Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: broken tree

All three photos posted today were taken the day before yesterday, 15 March 2016. I drove NW of Calgary again, hoping that maybe one of the Great Gray Owls might just be seen. When I arrived, a car was pulled over at the side of the road and the occupants were photographing an owl. It was hidden from my view by a group of bushes and I only saw it when it flew over to the distant trees. This particular photo was taken a bit later, after watching the owl hunt for a while. I am sure I would never have spotted the owl in this setting, as it was a long way away and the owl blended in with its surroundings. I hadn't been sure whether to do such a long drive that day (roughly 250 km round trip) as the weather forecast wasn't exactly the best. Just after I left home, a few snowflakes fell for maybe five minutes, but not enough to settle. When I got closer to my destination, the roads were snow-covered and not very pleasant to drive on. However, I'm glad I did decide to go, as I did get to see this owl on several different trees while it hunted. Eventually, it flew off into the forest and didn't return. "Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_grey_owl Last night, we had some proper snow - March does tend to be the snowiest month here. The temperature is -1C early this afternoon and the sun is trying to burst through the overcast sky.

This, I believe, is the same owl as in the photo I posted yesterday. This is where it was perched when I first saw it. Again, not in the best light (in the shade) and I had to brighten the photo quite a lot. I was thrilled to bits to see this Great Gray Owl and its mate when I did another long drive NW of the city two days ago, on 13 March 2016. I had been up there the previous day, but had seen absolutely nothing - several other people had also been looking, without success. I was so very lucky the day before yesterday, as there was a car already pulled over at the edge of the road. I could see two guys standing in the road and, when I got there, I spotted a third man just a little way into the trees. They had seen an owl fly across the road and fly into the trees, landing on top of this tall, broken tree trunk. After sitting there for a while, it suddenly dove down to the ground, disappearing from my sight, and apparently caught a Meadow Vole, which it then carried back to the dense trees to give to its mate. We had a brief view of the two owls and then one flew off. I'm not sure if the owl in my photo is the male, but I think it could be. After sitting for a while, it, too, flew off. My thanks definitely go to these three guys, whom I didn't know, for being the reason that this day was not a complete wash-out like the previous day! I really didn't feel like doing a long drive again, but the number 13 is my lucky number, so I reckoned I would make myself do it. Also, at that time, the forecast for the coming week was for snow and rain, so I thought I had better make the most of such a beautiful, sunny day. After seeing these two owls, I saw absolutely nothing for the rest of my time out there. Met a lovely young woman out there, who had never seen a Great Gray Owl and was so hoping to see one. We tried to find one, but no luck. Nice to meet you, Barbara : ) Hope you get a chance to come to Calgary again and manage to see one.

On 11 July 2015, I had a wonderful day out with friend Sandy, driving westwards from Calgary and eventually reaching the next province, British Columbia (B.C.). Sandy had two destinations in mind - a stop at the Spiral Tunnels and then to explore the forest around Emerald Lake. I had only been to B.C. a handful of times in 37 years, so this was an absolute treat. "The lake is enclosed by mountains of the President Range, as well as Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain. This basin traps storms, causing frequent rain in summer and heavy snowfalls in winter. This influx of moisture works with the lake's low elevation to produce a unique selection of flora. Trees found here are more typical of B.C.'s wet interior forests, such as western red cedar, western yew, western hemlock and western white pine. The alluvial fan on the northeast shore produces wildflowers in abundance during late June and early July. Due to its high altitude, the lake is frozen from November until June. The vivid turquoise color of the water, caused by powdered limestone, is most spectacular in July as the snow melts from the surrounding mountains. The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers: "For a few moments I sat [on] my horse and enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene." It was Wilson who gave the lake its name because of its remarkable colour, caused by fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water. However, this was not the first time Wilson had dubbed a lake 'Emerald'. Earlier that same year he had discovered another lake which he had given the same moniker, and the name even appeared briefly on the official map. This first lake however, was shortly renamed Lake Louise." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Lake_ (British_Columbia) Our trip started just after 7:00 am, to get a good, early start, especially before the temperature soared. The drive from Calgary to Emerald Lake takes about 2 and a half hours and is a 218.5 km drive via Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W. We took a quieter route home at the end of the day. Rain arrived just in time for this drive home and, by the time I got back to my car in Calgary, the rain was really heavy and a few of the roads were beginning to flood very quickly. Shortly after we began our walk though the forest along the right hand side of the lake, we heard a commotion coming from the water. When we found a place to see through the trees, we could see two beautiful Common Loons and a female duck with several babies, possibly Common Mergansers. My guess would be that the Merganser mother kept chasing away the Loons, creating a lot of splashing. This photo also shows why this lake is named Emerald Lake : ) Also, at the beginning and the end of our "hike", we watched a family of Violet-green Swallows that were nesting. Not sure how many young ones there were, but I saw three. Though we do get these birds in Calgary, I've never seen one properly - just when a mass of Swallows swarms over the Bow River and someone calls out that they saw a Violet-green amongst all the others; The adults flew to feed their babies at top speed and barely stayed a second at the nest hole. I was just thrilled to see one of these birds - thanks, Sandy, for your patience, allowing me to try and get a few photos! Thanks, too, for such a great day, as usual!

This morning, it's SNOWING! And it's settling, unfortunately. We really can't complain, though, as we have just enjoyed a wonderful fall. Yesterday afternoon, 1 November 2015, was mostly cloudy with a short windy and drizzly period. Though the temperature was 8°C, it felt cold and, once again, I wore two fleece jackets, a fleece vest and a light jacket! Bebo Grove is one of the coldest places in the city, so I made sure I was prepared. The morning had been nice and sunny, which is why I decided to meet a few friends for a birding walk. However, the rain started shortly before I was ready to leave home and I was very tempted to change my plans. Glad I didn't, as the rain stopped and I would have missed seeing this Great Horned Owl. Not sure if it's the same one I photographed recently in the same area - I think it could be. It would have been so easy to not see this owl, as it was sleeping on top of a low, broken tree surrounded by a tangle of branches. Not the best photo, but it gives an idea of how easily these owls can hide. Two other friends had just returned to the parking lot after going for a walk and they offered to walk back to show us where they had just seen this owl, so that helped. Thanks, David and Melanie! The other thing I would have missed seeing was a handsome Mule Deer buck and two others, in a grassy area. They were busy feeding on the dead leaves and twigs and eventually decided to lie down and rest for a while. Our walk took us through the area at the bottom of the stairs, then eastwards to bridge 4 and then west from the picnic area. Bird numbers were certainly way down. Adding the list of bird species seen, compiled by our leader, Bernie. Thanks for a very enjoyable walk, Bernie! 1. Coopers' Hawk -1 2. Bald Eagle -2 3. Ring-billed Gull-8 4. Great Horned Owl-1 5. Hairy Woodpecker-3 6. Northern Flicker-1 7. Blue Jay-2 8. Black-billed Magpie-4 9. Common Raven-7 10. Black-capped Chickadee-30 11. Boreal Chickadee-1 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 13. White-breasted Nuthatch-1 14. Bohemian Waxwing-27 15. Pine Grosbeak-8 16. Pine Siskin-12