Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: fog

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise yesterday, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city on 4 January, after already waiting a couple of months to get out east and northeast. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day on 4th January, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud yesterday morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely be able to see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality. I added a touch of filter to this photo, to bring out a few more details.

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise yesterday, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city on 4 January, after already waiting a couple of months to get out east and northeast. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day on 4th January, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud yesterday morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely be able to see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned some white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise today, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city yesterday, after already waiting a couple of months. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight last night, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud this morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise today, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city yesterday, after already waiting a couple of months. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight last night, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud this morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise today, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east and northeast of the city yesterday, after already waiting a couple of months. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight last night, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud this morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise today, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city yesterday, after already waiting a couple of months. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight last night, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud this morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

Yesterday, 29 February 2016 (Leap Year!), the weather reminded me of our annual Audubon High River Christmas Bird Count, back on 15 December 2015. Yesterday was foggy, frosty and with treacherous roads. Thankfully, I didn't have to go out anywhere. On 15 December 2015, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. As you can see from this photo, taken at the outlet at Frank Lake where there was a bit of open water, it was cold but beautiful. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my photos are rather grainy or just too blurred to post. The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the bit of open water. So beautiful. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:30 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home. I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

At home, waiting to hear that my car has been repaired and is ready to be picked up. I'm also running out of time (about 3 hours left) to go and pick up and pay for a bus ticket for a day trip to the mountains next weekend. Not sure what happens with this group, but hopefully my name won't be removed from the list if I can't make it today. I did e-mail two people, but haven't heard back from either of them. Wasn't expecting my vehicle to need two days for repairs, but can't be helped - and brakes that need repair are nothing to mess around with! Just hoping I can get it back in time to go and pay for my ticket. This morning, it is lightly snowing and temperature is -10C (windchill -13C). As for the above photo, this was taken at the start of a long day of birding, when 8 brave souls faced the elements in order to document the birds and other wildlife east of High River. After less than two hours' sleep (for me) and setting my alarm clocks for some unearthly hour, this was our reward. Just like a year ago (2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Or is this kind of frost called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them. cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th... On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large, 15-mile diameter count circle around the town of High River, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected (not seen in this photo) in the open water. So beautiful. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way home. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. LINK TO HIGH RIVER BIRD COUNT 2014 album, for comparison: www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157649826692885 I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

On 15 December 2015, everywhere was covered in glorious hoar frost. Can't, for the life of me, think what these plants are that line the path and boardwalk leading to the bird blind at Frank Lake. They looked so pretty in their coating of white. You can see the frozen lake in the distance. This was near the start of a long day of birding, when 8 brave souls faced the elements in order to document the birds and other wildlife east of High River. After less than two hours' sleep (for me) and setting our alarm clocks for some unearthly hour, we were rewarded with such beauty. Just like a year ago (December 2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Not sure if some of the frost is called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them. On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large, 15-mile diameter count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence, so a limit was put on the number of participants. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. After our very first stop at Frank Lake, we then drove the various backroads around and near the lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way to the Potluck supper. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious potluck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. LINK TO MY HIGH RIVER BIRD COUNT 2014 album, for comparison: www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157649826692885 I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

R.I.P. Gary. Posting so late today, around 12:00 noon! This was the start of a long day of birding, when 8 brave souls faced the elements in order to document the birds and other wildlife east of High River. After less than two hours' sleep (for me) and setting our alarm clocks for some unearthly hour, this was our reward. Just like a year ago (2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Or is this kind of frost called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them. cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th... On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large, 15-mile diameter count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected (not seen in this photo) in the open water. So beautiful. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way home. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. LINK TO HIGH RIVER BIRD COUNT 2014 album, for comparison: www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157649826692885 I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

Just like a year ago (2014), on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep. Everything was covered in delicate hoar frost. Or is this kind of frost called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them. cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th... On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, just over half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at the outlet and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful. This photo was taken when we walked to the blind, looking out over the frosty landscape. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Highway 2, on our way home. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

Just like a year ago, on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, our Count on 15 December 2015 started off while it was still dark, and it was foggy with a most wonderful hoar frost. Not the best conditions for taking photos, though, especially with a point-and-shoot camera. Many of my photos taken very early morning came out far too blurry to keep - this one of tall Cattails growing near the outlet at Frank Lake, has a little bit of sharpness, and it still shows the amazing way everything, including these tall Cattails, was covered in delicate hoar frost. Or is this kind of frost called Rime Ice? There was no snow on the ground, but it was covered in similar crystals, which crunched as we walked on them. cathybell.org/2013/01/02/hoar-frost-and-rime-ice-whats-th... On this day, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C or colder) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count. The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. It was great when those of us riding in the one car, saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:45 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by generous birding people who live in or near High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time year-round, searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw when we were at the Potluck and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. Definitely not just for people who have a garden and bird feeders. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An...

Yesterday, 15 December 2015, I went with a group of 7 friends to take part in the first annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count of the season. This is one of my favourite counts, mainly because our small group covers one of my favourite areas, SE of the city. Other birders covered the rest of the large count circle around the town of High River, SE of Calgary, roughly half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary. Our group was limited to just two carloads of people. When there is a convoy of vehicles, everything takes much longer, and on an important count day, time is of the essence. We met in the city at 7:15 am and drove southwards into fog - dense fog! This is not what people hope for when out looking for birds, ha. The temperature was around -12C (so I'm guessing the windchill was somewhere around -18C) when we set out, warming to 1C later on. Everywhere was covered in beautiful hoar frost, which lasted a good part of the day. Just the same weather as when we did this count in December 2014. As you can see from this photo, taken at the outlet at Frank Lake where there was a bit of open water, it was cold but beautiful. I always hope for a hoar frost for this count, though because the light was so bad, most of my photos are rather grainy (or just too blurred to post). The sun came up when we were standing at this spot and for just a few brief seconds, it was reflected in the open water. So beautiful. After our very first stop here, we then drove the various backroads around and near Frank Lake, calling in at several farms to ask permission to look around their farmyards, hoping to find a different species to add to our list. I will add our leader's final list below - not a great number of species, but a few nice ones, including two very, very distant Snowy Owls. "Frank Lake CBC, SE quadrant, S of Hwy 23, E of Hwy 2. 0800-1645, Tue, 15 Dec. 2015. Clear sky, but heavy ground fog obscured viewing of open water at Frank Lake, and coated vegetation with hoarfrost, which lasted most of the day. W. wind, up to 15kph. -12 to 01°C. No snow on ground (just hoarfrost), streams partly open. Km by Car-110:, Km on foot; 3; Time by car – 7 hr; Time on foot -1:45 min. Totals are all in IBA (in bird area), unless specified Off IBA. IBA territory was East of 152 St, S to 594 Av; then E to 168 St, then S to 626 Av. Canada Goose-80 Gadwall-1 m Green-winged Teal-1 f. Lesser Scaup-1 m. Bald Eagle-1 ad, flying S at 1445 over Davey Jones’ place.. Killdeer -3 Rock Pigeon-9 on N. side #23 // 30 on IBA terr. // 3 Off IBA Great Horned Owl-8 (4 in Harley Sutherland’s yard). Snowy Owl-2 Black-billed Magpie-17 // 31 Off IBA. Common Raven-13 // 8 Off IBA Horned Lark?? – 10, seen flying low, by Jim St. L European Starling-1 on N side #23 // 26. American Tree Sparrow- 12 Song Sparrow?? – 1 (seen three times near outfall, but in heavy fog). Common Redpoll- 155 // 87 Off IBA House Sparrow- 128 // 77 Off IBA Reported seen by Mr/Mrs Gordon Fraser, Off IBA, in Little Bow River valley, today: Ring-necked Pheasant-1; Northern Flicker-1. (Also photographed Long-tailed Weasel-1). Coyote- 1 on ice of Frank Lake Deer sp.-3 Mule Deer -7, off S. Side of CBC Terr." Of course, as always happens on any trip, I just had to take photos of anything else that caught my eye, including barns, scenery, and so on. We had finished our count by around 4:30 pm, by which time it was completely dark. Some of us stayed for the delicious pot luck supper, mainly provided by the generous birding people down in High River. Thanks to everyone who got this ready for us - delicious and hugely appreciated! A special thanks to Greg Wagner who always organizes this count. He is a truly dedicated birder, who puts in so much time searching for and recording what birds are being seen in that whole area. Thanks, too, to Lorrie and John who drove two of us for the whole day. Can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to do this count. A lot of driving for you and it was greatly appreciated. It was great when we saw our 9th Great Horned Owl along H'way 23, just E of Hway 2, on our way home. I was lucky enough to get my name called in a draw and was given a copy of Myrna Pearman's beautiful new book: "Backyard Bird Feeding: an Alberta Guide". This complete guide to year-round bird feeding in Alberta is beautifully laid out with so many great photos and masses of information. A delightful book! Thank you, Russ Amy, for donating this copy specially for the draw! I also bought a copy to give to friends when I next see them. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/store/p1/BACKYARD_BIRD_FEEDING%3A_An... I now need to get myself ready for having to go out into a winter wonderland today, for a volunteer shift. It snowed last night, so I have a few inches of the white stuff to clear off my vehicle. If truth were known, I think I would prefer to grab my camera and go for a walk or a short drive, but that will have to wait till another day : ) Well, I'll still grab my camera. Temperature is -6C, windchill -8C, this morning.

On Sunday, 9 November 2014, my youngest daughter and I went south of the city to the Millarville Christmas Market. I haven’t been to Christmas craft fairs or markets for years, so this made a change. I wasn't sure what the roads were going to be like after it had been snowing, but they could have been worse. The fog, though, especially early in the morning on our drive out there, was something else, with low visibility! It was cold, too! After wandering around the market, I drove eastwards to De Winton, as I wanted to show my daughter a couple of barns in that area and also two grain elevators : ) The barn in this photo looks pretty new, but the red colour was very welcome on such a dreary kind of day. The weather definitely wasn't the best as far as taking photos was concerned, but a bit of sharpening and brightening more or less did the trick : ) To end our trip, we went to The Saskatoon Farm and had a meal there. Despite the awful weather, there were quite a few people in the restaurant. More snow this morning, but only light snow. Temperature is -13C right now, but the windchill is -23C. Another day to stay home in the warm.

Yesterday, 9 November 2014, my youngest daughter and I went south of the city to the Millarville Christmas Market. I haven’t been to Christmas craft fairs or markets for years, so this made a change. I wasn’t sure what the roads were going to be like after it had been snowing, but they could have been worse. The fog, though, was something else, with low visibility! It was cold, too! After wandering around the market, I drove eastwards to De Winton, as I wanted to show my daughter a couple of barns in that area and also these two grain elevators : ) Really, the weather was pretty useless as far as taking photos was concerned. The two privately owned grain elevators are joined together by a long, low building. The most northerly one is one of the oldest in Alberta (built in 1905 I think, certainly before 1910). I bumped into the owner last time I was there and later, I read on the Internet that he has a furniture manufacturing company in the building that joins the two elevators together. Some nice old train cars parked near them, too. DeWinton is on the CP line which runs south of Calgary to Aldersyde. DeWinton originally had three elevators, but one was torn down in 1936 and rebuilt in High River. The remaining two were owned by UGG, then by Diamond Fertilzer and Catl-Lac Feeds Ltd., and are now privately owned. vanishingsentinels.blogspot.ca/2006/02/dewinton-alberta.html www.bigdoer.com/3101/exploring-history/dewinton-de-winton... To end our trip, we went to The Saskatoon Farm and had a meal there. Despite the awful weather, there were quite a few people in the restaurant. More snow this morning, but the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon. There are about 4-5" of snow on top of my fence - which means no doubt means there is that much on my car.

Yesterday, Sunday (27 April 2014), I went with friends to Frank Lake for the day. It started off extremely foggy with a touch of hoarfrost. Perhaps not the ideal weather for seeing birds, but the fog did eventually clear and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and most enjoyable. We saw 53 bird species - all, except for two owl nests, were extremely distant, so any photos I took are so far away. Have to admit that I was fascinated by the hoar frost and (melting) ice crystals, so I spent some time taking photos these while my friends checked out the lake for distant sightings of birds. Before long, every ice crystal had melted and our winter wonderland vanished. Caught a distant glimpse of two White-faced Ibis, and several Snow Geese flew over. Greg Wagner from High River came to check out the lake while we were there, and he drew our attention to a Clarke's Grebe, which was a great sighting. Thanks, Greg! Three of the owl nests had young ones that could be seen, but through a tangle of branches, so useless for photos. The one nest had very young owlets, still with white feathers. Thanks, Tony, for leading this trip to one of my very favourite areas! Your trips are always very successful and so enjoyable.

A second photo taken at the Union Cemetery when we had a foggy day on 16th February. This cemetery is right next to the Reader Rock Garden that I visit occasionally. Interesting to see the various Lichens that grow on some of the tombstones. However, it's very sad to see so many old graves for babies and very young children - those must have been such sad, hard times.

We walked around the Reader Rock Garden this morning, as well as walking the residential streets and alleys in the Rideau/Roxborough area. Good to see Wood Ducks on the River - my first ones for this year. Same with the Brown Creeper. The Union Cemetery is next to the Reader Rock Garden. Felt very different seeing this place in the fog. "Calgary averages twenty days with fog each year. Half of these normally occur in the fall and half in the spring. Environment Canada does not list which month has the most days with fog." We seem to have had more days of fog and hoar frost this winter than what I remember from other winters, but maybe I just missed them before. I had asked my oldest daughter if she had any statistics for this - she didn't, so she e-mailed one of our Meteorologists, Paul Dunphy, and the info just above was in reply to her e-mail. Thanks, Fiona and Paul!