Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: historic

Still so many things going wrong on Flickr, including 'freezing' almost every time I try to do anything. The oldest wooden church in North America, apparently. It opened in 1750. A national historic site, this little chapel, built in 1747, is the oldest wooden church still in existence in North America. The first mass was celebrated here by the Jesuits in 1750. "Tadoussac is quite rightly listed as one of the 50 most beautiful bays in the world. Tadoussac is also the oldest village in Canada. In fact, the village celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2000. But above all, Tadoussac is an internationally-renowned whale-watching site." From the link below. www.authentikcanada.com/holidays/tourist-office-tadoussac en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadoussac A few days ago, I started on photos taken during the week friends and I spent in Quebec, 12-18 May 2018. Some photos were taken in the small, coastal village of Tadoussac itself, others were taken in the wonderful garden of the home in which we stayed all week, and the rest were taken on several drives we made further along the coast. At the end of our 4-day stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec City airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things. Several trips were made to see different places along the coast, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese, in flight and also up close. Breathtaking! We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it was so much enjoyed! Of course, we anchored a distance away from the island and sat there and ate our sandwiches and took endless photos - difficult when bobbing up and down on the rough water! It is forbidden to land on the island at nesting time. Anne B, I can't thank you enough for organizing this holiday for us all and for inviting us to spend a week at your cabin. You worked so hard and it was so much appreciated by each and every one of us. Thank you for doing all the many hours of driving, too! Janet and Anne, thank you so much for compiling the lists of birds seen each day at various locations, and posted to ebird. These entries will be a huge help while I try and sort out where we were and when, and what species we saw. Miss your cookies and muffins, Janet, that you kindly made for us in Tadoussac, to go along with the wonderful meals that Anne planned and made for us : ) Link to my album (358 images) about Point Pelee and area, Ontario: www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/albums/72157667191771677

Yesterday morning, 9 September 2017, I joined several friends for a morning's bird walk at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in Calgary. I will add our leader's report in a comment box below. Thanks for a very enjoyable walk, Janet, followed by lunch at the nearby Blackfoot Truckstop Diner! At the Sanctuary, people must stay on the path. There are various deer trails or places where Beavers have dragged logs to the lagoon. These are not 'paths' for visitors to walk along. Our leader is a steward at the Sanctuary and she explained about staying on the path to a young woman who was ignoring the rules. However, this woman took no notice and stayed where she was, wanting to take photos. Ignorant. "The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre have been providing migratory birds with a place to rest their wings since 1929. That's more than 80 years of conservation! To date, 270 species of birds, 21 species of mammals and 347 species of plants have been recorded at the Sanctuary and Nature Centre by members of the public, volunteers and staff. In 1883, Colonel James Walker settled the land that is now occupied by the sanctuary. In 1910, the current brick house - then named Inglewood - was built, and the surrounding area was named for the most prominent property in the area. From 1929 to 1952, several Chinese families leased land from Colonel Walker and established market gardens to serve the needs of a growing city. These highly productive gardens were used to grow vegetables and bedding plants, and represent an early example of urban agriculture and horticulture in the city. As part of the engagement process for Bend in Bow, it was discovered the descendants of one of the families, the Koo family, still reside in Calgary. Colonel Walker's son, Selby, applied to the Federal government in 1929 to have 59 acres on the west side of the Bow River be designated as a Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. His request was granted and the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary was born. When Selby died in 1953, Ed Jefferies acquired the property and leased it to the Alberta Fish & Game Association. In 1970, The City of Calgary purchased the property and has been managing it as a natural reserve ever since. The sanctuary's Nature Centre was built in 1996 and grassland restoration projects began in that same year. The Colonel Walker House is currently used by Parks staff and volunteers as a classroom and office." www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/Locations/SE-parks/Inglew...

On 5 July 2016, I finally drove down SE of the city to the Frank Lake area. I have missed almost all the shore birds this year and knew that if I didn't go very soon, they would all have left. As it was, I saw very few birds of any kind. I drove straight to the blind/hide, where everything was quiet, other than a few Coots with their teenage kids, several Ruddy Ducks including a female lying on her nest, a Marsh Wren that I could hear but not see, a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds, maybe three White-faced Ibis flying by, a few Tree Swallows and a rather handsome Barn Swallow. No Soras, no Eared Grebes. As soon as I had left the blind and taken a few steps down the boardwalk, I was totally taken by surprise by a Black-crowned Night Heron that flew overhead, being chased by a small shorebird. The Heron was letting out a very loud 'hoarse scream' that sounded almost human-like. Just managed to get a rapid shot of the Heron before it flew out of camera view, posted yesterday just for my own record. I so rarely see a Night Heron, though I did see and photograph a beautiful juvenile that was hanging out at Lafarge Meadows in Fish Creek Park last year (2015) and a very recent, close adult east of Calgary. From the blind area at Frank Lake, I drove eastwards and eventually came to Mossleigh, where I stopped at the three grain elevators to take photos. Can't remember if I had been there just once or maybe twice before. On the way, I stopped to photograph an old homestead which, until recently, I have usually seen and photographed in winter, not summer. The weather forecast was for a risk of thunderstorms, though fortunately there was just a tiny bit of short-lived rain. The previous week, there had been tornadoes north and south of Calgary, but there was no Tornado Warning in effect on this day. A great kind of sky when a few of the fields were turning bright yellow from the Canola crops. However, a real challenge for my camera, which recently developed another problem - when I am trying to focus on something, it goes in and out of focus rapidly and 'shudders', making it most unpleasant to view as well as making it very difficult to see what I'm taking. This is not the usual difficulty of getting the camera to focus. Then, yesterday, when I very slightly tipped the camera upwards, once I had focused on say a field of Canola, the lower half of the viewfinder suddenly went so dark I couldn't really see anything. Such a pain, especially as I absolutely had to have a working camera for the whole of this weekend (Waterton)! As it is, I always take almost all my photos on the sunset setting, because the regular settings give me totally washed out images that have little detail - just not usable. Amazes me that any of my photos turn out, ha. (Camera since replaced with same model). A few hours later, it was time to return home after several very enjoyable hours out. More of a cloud, scenery and old barn trip than a birding trip, but those of you who know me, know I love photographing all of the above. A very interesting and informative website, with a lot of information about this row of old elevators, is found at the following link. I find myself returning often to Chris and Connie's site to read about other places they have visited. It's well worth a visit to read about their travels. www.bigdoer.com/2360/exploring-history/mossleigh-elevators/ According to the website at the above link: " Update: May 2013. The lineage of the Mossleigh grain elevators has been cleared up. One was built for P&H, one for Pioneer which was later taken over by P&H, and finally one was built for the Searle Grain Company, later UGG and finally P&H. All were built in 1930 but it’s not clear exactly when they changed hands. A forth elevator used to sit here (UGG) but it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s. Update: September 2013. It’s understood that plans are in place to use the track that remains along the subdivision for some sort of tourist train, operating out of the nearby Aspen Crossing campground/garden centre complex. Time will tell if this will come to fruition – Aspen Crossing as it turns out, does have some rail cars sitting on a section of subdivision track just west of Mossleigh."

This photo was also taken yesterday, 24 October 2015, when I went on a walk with a small group of birding friends. It was around 2C when we started our walk and it was cold. Can’t believe I was wearing two fleece jackets and a fleece vest, light jacket, jeans and long-johns, woollen hat and two pairs of gloves! I always like this view, from one of the small bridges, looking along the lagoon towards the historic Colonel Walker House, built in 1910. This building is currently used by Parks staff and volunteers as a classroom and office. “The Colonel James Walker House is an early twentieth century, two-storey building constructed of red bricks and featuring sandstone trim, a low hipped roof and a wide verandah on the south and west sides. It is located on 0.98 hectares of land backing onto a lagoon on the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in the Inglewood district of Calgary. The original brick carriage house adjacent to the building is also included in the designation.” From historicplaces.ca. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=5137 I will add the list of species seen, thanks to our leaders, Janet and Bernie. Thanks, both of you, for a most enjoyable walk in beautiful sunshine. We were especially lucky to see the Red Crossbills, Great Blue Heron, Common Redpolls and a very distant Porcupine sitting very high up in a tall tree. It was great going for lunch at the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner afterwards, too. www.blackfootdiner.ca/ Inglewood Sanctuary, Calgary. 9-11:15 a.m. Sat. Oct 24/15. Sun/cloud mix, light North wind, 2 to 5C. 1. Double-crested Cormorant - 1 2. Great Blue Heron - 1 3. Wood Duck - 13 4. Mallard - 15 5. Hooded Merganser - 1 6. Rough-legged Hawk - 1 7. Bald Eagle - 1 8. Ring-billed Gull - 20 9. Feral Pigeon - 1 10. Northern Flicker - 2 11. Downy Woodpecker - 1 12. Black-billed Magpie - 10 13. American Crow - 4 14. Black-capped Chickadee - 10 15. White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 17. European Starling - 20 18. RED CROSSBILL - 25 19. COMMON REDPOLL - 4 Mule Deer - 7 Porcupine - 1 Eastern Gray Squirrel – 2

This view and the old, unusual homestead always take me by surprise, because I can never remember exactly where this location is. We came across it again yesterday and I always have to stop and take a quick shot. Yesterday, 21 January 2015, my daughter and I spent the day together, out in nature. I know I needed to get out myself and the fact that my daughter asked if we could do that, told me that she, too, desperately needed to get a break from all the sadness and reminders of her big sister/my older daughter for a few hours. Friends who know me well have been telling me how important it is to be outdoors with my camera, especially at a time like this, and I know they are right. Much as it would have been great to have gone looking for Snowy Owls, I just didn't feel up to that long of a drive. Instead, I drove to a much more familiar, closer area, SE of the city. The day was a mix of sun and cloudiness, and though the sun was in the wrong position for some of our shots, we did OK. Normally, I never walk from the road on to the surrounding land, even when there is not a "No Trespassing" sign. There was a very short, rough road leading to where a beautiful Great Horned Owl, spotted by my daughter, was sitting, and we walked a few steps closer to it. She had already spotted a different GHO along one of the backroads and later on, she spotted our only Snowy Owl of the day. I was reminded exactly why I never set foot on someone's land - though I had taken even more steps on this track with friends for the Christmas Bird Count. Guilt came flooding in when a truck with two young guys came down the gravel road and turned in at this very spot! Needless to say, I apologized and told them that normally, I never do this. They were so pleasant and told us, no problem at all and to go much closer (which I didn't). People like this really help make one's day, so Thank You to these two guys. The rest of the day, my daughter and I drove mostly roads that we had driven before, except for one short stretch where we found not just one beautiful, old barn, but two. The first and larger barn was one that I had wanted to get to for some time. I think being out with our cameras, driving the backroads, was therapeutic - certainly for me as I could enjoy my daughter's company, and hopefully for her, too.

Skiff is a hamlet in southern Alberta. Before friends Cathy and Terry and I set out on a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park (26, 27 and 28 August 2014), I had discovered that, on our last day, we would be quite near to Skiff and its old grain elevator. I had mentioned this to my friends, asking if a quick stop to get a couple of shots might just be possible if we had time. However, little did we know that we would end up having to stop in Skiff anyway, as Skiff was the closest place for us to get to after we got caught in a severe storm. In Skiff, we stopped at some kind of machinery warehouse to ask about something and one of the workers said that he had never seen a storm like this one! A couple of minutes away, we found the beautiful, old elevator. You could still feel the tail end of the storm, with very strong winds blowing, barely letting me open my car door and walk with great difficulty to get my photos. I was surprised that my photos came out at all, I was being blown so much off balance. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until this BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from Waterton, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - an enormous, menacing cloud that was travelling fast and furious. Despite trying our best to get away from it, it eventually engulfed our car, surrounding us with more or less zero visibility, pounding hail, thunder and lightning, and tremendously strong winds. There was nothing to do but sit tight in the car, hoping that the hail would not break the car windows and that this severe thunderstorm would not develop into a tornado! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, "exciting" (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Fortunately, we weren't caught in the very centre of it. Our road trip sure went out with a bang! Later, I contacted the Alberta Tornado Watch and posted a photo for them to see. They said the storm that happened that day was a mesocyclone. This elevator is the sole remaining elevator in Skiff and, though now wearing Parrish & Heimbecker colours, may well have been an Alberta Wheat Pool elevator originally. If so, it was built in 1929 with a 40,000 bushel capacity. The annexes were added in 1948 (East) and in 1952 (West). The larger one is on the east side. The elevator appears to still be in use. There is very little information online about it, unfortunately. www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKTFF_Alberta_Wheat_Pool_1_S...

So many of the old wooden barns and homesteads that scatter the prairies are in such a bad state, unfortunately. This one was photographed SE of Calgary, on 14 April 2014, when I went driving the backroads for the day with my youngest daughter. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns. We knew where our destination was going to be (Mossleigh), more or less, though it was disappointing that the heat distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos. Unfortunately, it was quite a hazy day, which really didn't help. This homestead is in better shape than many you see. I added a filter to this image in post-processing, which gives it a little more detail. Seems such a pity that some work on the outside of this rather attractive structure can't be done, before it falls into a heap of old planks. Who knows why old barns and homesteads are left to crumble? Farmers are very busy people and probably not too concerned about an old, rotting building on their land. Most are no doubt living on a tight budget, too. I'm just happy that I have an occasional chance to photograph a few of these wonderful old barns and homesteads - I can think of at least three that have disappeared since I photographed them, which is always a sad feeling, I find. Also, you see so many photos taken inside such buildings (I never go inside any of them, as they are always on private land and I won't trespass). The wonderful old treasures that are covered in dirt and strewn all over the place are breathtaking. Seems so sad that so many things aren't saved and cared for. What an interesting task that would be! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've only been on Flickr the last half hour, but I see that they have still not fixed the "views" problem that has been going on for many hours now. The Stats for Your Account (only available to the old Pro account members) seems to be working OK, but the number of views under each individual image is either stuck at 0 or counts just a very few of the actual number. Apparently, Staff do know about this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looks like we had maybe 2-3" of snow yesterday and overnight. As I type, there is just very fine snow falling, barely noticeable. I think it may be very slippery out there, so it will probably be another day at home. It's 1°C right now, supposedly climbing to 3°C this afternoon. I was hoping that the snow on my car would all melt, but it doesn't look like that will happen.

Magrath is a town in Cardston County, Alberta, Canada. Its population was 2,217 in 2011. Magrath is located near the Canadian Rockies and is 32 km (20 mi) south of Lethbridge and 242 km (150 mi) south of Calgary. There are three remaining grain elevators at Magrath. The green one in the foreground, the yellow one with a red annex on the right in the background, and the buffalo bin in the background to the left, still stand. This was a drive-by shot taken on 28 August 2014, the last day of a 3-day trip with friends. Cathy and Terry, to Waterton Lakes National Park and then further east. “The Buffalo Slope was a design created by the Alberta Wheat Pool using precast concrete. Somewhat of an experiment in design and materials by the Wheat Pool, only a few of this type were built in the late 1970s. These elevators were capable of holding around 170,000 bushels of grain. It wasn't the design of this elevator so much as the timing which resulted in such small numbers being built. Railway spur lines were being closed and along with them, small town elevators. Grain companies were beginning to realize the necessity of concentrating their resources, doing away with small elevators and building much larger inland terminals, spaced much further apart than were wooden elevators of yore. It simply wasn't a good time to be building smaller elevators.” www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKTKT_Alberta_Wheat_Pool_Buf... “Alberta’s first grain elevator was built in 1895, by Brackman-Ker Milling Co. at Strathcona. The last traditional wooden elevators were erected 90 years later, by Alberta Wheat Pool in 1985 at Willingdon and Dapp. Those intervening years of the twentieth century saw ups and downs. Rail lines rapidly expanded, but then miles of branch lines were ripped up. Grain elevator companies came and went. There were lean years and years of plenty in the harvest and in prices realized on the grain markets. The story of grain elevators in Alberta follows these trends, as they progressed from novelty to ubiquitous landmark, to vanishing symbol. Progress in grain elevator construction in Alberta was slow at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1906, the province still had only a total of 43 elevators. This figure had jumped to 109 by the season of 1908, and to 229 by the end of 1909. By 1912 Alberta boasted a total of 279 elevators. These were operated by seventy-two grain companies, individuals or organisations. The number of country elevators in Alberta reached an all time high in 1934 at 1,781.” www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf

Skiff is a hamlet in southern Alberta. Before friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, set out on a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park (26, 27 and 28 August 2014), I had discovered that we would be quite near to Skiff and its old grain elevator. I had mentioned this to my friends, asking if a quick stop to get a couple of shots might be possible if we had time. However, little did we know that we would end up having to stop in Skiff anyway, as Skiff was the closest place for us to get to after we got caught in a severe storm. We stopped at some kind of machinery warehouse to ask something and one of the workers said that he had never seen a storm like this one! A couple of minutes away, we found the beautiful, old elevator. You could still feel the tail end of the storm, with very strong winds blowing, barely letting me open my car door and walk with great difficulty to get my photos. I was surprised that my photos came out at all, I was being blown so much off balance. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from Waterton, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - a menacing cloud that was travelling fast and furious. I have recently posted a couple of photos of the storm. Despite trying our best to get away from it, it eventually engulfed our car, surrounding us with more or less zero visibility, pounding hail, thunder and lightning, and tremendously strong winds. There was nothing to do but sit tight in the car, hoping that the hail would not break the car windows and that this severe thunderstorm would not develop into a tornado! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, "exciting" (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Fortunately, we weren't caught in the very centre of it. Our road trip sure went out with a bang! Later, I contacted the Alberta Tornado Watch and posted a photo for them to see. They said the storm that happened that day was a mesocyclone. This elevator is the sole remaining elevator in Skiff and, though now wearing Parrish & Heimbecker colours, may well have been an Alberta Wheat Pool elevator originally. If so, it was built in 1929 with a 40,000 bushel capacity. The annexes were added in 1948 (East) and in 1952 (West). The larger one is on the east side. The elevator appears to still be in use. There is very little information online about it, unfortunately. www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKTFF_Alberta_Wheat_Pool_1_S...

So many of the old wooden barns and homesteads that scatter the prairies are in such a bad state, unfortunately. This one was photographed SE of Calgary, on 14 April 2014, when I went driving the backroads for the day with my youngest daughter. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns. We knew where our destination was going to be (Mossleigh), more or less, though it was disappointing that the heat distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos. Unfortunately, it was quite a hazy day, which really didn't help. Once we got really close, the problem thankfully went away. This homestead is in better shape than many you see. Seems such a pity that some work on the outside of this rather attractive structure can't be done, before it falls into a heap of old planks. Who knows why old barns and homesteads are left to crumble? Farmers are very busy people and probably not too concerned about an old, rotting building on their land. Most are no doubt living on a tight budget, too. I'm just happy that I have an occasional chance to photograph a few of these wonderful old barns and homesteads - I can think of at least three that have disappeared since being photographed, which is always a sad feeling, I find. Also, you see so many photos taken inside such buildings (I never go inside any of them, as they are always on private land and I won't trespass). The wonderful old treasures that are covered in dirt and strewn all over the place are breathtaking. Seems so sad that so many things aren't saved and cared for. What an interesting task that would be.

On 14 April 2014, I spent a wonderful, fun day with my youngest daughter, driving the backroads SE of Calgary. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns and anything else that we thought was interesting and/or beautiful. We knew where our destination was going to be, more or less Mossleigh and Arrowwood, though it was disappointing that the "heat wave" distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos of this row of old grain elevators. It was quite a hazy day, which never helps. Once we got really close, the problem thankfully lessened. At this distance, though, the elevators are not sharp, even if they don't look too bad at this size on a computer screen. A very interesting and informative website, with a lot of information about this row of old elevators is found at the following link. I find myself returning often to Chris and Connie's site to read about other places they have visited. It's well worth a visit to read about their travels. www.bigdoer.com/2360/exploring-history/mossleigh-elevators/ According to the website at the above link: " Update: May 2013. The lineage of the Mossleigh grain elevators has been cleared up. One was built for P&H, one for Pioneer which was later taken over by P&H, and finally one was built for the Searle Grain Company, later UGG and finally P&H. All were built in 1930 but it’s not clear exactly when they changed hands. A forth elevator used to sit here (UGG) but it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s. Update: September 2013. It’s understood that plans are in place to use the track that remains along the subdivision for some sort of tourist train, operating out of the nearby Aspen Crossing campground/garden centre complex. Time will tell if this will come to fruition – Aspen Crossing as it turns out, does have some rail cars sitting on a section of subdivision track just west of Mossleigh."

I love the little white country church that one passes on the way to the foot of the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, especially the long, photogenic fence line leading up to it from the parking lot - will post a photo of it soon. The church was built in Carpenter's Gothic style of architecture. A sign had the following words on it: "The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time, native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta. The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history". After George McDougall's tragic death in a snowstorm, his body was brought back to the church at Morleyville and laid to rest. My photo shows his grave site. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8788 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley,_Alberta Yesterday, 20 July 2014, I plucked up courage to do this drive that I’d never done before. I had been that route before when I carpooled with others. A good part of the drive was in familiar territory, but I’d never driven the last part of the journey myself. I had met my daughter at 9:00 a.m. and we were both eager to see a display of birds of prey that had been brought up from the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre. We came across Dee (rockymtnchick) and her partner, there to see the owls. Great to see you both! This year, there were fewer birds, but it was great to see any at all. There was a Burrowing Owl, a Barn Owl, a Great Horned Owl, and a Golden Eagle. Another real treat that was an amusing one, was seeing a baby Barn Owl that was just 45 days old! This little ball of fluff was acting as a great ambassador, letting young kids get a close view and ask questions, and fall in love with it – and to hopefully, in the future, do everything they can as adults to protect our precious wildlife. The enjoyment of seeing these birds up close reminds one that the reason these birds are not free to live in the wild, is because of some kind of interaction with humans – such as permanent injuries from being hit by a vehicle, pesticide use, or even worse, being shot by a human! This is what happened to “Spirit”, the magnificent Golden Eagle, shot and blinded by someone. This exhibit was our first destination in the park, though on the drive from Calgary, we had stopped at the small McDougall Church seen in today's photo. After seeing and photographing the birds of prey, we then drove to Middle Lake that’s in a different part of the park. We walked the very short distance to the edge of the lake, but didn’t walk around it. From there, we drove to the Many Springs Trail and did a very slow walk around the lake, stopping to look at different flowers and photograph a few butterflies. Though slow, it was still further than I should have walked. Certain wildflowers were already finished, including various Orchid species, but there were still plenty of other species to see and enjoy. Even the weather cooperated, though the forecast had been for isolated showers. Not too hot, nice clouds in the sky and lovely to have my daughter’s company for the day. Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always long to go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was a much-appreciated treat!

On 14 April 2014, I spent a wonderful, fun day with my youngest daughter, driving the backroads SE of Calgary. Some of the roads were familiar to me, but others were new territory, which gave us a chance to discover some different abandoned barns and anything else that we thought was interesting and/or beautiful. We knew where our destination was going to be, more or less Mossleigh and Arrowwood, though it was disappointing that the "heat wave" distortion was just too great to get distant, zoomed photos of this row of old grain elevators. It was quite a hazy day, which never helps. Once we got really close, the problem thankfully went away. A very interesting and informative website, with a lot of information about this row of old elevators, is found at the following link. I find myself returning often to Chris and Connie's site to read about other places they have visited. It's well worth a visit to read about their travels. www.bigdoer.com/2360/exploring-history/mossleigh-elevators/ According to the website at the above link: " Update: May 2013. The lineage of the Mossleigh grain elevators has been cleared up. One was built for P&H, one for Pioneer which was later taken over by P&H, and finally one was built for the Searle Grain Company, later UGG and finally P&H. All were built in 1930 but it’s not clear exactly when they changed hands. A forth elevator used to sit here (UGG) but it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s. Update: September 2013. It’s understood that plans are in place to use the track that remains along the subdivision for some sort of tourist train, operating out of the nearby Aspen Crossing campground/garden centre complex. Time will tell if this will come to fruition – Aspen Crossing as it turns out, does have some rail cars sitting on a section of subdivision track just west of Mossleigh." Happy day! I've just found out that if you click on the row of three dots, then RIGHT click on Edit Date, you can open a photo in another tab or window and simply copy all the tags from there. When pasted in the tags of a new photo, they post perfectly. This was one of the things I really did not like about the new Flickr experience, until today, so that's one less thing to dislike.

On 25 January 2014, I spent an amazing day out with friends Cathy and Terry, going SE of Calgary. A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. I had been missing being out and taking photos, feeling lethargic and extremely tired, so this invite was welcomed with open arms. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, but a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Can you believe that we saw 17 owls yesterday? SEVENTEEN! - 10 Snowy Owls and 7 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. We ended up driving through the hamlet of Herronton late morning and stopped long enough to take a few shots of the old grain elevator there. Not fun walking even a few steps, as the recent melting snow has frozen over everywhere, including here in Calgary. "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade. The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)." www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf "The Herronton elevator is a large former Alberta Wheat Pool elevator. The rail line here is not used. The last grain trains were loaded here a long, long time ago (late 1990s/early 2000s). This massive “single composite” elevator dates from 1965 having been rebuilt from an earlier structure (dating from 1930)." www.bigdoer.com/2848/exploring-history/grain-elevators-an...

Though this is a fairly plain barn, I always enjoy seeing it. Each time I see it, it has a Pigeon sitting in a different window. Photographed on 13 March 2014, when I went SE of Calgary for the day with friends Cathy and Terry.

One of the beautiful old barns (homestead?) seen a few days ago, on 7 March 2014. Some of the fields were still deep in snow, while others had a lot less. There was no sign of the distant mountains - they were completely hidden by cloud. After nine days at home, hopefully giving my stitches a chance to heal from minor surgery, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding that day was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of those amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total count of 19 owls, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance (photo posted a couple of days ago, in which the coloured spots from the sunburst lead ones eye to it). An excellent birding friend reckons it's a Snowy Owl. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, though, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. Also saw a Prairie Falcon perched on top of a metal silo and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us.

Friends and I ended up driving through the hamlet of Herronton (SE of Calgary) on 25 January 2014, and stopped long enough to take a few shots of the old grain elevator there. Not fun walking even a few steps, as the recent melting snow has frozen over everywhere. I'm puzzled by this image, as the white paint drops are running sideways - the windows must have been painted before being installed. The green siding of the elevator does run horizontally. "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade. The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)." www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf "The Herronton elevator is a large former Alberta Wheat Pool elevator. The rail line here is not used. The last grain trains were loaded here a long, long time ago (late 1990s/early 2000s). This massive “single composite” elevator dates from 1965 having been rebuilt from an earlier structure (dating from 1930)." www.bigdoer.com/2848/exploring-history/grain-elevators-an.. .

This is the second morning in the last three days that I've posted my "daily three" very late in the morning. After getting to bed each night around 3:00 a.m.or 3:30 a.m., I overslept till about 11:00 a.m. again today, which messes up my day. The reason for today's lateness is that I spent an amazing day out yesterday with friends Cathy and Terry, south of Calgary, and then got to bed so late after getting things done on my computer. I had found an e-mail on my computer around 12:45 a.m.yesterday, just as I was about to turn off my computer for the night. Did I want to go birding tomorrow (i.e. yesterday) and, if so, to meet at 8:00 a.m.. A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. Can you believe that we saw 17 owls yesterday? SEVENTEEN! I didn't photograph quite every single one, but my friends will let me know exactly how many of each owl we found, once they've gone through their photos. It was something like 10 Snowy Owls and 7 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. We ended up driving through the hamlet of Herronton (SE of Calgary) late morning and stopped long enough to take a few shots of the old grain elevator there. Not fun walking even a few steps, as the recent melting snow has frozen over everywhere, including here in Calgary. "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade. The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)." www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf "The Herronton elevator is a large former Alberta Wheat Pool elevator. The rail line here is not used. The last grain trains were loaded here a long, long time ago (late 1990s/early 2000s). This massive “single composite” elevator dates from 1965 having been rebuilt from an earlier structure (dating from 1930)." www.bigdoer.com/2848/exploring-history/grain-elevators-an...