Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2010January8

This was one of the Llamas on a ranch in the Cochrane Wildlife Preserve/Water Valley, where we conducted a Christmas Bird Count on 29th December. Farmers sometimes keep a Llama on their property to keep away the Coyotes. Just look at those gorgeous eyelashes : ) "Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia.

Gorgeous orchids growing in the new Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo, back in late November. I love the way they glisten, and their patterns are always intriguing. Chickened out of going on a very COLD walk this morning, deciding to stay home all day instead. Our temperatures are supposed to be warming up for the next few days, thank goodness, so I reckoned I'd wait for that before going out. Spent this afternoon backing-up more of my endless nature photo folders - an urgent, monotonous and time-consuming task/chore : )

Took this photo way back on 1st November and wasn't sure it was really worth posting. Decided I would after all, even though today has been a beautiful sunny day, around +7C - yes, that's PLUS 7C!!! Sure beats -20C and -30C! Guess I should add that this is the edge of a dead rose petal : ) After a bitterly cold month of October, took this photo rather in desperation and while playing around with my Raynox lens, LOL.