes from a certain insect were in each pod. Most of the plants were in enclosed "cages", the largest of which could be entered. The GPS location was recorded for every plant, and careful notes were made. Very tedious work, and I commend everyone for doing this. Have to admit that I wandered the area with my camera, photographing the plants in various stages and the surrounding scenery. We were so lucky because two of the plants were in a second bloom, whereas all the other plants had seedpods. It was a treat to be able to see Yucca flowers, and a surprise for the folks from the College. When I was examining some of the seedpods, I noticed that many had several of these Ladybugs huddled deep down inside the partially opened pod. We aren't sure how these plants got where they are, but it's possible that they were brought north by Native Americans. We were very close to the border with the US and could see the beautiful Sweetgrass Hills rising from the flat prairie in the distance. A very interesting day for us and one that we were so lucky to experience.
LeapFrog, , sasithorn_s, have particularly liked this photo
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