Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Weaselhead Natural Area

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.

The third photo I was going to post this morning looked blurrier than it did very late last night, lol! So, instead, I grabbed this quick shot of a Blue Jay that was seen in the Weaselhead area on 28 January 2014, when I went on a morning's walk with a group of friends. I rarely actually see Blue Jays - more often, I hear them. This one landed just briefly on the top of a tall tree, just long enough to get a quick shot, turning it's head away just as I clicked, and away it flew.

Not the best image with that patch of blown-out white on its face, but I thought this little Black-capped Chickadee (macro) was still rather cute. Seen in the Weaselhead Natural Area on 28 January 2014, when I managed to push myself out the front door to go for a walk in Weaselhead with friends. The morning started off unpleasantly cold, but gradually warmed up. The pathways were covered in ice and one person did fall, unfortunately, so I was relieved I had my ice grabbers on my winter boots. We had a few nice sightings, which gave reasonable photo opps, including several House Finches, a fluffed up Downy Woodpecker, this little Chickadee and a beautiful Snowshoe Hare who was well camouflaged against the snow and was hiding in a tangle of branches. At the end of the walk, a Coyote was spotted, hunting in the field by the parking lot. A most enjoyable walk in good company : )

I rarely get out any more for an actual walk, especially in the winter months. This winter has been brutally cold with so much snow, which has now turned to ice, thanks to the comparatively mild weather we had recently. Back to cold temperatures now, though. Anyway, I managed to push myself out the front door on Tuesday (28 January 2014) to go for a walk in Weaselhead with friends. The morning started off unpleasantly cold, but gradually warmed up. The pathways were covered in ice and one person did fall, unfortunately, so I was relieved I had my ice grabbers on my winter boots. We had a few nice sightings, which gave reasonable photo opps, including several House Finches, this fluffed up Downy Woodpecker, and a beautiful little Snowshoe Hare who was well camouflaged against the snow and was hiding in a tangle of branches. At the end of the walk, a Coyote was spotted, hunting in the field by the parking lot. A most enjoyable walk in good company : )

I rarely get out any more for an actual walk, especially in the winter months. This winter has been brutally cold with so much snow, which has now turned to ice, thanks to the comparatively mild weather we've had recently. Today, the forecast is for snow again, sigh. Anyway, I managed to push myself out the front door on Tuesday (28 January 2014) to go for a walk in Weaselhead with friends. The morning started off unpleasantly cold, but gradually warmed up. The pathways were covered in ice and one person did fall, unfortunately, so I was relieved I had my ice grabbers on my winter boots. We had a few nice sightings, which gave reasonable photo opps, including several House Finches, a Downy Woodpecker, and a beautiful little Snowshoe Hare who was well camouflaged against the snow and was hiding in a tangle of branches. Thanks so much, Phil, for spotting this little guy - a treat for all of us! At the end of the walk, a Coyote was spotted, hunting in the field by the parking lot. A most enjoyable walk in good company : )

I rarely get out any more for an actual walk, especially in the winter months. This winter has been brutally cold with so much snow, which has now turned to ice, thanks to the comparatively mild weather we've had recently. Today, the forecast is for snow again, sigh. Anyway, I managed to push myself out the front door yesterday (28 January 2014) to go for a walk in Weaselhead with friends. The morning started off unpleasantly cold, but gradually warmed up. The pathways were covered in ice and one person did fall, unfortunately, so I was relieved I had my ice grabbers on my winter boots. We had a few nice sightings, which gave reasonable photo opps, including several House Finches, a Downy Woodpecker, and a beautiful little Snowshoe Hare who was well camouflaged against the snow and was hiding in a tangle of branches. At the end of the walk, a Coyote was spotted, hunting in the field by the parking lot. A most enjoyable walk in good company : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Finch

I rarely get out any more for an actual walk, especially in the winter months. This winter has been brutally cold with so much snow, which has now turned to ice, thanks to the comparatively mild weather we've had recently. Today, the forecast is for snow again, sigh. Anyway, I managed to push myself out the front door yesterday (28 January 2014) to go for a walk in Weaselhead with friends. The morning started off unpleasantly cold, but gradually warmed up. The pathways were covered in ice and one person did fall, unfortunately, so I was relieved I had my ice grabbers on my winter boots. We had a few nice sightings, which gave reasonable photo opps, including several House Finches, a Downy Woodpecker, and this beautiful little Snowshoe Hare who was well camouflaged against the snow and was hiding in a tangle of branches. Thanks so much, Phil, for spotting this little guy - a treat for all of us! At the end of the walk, a Coyote was spotted, hunting in the field by the parking lot. A most enjoyable walk in good company : ) "The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), also called the varying hare, or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks. Its feet also have fur on the soles to protect it from freezing temperatures. For camouflage, its fur turns white during the winter and rusty brown during the summer. Its flanks are white year-round. The snowshoe hare is also distinguishable by the black tufts of fur on the edge of its ears. Its ears are shorter than those of most other hares. In summer, it feeds on plants such as, grass, ferns and leaves; in winter, it eats twigs, the bark from trees, and buds from flowers and plants and, similar to the Arctic hare, has been known to steal meat from baited traps. Hares are carnivorous under the availability of dead animals, and have been known to eat dead rodents such as mice due to low availability of protein in an herbivorous diet. It can sometimes be seen feeding in small groups. This animal is mainly active at night and does not hibernate. The snowshoe hare may have up to four litters in a year which average three to eight young. Males compete for females, and females may breed with several males." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare

Snow and hoar frost created the bokeh in this image. A few of us went for a morning's walk in the Weaselhead Natural Area on 3 December 2012. The sun was shining, the sky blue and everywhere looked like a beautiful Christmas card. Down at the bottom of the long hill, we stood and watched as this little native Red Squirrel hung upside down by its back feet, determined to get to the seeds that were inside this rusty old tin. Feeders are not allowed (in theory) in Weaselhead and occasionally some are removed, but some still remain.

A messy shot and heavily cropped, but I hadn't seen a Pileated Woodpecker for ages. This one was seen through snow-covered branches, far in the distance, down in the Weaselhead natural Area, on 3 December 2012. They are such large birds and so spectacular, you can't help but be in awe when you see one.

We saw this Giant Hyssop wildflower in a cluster of these plants in Weaselhead, the only location that it has been found in Calgary.