Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#480

Three days ago, on 29 September 2014, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary, that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw one particular area of the Badlands of Alberta. A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip. All summer, we have been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for yesterday was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going! I think this was the longest day of driving I had ever done, especially to, and in, an area that I'd never driven to before. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have barely any sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol! I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round two main areas - Dorothy and Rowley, each in different directions from Drumheller (known for its remarkable dinosaur findings). The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake going on this trip on that particular day. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there this year. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun. Our main destinations were the Hoodoo Trail, and the almost-ghost-town of Dorothy, calling in at Wayne as well. I had longed, for such a long time, to see the two small, old churches that are to be found in Dorothy, as well as the grain elevator. Both churches have been restored, which is good in some ways but not photographically. This photo is of the little Catholic Church. After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with these two being right next to each other and the other further from them. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept. From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I no longer like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!

Eight or nine years ago, I was out with a group of birding friends somewhere (?) outside the city, and we saw a Bobolink far in the distance, at the top of a very tall tree. You needed a scope to see it, but I was in such awe at seeing such a beautiful bird - one that I'd never heard of before - that I never even thought of trying to get a photo of it. I've never seen this uncommon (in Alberta) bird since ...... until yesterday!! Yesterday, my oldest daughter came down for a few hours, and after she left, I decided I would drive a few of the backroads SW of the city. At the last moment before turning round and heading home, I remembered that someone had seen a Bobolink in that area fairly recently, so I decided to drive a little further than planned. Imagine my excitement when one of the black birds I checked out (and there were MANY along all those roads!) turned out to be not a Red-winged Blackbird or a Brewer's Blackbird, but a beautiful Bobolink! I only got a distant view, but I was so happy just to see it and to get any photo at all. "Perched on a grass stem or displaying in flight over a field, breeding male Bobolinks are striking. No other North American bird has a white back and black underparts (some have described this look as wearing a tuxedo backwards). Added to this are the male’s rich, straw-colored patch on the head and his bubbling, virtuosic song. As summer ends he molts into a buff and brown female-like plumage. Though they’re still fairly common (Note: uncommon in Alberta) in grasslands, Bobolink numbers are declining. Bobolinks are small songbirds with large, somewhat flat heads, short necks, and short tails. They are related to blackbirds and orioles, and they have a similar shaped, sharply pointed bill." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bobolink/id This is a long weekend for some people here in Canada, as Tuesday, 1 July 2014 is Canada Day. Can't say I want to promote a beer commercial, but I thought this one was kind of neat. Please don't drink and drive at any time, but the roads will most likely be packed and crazy the next few days! youtu.be/t41wNkGvJ9k Posting my "daily three" late this morning (just before noon, I think), having slept late after getting to bed at a ridiculous time (around 3:00 a.m., I think) this morning!

Oh, boy, I think I dazzled my own eyes as I scrolled down on this image, LOL! These very pretty Echeveria succulent flowers caught my eye when we visited a gentleman's cactus garden here in the city. He lovingly brings in all his pots of cacti each winter and then digs holes and puts them all back outside each summer. He kindly allowed us to return again recently and proudly showed us each and every one of his plants. He is an elderly man and I think either one or two of my friends have offered to help him with this massive task that has become too overwhelming for him to do on his own. Sorry the actual quality of this cropped photo isn't better - grainy doesn't begin to describe it, LOL - but I needed something bright on this gloomy, wet day..

This is just a single tiny flower of the flower cluster of the wild Round-leaved Orchid. There are several (2-8) of these small flowers along a main stem. This plant grows in mossy areas of moist coniferous forests. It looks rather like a little angel with wings and a polk-dot gown. Very delicate little flowers, each one 12-15 mm long.

I remember being surprised when I came across several stalks of Red Clover deep in the woods at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66). The sun just happened to pierce the trees in this one spot : ). I guess I just didn't expect to see Red Clover growing there - don't ask me why! This member of the Pea family is an introduced plant from Europe.