Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: backward glance

"Widespread wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h, with some reaching as high as 130 km/h, blasted southern and central Alberta Tuesday afternoon and evening (17 October 2017), fanning wildfires and leaving some 10,000 customers without power." To put things into perspective, sustained winds between 119-153 km/h are considered Category 1 hurricane-force by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A strong Pacific Jetstream caused dramatic weather the day before yesterday, along with rain and very strong winds that brought down trees, powerlines, falling glass from windows of office blocks in downtown, fanned wildfires, and so on. 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 as far as Canmore in the mountains, where we had lunch - Lasagna 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. This rough, narrow road 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 cars wait. "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, as the storm moved in. For the first time ever, I believe, 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 point 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.

Another day of pouring rain - another day that calls for something bright and cheery! It's only 5°C (apparently feels like 2°C) at 8:30 am this morning, but will soar to 6°C this afternoon. Two more days like this and then a return to sunny weather is forecast. Wish we could send all this rain over to California, where it would help with the continuing forest fires. My daughter spotted this Coyote two days ago, while we were on our way north of the city, to the Bowden Sunflower Maze. As Coyotes usually seem to do, it ran some distance and then stopped to look back, doing this a few times. on 12 September 2015, I drove further than I've ever driven before in one day - a total of 410 km (254 miles). I met my daughter at 9:00 am and we headed northwards, with our main destination being the Bowden Sunflower Maze. She feels well enough now after her recent hospital stay, to get out for a day trip. The quickest route from Calgary is a distance of 96 km (60 miles), but I needed to avoid the main, busy route. Also, the backroads are more pleasant to drive - less traffic and, if one is lucky, one will find the occasional old barn. We drove through the town of Olds, stopping briefly to take a couple of photos of the bright orange grain elevator. Haven't yet been able to find any information about this Pioneer elevator. Going north, we drove the roads to the west of the main Highway 2, and on our return trip we drove the roads to the east of Highway 2. I think this trip really convinced my daughter, more strongly than ever, that sadly she has a mother with almost zero sense of direction! This was the first time I had ever been to Bowden and the Sunflower Maze. For years, I had wished we had a field of Sunflowers somewhere within reach, as I had seen so many gorgeous photos taken by other people in various parts of the world. I certainly didn't get photos like those, but I was happy to get the shots I did get. Apparently, this weekend is going to be the last chance to really see the flowers, so we were just in time. This maze at Eagle Creek Farms is apparently the only Sunflower Maze in Canada. There is also an adjoining Corn Maze, but neither of us wanted to walk through that one, thanks to remembering the horror movie, "Children of the Corn"! The farm also has U-pick vegetables and flowers. www.sunmaze.ca/ Thanks, Rachel, for spending the day with me - and for all your directions getting us there and back to the city! Lucky we went when we did, as it has been raining ever since.

This photo was taken back on 11 January 2015, when I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, to see a friend or two. I was lucky with both. It was a Sunday and a lot of photographers had gathered to watch and photograph this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl (at least on that day). Mind you, apart from a couple of very brief, low landings in bushes, it stayed perched extremely high in tall trees. Thankfully, it was still within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places. Bright blue sky completed the picture, unlike the day before, which had been overcast and gloomy. It was so good that day to see so many friends again - lifted my spirits, for which I was so grateful. Each day I have been there since, there has been at least one other photographer and as many as maybe 30 on the very occasional day. My thanks to each and every one of them.

Yesterday, 11 January 2015, I called in at Fish Creek Park again for some fresh air and, hopefully, a friend or two. I was lucky with both. It was a Sunday and a lot of photographers had gathered to watch and photograph this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl. Mind you, apart from a couple of very brief, low landings in bushes, it stayed perched extremely high in tall trees. Thankfully, it was still within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places. Bright blue sky completed the picture, unlike the day before, which had been overcast and gloomy. In this photo, we were treated to a view from the back with its little head turned around - and it was right out in the open, which made a nice change. It was so good to see so many friends again - lifted my spirits, for which I was so grateful. My thanks to each and every one of them.

Getting up really early is always so hard for me to do. I'm a night owl with atrocious sleep habits, so getting out of bed at 5:00 a.m. (alarm was set for 4:15 a.m., though!) was not my favourite way to start the day on 25 March 2013. Funny, when I have to meet friends for various early-starting trips, I can so it (but don't like it), but when I go off on my own, there is no deadline to meet, and I just never get round to doing it. I headed NW of the city, wanting to see if time of day made any, or much, difference to seeing wildlife. Who really knows? I have seen these beautiful birds of prey at all sorts of times of the day, but of course the light was different. This one must have plunged into the mix of dried grass and snow fairly recently, as it still had that long piece of grass hanging from its chin. Wasn't sure whether to remove it or not - it's in quite a few photos - but decided to leave it just as it was. Right decision, lol? I was also lucky enough to see three other Great Gray Owls, my first Mountain Bluebird of the year (always such a wonderful flash of brilliant blue), a Pileated Woodpecker, and an American Robin (always takes me by surprise when I see a Robin out in the middle of nowhere). A beautiful female Ruffed Grouse helped make my day, too. Guess I can say I was definitely rewarded for getting up so early, even though I might have seen all, or most, of these birds later in the day, too : ) Flickr is acting up again (at least for some of us). Have not yet been able to add any tags to this image this morning. I've cleared my cache and restarted my computer, but still the same. Also, when I clicked on the Nuthatch photo I posted today, I happened to notice that the row of tiny thumbnail photos in the top, right corner (below map) showed the image surrounded by other photos that were taken on the same date ages ago, and not surrounded by my most recent photos. Never seen that happen before. Very strange. Also, some people are having problems - yet again - with photos not showing up on their Contacts Home Page, and I suspect this is happening with mine, again.

Another photo of the straw-chewing, country-loving Great Gray Owl, taken on 28 March 2013, NW of Calgary. This was the second of the four Great Grays I saw that day, the first two quite close, the last two being more distant, but still close enough for photos. In some places, the Great Gray is known as the Phantom of the North. This rather soft image, in snowy surroundings, made me think of that name.

When I was out for the day with friends Ron and Trish on 24th April, we were very lucky to come across this beautiful female American Kestrel perched on a high wire, south west of the city. The males especially are such beautiful birds, maybe the most colourful raptor in the world. When I do see these birds, they are always far, far away : ) Length is 22–31 cm, 8.7–12.2 in Wingspan is 51–61 cm, 20.1–24 in www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_kestrel/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Kestrel

This is a photo of a straw-chewing, country-loving Great Gray Owl, taken on 28 March 2013, NW of Calgary. This was the second of four Great Grays I saw that day, the first two quite close, the last two being more distant, but still close enough for photos. In some places, the Great Gray is known as the Phantom of the North. This rather soft image, in snowy surroundings, made me think of that name.