Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Chives

It's -1C this morning and heavily overcast, but supposed to get up to 6C this afternoon. The next four days are expected to be between 10C and 12C, which would be good. Thought I'd post something bright and cheery - also in case anyone is getting fed up of seeing owl photos : ) On 7 June 2015, it was a hot day – way too hot for my liking. I was not keen on the idea of being out in the sun for three hours, but neither could I have stayed in my place one more minute - it felt like an oven! I decided to join birding friends for a walk at the west end of South Glenmore Park and we had a lovely, leisurely walk, stopping often to look at, or listen to, a variety of birds. I think my favourites were a pair of colourful American Goldfinch. It was also fun to see a little Black-capped Chickadee looking out from its nest cavity. There were quite a few species of wildflower as well. I so rarely go on a walk these days, so I tend to miss many of the wildflowers. The Chive flowers in this photo were taken during this walk, but I can't remember where I saw them. I know it was at or near the end of the walk, so maybe they were growing near our meeting place by the Sailing Club in South Glenmore Park. Will add Janet and Bernie’s bird list below, for my own memory. Thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon, both of you! A stop afterwards at the Good Earth café was so much appreciated, too. 1. Great Blue Heron - 1 2. Canada Goose - 40 3. Mallard - 5 4. Gadwall - 2 5. Swainson's Hawk - 1 6. Franklin's Gull - 30+ 7. Woodpecker sp. likely Sapsucker - 1 8. Olive-sided Flycatcher -1 9. Least Flycatcher - 12 10. Red-eyed Vireo - 2 11. Black-billed Magpie - 1 12. American Crow - 4 13. Common Raven - 1 14. Tree Swallow - 4 15. Black-capped Chickadee - 2 @nest site. 16. House Wren - 11 17. American Robin - 6 18. Cedar Waxwing - 6 19. Yellow Warbler - 10 20. Chipping Sparrow - 1 21. Clay-coloured Sparrow - 4 22. Baltimore Oriole - 1 23. Red-winged Blackbird - 3 24. Brown-headed Cowbird - 3 25. House Finch - 3 26. American Goldfinch - 5 27. House Sparrow - 2 Least Chipmunk - 1 Muskrat - 1 Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly - 10+ Blue Azure - 1 Alpine sp. Butterfly - 15+

"In the city of Calgary the air quality health index was off the charts through the overnight hours Tuesday (25 August 2015), peaking at 19 on a scale where 10 is considered "high." The smoke is being blown here from the northwestern United States. It affected the visibility the whole day, so there was no sign of the distant mountains and even the hills and fields closest to us. Most unpleasant, and I don't know how people who live much closer to the wildfires are managing! So many Firefighters bravely battling the flames down in this whole area, as well as all those fighting the fires in British Columbia! Added on 27 August - apparently, a spider had climbed inside the equipment used to track air quality and this had given the inaccurate ratings! Air quality was really bad, though. Yesterday morning, 25 August, 10 of us arrived at a friend's house, ready to go north of Calgary to near Sundre, for a few hours of botanizing, This was the second visit to Judy Osborne's for a few of us, me included. The previous trip was on 30 June 2015. By now, of course, a lot of the wildflowers are finished, but I found enough other things to photograph, including a distant, beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, plus a few of the plants in my friends' garden at the beginning and end of the day. When we were looking at their enormous vegetable garden late afternoon, I noticed this small Chives flower. I moved so that the vibrant colour of Chard (?) filled the background - and then a little bee flew in : ) Thanks to Art (Leapfrog) for the ID: Red Belted Bumble Bee / Bombus rufocinctus. Thanks so much, Judy, for having us out on your beautiful property again. It was a most enjoyable day, despite the dreadful, smoke-filled air. We look forward to being out there again next year! Many thanks, too, to Barry, who drove a few of us out there and back to Calgary. A long, long drive and it was much appreciated!

There were lots of these Wild Chives growing in the meadows of Plateau Mountain yesterday, when a group of us spent a few hours botanizing the area.

As we were climbing down from the ridge at Plateau Mountain on July 17th and were almost back at the gravel road where our car was parked at the locked gate, we came across quite a few of these beautiful Wild Chives plants. By then, the last thing my body felt like doing was to get down to plant level one more time, knowing I'd find it really difficult to get back up again. However, I'm so glad I did. I love the way these small buds eventually burst and some of the petals show (will post a photo another day).

I love seeing Chives growing in the wild. Also known as Purple Onion. Took this macro shot of a bursting bud during a botanizing hike on Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis, on July 17th. www.mountainnature.com/Plants/PlantsLatinNameResult.asp?I...

I don't come across Wild Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) very often, but we found this one on a walk in Edworthy Park (Lawrey Gardens end) a couple of evenings ago. It is a native, common wildflower. Blooms July-August in moist meadows. "Although the leaves and bulbs were used to flavour food, they were also used to treat colds and coughs by Native peoples. The juice was boiled to make a thick syrup, or the bulbs were sliced and placed in sugar. The resulting liquids were used as cough syrup." From "Plants of Alberta" by Royer and Dickinson.

I got the chance to photograph these gorgeous Chives that were growing in a friend's garden the other week - thanks Dorothy and Stephen! This little bee also came along to admire a flower, giving me the opportunity to capture the contrasting colours. These small bees are such a pretty colour : )