Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Bragg Creek Provincial Park

Last night, I was busy backing-up the last few months' worth of photos to an external hard drive and picked out several archived photos that I hadn't yet posted. This Gaillardia was one of them, taken on 27 July 2010 in Bragg Creek Provincial Park or West Bragg Creek, west of Calgary. Yesterday, after my volunteer shift, I called in at a shopping centre to see if a small computer store was still in existence. A number of years ago, they did such a good job of transferring all the data from one computer to a new one for me. The time to go through all this has again rolled around and I was hoping so much that the same store would be there. I was so relieved to find it and now have to face the nerve-wracking time of getting used to a new machine (with Windows 7, not 8!). My new computer is still in its box (since late December), waiting for the day when I finally get myself sufficiently organized to bring it out, and that day is almost here. Really, really hoping it won't be too difficult to set up and then work out how to use it. Guessing it will be maybe three days or so that I will be without a computer, so when I suddenly "disappear", you will know the reason : )

Just liked the beautiful colour of this little mushroom nestled against this fallen log. Found in Bragg Creek Provincial Park, west of the city, on 20th August.

Not too thrilling a photo, but I don't often come across yellow mushrooms. This one was growing in Bragg Creek Provincial Park or Natural Area on 20th August.

This lovely fresh, glistening mushroom was growing in Bragg Creek Provincial Park on 20th August. Roll on next August, LOL!

A couple of white mushrooms growing in Bragg Creek Provincial Park, on 20th August.

This mushroom was growing in Bragg Creek Provincial Park on 8th August. The light in the forest was really poor, so it's not the greatest quality photo, but there's just something I like about it : )

I found this beautiful mushroom growing in Bragg Creek Provincial Park yesterday, just west of Calgary. A handful of us were there all day, to record all flora and fauna that we found. Or I should say that I keep busy taking photos and trying (in vain) to keep up with my friends. I was thrilled to bits when I noticed this fungus, and I love both the colour and the wonderful texture of the cap. It may have been something like 3" across.

This is the gill pattern of the purple mushrooms I posted yesterday. If I happen to be with someone who pulls a mushroom for ID purposes, then I will photograph the underside with no guilt, LOL. Sometimes, when walking through the forest, I'll come across a mushroom that has either been knocked over or pulled by someone and so take a photo or two. The colour of this mushroom was amazing. Thanks to Doug (dougwaylett) and Ron (Ron Wolf) for the ID and extra information : )

I'm pretty sure this is some kind of Tussock Moth caterpillar, seen on 20th August at West Bragg Creek Provincial Park (west of Calgary). I looked at so many Googled photos late the other night and now can't remember which kinds I thought this could be. Maybe either the Rusty Tussock Moth or Douglas Fir Tussock Moth? Silly me, I should have written down which was the closest! I'd never seen one like this before, so I'm always thrilled to bits to see something new.

This is a macro shot of a very tiny Sedge, growing at Bragg Creek Provincial Park, west of Calgary. It is common, native and grows on moist banks and meadows. Also known as Golden-fruited Sedge. The fruit are 2-3mm long, oval, plump, light blue-green to orange-yellow, fleshy and translucent when fresh, becoming white and coarsely ribbed when dried. Belongs to the Sedge family, Cyperaceae.

This is a small, native wildflower that I don't see all that often. Also known as Bog-stars. These were photographed at Bragg Creek Provincial Park on July 27th. This is "Parnassia parviflora, Small/Northern Grass-of Parnassus, since it has only 5-7 staminodia per scale." Thanks for the info, Doug (dougwaylett)! I couldn't remember which of the Parnassia had more of those staminodia and which had fewer. "The flower has five white petals, each with light green vein-like lines on them. In the center, are five three-pronged sterile stamens, each tipped with shiny, drop-like, false nectaries, which (along with the green lines) seem to lead flies and bees to the nectar in the very center of the flower." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnassia

A couple of us noticed several of these very small, white flowers growing at the base of a tree in Bragg Creek Provincial Park a couple of days ago. A casual glance in their direction brought Mouse-eared Chickweed to mind, but somehow, that just didn't feel right. After all the rain and hail we've had recently, it almost looked like the petals may have been damaged. However, we were told that this plant was Menzies' Catchfly (Silene menziesii) - a plant that I had never seen or even heard of before. Sorry the image is blurry - took this using my macro lens and I'm stilll in the process of learning how to use it outdoors. At least you can tell the interesting shape of the petals. The fact that I've just woken up after falling asleep in front of the TV again, straight after having supper, doesn't help anything look sharp, LOL. Four of us had such an enjoyable day today, botanizing the 160 acres of rolling grassland and forest belonging to J. Edworthy, down south of the city, past Black Diamond. One of the prettiest areas you could imagine - so many colourful wildflowers in the grassland, and all sorts of moths and butterflies, and even a few fungi. Was thrilled to bits to see a Police Car Moth - and can you believe it, I realized afterwards that I hadn't turned Conversion off in my camera when I removed my macro lens - ahhh!! Not sure if I'll be able to sharpen a photo enough to post. Thanks so much, Christine, for showing us this beautiful area! www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=2...

Hard to believe that these Bird's-nest Fungi were very tiny, less than half an inch from what I remember, maybe even closer to quarter of an inch! As you can see, the one at the back still has it's little "lid" on it. These fungi are fascinating to look at - with their tiny "eggs" in the nest. They were found on the river bank in Bragg Creek Provincial Park on 27th July. "The nests are splash cups. When a raindrop hits one at the right angle, the walls are shaped such that the eggs (which contain the spores) are expelled a good distance from the nest." From Wikipedia.

Hey, Dorothy, this is for you! This was a most beautiful sight to see, wasn't it, with the sun shining though the trees on to just this one tiny Twinflower (sometimes written as Twin Flower), Linnaea borealis? Seen on 27th July on a walk in Bragg Creek Provincial Park, west of the city. These had quite a deep shade of pink on them - usually, they are a much paler pink. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaea

It seems to be mushroom day on Flickr, so thought I'd add one of my own, LOL! I love these white ones whose gills turn upwards. Also love it when I am lucky enough to come across a mushroom that the sun is shining down upon, through a gap in the forest canopy. What a gorgeous, sunny day it is here. The snow is melting and the sun was actually warm (maybe around 5C) when I was out on a walk all morning at Edworthy Park. However, looking at our forecast, there is snow on two days coming up soon. This is the time of the year when we are on a rollercoaster ride - a snowfall, snow melts and we think that maybe that was the very last snowfall of winter; another snowfall, snow melts ... and so on and so on for the next few weeks.

Another white fungus from 20th August, at the Bragg Creek Provincial Park or West Bragg Creek Natural Area. These white ones are some of my favourite fungi.

It looks to me like there is a little bit of guttation going on (water droplets) around the edge of this mushroom. Found on 20th August in Bragg Creek Provincial Park.

This little, almost perfect, colorful mushroom cap caught my eye, standing out from the mosses and rotting log. I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms so badly - always find it difficult to acccept that the wonderful days of spring and summer and endless photo opportunities are over. This past week, I have found it really hard to get moving and, in fact, have barely moved from my computer, which has left me in a lot of pain. I missed a few walks so that I could try and get some extra hours of desperately-needed sleep, which was good, but I need to also keep my joints mobile. However, today, I spent the morning walking around Inglewood Bird Sanctuary - always love to see the two (far away) Harlequin Ducks on the Bow River there : ) Afterwards, I spent part of the afternoon at the Zoo, which is just a few minutes from IBS. Then, I drove a few of the gravel roads south of the city - you should see my car after driving in muddy, gravelly ruts, LOL! Some really nice clouds, but I don't think I captured any good shots of them. The morning was overcast and poor light, but the sun did come out for a bit, while I was at the Zoo. Thought I'd better try and get a few different photos into my files, ready for when the "real" snow and bitterly cold temperatures arrive, LOL.