Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: curve

On 13 December 2017, I was out on the road by 9:20 am, which is a miracle in itself. I find it almost impossible to get out early when I am going for a drive by myself. I didn't have any photos edited ready to post that morning, which helped. Seeing snowflake icons in the forecast for too many of the days that coming week, I thought I had better take a drive SE of the city while the roads were clear. I was lucky with the clouds in the morning, but it did cloud over in the afternoon. My hope was to maybe find a Snowy Owl in this whole area, like I had done in previous years. I knew I would probably have more luck if I drove the back roads NE of the city, but I didn't feel like driving that far. No luck finding a Snowy Owl and, in fact, there were barely any birds of any kind to be seen - just a small flock of Common Redpolls and two or three Magpies. At least I knew that I would pass several old barns that I have photographed on previous occasions. It just felt good to be in such scenery on a beautiful, sunny day. That is, until I somehow got lost on the way back home. I think I know where I may have gone wrong. Seeing a huge road sign that said North Calgary, I wasn't sure if I would end up on the dreaded Deerfoot Trail, like happened last time I was out in that area. So, I kept driving straight and found myself in a fairly built-up area that I had never been in before. Ended up driving back the way I had come until I was on familiar ground. A long way and a lot of wasted time! Total round trip was 333 km.

25 October 2017: yet another wildfire burning to the south of us. I had been thinking of going for a drive this week down in that area, but obviously won't do so now. This summer and fall have been horrendous for wildfires, north, south, east and west of us. The strong winds continue, which is the absolute worst when it comes to wildfires spreading. When will this ever end??? "Grass fire prompts evacuation alert near Alberta's Chain Lakes Provincial Park. Another wildfire fanned by high winds has broken out in southern Alberta, prompting an evacuation alert and the closure of a 70-kilometre stretch of Highway 22. There is a serious fire which is affecting the Chimney Rock Road area of the MD of Ranchland," reads a warning issued Wednesday by the Alberta Emergency Alert system. "Prepare for possible evacuation. Take all necessary precautions. Avoid the area if possible." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On numerous occasions, I had caught a glimpse through the trees of this bit of rural decay. Now, major road construction is going on, with the building of the western portion of the major ring road around the city of Calgary. This helped me get a better view of this old barn and homestead. Though it was a distant view, I rather liked the swirling curves of the ploughed lines in the field. Taken after a long day in the mountains, in dreadful weather, on 17 October 2017. Friend Gayle had asked if I would like to go out for the day and we ended up driving through the Springbank area and then on to Canmore. I had checked the weather forecast and, I have to admit that if I was planning to go out of the city on my own, I would have changed my mind and stayed home instead. However, we decided to at least get out for a while and see how far we would go. As it turned out, we got to Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagne for me : ) Feeling re-energized, we decided to start driving up the mountainous road that leads from Canmore to the Spray Lakes area. Though I have been on this road at various times, I have never driven it myself. If I want to get to the Spray Lakes area, I go from the south and all the way along Highway 40. The rough, narrow road leading from Canmore is quite an adventure at any time. It gives a wonderful view looking down over the whole of Canmore and the river. It is also a popular road for Mountain Sheep, and we were lucky to see four of them in a little group, licking the salt from the bottom of the cliff rock face. It is incredible how these wild animals can climb the steep, rocky surface - done very cautiously. This is their road and if they want to stand in the middle of it, then that is what they do. "One of the most important features of the bighorn sheep is the unique structure of its hooves. Rather than being hard like those of a horse or cow, the sheep have rubber-like hooves that allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces." www.conservenature.org/learn_about_wildlife/rocky_mountai... Part way up the mountain, we took the turn-off to Quarry Lake, a place I had heard of and seen photos of, but had never been there myself. We parked and decided to walk round the lake, which turned out to be very unpleasant, with strong winds picking up grit and leaves and whipping our faces. For the first time ever, I saw a tree come crashing down at the edge of the forest. Once safely back to the car, we thought we would drive a little further and see what conditions were like. Rain and very strong winds continued and once we reached the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir, we made the decision to turn around and head back down. The mountains were disappearing from sight, so there wasn't much point in continuing, anyway. Gayle had hoped to go on as far as Banff, but there was no sense in doing so in such dreadful weather. As often happens, the weather seemed to brighten somewhat once we were out of the mountains. It felt so good to actually see some blue sky. Getting closer to Calgary, the car radio was announcing which city roads were blocked by a fallen tree or downed powerlines. I was not far from home, shortly before sunset, when I noticed some impressive clouds and, on the spur of the moment, drove along one of the gravel back roads just within the edge of the city. It was worth it, though I was quite relieved when I finally reached home. Many thanks, Gayle, for a great day out, braving the weather! We had fun and it certainly was an interesting experience. I really appreciated the chance to use my camera once more, before the next snowfall arrives and stays on the ground for the next few months.

Some years, the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton is held late in December. Other years, it ends up being held early January, sometimes delayed because of really bad weather. The Count for 2016 was held on 30 December. We drove through such beautiful scenery when we were covering the SW quadrant of the Christmas Bird Count circle that centered on the town of Nanton. A landscape over which the occasional Golden Eagle soars and in which, some years, numerous Sharp-tailed Grouse wander on the ground or perch in trees. Actually, there are not many chances to take photos of birds on many of these Counts, but those of you who know me well know that I love taking scenic shots, old barns, farm cats, and anything else beautiful and/or interesting. This is one of my favourite roads in the area. Last year, the highlight for me was seeing Pine Grosbeaks nice and close. This Count, I think the highlights were the stunning winter scenery, and a Great Horned Owl. I absolutely love this area SW of Nanton! Some of these backroads are extremely steep and almost look vertical when seen from a distance. Some years, the whole area is white, covered in deep snow, so that you can't tell where the roadside ends and the ditch begins. This Count, it wasn't too bad, thank goodness, though I might have felt differently if I had been one of the two drivers for our group! After driving (being driven, for me, which is always pure luxury) the backroads from about 8:00 a.m. till around 3:30 p.m., we returned to the wonderful home of the Truch family. Not only do Bill and Leah Truch and their son, Mike, always welcome everyone with open arms, they also provide a much-appreciated breakfast snack for us and then, at the end of the day, a delicious supper. Have to say that I love travelling these scenic backroads (though I've never driven them myself), but I also really enjoy getting together with everyone who covered the rest of the Count circle, afterwards. This is one of my favourite Bird Counts, and perhaps the most favourite. Thanks so much for doing all the driving, Tony and Andrew, and thanks, Leah, Bill and Mike for all the effort and time you put into your wonderfully warm welcome! It was another well-organized Count, Mike, as usual - thank you!

The only time I had ever driven to Kananaskis (the mountain area closest to Calgary) was just over two months ago, on 10 September 2016, when my daughter came with me. I wasn't too impressed with the photos I took on the first drive, especially of the little Pikas (Rock Rabbits) that we went to see, so I wanted to go and spend a bit more time with them. A drive like this also helped me get a bit more used to my newish car - before the roads are covered in snow and ice! Actually, there was a bit of snow on the ground in places close to the trees when I got to where I see the Pikas. These little Pikas/Rock Rabbits are only 6-9 inches long and are usually seen far away, running backwards and forwards over the scree (talus) slope that they call home. Very occasionally, one happens to come close, usually for just a quick moment. "The American Pika is a generalist herbivore. It eats a large variety of green plants, including different kinds of grasses, sedges, thistles and fireweed. Although pikas can meet their water demands from the vegetation they eat, they do drink water if it is available in their environment. Pikas have two different ways of foraging: they directly consume food (feeding) or they cache food in haypiles to use for a food source in the winter (haying). The pika feeds throughout the year while haying is limited to the summer months. Since they do not hibernate, pikas have greater energy demands than other montane mammals. In addition, they also make 13 trips per hour to collect vegetation when haying, up to a little over 100 trips per day." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pika A couple of short YouTube videos in case anyone wants to hear and see these absolutely cute creatures: youtu.be/US_Hy_eGPtg youtu.be/OQ2IgcjVIfc I left home at 8:45 am, later than I had intended, and drove southwards via Millarville and the back way to Highway 40. When I Googled the distance via that route, it gave me 134 km, 1 hr 41 mins from home to the Highwood Pass. Needless to say, I kept stopping to take photos, so it took me quite a bit longer than that. By the time I got back home around 5:00 pm, I had driven 299 km. This day was a Monday, so not too much traffic anywhere, which makes a huge difference. The weather cooperated very nicely. A little chilly to start with and a sky full of beautiful cloud formation early morning. This time, I only drove as far as the Pikas, just north of the Highwood Pass, especially as I wanted to make sure that I wasn't driving home in the dark. The Highwood Pass, at an elevation of 2,206 m (7,238 ft) is the highest paved pass in Canada. In past years, I have hiked the Ptarmigan Cirque, Pocaterra and Arethusa Cirque trails, but can no longer do hikes like these. The scenery is breathtaking in this whole area (indeed, for the whole drive), some mountain slopes covered in forest and other mountain faces displaying bald, breathtaking folds above the treeline. There was only one 'scary' incident on this trip. I had stopped to take a few scenic shots when I was on the backroad to join Highway 40. I didn't close my car door completely and when I went to open it, I discovered it was locked! Pressing the fob to open all the doors did nothing. I just could not get into my vehicle. Thank goodness, I had read on the Internet that there is a key hidden away inside the fob - otherwise I would never have known and might still be standing there, lol! Feels so good to know that I am now comfortable enough to do this drive on my own, after so many years of wishing I had the courage to do it. Thank you, little Pikas, for being so adorably cute, that I was determined to drive back to see you : )

The only time I had ever driven to Kananaskis (the mountain area closest to Calgary) was on 10 September 2016, when my daughter came with me. I wasn't too impressed with the photos I took on this first drive, especially of the little Pikas (Rock Rabbits) that we went to see, so I wanted to go back and spend a bit more time with them. A drive like this also helps me get a bit more used to my new car - before the roads are covered in snow and ice! Actually, we have had snow since then, but I stayed home and waited till it had all melted : ) There were a few small patches of snow on the ground in places close to the trees when I got to where I see the Pikas. I left home at 8:45 am, later than I had intended, and drove southwards via Millarville and the back way to Highway 40. This photo was taken along Highway 40. When I Googled the distance via that route, it gave me 134 km, 1 hr 41 mins from home to the Highwood Pass. Needless to say, I kept stopping to take photos, so it took me much longer than that. By the time I got back home around 5:00 pm, I had driven 299 km. This day was a Monday, so not much traffic anywhere, which makes a huge difference. This time, I only drove as far as the Pikas, just north of the Highwood Pass, especially as I wanted to make sure that I wasn't driving home in the dark. The Highwood Pass, at an elevation of 2,206 m (7,238 ft) is the highest paved pass in Canada. In past years, I have hiked the Ptarmigan Cirque, Pocaterra and Arethusa Cirque trails, but can no longer do hikes like these. The scenery is breathtaking in this whole area (indeed, for the whole drive), some mountain slopes covered in forest and other mountain faces displaying bald, breathtaking folds above the treeline. There was only one 'scary' incident on this trip. I had stopped to take a few scenic shots when I was on the backroad to join Highway 40. I didn't push my car door completely closed and when I went to open it, I discovered it was locked! Pressing the fob to open all the doors did nothing. I just could not get into my vehicle. Thank goodness, I had read on the Internet that there is a key hidden away inside the fob - otherwise I would never have known and might still be standing there, lol! Feels SO good to know that I am now comfortable enough to do this drive on my own, after so many years of wishing I had the courage to do it. Thank you, little Pikas, for being so adorably cute, that I was determined to drive back to see you : )

Two days ago, while my birding friends had their binoculars and scope focused on the very distant birds at this location at Frank Lake, my eyes began to wander. Couldn't resist a rather fancy fence post (photo posted yesterday) and barbed wire : ) Also, just in case anyone is getting fed up of seeing owl photos on my photostream, I thought I would wait a day before posted another one, lol! On 19 March 2016, I was on a birding day trip with a group of friends, going SE of Calgary, E of High River. Though the day started off rather cold, it gradually warmed up and was a beautiful day to be out in nature. I will add our leader's report that he sent into eBird, adding that I did not see all of the sightings, as the birds were much too far away. As always, my camera lens was turned to various other things, too. Thanks so much, as always, Andrew, for a most enjoyable day! Thanks, too, Anne, for driving - I really appreciated the ride! "We had 16 participants when we left Calgary on a sunny but frosty morning. We arrived at the main gate around 10:00 am and set off, in a chilly -5 deg C to walk down to the outfall and then around to the blind. The recent cold nights had refrozen some of the lake, but it is still mostly open water. Most obvious were the thousands of Pintails and hundreds of swans (mostly Tundra today). We did see the overwintering (presumably) Song Sparrow near the outfall. About 60-80 California Gulls, no other gulls that we could identify. We left and went to High River for lunch, stopping by the Sutherland Shelterbelt to acknowledge the resident Great Horned Owl. After lunch we circled the lake on the usual roads and ended up at the Basin 2 West Bay. Several more swans and finally, the Eurasian Wigeon, spotted by Tony Timmons. By lunchtime the temperature had reached about 10 deg C and continued to rise reaching ~14 deg C and making a perfect Alberta Spring (almost) afternoon. Leaving Frank Lake we stopped in at Blackie to find mostly Starlings, and a few Eurasian Collared Doves. The list for Frank Lake and Blackie was: Checklists included in this summary: (1): Frank Lake--NW lookout/blind Date: Mar 19, 2016, 9:55 AM (2): Sutherland's Shelterbelt (private property) Date: Mar 19, 2016, 12:30 PM (3): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (Southeast Corner) Date: Mar 19, 2016, 2:15 PM (4): Frank Lake--Basin 2 (West Bay) Date: Mar 19, 2016, 3:05 PM (5): Blackie (hamlet) Date: Mar 19, 2016, 4:10 PM 650 Canada Goose -- (1),(3),(4) 4 Trumpeter Swan -- (1) 225 Tundra Swan -- (1),(4) 3 Gadwall -- (1) 2 Eurasian Wigeon -- (4) 60 American Wigeon -- (1),(4) 160 Mallard -- (1),(3),(4) 2 Northern Shoveler -- (4) 4550 Northern Pintail -- (1),(3),(4) 24 Canvasback -- (1),(4) 76 Redhead -- (1),(4) 5 Lesser Scaup -- (4) 150 Common Goldeneye -- (1),(4) 2 Gray Partridge -- (2) 1 Northern Harrier -- (4) 2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3) 5 Killdeer -- (1),(2) 80 California Gull -- (1) 6 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (3),(5) 4 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (5) 2 Great Horned Owl -- (2) 1 Merlin -- (5) 5 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2) 1 Common Raven -- (3) 3 Horned Lark -- (1) 51 European Starling -- (2),(5) 2 American Tree Sparrow -- (1) 1 Song Sparrow -- (1) 8 House Finch -- (5) 20 House Sparrow -- (2),(5) From Blackie we stopped by Third Lake on the way back to Calgary. A huge number of birds there, somewhere between 4000 and 8000, generally somewhat distant. Mostly Pintails, but we also saw American Wigeon, Mallard, a few Canada Geese, and California Gulls. Clearly Pintails are on the move right now." Andrew Hart After this long day out and then checking the upcoming weather forecast, yesterday, 20 March 2016, looked like it was going to be the only decent day of the coming week. So, my alarm clocks were all set ridiculously early, though I still left home a bit later than I had intended, and I took myself NW of the city again to see if I could see an owl. Just a handful of friends were there and we got a few moments of great views of one of the Great Grays. The rest of the time, I did see an owl fly off into the trees a couple of times, but the time was spent waiting and chatting with my friends. Patience .....

Four days ago, on 17 January 2016, I finally got out for a much-needed drive out of the city. It seems ages since I did this, but I had some time, the sun was making its way through the clouds, and I had plucked up the courage to go east from the city. Recently, I was out that way on a birding trip with a group and we had seen a total of 6 extremely distant Short-eared Owls (3 pairs) at different locations. So, I was really hoping that my courage would be rewarded by spotting at least one owl : ) Those of us who were out there saw 7 of these Short-eared Owls in this area, though as you might guess from this photo, all the birds were far away, a few just a llittle closer. The owl in my photo was way down this curving fence line, actually with two others who were perched on fence posts some distance apart. I did go back to the area the next day, knowing that if I did that drive again straight away, I would start getting a bit more comfortable doing it. That was my main reason for going again, though of course I was also hoping to see an owl (or two). None of the owls on 18 January came close either. My first visit was on a Sunday, so I knew there would be people out there who had found the owls. The next day's drive was a Monday, so I was expecting far fewer people, as it was a work day. Made no difference! Just down the road, there were 4 other owls who were a little bit closer. None of these birds came to a close post during the time I was there. However, I can't believe that I was lucky enough to see three of them perched on a curved branch not much above the snow-covered ground (photo posted the other day). Not a clear view of them, though, and I had to find a small opening in the trees through which to take a few shots. How beautiful these owls are. This does seem to be a good winter for this species, which is exciting. People who spend the day, or at least many hours, are far more likely to get the shots they want, but at the risk of stressing the birds. Unfortunately we are seeing, or hearing about, the same thing happening as happened a year ago with the tiny Northern Pygmy-owls in the city. It does make you ask yourself if they didn't come close because there are just too many cars and people. We even noticed footprints in the snow, showing that someone had climbed over the barbed-wire fence to get a closer shot. Unbelievable! I could almost guarantee that it was someone with a huge, long lens, who didn't even need to get closer! Just leaves me shaking my head. Please put the well-being of the owls (and any wildlife) before your obsession to try and get a closer shot than anyone else. Standing in -15C (windchill -22C) weather is NOT fun, trust me! It was SO cold. Fortunately, people were standing right by their cars and could climb back in when the pain became too unbearable. Five minutes occasionally of running the engine was barely enough to keep me going, plus a handwarmer inside my right glove. My feet finally thawed out once I arrived back home. It was all worth it, though, just for the chance to see these beautiful owls. When I left this area, I made a turn down a backroad, as i had noticed a red barn in the distance. Quite a nice old barn with a collapsing roof, with another barn next to it. "A bird of open grasslands, the Short-eared Owl is one of the most widely distributed owls in the world. It is found across North America, South America, and Eurasia, and on many oceanic islands." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Short-eared_Owl/id

Happy Boxing Day, everyone! Just needed something completely different from snow and old barns. Dug deep into my archives and came up with this macro of a leaf tip of a Venus Flytrap plant. A splash of colour feels good today - a sunny day, but with a temperature of -18C (-0.4°F) with a windchill of -24C (-11.2°F). This macro shot shows the trap slightly open. I'm not sure why some traps are green and others more yellow, orange or red, but I've had all these colours on one single plant. Perhaps they change colour with age? This leaf tip was somewhere around half to three-quarters of an inch long. "The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Flytrap David Attenborough looks at how this well known carnivorous plant captures its prey. This short video is from the BBC. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktIGVtKdgwo

This is just another example of good luck with timing, when friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, spent two amazing days in the Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary. This CP Rail train came along just at the right time. My friends and I left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that they dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. My friends are good at telling individual bears, often by a certain scar and, of course, the actual location. Many of the bears we see, they have seen before. Basically, it's all about timing, as with any wildlife - and this train! A few minutes earlier or later and we would have missed seeing something special. We just happened to be lucky. All wildlife/nature photographers know it's all about timing : )

This was taken near the Ptarmigan Cirque parking lot in Kananaskis, along Highway 40, SW of Calgary, on 23 November 2013, when a birding friend and I went in search of a White-tailed Ptarmigan (without success!). The snow was so deep, you needed snowshoes or cross-country skis, which I don't have. This photo shows just a tiny portion of where the snow above had slipped over a lower layer. Just liked the sparkling, untouched snow.

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.

OK, so you only get a curled petal - because the day after I bought this mixed bunch of Roses, they had all drooped and started to shrivel, LOL! Not good value, Safeway! Can't remember if I had managed to get a photo of this Rose the first day. Thought the pink and green were pretty together, along with a touch of black.