Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2009October18

I'm glad I snapped this image before autumn vanished! I don' tknow what happened to fall this year : ) 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. It's all about adjusting, though, that's all. 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, on the way home, 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. I love photographing ice crystals, so ......

This Helmeted Guineafowl hopped up on to the railing near me when I was visiting the TransAlta Rainforest building at the Calgary Zoo yesterday. These birds seem to be constantly on the move, so don't make the best of models, LOL. While I wouldn't go quite as far as calling this bird's face beautiful, it's body feathers really are beautiful. "The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been widely introduced into the West Indies and southern France.... While guineafowl are native to Africa, the Helmeted Guineafowl has been domesticated and both feral and wild-type birds have been introduced elsewhere." From Wikipedia.