Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: lost

I missed posting any photos yesterday, as I was just too tired the day before to look for and edit images. Today, I am a little more prepared and organized, but still posting late. It always puzzles me when I/we come across "discarded" or lost foot-ware, even more so on a cold, snowy day. I don't know if these were on the ground when someone spotted them or if they were already on the park bench. Perhaps the young child was in a stroller and kicked off his warm boots, but I would have thought the person pushing the stroller would have then walked into them. Very strange, but I thought I would post a photo here, just in case someone happens to see my photo of their child's lost boots. These were seen yesterday, 14 November 2017, while friends and I were on a morning birding walk in Weaselhead. What a dull, miserable, overcast, cold, gloomy, somewhat foggy morning it was - just the opposite to what the weather forecast had said. I don't know why I went, other than that I knew I should get out on a walk, especially before real winter sets in, and I hibernate. Did we see endless, amazing birds? No, of course not, despite doing a much longer walk than expected! It was very quiet bird-wise, with the "usual" birds seen, such as Chickadees and Nuthatches. The only photo, out of maybe half a dozen shots, was this photo of little boots.

I was about to turn off my computer a short while ago, when I suddenly decided to post my "daily three" photos instead (12:45 am). My alarm clocks will be set for about 4:45 am, as I have a very early, half-day trip outside the city tomorrow. This is to someone's private property, where we have been several times over the last few years. This photo was taken on 21 May 2015, on a very last-minute, totally unexpected trip out to Bow Valley Provincial Park. By 11:00 pm the previous evening, I still wasn't sure if I was going to be ready in time and also because I had only had about an hour and a half the sleep the night before that, I wasn't sure if I could manage it. The thought of going out there on a beautiful, sunny day was just too tempting and, after less than three hours sleep that night, I was up and ready to go the next morning. If I hadn't gone, I would have missed a new flower find (not by me) as well as a beautiful Morel mushroom, and I know I would have been so disappointed. The five friends I went with are all specialists in their fields of fungi, lichens, mosses and liverworts, so not only did they enjoy our day, but I did, too. They also know the flowers and birds of Alberta and so many other things, too. We heard quite a few birds and I was told that they included Yellow-rumped Warblers, Juncos and Chipping Sparrows. They were all flitting around in the trees, but I couldn't see any of them properly. I had been hoping that there would be a Common Loon on Middle Lake, as I had seen them there before in other years. We could only see one there, not a pair. This bright yellow duckie was the only bird I was able to photograph, other than several very distant shots of the beautiful Loon. Always makes me sad to see a child's toy that has been dropped.

The morning of 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all, as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance plus a few smaller flocks; and a male American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days previously. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of the American Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these birds, especially as they are rare here. After our walk, I spotted this fairly new pair of child's shoes, accidentally left behind on top of a post near the parking lot. Not sure how this can have happened, lol! Once back in our cars, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent!

There must be a sad little girl out there somewhere, missing her much-loved baby doll. Someone had picked it up and put it in plain view on a branch, between Votier's Flats and Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park.

At the end of a recent walk at Griffith Woods, I happened to notice this colourful pair of sunglasses by the parking lot, covered with a fresh layer of snow. Couldn't resist a quick shot of them, it was so nice to see a splash of colour in an otherwise white world : )