Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Nature Watcher

I really liked this delicate yellow Orchid growing in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Thanks, Art (LeapFrog!), for the ID! Much appreciated.

A young teen clutching a camera said to me yesterday inside the Butterfly House at the Calgary Zoo, "I wish these butterflies would stay still"! There is constant flutter but, on the rare occasion, one will land and be still for a few moments.

Two days ago, I visited the Calgary Zoo and, as always, headed for the aviaries. This Great Gray Owl was perched in a tree by the path through the aviary, just a few feet away from me, with nothing between it and me. I have taken a handful of photos of these owls in the wild, but never had a chance to get this close. I love being able to see the fine detail in the Zoo owls. Those small, piercing eyes never miss a thing!

Ok, I'm not even going to try and ID this hawk! I was lucky to find it just a few feet away in the Owls' aviary at the Calgary Zoo a few days ago. I took SO many photos of it, though I knew that the light was beginning to fade. Well, I now have a lot of photos to delete, but managed to rescue this one and maybe a second one! Oh, for a camera that is good in low light - sigh! Possibly a Rough-legged Hawk.

These birds usually look very sleek, so this one caught my attention with its ruffled neck feathers. I really should remember to call in and see them each time I go to the Zoo, to check out the lighting. I was quite lucky this day.

I was thrilled to see some of these tiny, fascinating Lichen at Bowness Park yesterday. Though I had seen some a couple of times before, I don't usually see them. They remind me of little green golf tees. I did post a previous photo of the same species quite a while ago - not sure if I had the ID correct. Does anyone know if this is Cladonia Lichen? Also not sure if these come under a heading of "Fungi."

I took SO many blurry photos - and I MEAN blurry! - of butterflies in the Butterfly House at the Calgary Zoo. This one finally landed and stayed still long enough to get a sharper shot. I would so much rather be taking photos of wild birds, butterflies and flowers, but every once in a while I take myself off to the Zoo : ) It feels like cheating - though after standing in the hot, very humid Butterfly House, trying to at least get ONE sharp enough shot, I think perhaps it is easier to photograph butterflies in the wild. Just not these species, of course.

This adult Burrowing Owl was checking me out in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo yesterday. For some reason, they seem to love hanging out on the fairly high window ledges.

There is something "strange" about this photo, which maybe someone will pick up! The gorgeous orange Sunflower was bought at Safeway last week. The insect - a Clearwing Moth. Now, what is wrong with this image, LOL??

As we don't have Maple trees here, the lowly Wild Gooseberry has to serve as a substitute for me when it comes to glorious red leaves in the fall. This prickly stemmed shrub grows up to 2 metres tall and I always love to see the small, brilliant red leaves at this time of year. Came across this bush just a few minutes after passing bear scat (full of berries) on the ground. Judging by its appearance, it must have been deposited by a BIG bear, LOL! Bears seem to be being seen in a number of places at the moment, including a Black Bear that walked into my local hospital a few days ago and another that went into someone's open garage after a bag of garbage. Makes me a little nervous when I go off for a walk :)

These Hollyhocks have been planted in a garden bed in North Glenmore Park. A house owner created two beds of garden flowers actually outside his/her own garden fence, so I'm not sure if one calls them wildflowers or not : )