Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: melting

Yesterday morning, 20 November 2014, saw me out on a bird walk in the morning. The weather has been reasonably mild recently, with sunshine and blue skies. This photo was taken along the edge of the river, where the ice was melting into pillars. The river itself was ice-free. Not a good quality photo, but I liked the ice formations. The only bird photo I got was a male Hairy Woodpecker, which I’m also posting today, partly for comparison with the Downy Woodpecker photo that I posted yesterday. After the walk, I paid another visit to where the Long-tailed Weasel can sometimes be seen. Various friends were there, too, and we were treated to a few good photo opps, including with some of the eight or so Meadow Voles it caught while we were there. It is an amazing hunter, moving so rapidly over the uneven, snowy ground and tangles of dead plants and fallen logs. Yesterday evening, I went to an excellent talk on Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park / Áísínai'pi National Historic Site, which is about a three and a half hour drive south of Calgary. I’ve only ever been there once and that was 30+ years ago. A fascinating landscape to see and photograph. Rattlesnakes, too! A 3:55 min video about Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park / Áísínai'pi National Historic Site from Alberta Parks: youtu.be/_zsdWv0mQMI

April 27 (2014) was a day that was spent with a group of friends, driving around Frank Lake, SE of Calgary, checking to see what bird species we could find. It started off extremely foggy with a touch of hoarfrost. Perhaps not the ideal weather for seeing birds, but the fog did eventually clear and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and most enjoyable, with a good number of bird species found - a total of 53 species. All the birds were extremely distant, apart from a couple of owl nests and a pair of Tree Swallows, so my photos are more or less limited to landscape, hoarfrost, etc., all of which I love. I always tend to miss quite a few of the birds, as I get distracted by other things, such as this melting hoarfrost with refractions of the blue sky and grassland.

On 27 April 2014, the day was spent with a group of friends, driving around Frank Lake, checking to see what bird species we could find. It started off extremely foggy with a touch of hoarfrost. Perhaps not the ideal weather for seeing birds, but the fog did eventually clear and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and most enjoyable, with a good number of bird species found - a total of 53 species. All the birds were extremely distant, apart from a couple of owl nests and a pair of Tree Swallows, so my photos are more or less limited to landscape, hoarfrost, etc., all of which I love. Not completely sure, but I think this seedhead belongs to a Maximilian's Sunflower / Helianthus maximiliani. This is the only location I know of, where this species grows - I believe it usually grows in eastern Canada. Never sure how to spell the name, as some websites called it Maximilan's Sunflower and others use "Maximilian's Sunflower. You would think it would be the latter, going by the scientific name.

Much as I love the patterns and textures created by melting ice, we are all hoping that we have now had the last of winter's gifts : ) Most of the ground is bare, for the first time in six or seven months. Yesterday was the first time in all those months that I actually went out wearing runners, not heavy winter boots, lol. Took this photo of the ice melting along the edge of the creek in Fish Creek Park on 10 February 2014. Did you all know that you can now hover your mouse over the date the image was taken and you will see the date it was posted? This was one of yesterday's changes - a good change. A few hours later, another change occurred - you can no longer click on the three dots to edit tags, only the date and time. You can still do it using the organizer, but that is more complicated. This change I definitely don't like. Have fun, everyone! I wonder what changes today will bring! Guess I've just found out what the next "mess" is! I've just opened a second browser window for Flickr and found that there is nothing on this black panel - no description, tags, sets, groups, no three dots. Late last night, a friend (in England) told me that this was happening to her, and now it has reached us here. Really hope this was just a temporary glitch!

When I was out for a walk in a local park the other day, I came across a few places where the melting ice on the creek had formed into icicles. Showed just how thick the ice had been before it started to melt.

There is a small fountain/waterfall at the Calgary Zoo which freezes over in the winter. A little bit of milder weather, and the ice begins to melt in places and forms some creative patterns. Weather forecast for today is snow, and it looks like it will be hitting us in a short while.

I love the way snow/ice melts, creating all sorts of beautiful, abstract patterns and shapes. The ground either side of the narrow trail we were walking on, was covered in such patterns. Taken at Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Park, on 11 February 2013.

I always love seeing ice pillars that form along the edge of the Bow River and hang over the water. These ones were seen during a three-hour walk at Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Park, on 11 February 2013.

Not the most spectacular of icicles, but I like seeing them hanging from a rusty pipe beneath Highway 22X, where it crosses the Bow River in Fish Creek Park. Did a long, four-hour walk yesterday morning, from Hull's Wood to the southern edge of the LaFarge area and back. Of course, we have already had snow, but I was thinking more about the frigid temperatures that will eventually arrive. Hope the sun comes with them on as many days as possible - the past week has been such an overcast, dreary week. This morning looks like it will be a sunny one, with the temperature at 0C (32F) right now and supposedly getting up to 5C (41F) this afternoon. Scattered flurries forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Some beautiful winter artwork created on a melting icicle down in Fish Creek Park. At the widest part, this was about one third of an inch across : ) The sun was shining yesterday, otherwise my camera just won't take images like this. This is one of the things about winter that I love! Today is overcast, with just a patch of blue sky and I can't decide whether to drive part way across the city to try and see the Mourning Doves again. Not much point if there is no light over there, but who knows? Also, I need to go to the Walk-in Clinic to get a prescription refill. I always dislike the hours of waiting!

OK, so it's a little bit weird, but I thought I'd still post it, LOL! Just a small piece of melting ice that I picked up and held up to the beautiful blue sky that we had a couple of days ago. Made me think of a mask when I saw it at home. The snow and ice are melting here, leaving many of the park paths slushy and muddy. Dare I say it? It was too warm for my liking today, LOL!

I know there's not all that much to this photo, and I keep deciding not to post it, but there is just something (colour and light) that brings me back to it. Makes me think of a little tropical fish swimming in the sea.

Finally, the snow is melting, so I thought I'd better post this shot taken earlier in the winter, before spring arrives. LOL, actually, I've probably got plenty of time yet : ). I wonder if every spot of snow will get a chance to melt this time before more snow falls. This winter, we have had snow covering the ground for months on end - what happened to all our usual (and, oh, so welcome) Chinooks this winter?? Can never resist stopping for a moment, though, to capture Nature's little gifts.

I think I saw an elephant's head and trunk at first, but now I see a man, with a very muscular arm being raised, leaning away from me with head down. After some recent snow, this patch had melted into a tiny piece of ice and I couldn't resist holding it up against the blue sky. Found on Saturday morning at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park.

When I saw the shape of this chunk of melting ice, I first thought of a Pharaoh's head turned sideways. Also looked a little like a buffalo.

I always love seeing ice pillars that form along the edge of the Bow River and hang over the water. These ones were seen during a three-hour walk at Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Park, on 11 February 2013.