Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#136

Just over a month ago, on 13 January 2015, I spent time with friends again, down in Fish Creek Park. As usual, for most of the time, this tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl sat very high up in very tall trees. Patience is definitely needed when hoping to get photos of this beautiful little bird - it tends to sit in the same place for an hour or even two. If it wasn't for other people to chat with, I know I could never stand there, watching and waiting for so long if I was by myself! This is a 48x zoomed image, Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. This photo was taken just after the ferocious little hunter flew down and caught a Meadow Vole, part of which you can see. "The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

This was taken on 17th October, when I dashed out along a few muddy, gravelly side roads just outside the city, because the sun had finally just come out briefly. I love seeing a field of hay bales at this golden time of year, along with a sky full of interesting clouds. I LOVE Alberta (except for the bitter cold and snow/ice)!!!

Three more weeks and it will be 1st April - wow! Today was brutal; it started off at -28C (-18F) and soared to -23C (-9F) this afternoon. Was walking all morning, but came home with little more than a handful of photos. After five minutes of taking photos, it became too agonizingly painful to continue, despite wearing gloves. Did manage to take a few shots of one of "my" local Great Horned Owls, who has finally moved to his usual perch near the pair's nesting tree. The excitement begins : ) As for Roses, I love these mixed colour ones.

I think I liked the bokeh more than the Red Panda (at the Calgary Zoo) in this shot : ). Well, maybe not, but I always cheer when I do manage to get a blurred background, LOL. "The Red Panda, also called the Firefox or Lesser Panda (Latin name: Ailurus fulgens, "shining cat"), is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat (40 - 60 cm long, 3 - 6 kg weight). The Red Panda is endemic to the Himalayas in Bhutan, southern China, Pakistan, India, Laos, Nepal, and Burma. There is an estimated population of fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. Their population continues to decline due to habitat fragmentation. Their conservation status is Vulnerable" From Wikipedia.

'A winter scene' On Black I sometimes go for a walk along this edge of this river. This happened to be a magical scene early in March, with a perfect hoarefrost. A while back, I posted a close-up view of the trees in the far distance, that looked as if they were "floating". Looks better in large size. The highest this photo got in Explore was #136 on 13th January 2007.