Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: smoke haze

I'm beginning to think this is a Swainson's Hawk. This is the other hawk that was on the same hay bale as the hawk in the photo I posted the day before yesterday. It is 10:30 am on 24 August 2018, and the sky is smoke filled and dark as can be. An Air Quality alert continues. Rain is expected to arrive shortly (and, yes, here comes the rain!), which will be most welcome. Our temperature is only 11C! I was shocked to see the following warning yesterday, knowing the absolute devastation that our beautiful Waterton Lakes National Park suffered in the summer of 2017. "PARKS CANADA HAS ISSUED AN EVACUATION ALERT FOR ALL AREAS IN WATERTON NATIONAL PARK DUE TO WILDFIRE: Thursday August 23, 2018 - 10:45pm Parks Canada has issued an Evacuation Alert for all areas in Waterton Lakes National Park. A wildfire that started south of Waterton in the Boundary Creek valley is currently burning out of control. Because of the potential danger to life and health, Parks Canada has issued an Evacuation Alert for all of Waterton Lakes National Park. An Evacuation Alert has been issued to prepare you to evacuate your premises or property should it be found necessary. Visitors and residents will be given as much advance notice as possible prior to evacuation; however you may receive limited notice due to changing conditions. The wildfire in Waterton Lakes National Park approximately 5 km south of the townsite. It is located in the Boundary Creek Valley and approaching Upper Waterton Lake. Parks Canada staff are monitoring the fire. People in Waterton Park should be prepared to evacuate on short notice." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can tell by the photos I posted this morning, I got out of the forest and into the dry prairies. Three days ago, on 21 August 2018, it turned out to be such a great day, with some much-appreciated sightings. I must have spent about 8 or 9 hours driving and almost every inch of my body aches like crazy. Now, each summer, I try and do two or three longer (for me) drives, making sure I don't lose confidence to get there. Weather-wise, it was around 24C, so not too hot. Yes, it was still smokey from the British Columbia wildfires, making distant hills barely visible and deleting mountains from view, but it didn't have too much effect on closer photography. It was a good day for Hawks, seeing three on the way south and a few on the way home. I almost missed two hawks, as the hay bale they were standing on was way out in a large field. At first, I thought there were three hawks together, but when I stopped to take a few photos, I realized that there were only two - one looked almost like two hawks close together, but then I saw that it had its wings mantled. I guess it wanted to make sure that the second hawk behind it couldn't steal any of the food from it. A Horned Lark, a Western Meadowlark juvenile, and a Vesper Sparrow gave me the chance for a photo or two, and a lone hawk I spotted way in the distance was a Ferruginous Hawk. A happy sighting, as these hawks are so few and far between.

"Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 4:55 PM -Air quality statements blanket parts of western Canada as smoke from the more than 500 wildfires burning in British Columbia coats the region in some of the worst air quality in the world." From the Weather Network. As you can tell by the photos I posted this morning, I got out of the forest and into the dry prairies. Yesterday, 21 August 2018, turned out to be such a great day, with some much-appreciated sightings. I must have spent about 8 or 9 hours driving and almost every inch of my body aches like crazy. Now, each summer, I try and do two or three longer (for me) drives, making sure I don't lose confidence to get there. Weather-wise, it was around 24C, so not too hot. Yes, it was still smokey from the British Columbia wildfires, making distant hills barely visible and deleting mountains from view, but it didn't have too much effect on closer photography. Yesterday was a good day for Hawks, seeing three on the way south and a few on the way home. I almost missed the hawk in this photo, as the hay bale was way out in a large field. At first, I thought there were three hawks together, but when I stopped to take a few photos, I realized that there were only two - this one looked almost like two hawks close together, but then I saw that it had its wings mantled. I guess it wanted to make sure that the second hawk behind it couldn't steal any of the food from it. I am not good at hawk ID, and I don't know if this is a juvenile or an adult of whatever species it is. A Horned Lark and an unidentified sparrow gave me the chance for a photo or two, and I'm pretty sure a hawk I spotted way in the distance was a Ferruginous Hawk. A happy sighting if I'm right.

"Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 4:55 PM -Air quality statements blanket parts of western Canada as smoke from the more than 500 wildfires burning in British Columbia coats the region in some of the worst air quality in the world." From the Weather Network. As you can tell by the photos I posted this morning, I got out of the forest and into the dry prairies. Yesterday, 21 August 2018, turned out to be such a great day, with some much-appreciated sightings. I must have spent about 8 or 9 hours driving and almost every inch of my body aches like crazy. Now, each summer, I try and do two or three longer (for me) drives, making sure I don't lose confidence to get there. I left home at 9:00 am, just a bit later than I had hoped. Arrived back home somewhere around 8:30 pm. Weather-wise, it was around 24C, so not too hot. Yes, it was still smokey from the British Columbia wildfires, making distant hills barely visible and deleting mountains from view, but it didn't have too much effect on photography. Unfortunately, this Bison is a domestic animal, on a farm. A Prairie Bison? I have seen wild Bison and I do have photos of them in the wild. Couldn't resist stopping to take a few shots of these animals seen yesterday. Yesterday was a good day for Hawks, seeing three on the way south and a few on the way home. I almost missed the hawk in one of the photos today, as the hay bale was way out in a large field. At first, I thought there were three hawks together, but when I stopped to take a few photos, I realized that there were only two - one looked almost like two hawks close together, but then I saw that it had its wings mantled. I guess it wanted to make sure that the second hawk behind it couldn't steal any of the food from it. I am not good at hawk ID, and I don't know if this is a juvenile or an adult of whatever species it is. A Horned Lark and an unidentified sparrow gave me the chance for a photo or two, and I'm pretty sure a hawk I spotted way in the distance was a Ferruginous Hawk. A happy sighting if I'm right.

Yesterday, 10 August 2017, I finally did a drive that I had never done before. I'm always hearing or reading about Sheep River Provincial Park, but it was not until maybe a couple of weeks ago, that I got round to looking on Google to see exactly where it is. I found that maybe the first half of the drive, as far as Turner Valley, I had done before, which helped. The drive west from Turner Valley to just past the Sheep River falls was all new, so I "drove" the whole length on Google Earth to see what it was like. The whole distance from home and back was 195 km, so it was a much shorter trip than when I drove all the way south to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre (511 km), on 3 August. I was hoping to see some wildlife and beautiful scenery, but the most important purpose for this trip was to make myself do a new drive. I almost didn't go, as I woke up later than I had planned, not feeling the greatest, and didn't leave home till 11:15 am. Glad I pushed myself out the front door, though. The only wildlife I saw was a Mule Deer doe, that I saw in two different places. She was looking for salt along the road and couldn't make up her mind whether to cross the road in front of me or not. I sat in my car and waited, and eventually she did cross and ended up near the passenger side of my car. When I was almost at the very end of this road, I stopped to take a look at the Sheep River Falls. It takes just a short walk from the parking lot to get a view of the falls below. Towards the end of my walk, black clouds rolled in and there was a bit of thunder accompanied by a sprinkling of rain. Short-lived, thankfully. As for scenery, the smoke continues from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires. This results in poor landscape shots, at least with my little point-and-shoot. I'll be posting just a couple of scenic views, not for their photographic merit, but just to remind myself what the landscape is like. Just noticed a report for Waterton Lakes National Park. I do hope that no wildfires start in this little gem. "As of 9 August 2017, extreme fire risk in Waterton Lakes National Park prompts closure of trails and campgrounds." calgary.ctvnews.ca/extreme-fire-risk-in-waterton-lakes-na...

I knew I should not have stayed up till around 3;30 am this morning, deleting 600+ emails - but it needed to be done, and I was on a roll. Still a few thousand more to go through. I need to do a similar thing - again - with my photos, or else I will get another message telling me I need to get another hard drive because I am out of room on my computer. Summer just isn't a good time to do things like this. Anyway, today, 7 August 2017, is the last day of a 3-day weekend. Heritage Day is celebrated in Alberta on the first Monday of August each year. Although it is not a statutory holiday, many Canadians in Alberta use this day as an optional holiday for celebrating the province’s heritage. I would imagine the roads and parks will be absolutely packed with people, the thought of which is more than enough to keep me home today. Apparently, Waterton Lakes National Park had to close its gates yesterday for the first time EVER, there were so many people. Yesterday, I was out much of the day and so I feel like staying home anyway. A few of us were invited to return to one of our absolute favourite places - Rod Handfield's acreage, SW of the city. This is always such a treat, and Rod and his wife are always so welcoming. They have an amazing forest that is usually full of so many fungi species in August. However, we knew that this was not going to be the case yesterday, as everywhere is bone dry. While in the forest, our leader said that normally, we would have seen 75+ species of fungus by then. Instead, we saw maybe three very small mushrooms that I didn't even bother to photograph, plus the little cluster of Oyster mushrooms that I posted this morning. I don't know if the situation is likely to change, even if we got a lot of rain in the next little while (none in the next week's forecast). Can someone do a rain dance for us ... please? Our morning hike was still very enjoyable, of course, and in pleasant weather and with good friends. There was a bit of smoke haze, as can be seen in this zoomed-in photo, taken from a hillside on the Handfield's property. I love the shape of the distant foothills. Also love to see a field dotted with hay bales. After the hike, seven of us went for lunch in the tiny strip mall in the hamlet of Priddis, on the way home. Friends had said how good the food is at Jane's Cafe, and we agreed. Made a lovely end to our botany morning.

Unfortunately, this Bison is a domestic animal, on a farm. I have seen wild Bison and I do have photos of them in the wild. Couldn't resist stopping to take a few quick shots of these animals seen two days ago. The haze in the background is smoke haze, caused by the ongoing wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta. This summer, we have had practically no 'normal' summer days. They have been either too hot thanks to our endless heatwave, or too smoky thanks to all the wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta. The weather forecast for two days ago looked good; sunshine all day, with rain forecast on several of the coming days. I decided to finally do a drive all the way down south to near Lethbridge, so that I could again visit the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. Last year, I did this drive for the very first time on my own and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose my courage to do it again. During the 511 kms that I drove, I had to ask for help with directions twice - both times in the same small hamlet! It was a hot day, with a temperature of 31C when I was at the Centre. The forecast was for sun all day, but there was no mention of the smoke haze that completely blocked out the mountains and pretty much the foothills, too. Very quickly, I was almost tempted to turn around and come home, but I had noticed rain in the forecast for some coming days. I reckoned I would still be able to photograph the fairly close birds at the Centre, which worked out fine. Amazingly, I managed to make myself get up early that morning, 3 August 2017, and set off just before 8:30 am. My intention was to drive straight to Coaldale without stopping anywhere en route. Not an easy thing for me to do, as I much prefer driving slowly along the backroads rather than the less interesting highways. However, I knew it would take me a few hours to get there and I wanted to have as much time as possible down there. On the way home, I drove one dusty, gravel road, but saw nothing but a couple of Horned Larks perched on fence posts. A couple of old barns (that I had seen before) and a few scenic shots, were more or less all I took. Twelve hours later, I finally arrived home, at 8:30 pm, totally tired out, and my car was just about out of gas. For the first time in the year that I have had this vehicle, the gas level warning light came on. Also, it surprises me that the oil change light has never come on, as I have done 8,500 km in just under 12 months. I was given free oil changes for the life of the car, but was told that I can't get them done until the light comes on, on the dashboard. Think I'd better contact the dealership and ask about this. Almost a year sounds far too long to not have an oil change.

This summer, we have had practically no 'normal' summer days. They have been either too hot thanks to our endless heatwave, or too smoky thanks to all the wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta. The weather forecast for two days ago looked good; sunshine all day, with rain forecast on several of the coming days. I decided to finally do a drive all the way down south to near Lethbridge, so that I could again visit the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. Last year, I did this drive for the very first time on my own and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose my courage to do it again. During the 511 kms that I drove, I had to ask for help with directions twice - both times in the same small hamlet! It was a hot day, with a temperature of 31C when I was at the Centre. The forecast was for sun all day, but there was no mention of the smoke haze that completely blocked out the mountains and pretty much the foothills, too. Very quickly, I was almost tempted to turn around and come home, but I had noticed rain in the forecast for some coming days. I reckoned I would still be able to photograph the fairly close birds at the Centre, which worked out fine. Amazingly, I managed to make myself get up early that morning, 3 August 2017, and set off just before 8:30 am. My intention was to drive straight to Coaldale without stopping anywhere en route. Not an easy thing for me to do, as I much prefer driving slowly along the backroads rather than the less interesting highways. However, I knew it would take me a few hours to get there and I wanted to have as much time as possible down there. On the way home, I drove one dusty, gravel road (seen in this photo), but saw nothing but a couple of Horned Larks perched on fence posts. A couple of old barns (that I had seen before) and a few scenic shots, were more or less all I took. Twelve hours later, I finally arrived home, at 8:30 pm, totally tired out, and my car was just about out of gas. For the first time in the year that I have had this vehicle, the gas level warning light came on. Also, it surprises me that the oil change light has never come on, as I have done 8,500 km in just under 12 months. I was given free oil changes for the life of the car, but was told that I can't get them done until the light comes on, on the dashboard. Think I'd better contact the dealership and ask about this. Almost a year sounds far too long to not have an oil change.