Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Goldenrod

The three photos that I've posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 13 August 2015, when I spent about three hours with friends at Heritage Park in Calgary. One of them is a volunteer at the Park and she had very kindly invited us to visit. The temperature got up to 33°C or 34°C yesterday!! We started our visit at 9:45 am, so it was still cooler than that, but as the heat increased in the afternoon, it became unbearable. Fortunately, I had a dentist appointment mid-afternoon, so I knew I would have maybe an hour and a half in air-conditioning before returning to my home that felt like an oven. Our forecast, so far, is giving much cooler temperatures for the coming week, thank goodness, especially as I need to make myself walk more, as I have to work on getting my cholesterol and blood sugar/hemoglobin lowered, especially the latter : ( Our walk at Heritage Park was a combination of looking at the various old buildings and also checking on plants. There is a small native plant garden within the Hudson Bay Fort and we talked to a volunteer there, who I think may have learned a few new things from talking with us : ) www.heritagepark.ca/ www.heritagepark.ca/plan-your-visit/interactive-park-map.... We had been told before our visit that the Prohibited Noxious weed, Spotted Knapweed, had been seen at the Park, and we did find it, growing along a gravel road that led down by the Glenmore Reservoir. This species is a prolific seed producer and is very difficult to control. Along the edge of this road, we saw quite a few tiny Skipper butterflies, including this one that landed on a Goldenrod flower. Despite the heat, we had a very enjoyable visit. Heritage Park is a place I always intend to go to, but somehow I rarely make it. This was a treat, so thanks so much, Susan!

This was one of the photos I took (that turned out OK!) up in the mountains yesterday, on a trip to the location near Mt. Lorette, where the Golden Eagles fly during migration. All you see are small specks in the sky, flying just above the mountain peaks. Fascinating, but no good for photos of course. Some people did see several Eagles through a scope, but I was busy wandering nearby, looking for something big enough to photograph : )

It was so disappointing to find that almost all the wildflowers were finished when I drove west of the city on Elbow Falls Trail on August 29th. A few Goldenrod and Asters (or were they Fleabane?) remained. However, I was happy to get a decent enough photo of this very tiny Crab Spider. They are common spiders, but so easily missed because of their tiny size. Females can grow up to 10 mm (excluding legs); males reach 5 mm at most. Macro photo taken near the parking lot at Ing's Mine.

Caught this tiny Red Longhorn Beetle just as it started to fly away.

We saw a few of these bright red and black beetles at the Erlton/Roxborough Natural Area this morning. Not sure if it is a red Turnip Beetle. An amazing area for wildflowers!

Not sure exactly what kind of butterfly this is, other than it is some kind of Fritillary.