Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#468

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate! Yesterday, 19 April 2014, the sun was shining and I knew I just had to get out on a walk. So, I went on a walk at Carburn Park with friends, where I saw the pair of Great Horned Owls and their one owlet. My photo shows Mom sitting right by the nest and the little one who had just briefly climbed up behind her before returning to the nest. This was pretty much the only "activity" that happened while I was there, and I was lucky to catch this brief moment. Can't help but smile at the expression on the youngster's face. Decided to remove something from this image before posting - a string of bright red Christmas lights that went across the top of the photo and over the owlet's forehead, lol! On the way home, I called in at Sikome, in Fish Creek Park, to see the Great Horned Owl nest and finally saw the two owlets. Seven owls in total : ) How lucky we are to see these beautiful birds! Also thought I'd better try and give my arms a bit of a rest, as both are very painful. I have an excruciatingly painful right arm and shoulder, partly from too much mouse clicking thanks to all the extra clicking that is necessary with the new Flickr format, plus all the many extra clicks needed when working with images using Windows 7. I really, really don't like Windows 7. I seem to remember turning my arm in a strange way a few days ago, too, while either putting on or taking off a jacket. Suspect I may have pulled something. Doing more driving than usual a few days ago, when I took my daughter down to the Frank Lake area for the day, probably didn't help, either. I know I should be resting my arms, but that's not going to happen - I really must cut back, though, to give my arms a chance to improve somewhat. Lol, I could only photograph birds below a certain height yesterday, as I can barely lift my right arm high enough to hold my camera up to my eye : ( Thought I'd share the following links. I had never heard of Hang before, until I saw a photo posted by good Flickr friend, Jim (Meremail). Couldn't resist Googling this most unusual instrument, that looks rather like an upside down cooking Wok, to find out what it sounded like. Love it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDQgU1CPpis&feature=share&amp... youtu.be/Ni6mmXnqmN4 youtu.be/F0h4syLlw5g Link to image on Flickr: flic.kr/p/nfK2am

Another photo of some of the beautiful Bleeding Hearts that were in bloom at the Reader Rock Garden on 5 June 2013. I was out all Saturday and Sunday this weekend, starting with a three-hour morning walk in Griffith Woods on Saturday morning. The sky was blue with clouds, but was pleasant, and so I thought that, as I was already about half way to Cochrane, that I might as well drive all the way to see if I could see any Great Gray Owls. Well, by the time I approached Cochrane, there was a massive black cloud hanging over Cochrane and the area I wanted to drive to, and then the rain began. Not a good idea to drive on hilly gravel roads when they are wet, at least not in my kind of vehicle, so I only drove part way. When I turned around to come back south, I passed just one field that was now rather white! I pulled over to look at the edge of the road, and sure enough it was hail that had piled up. Glad I missed that happening by about 15 or 20 minutes. Needless to say, I was out of luck with seeing owls, though I did see two Swainson's Hawks on fence posts. I decided to return home via Bragg Creek and from there, I took the backroads back to the city instead of highway 22X. Got another chance to see Mountain Bluebirds bringing food for their babies, and I was thrilled to bits to catch sight of a very, very distant baby Killdeer. I've always wanted to see one - but a lot closer. Maybe I'll be in better luck next time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I was on a walk with friends on Sunday morning, we were walking along the path down by the edge of the Bow River in the LaFarge area. For maybe 45 minutes or an hour, we heard the distant call/bark of a Coyote. It was a little difficult to tell if it was just a single animal or more, but the sound didn't stop. When we climbed up to the main path, we were able to see this lone Coyote, way across open grassland and on a slight hill near the extremely distant houses. This is a fully-zoomed and heavily cropped image of an animal that I could barely see with my naked eye, lol. It always amazes me how you can get a photo from such a very long distance. Always worth trying. Despite the awful graininess, I liked the head tilted and mouth open in mid-call. It seemed very strange behaviour - I wonder if it had a mate with it, that was in trouble. Guess I'll never know ....