Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 85th St

Yesterday, I dashed south west of the city a short way, as the clouds were building up quite nicely. Looked so much more impressive in person than when seen in a photo. This is just about the only image that is even remotely worth keeping. Not really worth getting my car covered in mud from the snowy, muddy, gravel side roads for one shot, LOL, though of course I enjoyed being surrounded by such beautiful scenery. By the way, I was facing away from the mountains, so those are clouds in the distance.

This Eastern Kingbird gave me a bit of a hard time flying from post to post as I followed it slowly in my car along one of the backroads south west of the city a couple of days ago. Couldn't get close, so had to crop. I rather liked the lichen-covered fence post it perched on here - and for me, a blurry background is always welcomed, especially as it doesn't always happen : ) Several of us had a long, but so enjoyable, day out south of the city today. We were lucky enough to be given the chance to make a return visit to Janel B. and her family's ranch, near Millarville. A delightful family who make us all feel so welcome! We had such an interesting day, walking though the forest that is part of their land, recording all the flora and fauna that we saw. Best of all, we were accompanied for the whole day by two youngsters: their son, Trystan, and a close friend of his, Casey (sorry guys, I need to check on the spelling of both your names!). Talk about delightful kids, and very helpful in helping to find all sorts of things in the woods, especially fungi and bugs!!! I found myself wishing that all kids could grow up in such a place and being so in-touch with nature! Wonderful to see! Thank you both for your much enjoyed company and for all your help, both of you! I suspect you will both sleep really well tonight - I've just woken up from falling asleep in front of the TV this early evening! Trystan, if you read this, I haven't had time yet to go through my photos from today, but will very slowly get a few of the better ones added to Flickr. Thank you from all of us for a lovely day! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Kingbird

When I went for a drive along some of the backroads south west of the city yesterday afternoon, I had hoped for Hawks, Mountain Bluebirds, Wilson's Snipe and so on. Basically, almost all I saw were tiny Sparrows - one after another after another, LOL. They were too far away for me to be able to be sure what any of them were, but when I saw this photo later on my computer, I thought it could be a Le Conte's Sparrow. I knew it was something different when I actually saw the bird. I've only ever once seen a Le Conte's. Would really appreciate an ID confirmation or correction, if someone knows - thanks! Just got home from a long day out at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, west of Innisfail, Alberta (north west of Calgary). Had to set my alarm clock for just after 4:30 a.m. (though I overslept by almost an hour!) and got home around 6:15 this evening. We were lucky that the rain kept away all morning. What a great place this centre is, rehabilitating wildlife (and releasing whenever possible) and also in its education programs. The Centre believes that "without the public being educated on what is injuring our wildlife, the hospital is merely a "band-aid" solution." The animals/birds that are unable to be released "stay onsite and act as foster parents for orphans or play an important role on the education programs." We went there not just to see the centre itself but also to botanize the land around the Centre. Judy, our guide, spent much of the day with us, which we really appreciated. Hopefully, in return, we have shown her a few new plants, etc.. One of the highlights was seeing a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the grassland, along with a young one : ) I was also thrilled to see a Tiger Beetle - not sure if it's the same species as the few I've seen here in the city. Thanks so much, Judy, for such an enjoyable, exciting, interesting day!! Thank you, Stephen and Dorothy, for driving all the way there and back - greatly appreciated, as always! And now I feel totally exhausted! www.medicineriverwildlifecentre.ca/