Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: mottled

Didn't see what I had hoped to see on a quick drive south east of the city yesterday late afternoon, but I did come across this Wilson's Snipe perched on a fence post. Love to see these birds and their beautiful feather pattern. It's been a rainy morning, but hopefully the day will brighten up. ""For a short while this species was lumped with other similar birds, collectively called Common Snipe. DNA evidence showed that the populations did not interbreed, so its original name was restored. The breeding range of the Wilson's Snipe includes most of mainland Canada and the adjoining USA." talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=129 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Snipe

A leaf from the large, fast-growing, evergreen shrub called Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana), growing in the new ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. I loved the mix of colours and the wonderful, scalloped edge to the leaves. I am completely (and I mean completely, lol) exhausted after a botanizing trip from 7:00 a.m. this morning till getting home about 6:15 p.m. just a short while ago. This was a repeat trip of a hike we did a year ao, right on the edge of the eastern Rocky Mountains, right where Kananaskis begins on Highway 40. Climbing up hills and down, up and down. My toes are now the most painful part of my body, from hiking downhill so much. The main purpose of the trip was to see Balsamroot plants high on a hillside. This is the most northerly reported location for this species. And we saw a Morel mushroom, which made my day - possibly a False Morel? Weather was beautiful - rain in the forecast for the next few days. Thanks, David, for another great outing to this area - and thanks so much for the ride there and back! Job very well done!! I have to add that I'm sure I any calories I lost on the hike were surely put back on when I had a delicious Chocolate Malt when we stopped in Longview on the way home. Thanks (?), Sandy, for telling me how good they are and leading me into temptation, ha!

Friend, Sue, very kindly invited me to go along with her a few days ago when she did her Mountain Bluebird route just west of the city. The majority of the boxes had Tree Swallows nesting in them, but some were occupied by Bluebirds. A few boxes were completely empty, some had a nest, some had a nest with eggs, some had a nest with a tight little pile of babies, and a couple had an adult Tree Swallow along with the eggs. And one box contained a nest of House Sparrow eggs, which are cream, white, gray or greenish, with irregular brown speckles. This one was being held by Kristin. It takes quite a bit of time to check and record all these boxes, and I respect all those who volunteer to have a route of their own. The House Sparrow nest was removed from the box as Mountain Bluebirds need as much human help as possible in order to protect their numbers.

A crummy photo, but these gals are hard to get a photo of - I find - but I did want to add this to my Birds of Alberta Set. When you do catch sight of one, they are running through the tall grass and totally disappear from sight. However, you can still get an idea of the rather fine feather pattern. She was with a male yesterday afternoon in Fish Creek Park, just after I had checked on one of the families of Great Horned Owls - mum and an owlet (I believe one of two) were tucked down in the nest. Mum was trying to get a bit of sleep, I suspect, but kept being disturbed by a restless little white ball of fluff : )