Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: ultrazoom

Didn't have a pumpkin handy to photograph, so used this photo of apples that had fallen into a tiny pool at the Reader Rock Garden, on 26 September 2012. Wishing my family and friends, and all Canadians everywhere, a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have SO much to be thankful for, even in difficult or sad times. Enjoy this long weekend - and if you are driving, please drive carefully and don't drink and drive!

Yesterday afternoon, I called in at the Calgary Zoo, and found one of the beautiful, endangered Amur Tiger cubs (born on 30 March 2012) feasting on some rather disgusting looking part of an animal. The adult female and this cub's two siblings were also all in the small, separate enclosure, spending time relaxing in the sun. Poor Mom could barely keep awake - and no wonder, with three energetic youngsters to look after. Every once in a while, one of the other cubs would slowly inch towards the feeding cub, hoping to get the food for itself, but the cub in my photo did a great job of defending his meal. The colour of this cub is exaggerated in my photo - there were so many people viewing through the glass and so many people seem to wear white or light coloured clothing, which reflects horribly in the dirty glass. Took two or three of my photos using a different setting, resulting in more vivid colour, but at least I was able to capture better detail. Later note added on 7 October 2012: Tigers that used to be known as Siberian Tigers are now known as Amur Tigers. The name change is because their range now only includes the Amur Valley in Eastern Siberia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_tiger Wishing my family and friends, and all Canadians everywhere, a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have SO much to be thankful for, even in difficult or sad times. Enjoy this long weekend - and if you are driving, please drive carefully and don't drink and drive!

Not the most photogenic Sunflower, but I was still happy to see it in someone's garden when I was on a bird walk on 20 September 2012, across the Bow River from Mallard Point, Fish Creek Park. I'm also enjoying seeing the bright colour and the beautiful blue sky in my image this morning, as it is dark and raining today. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower

I finally got out as far as Forgetmenot Pond on 27 September 2012, the far end of Elbow Falls Trail, Highway 66, west of Bragg Creek, Kananaskis. A slight exaggeration of the fall colours, as we get mainly yellow leaves, with just the very occasional yellowy-orange tree. I've only ever pulled over on this quite steep hill two or three times before, as it's not a safe place to do so. However, not another car in sight at that moment. Even though I've driven this way many times, when I come to the top of this hill, the view always takes my breath away.

Well, up close with an Owl butterfly : ) These are large, rather fancy butterflies, and I liked its striped eyes - but not so much its furry body. Taken on 6 October 2012 in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. The tropical butterfly season is almost over now. Once again, the staff and volunteers did a superb job of putting on a great display of tropical plants and butterflies again for us over the summer! I know that I, for one, appreciate this so much - a wonderful chance to see and photograph things I would otherwise never see. "Butterflies in the genus Caligo are commonly called owl butterflies, after their huge eyespots, which resemble owls' eyes. Owl butterflies are found in the rainforests and secondary forests of Mexico, Central, and South America. Owl butterflies are very large, 65–200 mm (2.6–7.9 in), and fly only a few metres at a time, so avian predators have little difficulty in following them to their settling place. However, the butterflies preferentially fly in dusk, when few avian predators are around. The Latin name may possibly refer to their active periods. Caligo means darkness." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_butterfly

A photo taken in fading light, while my friends and I waited by the river in Great Falls, Montana, US, for the sunset to happen. So now I've finally seen an American Robin in America, not Canada. I wonder if this one had flown south all the way from Calgary, to escape our bitter winter : ) Almost all the Robins here fly south, but we can be lucky enough to see one that for some reason chose to remain here. Taken on 11 September 2012, the first day of our week's trip down to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

I was so lucky that this beautiful Paper Kite butterfly landed briefly where it did, giving me the glass roof and blue sky as background. It's difficult to find this species with their wings open, so I was happy. Taken in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo on 6 October 2012. These butterflies are also known as Rice Paper, or Large Tree Nymph butterfly. Of Southeast Asian origin, it is especially known for its presence in butterfly greenhouses.

We were treated to this wonderful sight on two mornings during our stay at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel (in two of their little cabins). A short drive from the hotel along the edge of the lake, Elk were on this narrow bit of land not far from shore. As you can see, the male had his harem all to himself. On one of the mornings, a female swam across to the shore and, of course, everyone was hoping that the male would, too, but he stayed with his women. Taken on 13 September 2012 - a lot of haze from forest fires in the park while we were there. (Location on my map is only very approximate.) "Elk (Cervus elaphus) are the most abundant large mammal found in Yellowstone; paleontological evidence confirms their continuous presence for at least 1,000 years. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, when market hunting of all large grazing animals was rampant. Not until after 1886, when the U.S. Army was called in to protect the park and wildlife slaughter was brought under control, did the large animals increase in number. More than 30,000 elk from 7-8 different herds summer in Yellowstone and approximately 15,000 to 22,000 winter in the park." www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/elk.htm

Can never remember what these small flowers are called, but they always grow in the butterfly room in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Macro shot taken on 6 October 2012. ID seems to be Jatropha integerrima - thanks, Art (LeapFrog!) - much appreciated!

The three endangered Amur Tiger cubs, born on 30 March 2012, have grown so quickly. Though perhaps not as cute as when they were first allowed out for the public to see, it is still fun to watch them play and intereact with Mum and each other.

These butterflies are also known as Rice Paper, or Large Tree Nymph butterfly. Of Southeast Asian origin, it is especially known for its presence in butterfly greenhouses. Photographed in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo on 4 October 2012.

Humboldt Penguins outside at the Calgary Zoo, on 4 October 2012. "There are 10 Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) at the Zoo. The status of this species is IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. Current Impacts on their numbers are El Niño and La Niña weather patterns, predators, tourism, competition with fisheries, habitat change. Humboldt penguins groom their feathers before breakfast. They rub oil from a gland at the base of the tail into their feathers and the edges of their wings. Humboldts also groom each other. This species digs nesting burrows in thick deposits of seabird guano (droppings)." storage.canoe.ca/v1/suns-prod-images/file/1297237247336_C...

This spectacular plant was growing in a row with others at the Calgary Zoo, when I went for the day on Saturday with friends from England, Linda and Tony. I love the spiny, red fruits, which contain large, oval, shiny, bean-like, highly poisonous seeds with variable brownish mottling. The sunlight, unfortunately, was extremely harsh on everything. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil_plant

Seen on the third day of our week's trip down to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons. Artemisia Geyser is a fountain geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. We parked in the parking lot, crossed the road and walked along the Artemisia Trail for quite some distance, passing several other geysers/pools. We had hoped to find the Morning Glory pool, but were out of luck. "Artemisia Geyser is part of the Cascade Group which includes the Atomizer Geyser. It erupts for a duration of 15 to 25 minutes once or twice per day. The fountain reaches a height of 30 feet (9.1 m). Artemisia's pool overflows quietly for many hours before an eruption, but gives no visible warning of an impending eruption until the sudden increase in overflow that marks the eruption's onset. Eruptions are accompanied by a strong underground thumping caused by steam bubbles collapsing in the geyser's channels. Artemisia also experiences minor eruptions lasting about 5 minutes. These minor eruptions are followed by major eruptions within six hours. Minor eruptions are rare. Years may pass between episodes of minor eruptions. In 2009, intervals between eruptions ranged from 9 to 36 hours, averaging 18 hours, 43 minutes." From Wikipedia.

We hadn't seen a single Moose on our week's holiday to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Waterton-Glacier until day five (15 September 2012), when we were lucky enough to see this female a short way off the Moose-Wilson Road, near a place called Moose : ) The sunlight was extremely harsh, but luckily two or three of my photos came out OK.

I'm not sure about the ID (American Tree Sparrow) I've given. Just managed this quick shot of a not very pleasant pose before the bird disappeared, but hopefully it will be enough for a definite ID. It was seen at West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, on 15 September 2012. Thanks to Matthew and Zunzuncito for correcting my ID. Much appreciated! www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/id

Taken on the only dull day in the week I was away with friends in Yelowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. It was a very long day of driving, so was a good day for the weather to be less good for photography. This was one of the places we stopped at en route - Quake Lake, Montana. It had a very eerie feel to it, seeing the dead tree trunks sticking up above the surface of the lake. "Quake Lake (officially Earthquake Lake) is a lake in southwestern Montana, United States. It was created after an earthquake struck on August 17, 1959, killing 28 people.[2] Today, Quake Lake is 190 feet (58 m) deep and 6 miles (9.7 km) long. US 287 follows the lake and offers glimpses of the effects of the earthquake and landslide. The lake is mostly within Gallatin National Forest. The earthquake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale (revised by USGS to 7.3 and caused an 80 million ton landslide which formed a landslide dam on the Madison River. The earthquake was the most powerful to hit the state of Montana in historic times. The landslide traveled down the south flank of Sheep Mountain, at an estimated 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), killing 28 people who were camping along the shores of Hebgen Lake and downstream along the Madison River." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_Lake en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Yellowstone_earthquake

Can't complain that the sun was shining brightly yesterday, but unfortunately this Humboldt Penguin was facing the sun and I did a great job of blowing out the white feathers : ) "There are 10 Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) at the Zoo. The status of this species is IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. Current Impacts on their numbers are El Niño and La Niña weather patterns, predators, tourism, competition with fisheries, habitat change. Humboldt penguins groom their feathers before breakfast. They rub oil from a gland at the base of the tail into their feathers and the edges of their wings. Humboldts also groom each other. This species digs nesting burrows in thick deposits of seabird guano (droppings)." storage.canoe.ca/v1/suns-prod-images/file/1297237247336_C...