Cone paradise
Colonel Walker House, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Taveta Golden Weaver / Ploceus castaneiceps
African Crested Porcupine / Hystrix cristata
Leopard Tortoise / Stigmochelys pardalis
I said NO more photos!
Pretty lady
Nodding (Musk) Thistle / Carduus nutans
For Chiara
Down in the forest
Deciduous yellow
Partially Leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch
Crested Wheatgrass / Agropyron cristatum
Coral Fungus
Changing colour ready for the winter
Hibiscus
Nodding (Musk) Thistle / Carduus nutans
Trust
Poppy seedpod
White-faced Whistling Duck / Dendrocygna viduata
Halloween colour
Yellow False Dandelion seedhead
Sparkles on Forgetmenot Pond
Along the Irrigation Canal
Shapeless fungi
The last of the fall colour
A narrow strip of light
Ring-necked Duck
Forest treasures ... Pholiota squarrosa
Mountain Ash berries
Hungry little Muskrat
Always breathtakingly beautiful
Tundra Swans
Longhorn Beetle / Pseudogaurotina cressoni
Fence line in the fall
Flat Topped Coral / Clavariadelphus truncatus
Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile
European Skipper on Timothy Grass
Moss-rose, Happy Hour Mix / Portulaca grandiflora
The edge of a Lily pad
Peace in the Jumpingpound area
CL Ranches, Alberta
Unidentified flower, Seebe, Alberta - Echium vulga…
Ready to unfurl
Covered in hearts
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Nodding (Musk) Thistle / Carduus nutans


The large Nodding or Musk Thistle is my favourite species of Thistle. When I saw this one, it was obviously well past its prime. Unfortunately, this quite spectacular and beautiful species is on the list of Restricted, Noxious, and Nuisance Weeds In Alberta. It is a biennial that spreads rapidly by seed forming extremely dense stands, though when I have seen this species growing in several places within the city, there are usually only a few of them. However, if they are left ....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduus_nutans
This photo was taken on 8 October 2015. Friend Sandy had asked if I wanted to go with her to join friends down at the Irrigation Canal in the city, for a birding walk. This was a long walk - three and a half hours - along both sides of the canal. It was a beautiful fall day with a lovely blue sky. Also, enough trees were still dressed in gold to give some colourful reflections in parts f the canal. The water level was very low, creating just a narrow strip of water with a wide mud bank on either side, that had attracted a number of Greater Yellowlegs and a single American Golden-plover juvenile. The latter was a new bird for me and, though I could only get a very distant, poor shot, I did post it on Flickr. To me, a juvenile American Golden Plover looks so similar to a juvenile Black-bellied Plover (from photos I've seen), but the ID for the bird we saw was given as American Golden-plover. Much of the time, there were pale, dead grasses in the background and this bird was almost invisible. Great camouflage.
We also saw several Hooded Mergansers there. I don't often see Hooded Mergansers and, when I do see one, it's always a long way away. They are quite spectacular ducks, especially the males, who have a crest at the back of their head and can raise this black and white "hood" or lower it.
The list of the 31 bird species seen (not all by me) from our leaders, Dan and David:
1. Canada Goose - 60+
2. Mallard - 150+
3. Northern Shoveler - 1
4. Green-winged Teal - 2
5. Hooded Merganser - 3 males
6. Common Merganser - 20+
7. Double-crested Cormorant - 4
8. Bald Eagle - 1, immature
9. Red-tailed Hawk - 1 (Harlan’s subspecies)
10. Rough-legged Hawk - 5 (4 dark phase, 1 light phase)
11. AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
12. Killdeer - 1
13. Greater Yellowlegs - 38+
14. Long-billed Dowitcher - 11
15. Ring-billed Gull - 400+
16. Herring Gull - 2
17. Rock Pigeon - 32+
18. Downy Woodpecker - 1
19. Hairy Woodpecker - 2
20. Northern Flicker - 2
21. Merlin - 2
22. Black-billed Magpie - 15+
23. American Crow - 6
24. Common Raven - 2
25. Black-capped Chickadee - 7
26. White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
27. American Robin - 8
28. European Starling - 18+
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2
30. American Tree Sparrow - 1
31. House Finch - 1
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduus_nutans
This photo was taken on 8 October 2015. Friend Sandy had asked if I wanted to go with her to join friends down at the Irrigation Canal in the city, for a birding walk. This was a long walk - three and a half hours - along both sides of the canal. It was a beautiful fall day with a lovely blue sky. Also, enough trees were still dressed in gold to give some colourful reflections in parts f the canal. The water level was very low, creating just a narrow strip of water with a wide mud bank on either side, that had attracted a number of Greater Yellowlegs and a single American Golden-plover juvenile. The latter was a new bird for me and, though I could only get a very distant, poor shot, I did post it on Flickr. To me, a juvenile American Golden Plover looks so similar to a juvenile Black-bellied Plover (from photos I've seen), but the ID for the bird we saw was given as American Golden-plover. Much of the time, there were pale, dead grasses in the background and this bird was almost invisible. Great camouflage.
We also saw several Hooded Mergansers there. I don't often see Hooded Mergansers and, when I do see one, it's always a long way away. They are quite spectacular ducks, especially the males, who have a crest at the back of their head and can raise this black and white "hood" or lower it.
The list of the 31 bird species seen (not all by me) from our leaders, Dan and David:
1. Canada Goose - 60+
2. Mallard - 150+
3. Northern Shoveler - 1
4. Green-winged Teal - 2
5. Hooded Merganser - 3 males
6. Common Merganser - 20+
7. Double-crested Cormorant - 4
8. Bald Eagle - 1, immature
9. Red-tailed Hawk - 1 (Harlan’s subspecies)
10. Rough-legged Hawk - 5 (4 dark phase, 1 light phase)
11. AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
12. Killdeer - 1
13. Greater Yellowlegs - 38+
14. Long-billed Dowitcher - 11
15. Ring-billed Gull - 400+
16. Herring Gull - 2
17. Rock Pigeon - 32+
18. Downy Woodpecker - 1
19. Hairy Woodpecker - 2
20. Northern Flicker - 2
21. Merlin - 2
22. Black-billed Magpie - 15+
23. American Crow - 6
24. Common Raven - 2
25. Black-capped Chickadee - 7
26. White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
27. American Robin - 8
28. European Starling - 18+
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2
30. American Tree Sparrow - 1
31. House Finch - 1
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