Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#496

Six days ago, on 6 June 2015, my place was beginning to get uncomfortably warm inside. That meant I needed air-conditioning and the only place to find it was in my car. So, off I went along the backroads SW of the city. I wasn't expecting to see anything different, but there were certain birds that I was certain I would see - birds that I really enjoy photographing. I really do need to drive somewhere different, but this drive is just a fairly short drive and fits nicely into an afternoon or early evening. The "usual" included Mountain Bluebirds, and this male (head feathers ruffled a little by the slight breeze) obliged, bringing a fat, hairy caterpillar for his babies. Dad seems to bring the larger, heavier insects, especially Grasshoppers, while Mom tends to choose lighter, more delicate ones. Funny how the nearby Tree Swallows will sometimes "tease" their Bluebird neighbours by flying and landing very near the Bluebird nesting box. Out of nowhere, the brilliant flash of blue of the male flies at top speed to chase the Tree Swallows away. Yesterday, I noticed the female Bluebird landed just a couple of feet from the Tree Swallow nesting box and just sat there with a Swallow on either side of her. No idea why she did this, as it annoyed the Swallows, and of course she was chased away. In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... Other sightings on my drive included the usual Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Terns, a pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the bright sunlight, a distant Coot feeding her little ones, a Pied-billed Grebe who was annoying an adult Coot who kept racing across the top of the water to chase the Grebe further away. My final sighting was a Coyote in a field of Dandelions. By the time I had pulled over and raised my camera, it was already heading off in the opposite direction, stopping once to look back as Coyotes tend to do. I almost forgot to mention the highlight of my drive! Not far from home, I noticed a Canada Goose in the distance, standing in the grasses right at the edge of the road. I thought it might just step out in front of me, so I stopped in my lane on this fairly busy road and turned on my hazard flashers. Sure enough, it did exactly what I was suspecting - and it was followed by its family of half a dozen or so goslings walking in a very disciplined single file, with Mom/Dad bringing up the rear. Fortunately, the cars coming behind me in the other lane also slowed down and stopped till everyone was safely to the other side. May sound silly, but I find it such an amazing, humbling experience when this happens : )

Yesterday, 18 June 2013, a few of us spent the day out at Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of Calgary, on the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. This area is a well-known location for birds and especially wildflowers. Unfortunately, it rained for almost the whole time we were out there, while we walked all round Middle Lake (seen in my photo above), then walked to and around Many Springs and then back to the cars at Middle Lake. From there, we drove down to the River and, as the sun was now out, we did just a short walk through the trees along the river's edge. Lol, I was totally exhausted by the time I got home - I'm used to slow-paced walks/hikes, stopping all the time to take photos. Yesterday was (for me) a fast-paced hike, which my body can't cope with, ha. Managed to get this photo of a view across Middle Lake taken when we were almost back to the cars and the weather brightened. During our walk round this lake, we saw two Loons, which was a treat. Needless to say, they were right out in the middle of the water, much too far to get even a half-decent shot. Posting my "daily three" late morning, as I needed to sleep as long as I could after yesterday's exercise : ) We have a Weather Alert in place at the moment - heavy rainfall warning. Just before 10:00 p.m. - wow, thunder, lightning, torrential rain! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Took this photo last night of the fern patterns that had been made on my computer room window by Jack Frost. The orange glow from a street light added a welcome illusion of "warmth" to the image.