Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Water Valley area

Five days ago, on 5 July 2014, I decided at the last minute that I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. The hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment turns my house into an oven (no air-conditioning) and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I left the house later than I had hoped (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers. Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside, to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but it had enormous ears - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". Nearby, there were several of these Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and off flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few nearby wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots, including this macro of the two tails on its hind wings. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed two horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. The white horse seemed to like resting its head against the rough bark of the tree they were standing under, or maybe it liked the smell of it. When I reached the road that I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan had to be abandoned. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of an outhouse in the parking lot - the first one I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none yet), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a huge Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Wilson's Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one.

This beautiful Deer looked up at me for a moment, before continuing to browse. I pulled over in my car and just couldn't resist the sight of this beautiful animal with its huge ears. The lighting wasn't the best, but I just liked those ears. Two days ago, on 5 July 2014, I decided at the last minute that I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had hoped to leave the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer, including this one. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, I think it must have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose one of the coloured, metal boxes this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and off flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed two horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. The white horse seemed to like resting its head against the rough bark of a tree, or maybe it liked the smell of it. When I reached the backroad that I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of Calgary. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Wilson's Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one.

A second distant and heavily cropped photo of this rare to uncommon (in Alberta) Northern Hawk Owl. This was the first time I had really seen one and the first chance I'd ever had to photograph one. It was so high up in the tall tree, that I couldn't see which way its head was turned and I ended up with rather too many head-turned sideways shots : ) Seen in the Water Valley area, northwest of the city and of Cochrane. The weather was sunny enough, but the wind was strong and cold.

This was a far-away shot and therefore is very heavily cropped! However, I am SO thrilled to have finally seen a Northern Hawk Owl and, as an added bonus, to get a few photos of it. Nothing great or spectacular, but I'm still on cloud nine : ) We drove northwest of the city and spent the day driving around the back roads hoping to see a Great Gray Owl and maybe even a little Northern Hawk Owl. Not many birds of any kind to be seen but, right at the end, we found this little beauty. It was perched on a very distant tree in a farmer's field. A few of us plodded through snow near the fence line and managed to get some shots. (The snow had quite a thick crust on top, so every step or two, you broke through the crust and plunged into deep snow - roll on spring!). It was extremely windy and chilly - hard to hold the camera - which is why the owl is all puffed up. Then, suddenly, it flew and landed on a fence post by the road where the cars were parked, just 10' from the rest of our group! I would have been able to get the most amazing close-ups, sigh ... These owls are rare to uncommon year-round in Alberta, and they are one of the most sought-after birds in Alberta.

Yesterday, I was so excited because I thought that maybe I had photographed a new (to me) species of Ladybug, on a botanizing day trip to Keith Logan's, about 2 miles south of Water Valley. Unfortunately, this little guy is still a native Two-spotted Ladybug, despite looking more like a "Four-spotted" one, if there was such a thing. Thanks to Corey Husic at BugGuide website for confirming that this is in fact "just" a Two-spotted Ladybug. Also, according to the book, "Bugs of Alberta", "Two-spotted Ladybugs are amazingly variable. Most have two black spots on a red background, while others have four spots or two red shoulder parches on a black background."