Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: SW quadrant of circle

A very heavily cropped shot of a Sharp-tailed Grouse taken on January 2nd, when we went on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count south of the city, in the south west quadrant of the Nanton and area circle. Too many annoying little branches, but I liked the beautiful feather pattern on the breast.

Another of the many cute farm cats we met while doing the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on January 2nd, south of Calgary, around the Nanton area. I'm sure that the cats we saw on this day were cuter than cats we see elsewhere, ha. I've placed the image in just a very approximate location on my map, as I don't have an address for this location. Just in case anyone is wondering where on earth Nanton is : ) Our weather forecast - aren't we lucky? : ) I'm hoping it will be the light, fluffy kind of snow rather than the fine, powdery kind with no obvious individual snowflakes. I think I've only been out walking maybe three times in the last three weeks, which is not good. "An intense low is expected to pack a punch for Alberta residents beginning Friday afternoon. This will bring a significant change to weather conditions this weekend. Substantial snowfall accumulations are in the forecast, with most areas seeing anywhere from 10 to 15 centimeters. Higher amounts are expected outside of Edmonton and along the Alberta, Saskatchewan border. Watches and warnings have been implemented across several communities. “The storm will pick up intensity starting Friday afternoon, this will include heavy amounts of snow and gusty winds,” explains Brian Dillon, a meteorologist here at The Weather Network. According to Environment Canada, northwesterly winds will be particularly strong with gusts potentially reaching 60 km/h." www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&s... Stay warm, everyone, and drive safely - if you really have to go out. And now it's back to urgent e-mails and thinking about what I want to write, to be read out at my brother's funeral.

Whenever I see a Great Horned Owl with its eyes wide open like this, it makes me think of my favourite Licorice Allsorts candies - those large, round, yellow ones with the black licorice centre : ) One of the first places three of us called in at, during the annual Nanton Christmas Bird Count, had a pair of Great Horned Owls in the Spruce trees in their farmyard. One flew to a different tree and all we could see was a bit of movement through the branches. The owl in my photo stayed where it was for a short while, giving me a chance for a few shots, and then flew over to join the other one. Ha, most of my photos were very blurry - not sure what happened there! Thankfully, two or three came out OK, otherwise I would have been so disappointed, as it really was an exceptionally beautiful owl. I had a weird experience when I was in this farmyard - can't remember if I was trying to focus my camera on the owl or some other bird, but suddenly there was a furry face between my hands and touching my face and camera! A black and white cat had leapt at my clothes and appeared right against my face!! Talk about making me jump, ha! I've marked this image as Nanton on my map - it was taken somewhere SW of the town (i.e. Area D), but I don't know the exact location - just in case anyone is not familiar with where Nanton is.. "Each individual count is performed in a "count circle" with a diameter of 15 miles or 24 kilometres. At least ten volunteers, including a compiler to manage things, count in each circle. They break up into small parties and follow assigned routes, which change little from year to year, counting every bird they see. In most count circles, some people also watch feeders instead of following routes. Counts can be held on any day from December 14 to January 5 inclusive." From Wikipedia.

Another, very heavily cropped, shot of this Sharp-tailed Grouse that four of saw on the Audubon Christmas Bird Count in the Nanton area, January 2nd. Perhaps not the best view, but at least it was out in the open for us : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp-tailed_Grouse

Just one of the very cute farm cats that we came across when four of us were driving the backroads for the Nanton Christmas Bird Count on January 2nd. We were given the south west quadrant of the Count circle around Nanton (south of Calgary) - such a beautiful area of rolling hills and distant mountain peaks.

One last photo of this Sharp-tailed Grouse that very co-operatively flew to a not-too-distant tree. My least favourite shot of the ones I've posted, but wanted to add it to my Birds of Alberta Set. Taken when four of us spent a very enjoyable full day driving the backroads of the Nanton area on January 2nd, for the annual Nanton Christmas Bird Count - we covered the south west quadrant of the Nanton circle.

The small group of four of us, who drove around all day in the south west quadrant of Nanton and the surrounding areas for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, were very lucky to see a total of 70 of these fascinating Sharp-tailed Grouse (split up in several different locations). Their numbers seem to vary greatly from year to year. We pulled over to take a good look at this one high up in a tree, and my friends were very patient, giving me the chance to photograph it. This angle is a little "different", but at least there are no small twigs across its face and body, LOL, unlike the other shots I got : ) Aren't they just beautiful birds? Love those gorgeous feather patterns. And yes, you do have to smile at those wonderful, feathery legs. A very heavily cropped photo, by the way, but even so, this was the closest and best view I'd ever had of one before. The helpful lady from the Coroner's Office in England called a short while ago and left a message with the results of my brother's autopsy - natural causes, Ischaemic Heart Disease. I was up to about 5:00 a.m. this morning, I think, trying to find a few songs/music that felt right for John's funeral. I went to YouTube to listen to various ideas, but I'm still not sure how I can get some of these choices from "here" to "there" (Birmingham) : ) I wasn't thinking very clearly and just saved the songs from YouTube - which I read later doesn't work (for obvious copyright reasons, I guess). I think my friend in England said that the funeral place has a list of music to choose from, but of course there are so many versions of, say, Amazing Grace, that I'm not sure how I know what version would be played. Any help/suggestions from anyone who has had to do this, would be much appreciated. Now that the autopsy results are known, I know that time for getting things done is running out rapidly. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my good friend, George (George Dixon) today!