Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: flickrdiamond

It's my youngest daughter's birthday today, so Happy Birthday, Rachel! Thought she would enjoy a summery photo when our city is covered in quite a few inches of freshly fallen snow. Rachel (Silver Pomegranate on Flickr) was born in Muscat, Oman, Middle East (where we lived for six years due to work) and really does not enjoy the cold weather here in Calgary. We can't complain, though, as our temperatures have been quite mild so far, compared to what they might have been.

Just the tiniest opening bud, but absolutely gorgeous in my mind : ) Interesting to realize what plant it belonged to, when a fully open flower was found not too far away. Photographed (macro)in the meadows on Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis, on July 17th.

Photographed this handsome Redhead breeding male a few days ago. On the rare occasion that I do see one, usually they are far, far away. "The Redhead (Aythya americana) is a medium-sized diving duck, 37 cm long with an 84 cm wingspan. The adult male has a blue bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, yellow eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a darker bluish bill with a black tip. The breeding habitat is marshes and prairie potholes in western North America. Loss of nesting habitat has led to sharply declining populations. Females regularly lay eggs in the nests of other Redheads or other ducks, especially Canvasbacks. Redheads usually take new mates each year, starting to pair in late winter." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redhead_(duck) Flickr friend Jim (Garnite) desperately needs all the healing vibes he can possibly get at the moment, lying in ICU in Vancouver General Hospital. Jim had yet another setback yesterday (apparently, this was the third time they didn't think he was going to make it), but news that I read late last night said he had suddenly improved in a few different ways. Still a long, slow way to go - this journey is certainly a roller coaster ride for both Jim and Linda. Healing vibes coming your way, JIm!

These are funny little animals to watch and I'm sure that most people don't stop to watch their antics. Those long, sharp claws come in handy for digging their many underground burrows.

Such a mixture of glorious colours and patterns!

My usual little White-breasted Nuthatch (male). Happy Feathery Friday, everyone!

"Just" a butterfly on a flower. Some kind of Fritillary.

These six photos show where I spent part of the day today! Not actually on these ski slopes, known as Nakiska, but in the area at the foot of Mt. Allan. Twice a year, Golden Eagles migrate over this area and the trip today was to see if we could see any of these amazing birds flying over. They appear only as tiny black specks to the naked eye. Actually, I think I was too focussed on the scenery and didn't see any Eagles, other than a Bald Eagle.

This is only the second time I've ever had a White-breasted Nuthatch fly down to my hand. The other week when it happened, I didn't get any decent photos, but today I had better luck. I did post a photo of one of these birds on my daughter's hand some time ago. (Note on 1st July 2007: wow, this photo, uploaded on 10th December 2006, suddenly appeared in Explore today for the very first time! Neat.)

Snowy Owl female and owlet at the Calgary Zoo. This is a cropped version of a photo similar to one I posted a while ago. So "ugly", it's cute!