Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: tranquility

I was out on a walk at Griffith Woods this morning and then decided that, as I was already part of the way to Cochrane (NW of the city), I would go a bit further and check to see if there were any Northern Hawk Owls still in the area. Yet again, no sign of them at all, so I suspect they have already moved away, further north. Before checking this location, I did a brand new drive which, because of my driving phobia, was pretty brave : ). Actually, I missed the turn to Grand Valley Road (I was concentrating more on the number of kilometers) and drove a long way along Highway 1A before realizing that I must have gone wrong somewhere. This is the kind of scenery I was driivng in, some highway and a lot of gravel roads, too. When I eventually found the right turn, I kept my eyes open for a Great Gray Owl - they are sometimes seen in this area. Not a thing today, though, other than five Bald Eagles. They seemed to be enjoying the tremendously strong wind that accompanied me for most of my drive - it was all I could do to keep the car on the road!

When I first looked at this photo, I almost felt as if I was viewing Frank Lake and the distant Rocky Mountains through a frame of ripped paper : ) We had a few hours south of the city today, searching sloughs (ponds) and Frank Lake for birds. Frank Lake is a well-known location and very popular with birders. I was very happy to see a Western Meadowlark, even though it was perched on a most unphotogenic, distant road sign, LOL. Took quite a few photos, but mainly landscapes - and most not really worth keeping. We are SO lucky to have this amazing scenery within easy reach!! Quite warm today, up to around 21C, but cooling off greatly tomorrow, with snow in the forecast sometime over the next few days.

Another shot grabbed from my archives while I was backing up a few old photo files. This is part of the upper garden at the Reader Rock Garden in Calgary. You keep climbing uphill from street level to reach this little peaceful spot. Usually, there is no one else there when I'm there. Without the trees and bushes, you could look out over the Stampede Grounds and downtown, but the greenery hides that unwanted view. Taken on 8 June 2011.

Went with a friend fairly recently to look for a Great Gray Owl along the Grand Valley Road. No sign of any owl, or anything else that day - so, rather than come home without a single photo, this beautiful white horse became our focus of interest. I love to see a white horse in winter time - just something nice about white on white.