Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Beaverdam Flats Park

WIsh I could remember what kind of Alder this is. Doug, can you help me out on this one?

This is also known as Arrow-grass, Common Bog Arrow-grass, Goose-tongue, Salt-grass, Saltmarsh Arrowgrass, and Spike-grass. It is an uncommon perennial, native to Alberta. Saw this specimen at Beaverdam Flats Natural Area.

I was suprised to see how patterned Wheat is. We saw this Wheat growing wild at Beaverdam Flats Park this morning.

There were two or three beautiful, tall Sunflowers in someone's garden along the edge of Beaverdam Flats Park this morning. I managed to get a photo through the chain link fence.

There are lots of mushrooms everywhere at the moment. We saw this one yesterday at Beaverdam Flats Park.

These leaves and tiny bladders belong to Bladderwort, which has beautiful, small, yellow flowers (I have photos in one of my Plants of Alberta Set). "All bladderworts are carnivorous, and capture small organisms by means of bladder-like traps. Despite their small size, these are extremely sophisticated. In aquatic species such as the Common Bladderwort U. vulgaris, the bladders are large (sometimes exceeding 5 mm in diameter and can feed on more substantial prey such as water fleas (Daphnia), nematodes and even fish fry, mosquito larvae and new tadpoles. When prey animals brush against trigger hairs connected to the trapdoor, it is released and the bladder sucks in the door and the prey, along with the water surrounding it. Once the bladder is full of water, the door closes again, the whole process taking only ten to fifteen thousandths of a second. Bladderworts are unusual and highly specialised plants; they have no roots, and their simple structure makes distinguishing between leaf, shoot, and stem seem arbitrary. The bladder traps, conversely, are recognised as one of the most sophisticated structures in the plant kingdom." From Wikipedia.

This common plant was introduced from southern USA. It is a noxious weed, and grows in gardens and in disturbed areas.

This dog came along the path towards us this afternoon with his owner who was on her bike. He decided that if he lay down with a stick and looked at us with THESE eyes, we would for sure play with him - which of course we did! Beautiful expression - who could resist? He must have had a quick dip in the river!

There are 300 species of Gentiana in the world, mainly in temperate and arctic regions. This is the Prairie Gentian, which we see in various places within the city.

A view from Beaverdam Flats Park this afternoon, looking towards the mountains and zoomed in 12x. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid the buildings and other signs of human beings!

This afternoon, several of us met to go and see a few Fringed Gentian flowers that had been found in Beaverdam Flats Park. Status of this plant: relatively uncommon. I had never seen this plant before, so I was very happy to get the chance to see and try and photograph it. It is a very small plant and flower and my camera did not want to focus on it. Not the sharpest of photos, but you can see the four petals with fringed margins. Sorry, Nancy! I wish you had been able to get your camera to focus. Next year for sure, right? Doug, thanks so much for taking the time to lead us down into the area where you had found a bunch of these attractive little flowers the other day. I owe this photo to you! By the way, Nancy and I saw a rare Double Harebell, down the main path just a little to the west of the parking lot. I managed to get a photo that is at least a little sharper than the ones I took at the other area they were found the other week.

This beautiful Asparagus plant, in Beaverdam Flats Park, is showing its golden fall colour.

I was so thrilled yesterday to be shown several Orange Hawkweed flowers. They were growing along the edge of a parking lot for the park where we walked. This was a plant I had been hoping for a couple of years to see! More beautiful than I had expected and the background matched the flower itself. It is a weed that was introduced from Europe. Why are so many weeds quite beautiful?! Also known as Devil's-paintbrush. Isn't is beautiful, Doug?

As well as the five Double-crested Cormorants sitting on top of this tower, there was also a Rough-legged Hawk in sight. Whenever I have walked in this area that is along the Bow River, there have always been Cormorants atop these poles.