Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: graceful

These gorgeous Trumpeter Swans couldn't have picked a more beautiful setting, with the very distant Rocky Mountains (not seen in this closer shot) in the distance. The sun was shining brightly and the white feathers were dazzling. Quite near the beginning of a day of driving the backroads SE of Calgary on 14 April 2014, my daughter suddenly spotted them through a row of trees and bushes. We pulled over and walked a few steps to the edge of a huge field, and were in awe of these large, graceful birds. I think this was just a temporary stretch of water in the field, from all the recently melting snow, but there was enough room on it for the dozen or so Swans.

These gorgeous Trumpeter Swans couldn't have picked a more beautiful setting, with the very distant (but 48x zoomed) Rocky Mountains in the distance. The sun was shining brightly and the white feathers were dazzling - doesn't really show in my photo. Quite near the beginning of a day of driving the backroads SE of Calgary on 14 April 2014, my daughter suddenly spotted them through a row of trees and bushes. We pulled over and walked a few steps to the edge of a huge field, and were in awe of these large, graceful birds. Not sure if this was just a temporary stretch of water in the field, from all the recently melting snow, or a more permanent "slough". Plenty of room for the dozen or so Swans. Wish I was out there right now, though on a sunny day, unlike today. It's Good Friday today, the beginning of the Easter weekend. Beautiful, sunny weather would have been nice, especially for working people who get the day off. Instead, it's gloomy and unpleasant, looking like it's going to either rain or snow. Just checked the forecast and it's 1°C (windchill -2°C) this morning, supposedly getting up to 4°C this afternoon, with an 80% chance of rain and snow. Happy Easter weekend to everyone who celebrates!

This photo was taken almost a week ago, on 6 April 2014, when I went with a group of 10 friends to Frank Lake for several hours. This was a "by car" day with barely any walking. Sometimes when we pull over and get out, I can be found looking in the opposite direction to everyone else, taking a photograph of something totally unrelated to birds, lol. You need binoculars or a scope to see most of the birds we come across, which I don't have, but I can never resist the scenery. In this case, I decided to see if I could catch a row of beautiful Tundra Swans flying overhead. Will add Tony Timmons' report for the day - thanks, Tony, both for writing up the list and for taking us down to one of my favourite areas outside the city: "Eleven people were on the trip today, birding Frank Lake and area. We tallied 35 species. Most of the lake is still covered in ice. As many as 10,000 Northern Pintails were seen in the fields, sloughs and flying overhead. Two hundred swans were feeding in the fields. Of note were two Eurasian Wigeons spotted in the shallow sloughs. Canada Goose Tundra Swan Trumpeter Swan Gadwall American Wigeon Eurasian Wigeon Mallard Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Ruddy Duck Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Rough-legged Hawk Coot Killdeer Ring-billed Gull California Gull Great Horned Owl Horned Lark Robin Rock Pigeon,Magpie,Crow,Raven,Starling,House Sparrow" As you can see from the list, birds are returning after being elsewhere all winter. Only very distant views of them all, except for one Great Horned Owl on her nest - impossible to get a proper shot because she was hidden by a tangle of branches. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/tundra_swan/lifehistory animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/tundra-swan/

The Trumpeter Swan is locally common from April to October, though I don't get to see them very often. The bird in my photo was at the Calgary Zoo. "The Trumpeter Swan was hunted almost to extinction for its feathers and meat in the early 20th century.... it is hoped that populations will continue to recover". From Birds of Alberta by Fisher & Acorn.

Another visit to my archives resulted in finding this colourful image. I always love photographing these graceful flowers, and I was lucky with the light on this particular day. I know it's partly the location of Reader Rock Garden, on a hillside, but it seems that almost every single time I call in at this place, it's very windy - never a good thing when trying to take photos of flowers, especially ones that grow on a long, thin stem : ) Taken on 7 July 2010. "The genus name Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle (aquila), because the shape of the flower petals, which are said to resemble an eagle's claw. The common name "columbine" comes from the Latin for "dove", due to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquilegia

Went with a friend south and east of the city yesterday, to Frank Lake and then east to the Shepard area. The wind was terrible - strong and cold! Not a lot of birds in these locations, both of which are very popular with birders. We saw plenty of open water on the various sloughs/ponds, but a good many of the birds were Northern Shovelers. We saw quite a few Tundra and Trumpeter Swans, which is always a treat. These are Trumpeters in this photo. They are dazzling white when the sun shines on them.