Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: yellow/orange

As usual, any fungi IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat! You could end up very sick, or worse. Another gloomy morning today, 14 September 2019, but the sun did appear sometimes in the afternoon. It definitely feels and looks like fall. It will soon be time to get all-season tires off and winter tires put on. This afternoon, a few of us were fortunate enough to go on yet another fungi walk, this time SW of the city, to a new-to-us acreage. We were shown quite a mix of fungi species, and we were accompanied the whole time by the owners' two beautiful, friendly dogs. What I would give to have even a tenth of the energy that these dogs had! First, however, I wanted to add a few more photos tonight, taken at Rod Handfield's acreage, visited on 8 September. Six days ago, on 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I believe this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. This last visit was so overwhelming! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry. A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking and fresh air, but also because of all the excitement. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then whenever I have checked. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year. As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with identifications. I'm sure at least some of us are anxiously waiting for you to have time, in between leading botany walks, to post some of your photos along with their IDs. Meanwhile, "fungus" has to be sufficient for many of them.

This photo was taken on 19 March 2017, at the Asa Wright Nature Centre, on the island of Trinidad, where we stayed for five days. ID kindly supplied by Wendy Cutler! "Sunset Bells is an interesting plant from the Caribbean. Yellow flowers with bright orange sepal cups form a colorful ground cover. The yellow flowers are short-lived, but the orange sepal cups last for many days and give the plant an everblooming effect. The dark, glossy, toothed leaves make this plant attractive even when it is not in bloom. It is a perennial herb that can be grown as a house-plant. From spring to summer it is covered with very showy orange-red flowers. The bright yellow corolla, with some red striping or spotting, is about twice the length of the sepal cup, with a narrow tube and flaring lobes. Leaves are large, dark-green with brown touch, very ornamental. The stems are thick and succulent, usually upright. The plant forms a dense mountain of flowers and foliage. The plant forms tubers at the base of the stem, and sometimes also in the leaf axils. The name is taken from mythology - Chryso Themis was a daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, of Greek mythology. Pulchella means beautiful." From link below. www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Sunset Bells.html 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 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 - 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

I wasn't going to post any photos this morning, as I knew I had to set my alarm clocks for 5:00 am. Annoyingly, I woke up some time before the alarms went off, so I decided to quickly edit a couple of photos to add. This one was taken at the Reader Rock Garden on 27 June 2017. This bright and cheery flower is called Globe Flower or Globeflower. "Trollius is a genus of about 30 species of plants in the family Ranunculaceae, closely related to Ranunculus. The common name of some species is globeflower or globe flower. Native to the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest diversity of species in Asia, trollius usually grow in heavy, wet clay soils. All trollius species are poisonous to cattle and other livestock when fresh, but their acrid taste means they are usually left uneaten. They are, however, used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Silver-ground Carpet." From Wikipedia.