Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Balsamroot

A photo from my archives, that I am finally posting. I spent 31 May 2013, with a small group of friends, doing the May Species Count for the Whaleback. This location is about 170 km south of Calgary, down towards Pincher Creek. The South Whaleback is near Maycroft, just N of Oldman River, about 5 kms W from #22. I'm adding photos taken on that trip to a Set of photos that, up till recently, contained images taken on the Small Whaleback on 10 July 2011. On 31 May 2013, we covered the southern end of the Whaleback. Actually, I'm not sure exactly which is the Whaleback and which is the South Whaleback - confusing. The whole area is made up of endless hills and the Rocky Mountains are in the distance, quite close in this very southern part of Alberta. It rained or drizzled all day, so I had to battle water spots on the camera lens as well as low light and wind. The yellow Balsamroot, which we don't get further north, closer to Calgary, was just beautiful. It was a good day, great company, a few interesting finds and glorious scenery to thoroughly enjoy. "More commonly known as the Whaleback, the Bob Creek Wildland and its sister area the Black Creek Heritage Rangeland protects Whaleback Ridge and one of Alberta’s most important elk winter ranges. A montane environment of Douglas Fir and rough fescue grasses, this area in southwest Alberta has sweeping vistas of the Livingstone Range hanging over the western boundary and the Castle Mountains to the south." www.crownofthecontinent.net/content/the-whaleback/cotCA82...

All three photos posted today were taken the day before yesterday, 29 May 2015, on a trip way down in southern Alberta. A small group of us spent the day at the Whaleback, climbing the ridges, doing a species count. We had such a great day, finding all sorts of things of interest - plants, mosses, lichens - and in my case, insects, animals and birds, too : ) In fact, anything and everything, lol. The weather was good for walking, not too warm and, up till the last part, dry. When I say "walking", the word "strolling" is perhaps more accurate - with friends like this, there seems to be something of interest every few feet. This kind of outing really suits me and my body! We were so lucky that the rain stayed away for most of the day. When I went on this outing in May 2013, it rained all day, though I still managed to get plenty of photos. The day was overcast with low cloud, making scenic shots rather unpleasant. Just before taking the turn for the road leading to a place to park, we stopped at a spot down by the river and did a search there. I was thrilled to bits to find three or four Tent Caterpillars on a plant next to a large rock and thought what a way to start the day. After taking a few photos, I walked to the other side of the rock and noticed what almost looked like a circular patch of lichen growing on the rock surface. A closer look revealed a mass of dozens of these caterpillars, with several others climbing up in single file to join the rest. Still makes me itch all over, just thinking about it, lol! Did I take a photo? Yes, of course I did, and I will post one in the next day or two. Another highlight of the day for me was when I happened to notice a tiny spot of bright red deep inside a distant Early Yellow Locoweed flower. I zoomed in for a photo and thought it looked like it might be a Ladybug. Couldn't count the spots properly, so I very gently parted the petals to get a better look. Unfortunately, it crawled on to my hand and wouldn't return to a petal until after I had taken two or three shots, and then it immediately moved out of sight. I was so happy to find that it was a different kind of Ladybug, though I had seen one a few years ago - still have to check the ID, but I believe it was a Convergent Ladybug. Part way through the day, I stayed behind while the rest of the group climbed to a higher ridge, and I explored the lower ground. It was a place where I knew I wouldn't get lost - but I did have to wait till at least some of the others returned a few hours (?) later, as others were needed to create an opening to climb though the barbed-wire fence again : ) I found plenty to photograph and it was quite a feeling to be so high up with such an amazing view all around, and to be alone up there. While I sat to eat lunch on a rocky outcrop with a couple of trees, a tiny Sparrow (of some kind) came to visit a couple of times and sing for me. Also, there were maybe half a dozen Brewer's Blackbirds that stayed around the area for much of the time, flying or perched on low bushes. A truly magical time. The rest of the group had a great time, too, and saw Parry's Townsendia flowers and lots of Balsamroot in bloom. Fortunately, I had seen the Townsendia before on a brutal hike to Picklejar Lakes several years ago. Two years ago, I had also seen hillsides at the Whaleback covered in the bright yellow Balsamroot flowers. I did manage to find several plants huddled together lower down, so was happy to get a few photos of these bright and cheery flowers. As usual, their large leaves and beautiful flowers had been well-nibbled by the caterpillars that live on them. I didn't notice the tiny Crab Spider with its prey until I went to edit the photo late last night. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsamorhiza_sagittata Altogether, a wonderful day in an incredibly beautiful place with great company! Many thanks, Robin and Cedric, for giving me a ride there and back - appreciated it SO much! And Sandy, if you happen to read this, I guess I have to thank you for not letting me know that you wouldn't be going, lol!

This is where I spent 31 May 2013, with a small group of friends, doing the May Species Count for the Whaleback. This location is about 170 km south of Calgary, down towards Pincher Creek. I'm adding photos taken on that trip to a Set of photos that, up till recently, contained images taken on the Small Whaleback on 10 July 2011. On 31 May 2013, we covered the southern end of the Whaleback. As you can see from today's image, the whole area is made up of endless hills. The Rocky Mountains are off to the right of the photo, in the distance, quite close in this very southern part of Alberta. It rained or drizzled all day, so I had to battle water spots in the camera lens as well as low light and wind. Many of my photos are not really as sharp as I would have liked, but I am so glad that I went. The yellow Balsamroot, which we don't get further north, closer to Calgary, was just beautiful. A closer look at these plants revealed all the damage done to their leaves - we saw a couple of tiny, green, hairy caterpillars in the centre of one flower, but I'm not sure if these were two of the culprits. It was a good day, great company, a few interesting finds and glorious scenery to thoroughly enjoy. "More commonly known as the Whaleback, the Bob Creek Wildland and its sister area the Black Creek Heritage Rangeland protects Whaleback Ridge and one of Alberta’s most important elk winter ranges. A montane environment of Douglas Fir and rough fescue grasses, this area in southwest Alberta has sweeping vistas of the Livingstone Range hanging over the western boundary and the Castle Mountains to the south." www.crownofthecontinent.net/content/the-whaleback/cotCA82...

Another image from our wet, wet day on 31 May 2013, doing the May Species Count at the Whaleback. This beautiful area of rolling hills is 170 miles south of Calgary. The yellow Balsamroot was spectacular. This is a plant that only grows further south, so it was a real treat to have the chance to see it that day. Little did we know that all the wet days we'd had recently were building up to the devastation of the "Flood of the Century" in Calgary and the rest of southern Alberta this past week. Incredible YOUTUBE VIDEO OF CALGARY FLOODS from Global News: youtu.be/bRS8YfVlt3Y ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 6th June, a few of us did a day's hike to see the northernmost limit recorded for Balsamroot , Balsamorhiza sagittata. Then, on 11th June, we went down south towards the US border to just west of the Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump area and were delighted to see hillsides covered in these bright yellow flowers. We could see them from the car - we didn't have to take one single step to find them - so much easier than our long day of hiking to see them, LOL. When we pulled into one ranch driveway to see if we had the right address, we saw these two Mule Deer amongst the Balsamroot. Just looked so pretty. "Balsamroots are native to western North America. There are about twelve species plus many common hybrids.... Native Americans used the sticky sap of this plant as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds. The large taproots produced by Balsamorhiza sagittata are edible and were harvested, dried, and ground into a starchy flour by Native Americans when other food plants were scarce. The entire plant is edible and nutritious, but not necessarily enjoyable because it contains a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. The plants large taproots are reported to be very palatable and far less bitter than the above ground parts of the plant. The plant grows on dry hillsides and dry open meadows throughout the Mountain West of North America." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsamorhiza

Yesterday, a few of us were so lucky because a friend took us to an area west of Longview (south of Calgary), on the Kananaskis border - maybe an hour's drive from the city? He had found a plant that he thought was Balsamroot and wanted us to see it. I thought he meant that he had found just one small plant, but when we had climbed high, we discovered that part of the hillside was just brilliant yellow from all the clumps of this pretty plant. I hadn't expected the actual flower head to be as large as it was, which was a nice surprise (heads are 5-12 cm across). I should also add that the bracts are lance-shaped and covered with white, woolly hairs, borne in 2-4 rows. Not only did we all get to see this sight (and this was a new plant for me), but we also saw plants like Scorpionweed (another new plant for me), Jacob's ladder, Red-stemmed Saxifrage and other beautiful plants. The scenery was gorgeous with quite a few Limber Pines, the weather was sunny and warm, and the company of a few friends was as precious as always : ) And today, my knees and thighs KILL!!! Thanks, David, for yesterday's treat! Apparently, this is the most northerly location recorded for this species.

This is where I spent yesterday with a small group of friends, doing the May Species Count for the Whaleback. This location is about 171 km south of Calgary, down towards Pincher Creek. I'm adding photos taken yesterday to a Set of photos that, up till today, contained images taken on the Small Whaleback on 10 July 2011. Yesterday, we covered the southern end of the Whaleback. As you can see from today's image, the whole area is made up of endless hills, with the Rocky Mountains quite close in this very southern part of Alberta. It rained or drizzled all day, so I had to battle water spots in the camera lens as well as low light and wind. Many of my photos are not really as sharp as I would have liked, but I am so glad that I went. The Balsamroot, which we don't get further north, closer to Calgary, was just beautiful. A closer look at these plants revealed all the damage done to their leaves - we saw a couple of tiny, green, hairy caterpillars in the centre of one flower, but I'm not sure if these were two of the culprits. It was a good day, great company, a few interesting finds and glorious scenery to thoroughly enjoy. Andrew, I hope your back isn't too painful today - such a great pity that you had to miss out on just about everything. Thanks so much, Sandy, for the drive there and back - much appreciated, as always.