Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area

From my archives, taken on 24 September 2010 at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, NW of Calgary. Just a tiny mushroom, but so perfect, hidden deep amongst the mosses.

These beautiful native Thistles are rare here, so it's always a treat to come across one. Photographed this one at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, NW of Calgary, on 27 July 2013. The Drummond's Thistle is a spectacular thistle species, with a low-to-the-ground rosette of leaves and large flowerheads. In Calgary, this species is rare - the only place where these native Thistles have been found is Weaselhead. Often, you find that the plant has a central flower surrounded by several others. The largest flower is always the one in the center of the group, and it has always finished blooming when the surrounding flower heads bloom. DRUMMOND, THOMAS, naturalist; b. c. 1790 in Perthshire, Scotland; d. 1835, probably in March, in Havana, Cuba. See link below for full biography: www.biographi.ca/public/images/logo_en.png

Happened to notice this tiny mushroom (maybe half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter) half hidden by the grass in the middle of the narrow trail we were walking along the day before yesterday, 27 July 2013. A group of us met at Sarah Leete's, to do a BioBlitz along the E side of the Perrenoud Wildlife Reserve, NW of Calgary. This means that an extensive list is made of all flora and fauna seen during the day. I don't know if anyone else was impressed by this tiny fungus with the ridged cap, but I think it's beautiful, especially when seen in macro size : )

This was another thing that I saw on 27 July 2013, when a group of us did a Bioblitz along the E side of the Perrenoud WIldlife Reserve, NW of Calgary. A tiny Crab Spider, sitting on a Richardson's Geranium wildflower. "Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae. Among the Thomisidae it refers most often to the familiar species of "flower crab spiders", though not all members of the family are limited to ambush hunting in flowers. Thomisidae do not build webs to trap prey, though all of them produce silk for drop lines and sundry reproductive purposes; some are wandering hunters and the most widely known are ambush predators. Some species sit on or beside flowers or fruit, where they grab visiting insects. Individuals of some species, such as Misumena vatia (which I believe is shown n my photo), are able to change color over a period of some days, to match the flower on which they are sitting. Some species frequent promising positions among leaves or bark, where they await prey, and some of them will sit in the open, where they are startlingly good mimics of bird droppings. However, note that these members of the family Thomisidae are not to be confused with the spiders that generally are called bird dropping spiders, not all of which are close relatives of crab spiders.... The spiders of Thomisidae are not known to be harmful to humans." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_spider en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geranium_richardsonii "In 1980, George Emil Perrenoud donated this land to the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation for the purpose of a wilderness park for the benefit of the residents of the Province of Alberta." www.asrpwf.ca/media/53811/perrenoud.pdf www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9399782073

Photographed this beautiful - and, oh, so tiny - slime mold at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, north west of the city, on September 24th. I love these very temporary, tiny orange balls on their little translucent stalks. When not seen in macro size, they look little more than an orange smear on a rotting log. You can also see a few splashes of glorious turquoise colour from the Blue Stain fungus, that we were so happy to see. My words under the previously posted bottom photo were: "An exciting moment two days ago, when I was with a couple of friends at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, north west of the city. I had just been trying to photograph a teeny, orange slime mold - the kind that looks like tiny, shiny, orange "balls" on thin, white stalks. I bent over the log a couple of inches further and to my amazement, saw the tiniest splashes of brilliant turquoise - a totally unnatural looking colour in the forest : ). So small, but a macro shot gives you an idea of my find, even though it's far from sharp. Not sure if this is Chlorociboria aeruginascens / Blue Stain or something else. Microscopic examination is required in order to tell the difference. Doug, I know you said the name when we were there, but I can never remember any names by the time I get home. Help! Doug's words: "Your name is what I am calling it but it could also be C. aeruginosa. You can only tell the difference by looking at the spores." www.mushroomexpert.com/chlorociboria_aeruginascens.html

Macro shot of this jelly fungus, taken at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area (just an area of forest) on September 24th. Love coming across anything that is this bright orange deep in the forest : )

Coral fungi that I have seen have many narrow tubes leading up from ground level. This particular Coral Fungus has fewer and fatter tubes, topped with narrower branches. Couldn't find it on Google. I came across this the day before yesterday, when I got separated towards the end of our day of botanizing, from the two friends I went with to the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area. I was so relieved to eventually see the road and our vehicle through the trees. I noticed this fungus maybe 20' inside the fairly open forest from the edge of the road.

An exciting moment two days ago, when I was with a couple of friends at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, north west of the city. I had just been trying to photograph a teeny, orange slime mold - the kind that looks like tiny, shiny, orange "balls" on thin, white stalks. I bent over the log a couple of inches further and to my amazement, saw the tiniest splashes of brilliant turquoise - a totally unnatural looking colour in the forest : ). So small, but a macro shot gives you an idea of my find, even though it's far from sharp. Not sure if this is Chlorociboria aeruginascens / Blue Stain or something else. Microscopic examination is required in order to tell the difference. Doug, I know you said the name when we were there, but I can never remember any names by the time I get home. Help! www.mushroomexpert.com/chlorociboria_aeruginascens.html

Three of us spent a day botanizing at the Perrenoud Wildlife Habitat Area, north west of Calgary, on 24th September. The main purpose was to search for Lichens, though I always go everywhere with an open mind (LOL!), ready to photograph anything I think is beautiful and/or interesting. When I caught up with the other two, they had found this cluster of very tiny mushrooms (diameter of caps may have been around quarter of an inch at most) on a rotting log in the forest, together with a very small white mushroom (which I'll post some other time). I love the bright colour of these little guys - but it also makes me feel sad because fungi season is over for us, for another 10 months or so. During the endless cold, snowy winter months, I'll be posting some of the fugus photos that I'm hanging on to or else haven't yet really looked at, in an attempt to lessen the effects of mushroom withdrawal symproms ... sigh!

LOL, almost sounds like an item off a fancy restaurant menu! This was such a beautiful tree branch, covered in Red Tree Brain fungus and orange jelly fungus, maybe Witch's Butter (?). It was a wonderfully colourful sight! This was taken when we went to botanize the Perrenoud Natural Area, north west of Calgary and north west of Cochrane on 18th June. We were lucky enough to see two young Great Gray Owls in the forest there, too. "In 1980, George Emil Perrenoud donated this land to the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation for the purpose of a wilderness park for the benefit of the residents of the Province of Alberta." tpr.alberta.ca/asrpwf/programs/parks/park_and_wildlife/pe...

This was a rapid, two-shot chance, but at least I managed to get one photo that is fit to post (horrid, messy background, though), LOL. Seen briefly at the Perrenoud Natural Area, north west of Calgary and north west of Cochrane. Thanks, Art and Terry, for the exact ID!