Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: dense

I wish I could remember where friends and I went on our last morning, 20 March 2017, on the island of Trinidad. When I Google the names of two bird species that we saw only in that area, the name Wallerfield Airfield comes up, so maybe that is where I took two of the three photos posted this morning, 27 February 2018. This was just a short, morning outing, before returning to Asa Wright, where we spent the afternoon photographing some of the birds and packing our bags ready for leaving in the middle of the night (around 2:00 am?) to catch our flight home. One of our first stops that morning was at the place seen in the next photo. Just off to the left of that photo, we saw a little Bran-coloured Flycatcher, and a Masked Yellowthroat (seen in the above photo). This is a male - the female does not have a mask. There was also a pair of Ruddy Ground-doves. I was quite surprised to see the rather fine houses in this area. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_yellowthroat This adventure was only the second holiday of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my dear friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could choose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! We were so lucky with our flights, as we were just in time to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up the mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a minibus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way. I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure. This is a video that I came across on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it. youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015. youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 27 July 2017. I decided to get up early and do a repeat botany walk at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area, not far from downtown. One of the reasons I did this, was that I really dislike doing this drive, especially knowing that I could so easily end up in the downtown area - which I avoid at all cost. So, a bit like getting back on a horse if one is thrown off, I hoped a second drive might make me feel more comfortable. Also, I really wanted to hopefully see a Wild European Rabbit or two, and sure enough, they didn't disappoint. Black and white, plain black, light brown, mid-brown. A few more photos of the Nodding/Musk Thistles were also on my mind. The Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area, not far from downtown Calgary, is the richest botanical area, for its size, within the city. Over 385 species have been recorded in an area of about three hectares. (All of Fish Creek Provincial Park has only about 460 species). Eighty species, however, are aliens, now occupying 90+% of the area. It is such a shame to see how the area is being devastated by plants that include Baby's Breath, Creeping Thistle, Nodding Thistle, Yellow Clematis and other invasive species. Common Tansy, seen in this photo, is one of the weeds growing at this location. In Alberta, its rating is Noxious. A shame, really, as its bright yellow, button-like flowers are quite attractive. "Common tansy is a perennial forb that reproduces by both seed and short rhizomes (underground horizontal roots). Introduced from Europe in the 1600’s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals." www.abinvasives.ca/factsheets/140513-fs-commontansy.pdf We are still under a Heat Warning. This morning, I happened to check the forecast for the coming week and, so far, the temperatures for next Thursday and Friday are 35C and 34C. The average high for the month of July is 22.9C. There are fire bans in many places in Alberta, as everywhere is bone dry.

Early hours of the morning, on 4 April 2017, and I have just posted a whole pile of photos so that I can put them into my Trinidad & Tobago albums. I think I have pretty well finished Day 2 of our trip, apart from a handful of remaining images. There are several photos that are just about as bad as they could possibly be - posting them just for the record of what birds I saw. Will post two more when I have had some sleep, and they will be my main photos for today. No need to comment on the few dozen shots I've just added. I don't know how other people edit and upload all their holiday photos in such a short time - it's taking me forever : ) And now I must get to bed - it's 2:30 am! On 14 March, our second day on Tobago, we were taken to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve via the Roxborough-Parlatuvier Rd. This is the oldest rainforest reserve in the western hemisphere, set up in 1776 under British rule. There are various trails here, with Gilpin Trace being the best known. It had been arranged that a man would be there with the back of his truck full of rubber boots that we could rent - and how grateful we were that we now had what turned out to be much-needed footwear. He was a real entrepreneur. Our guide was Gladwyn James, whose father, Adolphus James, is a renowned ornithologist on the island. Unfortunately, he is now retired. One of the roads we drove along was named "James Path" in honour of his father - I posted a photo of Gladwyn standing by the road sign. Actually, I sent the photo to our main naturalist here, as he had done a similar outing with Gladwyn's father, back on 2nd March 1978! Bear with me, everyone, as I think I am going to have to post 5 photos (I posted 6 the first two days) from my trip each day, otherwise it will take me many months (years?) to get them on to Flickr. Obviously, no comments expected, unless you happen to notice that I have given the wrong ID for something or maybe if you like one photo in particular. Actually, I am so disappointed with my photos - never have so many (bird) photos come out blurry, many totally blurry and no use at all. I'm not sure why, though the light was often really bad and maybe the humidity had some effect. For some species, I will be posting awful shots, just for the record. I might even post a pile of photos at a time some evenings, when far fewer people are on Flickr, and then post a few better images the following morning. Won't even stop and add descriptions, etc., just so that I can get my photos added to my albums. It will take me forever to do much of a write-up about this trip, but I hope to add an extra bit of information about each photo to the very simple, basic description. Right now, I'm still working out just where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary in the evening of 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself somewhat organized and should be seeing to all sorts of important things. Instead, of course, I have been stuck in front of my computer all day, each day : ) Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting - but a thrill, of course! In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago. Still can't believe I've actually had this trip! This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on the much larger island of Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to squeeze past each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road took just over an hour each way. I'm already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

This is the first photo I've posted from 31 August 2016, when I paid a quick visit to a couple of places in Fish Creek Park. I don't remember too much about it, except that I had picked up my new car just two days earlier and I was concentrating really hard on driving it : ) My first stop was at Burnsmead, as I wanted to check yet again to see if there were any mushrooms - a few years ago, I had photographed several amazing ones, including Stinkhorns and Bird's nest fungi. Since then, I haven't really seen any mushrooms there. A quick walk around the storm-water ponds found me this Katydid (?) on a Common Tansy plant. I think I have only ever once seen a Katydid and, now that I think about it, that, too, had been found at Burnsmead. Though Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a noxious weed that grows in our natural areas, I still like coming across it, with its beautiful bright yellow, button-like flowers. "Introduced from Europe in the 1600’s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals. Because of its long medicinal and horticultural use, Common tansy is still available in plant nurseries and from herbal remedy suppliers. Gardeners should not purchase Common tansy." "The family Tettigoniidae, known in American English as katydids and in British English as bush-crickets, contains more than 6,400 species. It is part of the suborder Ensifera and the only family in the superfamily Tettigonoidea. They are also known as long-horned grasshoppers, although they are more closely related to crickets than to grasshoppers. Tettigoniids may be distinguished from grasshoppers by the length of their antennae, which may exceed their own body length, while in grasshoppers are always relatively short. The name "katydid" comes from the sound produced by species of the North American genus Pterophylla (literally "winged leaf"). The males of katydids have sound-producing organs (via stridulation) located on the hind angles of their front wings, which in some species produce a sound thought to resemble the words "Katy did, Katy didn't", hence the name. In some species females are also capable of stridulation. There are about 255 species in North America, but the majority of species live in the tropical regions of the world. The diet of tettigoniids includes leaves, flowers, bark, and seeds, but many species are exclusively predatory, feeding on other insects, snails or even small vertebrates such as snakes and lizards. Some are also considered pests by commercial crop growers and are sprayed to limit growth." From Wikipedia. Birds seen included a Double-crested Cormorant, Coots, Mallrds, a Clay-coloured Sparrow, and a Pied-billed Grebe. A short while later, I called in at Sikome for a few minutes, just long enough to photograph a row of about eight Mallards resting on a log in the creek. Felt kind of sorry for the males who were in eclipse mode, so had brown heads instead of their gorgeous, iridescent green/purple.

This was a new plant found on 21 August 2010, on a climb down into Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, north east of Calgary. I have never seen it anywhere since. The whole, solitary plant (a dense, spike-like cluster), was maybe three inches tall. I will add a previously posted macro of just a few of the very tiny flowers in the cluster in a comment box below. This is native to North America. In a United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, for Dinosaur Provincial Park, also in the Badlands of Alberta, the following was reported: "Threatened species, or those at the limit of their biogeographic range, include Orobanche ludoviciana ..." "Louisiana Broomrape has no chlorophyll and is parasitic on species of Artemisia spp. and other members of the aster family. There are over a 100 species of Orobanche identified worldwide and a number of them are very serious economic crop pests in arid regions, by starving their host plants of nutrients and moisture." From Minnesota wildflowers. www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/louisiana-broomrape This is where a group of us spent the day botanizing. To the north east of our city, there are endless miles of flat prairie. Then, suddenly, one comes across the amazing Badlands - our own mini Grand Canyon! This is one of the best-known sites in the Canadian Badlands, located 17 kilometres west of Drumheller on Highway 9. Horseshoe Canyon is about 145 km (88 miles) from Calgary. It takes between 1½ hours and 2 hours to drive there from Calgary. "Horseshoe Canyon is an isolated pocket of badlands amidst the Alberta prairie. Apart from its aesthetic value, Horseshoe Canyon also represents three unique habitats or ecosystems: the prairie, the wooded coulee slopes and the badlands." www.natureconservancy.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=ab_ncc_... www.tyrrellmuseum.com/

On 16 August 2015, I went with a group of friends to Carburn Park to look for Warblers and several species were seen by at least some of the group. Group size was much too large even after splitting in half, but I think everyone was so thankful that it wasn't raining, unlike the previous day of heavy rain, that they came out to enjoy the sunshine. I enjoyed seeing a Merlin, a number of Double-crested Cormorants, and several Pelicans that flew overhead. Without binoculars, I didn't really see any of the Warblers, except for a quick glimpse of one Yellow-rumped Warbler. As you can see from this photo, my eyes were not always looking upwards : ) On any birding walk, I'm always looking around me to see what else there is to photograph. We tend to walk on such uneven ground, that my eyes are mostly downwards anyway, making sure I don't catch my foot in a hole or go flying over a fallen branch or log. This Common Tansy plant was growing along the edge of the path. Though Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a noxious weed that grows in our natural areas, I still like coming across it, with its beautiful bright yellow, button-like flowers. "Introduced from Europe in the 1600’s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals. Because of its long medicinal and horticultural use, Common tansy is still available in plant nurseries and from herbal remedy suppliers. Gardeners should not purchase Common tansy."

Though Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a weed that grows in our parks and natural areas, I still like coming across it, with its beautiful bright yellow, button-like flowers. This particular plant was photographed at Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Provincial Park, on 14 September 2014. In Alberta, this plant is listed as Noxious. It was a beautiful, sunny day - hard to believe that we had had two heavy, late-summer snowfalls on 9 and 10 September. "Introduced from Europe in the 1600’s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals. Because of its long medicinal and horticultural use, Common tansy is still available in plant nurseries and from herbal remedy suppliers. Gardeners should not purchase Common tansy."

This was such a beautifully dense cluster of Elephant's Head, only maybe 4 or 5 feet across. Noticed late yesterday afternoon from my car, growing at my favourite little wetland SW of the city. At the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house yesterday. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, it had to have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and of flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one. Would love to get in my car and go out again today, but I have things to get done and I don't want to overdo the driving, in case I make my shoulders any worse.

Though Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a weed that grows in our natural areas, I still like coming across it, with its beautiful bright yellow, button-like flowers. This particular plant was photographed on the Marston Creek Trail in Kananaskis, but I could just have easily photographed it in the city, such as in Fish Creek Park. In Alberta, this plant is listed as Noxious. "Introduced from Europe in the 1600’s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals. Because of its long medicinal and horticultural use, Common tansy is still available in plant nurseries and from herbal remedy suppliers. Gardeners should not purchase Common tansy." www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/Downloads/FS-CommonTansy.pdf