Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: land of the dinosaurs

Just a quick shot taken at Dinosaur Provincial Park on 22 June 2014, when we got out of the park's mini-bus for a brief stop. I love this kind of ground surface - much prefer it to walking on grass. The day of this trip, I was up at 4:00 a.m., to get ready for a long day trip east of Calgary, to Dinosaur Provincial Park. I had only ever once been there before, that I can remember, and it must have been 30+ years ago, so yesterday's bus trip was an absolute treat. 46 people went on this annual outing and when we arrived, we split into two groups. One half went on a mini bus tour in the morning to an area of the park that is kept closed to people in order to protect the landscape. The other half took this tour in the afternoon. The rest of the day, we could go on a walk along one of the trails in the park that are open to the public. I was in the group that walked in the morning. We went on the Cottonwoods Trail, that eventually led to the river - a long walk that was much further than I expected! We saw very few birds, the main one being a Yellow Warbler that had its beak full of soft, white "down" from a Cottonwood tree. When we were almost back at the starting point, a Nighthawk was spotted lying on a very high branch. Well done, Shirley, for spotting this bird that was very difficult to see! A real thrill for me, as I had always wanted to see a perched Nighthawk! I saw three of them flying over the Bow River and over our heads in Bow Valley Provincial Park just a few years ago, but no chance for a photo. Our mini bus tour in one of the Park's buses in the afternoon took us through some spectacular scenery. We had great weather, which was very lucky, as we had had rain for quite a few days before. When wet, the Bentonite clay becomes treacherously slippery, so we did not have to experience that, though in a few places we could feel our feet slipping. I got back home around 6:30 p.m., barely able to move an inch, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks so much, Lynn, for organizing such an enjoyable trip to this fascinating area! A lot of work goes into organizing an event like this and it was much appreciated! Thanks, too, to friends Val and Wendy who took turns to sit with me for the long 2 1/2 hour journey out there and back! Great to catch up with both of you! Video (4.25 minutes in length) about Dinosaur Provincial Park, by Alberta Parks: youtu.be/lww6Y4hlQR4 "Dinosaur Provincial Park is world famous for its dinosaur fossil finds. So much so that UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1979. A mind-boggling number of species have been found here - 40 and counting - but what really puts it over the top is that the bonebeds have yielded more than 300 specimens, which grace museums around the world. The park has also been designated a Natural Preserve to protect the extensive fossil fields and the valley’s fragile environment, an complicated mix of badlands and cottonwood river habitat." travelalberta.com/Places%20to%20Go/Parks/Dinosaur%20Provi...

Our territory (section of the huge circle) for the Horseshoe Canyon/Drumheller Bird Count was on the north side of the Red Deer River, including the Tyrrell Museum and nearby farmland. We also stopped briefly at this overlook at Horsethief Canyon, which is 16 km from Drumheller, just past the Royal Tyrrell Museum on North Dinosaur Trail (Highway 838). About an inch and a half down from the top left corner, you can just make out a line of trees and the frozen river. Can you imagine how easy it would be to get lost down there? This is dinosaur country, the wonderful Badlands of Alberta! Earlier in the day, we drove some of the residential alleys looking for birds at feeders as well as in trees, and walked along the edge of the river at McMullen Island (it only becomes an island when the river level rises). The Red Deer River was completely frozen; 12 inches of snow cover. The day started off cloudy, clearing to beautiful sunshine, calm and a temperature of -14C soaring to 6C (yes, that's +6C!). Left my house at 5:40 a.m. and got home maybe 7:45 p.m. (?) Total kms-73; Total kms by car-68; Total kms on foot-5. Total hours-7; Total by car-4.5; Total on foot-2hrs; In cafe-0.5 hrs.. Just in case anyone is interested in what species the four of us found, this is the list for the day: Rock Pigeon-1 Eurasian Collared Dove-24 Great Horned Owl-1 Snowy Owl-1 Downy Woodpecker-5, Hairy Woodpecker-4 Northern Flicker-4 Pileated Woodpecker-1 Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-38 Black-capped Chickadee-17 White-breasted Nuthatch 3. Bohemian Waxwing-96 White-winged Crossbill-2 Common Redpoll-139 House Sparrow-42 We actually saw a total of six Snowy Owls, but only one actually in our Count area. As far as photos for the day are concerned, all I managed bird-wise was a Eurasian Collared Dove, a Red Crossbill and a couple of Snowy Owl photos. However, the scenery covered in snow was beautiful (and, as usual, my photos don't even begin to do it justice). It looks so different in the winter.