Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: black frame

Wishing all my fellow Canadians a really happy and SAFE Canada Day Take great care on the roads if you are going to be driving! How lucky we all are to live in a country that provides us with amazing freedom to do what we want to do and to be who we hope to be. Something to be remembered and thankful for, each and every day! A special wish and thank-you for all those Canadians who are serving our country, especially overseas! Now, if only the winters weren't so cold : ) "Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada) is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire. Originally called Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Confédération), the holiday was renamed in 1982, the year the Canada Act was passed. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as among Canadians internationally." From Wikipedia. This photo was taken on 27 June 2018, when I was at the Reader Rock Garden, looking across to the Stampede Grounds. The wind helped the flag stay unfurled, but was not helpful at all when trying to photograph the flowers.

If you're not familiar with this wonderful, very tiny plant, you wouldn't believe how extremely tiny it is. Stems are 3 - 20 cm tall, and (in my eyes) look like a short, thin strand of thread, almost invisible amongst the other plants in the forest. The seed capsules, 2 - 3 mm long, open widely into shallow cups containing shiny, black seeds that ripen in late-summer. Also known as "Bishop's-Cap". Needless to say, this is a supermacro : ) Photographed at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park.

We noticed a number of these beautifully round mounds of crumbled sand and rock, when we explored Horseshoe Canyon in the Badlands north east of Calgary, mid-June. I don't know what kind of Ant made these tiny holes and mounds, but they were so round and perfect. This one was maybe a couple of inches in diameter. Got home about an hour ago, after a lovely (though a little too warm for me) day botanizing part of the beautiful land belonging to Angela Cumberland and Patrick Brennan. This lies to the north west of the city and was a mix of forest, open meadows and a "bog". This family very generously supplied a delicious Chili and salad lunch for us, too! What an absolute treat - and many thanks from all of us!! Hope you will find the eventual list of flora and fauna observed today interesting and useful : ) Thanks so much for allowing us to explore your property! Oh, and on the way home, we stopped in Cochrane for one of their famous ice-creams ; )

Wishing all my fellow Canadians a really happy and SAFE Canada Day tomorrow and the long weekend. Take great care on the roads if you are going to be driving! How lucky we all are to live in a country that provides us with amazing freedom to do what we want to do and to be who we hope to be. Now, if only the winters weren't so cold : ) LOL, if you only knew how many photos of this flag I took late this afternoon. It was really windy out and the flag was blown in every possible way except showing the Maple Leaf! After my volunteer shift this afternoon, I decided to call in at Reader Rock Garden on my way home, as I knew there was a flag flying there. Much too windy for flower photos - the flowers blew in and out of the viewfinder - but I still took a pile of colourful shots, IF they are sharp enough. After that, I called in to see the family of five Great Horned Owls in Fish Creek Park. I don't go very often, as I'd rather give them peace and quiet (especially from photographers!!). When I eventually found them (in a different place this time), all three little ones were hanging out together on a curved branch. I did get one distant shot through the trees, but didn't want to get any closer and disturb them. Not sure if it's fit to post, but I might post it sometime. just to give you an idea of what I saw, especially for those of you who never get to see owls..

I was unbelievably saddened this morning when I read on friend Art's (LeapFrog!) photostream that Phoenix, the young Bald Eagle on Hornby Island (off the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada), had died, at 76 days old. So many people have been watching this amazing story unfold over the last few months, thanks to the webcam that Doug and Sheila Carrick have so kindly and generously provided, not just this year, but for some time. This pair of Eagles have been observed laying eggs in this nest since 1990, so they are at least 25 years old. Phoenix was almost ready in the coming week to make her very first "flight" to a nearby branch, but instead, she will now be flying "over the Rainbow Bridge", in endless skies and sunlight. A handful of years, and she will have become a beautiful adult like the one in my image, taken at the Calgary Zoo. For those of you who find yourself becoming very attached to a wild creature, you will understand just how close that bond can become. I know I will never look at a majestic Bald Eagle in the same way again. Watching daily as this tiny "ball of fluff with the big feet" grew and grew to almost the size of her parents, the care with which the adults fed and looked after their little one was heart-warming and impressive. I have found myself sometimes thinking, as I watched the webcam, that if only every single human child could receive such caring, the world would be a much better, happier place! This family of Bald Eagles had (and will continue to have) so much to teach us, including that Nature can be sad, too - but Nature usually does such a good job of balancing its own without human interference. My heart goes out to Mom and Dad Eagle and to Doug and Sheila, who have enabled us to witness (yet again) both the miracles and sadness of Nature. Thanks also to all the followers who have kept us all up-to-date on the Hornby Island website forum - you must all be sharing the same deep sadness today. A few moments ago, we saw an experienced tree climber (Dan Hamilton), who had been specially called in as fast as possible, reach the nest and bring Phoenix down so that a necropsy can be performed and important information can be shared. R.I.P., young Phoenix. Sorry, I've ended up swamping you with my photos, today ...

Thought I'd give you a break from all my wildflower images, which I know are boring to most of you, LOL! When I dragged myself out of bed one morning recently, this is that I saw in front of me. The sun (now, which day was THAT??) was streaming through my bedroom blinds, leaving these diagonal stripes on a small, white cupboard.

Spotted this very small spider (sorry, fotographix.ca, you commented before I typed my description!) on the cracked, parched floor of Horseshoe Canyon three days ago. This Canyon is part of the spectacular Badlands of Alberta - land of the Dinosaurs! - and is found just before you reach Drumheller, coming from Calgary. Haven't identified this little guy, but he looks different from spiders that I've seen before. (By the way, I added the black frame because the photo just looked so washed out on a white page background. I do this with some of my photos, but just for myself at home. I find that photos without frames make more attractive (to my mind) mosaics, which is why I don't normally post the framed versions here on Flickr.) Thanks so much to The Kav (Pat Kavanagh) and Lynette S. for the ID of Wolf Spider (probably Pardosa sp.). Much appreciated.