The joy of winter roads
Winner with its prey
Old prairie barn
A highlight of a bird count
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Mountain Chickadee / Poecile gambeli
Decorating the base of a tree
Quietly watching, always alert
Typically Western
Seedhead wisps
Great Gray Owl from 2013
Dreaming of spring
Peacefully waiting
Just needed colour
Such a beautiful owl
Taveta Golden Weaver
Mongoose Lemur
Mountain Goat
Perch with a good view
Heart of a Snowdrop
Chocolate Pansy / Chocolate Soldier / Junonia iphi…
Humboldt Penguin / Spheniscus humboldti
Guardian of the path
It's those white birds again
Colour from Ornamental Cabbages
Winter textures
Northern Hawk Owl
With a little filtered help
The old-fashioned way
Snowy Owl along the fenceline
Goat's-beard with visitor
Lying on a bed of hoarfrost
Northern Hawk Owl
Winter in the Nanton, Alberta, area
A backward glance
Red-winged Blackbird female or juvenile
Atop a utility pole
Summer colour
Meadow Vole for a tasty snack
Northern Hawk Owl
Non-wild horses in a wild landscape
Two of a family of three
Wolf's Milk Slime / Lycogala epidendrum
Northern Hawk Owl from 2016
Dark-eyed beauty
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The Sickener / Russula emetica?


Our bitterly cold weather continues. Yesterday, 6 February 2017, the forecast for this morning was -28C (windchill -35C!). Forecast for tomorrow morning is -27C (windchill -36C). After that, things are supposed to warm up, thank goodness. I haven't been out anywhere the last few days - too much new snow and such cold, cold weather. Almost unheard of, birding walks for yesterday and today were cancelled. Normally, many people will go, no matter how bad the weather. I tend to be a fair-weather photographer : )
On 8 August 2015, I decided to drive SW of the city for a while. It was a Saturday, so I thought I would go and check if there were other people parked at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. I had more or less stopped going into the forest there by myself, especially the last couple of years, knowing that Cougar and Bears can be seen there. All I have seen - so far! - is a large Moose on a couple of occasions. The place gives me the creeps, so I usually just walk through the trees closest to the parking lot.
Just a minute or two after entering the forest near the parking lot, I flushed a Grouse, which scared the life out of me. They tend to wait, hidden, and then when you are almost by them, they suddenly "explode" out of the bushes, making ones heart beat fast.
The opposite side of the trail, where I usually find a few mushrooms, had pools of water after the two devastating rain and hail storms that we had had recently. With several cars in the small parking lot, I decided to go just a short way into the park, trying to forget that animals can "smell fear". I did come across a few quite nice mushrooms, but with such a dry, hot summer, this season has not been good for fungi. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is "The Sickener" / Russula emetica fungus, as it has a red cap and a white stalk.
"Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula, one of many species with a predominantly red-coloured cap and white gills and stalk. It gets its common name from its inedibility, as it causes vomiting and diarrhea when consumed. It has an extremely peppery taste, which is said partly to disappear on cooking, along with its toxicity, though eating it is not recommended. Mixing one emetica with otherwise edible red Russula will ruin the whole meal, and it is a common reason some do not pick any red Russula-species." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula_emetica
The second time my heart started beating really fast was when I was trying to focus on a mushroom and I was aware of a deep, huffing kind of sound coming from right behind me. Turning around, dreading what I might see, I discovered it was just a small Red Squirrel, low down on his/her tree, just a couple of feet away from me. I've never ever heard a Squirrel make this kind of sound before! Sounded rather like what I imagine a bear might sound like, ha.
Almost back at the edge of the forest, I was happy as can be to hear quite a commotion that I recognized as being American Three-toed Woodpeckers. There were three of them high up in a tree, with at least one of them being a noisy, hungry juvenile that was feeding itself but every now and then would want the adult to feed it. This species is uncommon in Alberta, year round, so it's always a treat to see one - and especially three.
On 8 August 2015, I decided to drive SW of the city for a while. It was a Saturday, so I thought I would go and check if there were other people parked at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. I had more or less stopped going into the forest there by myself, especially the last couple of years, knowing that Cougar and Bears can be seen there. All I have seen - so far! - is a large Moose on a couple of occasions. The place gives me the creeps, so I usually just walk through the trees closest to the parking lot.
Just a minute or two after entering the forest near the parking lot, I flushed a Grouse, which scared the life out of me. They tend to wait, hidden, and then when you are almost by them, they suddenly "explode" out of the bushes, making ones heart beat fast.
The opposite side of the trail, where I usually find a few mushrooms, had pools of water after the two devastating rain and hail storms that we had had recently. With several cars in the small parking lot, I decided to go just a short way into the park, trying to forget that animals can "smell fear". I did come across a few quite nice mushrooms, but with such a dry, hot summer, this season has not been good for fungi. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is "The Sickener" / Russula emetica fungus, as it has a red cap and a white stalk.
"Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula, one of many species with a predominantly red-coloured cap and white gills and stalk. It gets its common name from its inedibility, as it causes vomiting and diarrhea when consumed. It has an extremely peppery taste, which is said partly to disappear on cooking, along with its toxicity, though eating it is not recommended. Mixing one emetica with otherwise edible red Russula will ruin the whole meal, and it is a common reason some do not pick any red Russula-species." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula_emetica
The second time my heart started beating really fast was when I was trying to focus on a mushroom and I was aware of a deep, huffing kind of sound coming from right behind me. Turning around, dreading what I might see, I discovered it was just a small Red Squirrel, low down on his/her tree, just a couple of feet away from me. I've never ever heard a Squirrel make this kind of sound before! Sounded rather like what I imagine a bear might sound like, ha.
Almost back at the edge of the forest, I was happy as can be to hear quite a commotion that I recognized as being American Three-toed Woodpeckers. There were three of them high up in a tree, with at least one of them being a noisy, hungry juvenile that was feeding itself but every now and then would want the adult to feed it. This species is uncommon in Alberta, year round, so it's always a treat to see one - and especially three.
Pam J has particularly liked this photo
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