Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: snow-capped

With a lot of snow forecast for 8 of the following 10 days, I feel very lucky that my daughter and I had such a beautiful day on 17 December 2017, for our Christmas get-together. Since then, we have had so much snow and, at the moment, temperatures have plunged. For tomorrow, Christmas morning, the temperature is forecast to be -24C (windchill -30C). For two upcoming, out-of-city Christmas Bird Counts, the temperature is supposed to be -18C (windchill -25C) and -21C (windchill -28C)! It was such weird weather on the day my daughter and I went off for the day, as the colour of the sunrise sky lasted all day, till we left just before sunset. A gorgeous Chinook Arch crossed the sky, staying the whole day. Some of the fields were bare, and others had a light dusting of snow on them. The day started with breakfast at the Saskatoon Farm - always enjoyable. They do close from the end of the day on 23 December and open again in the morning of 17 January. A well-earned break for everyone who works there. As always, we walked around the grounds to look for things to photograph and, as usual, we were in luck - snow-capped dead flowers, cats, dogs, and the many little House Sparrows that were in and out of one of the greenhouses. From there, we continued south to the area east of High River and drove some of the usual back roads; ones that I had driven just four days earlier. Of course, we were hoping that we might find a Snowy Owl, though I knew not to get our hopes up. Before too long, my daughter spotted our first Snowy Owl of the season - the tiniest speck of white that I could barely see with the naked eye, but it was a Snowy and that was all that mattered. Later in the day, she somehow spotted a second one; again, the tiniest speck perched on a very distant fence post. A few minutes before this second sighting, my daughter spotted two handsome Mule Deer bucks - looked like father and son - lying down next to a metal grain silo, near the edge of the road. They stayed there for a while, which was surprising, as males tend to be far more skittish. Eventually, they stood up and walked off into the field. Of course, we couldn't resist taking shots of any old barns, sheds and houses that we came across. Altogether, a great day that was much enjoyed. Thank you so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me, and doing something that we both love! These are my absolute favourite days in the year.

Another case of either delete the image or try adding a bit of filter effect in post-processing. Just seeing anything bright red is always welcome, especially on a cold winter's day, so I decided to go with the filter idea. On 5 November 2017, I joined a few birding friends for a walk in Carburn Park. Afternoons are usually not the best time of day to see birds so, as usual, we saw far fewer species than the morning groups - 19 species of bird. Though cold, it was a beautiful afternoon to be out in nature. It was cold enough for there to be a few clusters of small ice pillars along the edge of the Bow River - something I always enjoy seeing. Carburn Park is a very popular place for birding in the city, offering water and woodland species. According to eBird, a total of 211 species have been recorded within the park. In comparison, at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (the top Hot Spot in the city) 252 species have been recorded. In the Weaselhead Natural Area, 227 species have been seen. There were about 10 Black-capped Chickadees that kept following us along some of the paths. Over the years, I have taken many photos of them, but I so rarely go for walks any more. From now on, I know it will be much harder to make myself put on all my winter layers, including struggling to get ice grippers on to my winter boots, and leave the comfort of my home. The main roads had been cleared, and were very reasonable to drive on. I do enjoy going for coffee and a chat after these walks. Eight White-tailed Deer were also seen, mainly hidden, but sometimes sharing the path with us. Always a treat to see either kind of deer, with their look of innocence. "The Black-capped Chickadee is notable for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (they can feed from the hand)." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/id "The chickadee's unerring spatial memory is remarkable enough, says Colin Saldanha, assistant professor of biological sciences at Lehigh University and an anatomist who has studied songbirds for six years. But it is what happens inside the tiny songbird's brain that Saldanha finds amazing. In the fall, as the chickadee is gathering and storing seeds, Saldanha says, its hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for spatial organization and memory in many vertebrates, expands in volume by approximately 30 percent by adding new nerve cells. In songbirds, the hippocampus is located on the dorsal surface of the forebrain right beneath the skull. In mammals, the hippocampus is located beneath the cortex. In the spring, when its feats of memory are needed less, the chickadee's hippocampus shrinks back to its normal size, Saldanha says." From article on ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030912072156.htm

Posted at an unearthly hour this morning, as I have to be part way across the city by 6:50 a.m. for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Bird Count. Will finish when I get back.

After a three-hour walk along the south shore of the Glenmore Reservoir yesterday morning, and seeing around 10,000 birds out on the water (at a great distance, so no good for photos), I found something to photograph back at the parking lot : ) A row of tall Sunflowers, still beautiful with their withered and drooping golden petals, and each one wearing a cap of snow. Now, if I had photographed them today, there would be around 6 or 7 inches of snow on them!! I had no idea that these beautiful flowers had been growing there. Taken in atrocious light, so I'm glad that a few of the photos came out OK. Still snowing, too. I am so thankful that I don't have to go out today, though it will probably be even worse when I do have to go out for my volunteer shift tomorrow, ha.

Yes, a rather typical winter photograph, which I'm sure many of us have in our photo files,but I still always love to see these snow-capped poles. These ones line the parking lot at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. Margit, if you happen to see this photo, remember your comment about what a straight line these trees must have been growing in? We have laughed and laughed over this - not going to let you live it down, LOL! So cute.

As you can see, there are these rows of short posts all over the place in the park. It was too cold to take photos of birds! Couldn't see the two adult Great Horned Owls in their usual tree this afternoon. Most unusual for them not to be there.