Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Mom

A week ago, on 17 August 2014, I joined another group of friends to go birding at Carburn Park. For me, the highlight of the four-hour stroll was seeing this beautiful female White-tailed Deer and just a very quick view of her twin fawns (complete with their spots). I had been in the same park the previous day with other friends and we had been very lucky to see this little family - we got a slightly better view of the young ones that day. This second day, Mom came out of the trees and into the tall grasses and I was able to get a few photos - most of them have nice sharp grasses in the foreground with a blurry Mom in the background : ( This doe was so thin, you could see her rib cage. There is plenty to eat at this time of the year, so I don't know why she is so skinny, though I'm sure her growing twins must keep her very busy. She tried to be brave enough to approach us, no doubt hoping for food of some kind, but was still some distance away. One of the main purposes for the walk was to search for species of tiny Warblers - this is the time they are back in the city. A few species were found, though without binoculars, I couldn't really see them and definitely couldn't photograph them. As always, I turned my camera lens on to other things - such as a Cabbage White Butterfly and some Black Henbane seedpods.

Yesterday, 17 August 2014, I joined another group of friends to go birding at Carburn Park. For me, the highlight of the four-hour stroll was seeing this beautiful female White-tailed Deer and just a very quick view of her twin fawns (complete with their spots). I had been in the same park the previous day with other friends and we had been very lucky to see this little family - we got a slightly better view of the young ones that day (see photo from 16 August in comment box below). Yesterday, Mom came out of the trees and into the tall grasses and I was able to get a few photos - most of them have nice sharp grasses in the foreground with a blurry Mom in the background : ( This doe was so thin, you could see her rib cage. There is plenty to eat, so I don't know why she is so skinny, though I'm sure her growing twins must keep her very busy. She tried to be brave enough to approach us, hoping for food of some kind, but was still some distance away. One of the main purposes for the walk was to search for species of tiny Warblers - this is the time they are back in the city. A few species were found, though without binoculars, I couldn't really see them and definitely couldn't photograph them. As always, I turned my camera lens on to other things - such as the Cabbage White Butterfly and the Black Henbane seedpods in the next two images. Interesting to see a news report yesterday (17 August) by Warren Crowchild that he had just seen a Grizzly Bear on the Tsuu T'ina Reserve, that backs on to Weaselhead. A number of years ago, I heard that there was a Grizzly den on their land. Unfortunately, more and more residential areas are being built on land that once belonged to these impressive bears. A few people have been seeing a Black Bear down in Weaselhead, too. Several years ago, I was walking there with a friend and we saw a Black Bear in the bushes, feeding on berries. Someone else had seen her with two cubs just a few days earlier. She just kept eating as we walked past her, but once our backs were turned, she let out an almighty roar - presumably to her two young ones. I'll never forget that "encounter"!

The first time I saw this little owlet was on 19 April 2014. Yesterday morning, 22 April 2014, I was at the same place for another birding walk and of course tried to get a few more photos of this cute young one with Mom. This Great Horned pair had three owlets last year, this year just the one. We only saw this little face briefly, like before, as the baby was either down in the nest (which is immediately off my photo at the bottom), or moving deep within the tree, with its back to us. Happy, though, to get any photos. I think I still prefer the one I posted the other day and reposted in a comment box below : ) It looks like I was standing almost on a level with these owls, but they are very high up in the tree and it's impossible to avoid including a string of bright red Christmas lights that hangs right above their heads, so the lights just had to be "removed" : ) It's 9C this morning, getting up to 12C this afternoon. It actually rained yesterday evening, which felt a little strange after getting all our precipitation in the form of snow the last seven months. More rain in the forecast for this afternoon, then a sunny day tomorrow, followed by two days of mixed precipitation or snow. In other words, a typical April here, where we keep thinking that spring may have finally arrived, only to have it snow again. This happens over and over in this month.

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate! Yesterday, 19 April 2014, the sun was shining and I knew I just had to get out on a walk. So, I went on a walk at Carburn Park with friends, where I saw the pair of Great Horned Owls and their one owlet. My photo shows Mom sitting right by the nest and the little one who had just briefly climbed up behind her before returning to the nest. This was pretty much the only "activity" that happened while I was there, and I was lucky to catch this brief moment. Can't help but smile at the expression on the youngster's face. Decided to remove something from this image before posting - a string of bright red Christmas lights that went across the top of the photo and over the owlet's forehead, lol! On the way home, I called in at Sikome, in Fish Creek Park, to see the Great Horned Owl nest and finally saw the two owlets. Seven owls in total : ) How lucky we are to see these beautiful birds! Also thought I'd better try and give my arms a bit of a rest, as both are very painful. I have an excruciatingly painful right arm and shoulder, partly from too much mouse clicking thanks to all the extra clicking that is necessary with the new Flickr format, plus all the many extra clicks needed when working with images using Windows 7. I really, really don't like Windows 7. I seem to remember turning my arm in a strange way a few days ago, too, while either putting on or taking off a jacket. Suspect I may have pulled something. Doing more driving than usual a few days ago, when I took my daughter down to the Frank Lake area for the day, probably didn't help, either. I know I should be resting my arms, but that's not going to happen - I really must cut back, though, to give my arms a chance to improve somewhat. Lol, I could only photograph birds below a certain height yesterday, as I can barely lift my right arm high enough to hold my camera up to my eye : ( Thought I'd share the following links. I had never heard of Hang before, until I saw a photo posted by good Flickr friend, Jim (Meremail). Couldn't resist Googling this most unusual instrument, that looks rather like an upside down cooking Wok, to find out what it sounded like. Love it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDQgU1CPpis&feature=share&amp... youtu.be/Ni6mmXnqmN4 youtu.be/F0h4syLlw5g Link to image on Flickr: flic.kr/p/nfK2am

The adult female (i.e. Mom) made her way into the tiny pool in this separated area that is used when certain of the Amur Tigers at the Calgary Zoo have to be kept away from the other adult Tigers. Her three cubs, born March 30, 2012, joined her instantly and had great fun climbing over her back and playing with her tail - they love it in there! Photographed though a very dirty window with reflections of all the people watching in front of me and behind me, but a little darkening made it fit to post : ) Taken on 21 August 2012.