Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: elegant

Had to dig into my archives for two of my photos this morning, in order to avoid posting an owl or a barn, ha. This was one of the treasures of the forest that was found when a few of us spent the day botanizing at Rod Handfield's property, on 17 August 2012. Quite an elegant mushroom surrounded by beautiful moss. Though the number of fungi was far less than some previous years, we still managed to find quite a few different species, making the day very worthwhile.

Can you see why I did a "happy dance" (well, not quite, but there were a few exclamations out loud (even though I was by myself, ha)? This was such an amazing sight - a group of these mushrooms that looked almost like a set of fine pottery. I later came across another grouping and some of them were absolute perfection. It was hard to tear myself away from them - and I was worried that I might get home and find that all my photos were blurry, LOL. Not the case this time, thank goodness. Was out on a walk for a few hours this morning at the Paskapoo Slopes - we came across several nice mushrooms, yeah! After my afternoon shift of volunteering and then urgent food shopping, I arrived home to be greeted by one of the local Jack Rabbits. Happened to have my camera in my hand, so grocery bags were dropped and I managed to get a few shots as it sat there, obviously thinking that I couldn't see it.

Another visit to my archives resulted in finding this colourful image. I always love photographing these graceful flowers, and I was lucky with the light on this particular day. I know it's partly the location of Reader Rock Garden, on a hillside, but it seems that almost every single time I call in at this place, it's very windy - never a good thing when trying to take photos of flowers, especially ones that grow on a long, thin stem : ) Taken on 7 July 2010. "The genus name Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle (aquila), because the shape of the flower petals, which are said to resemble an eagle's claw. The common name "columbine" comes from the Latin for "dove", due to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquilegia

One of the treasures of the forest that was found when a few of us spent the day botanizing at Rod Handfield's property, on 17 August 2012. This is one of the fungi from our day that have not yet been identified. Quite an elegant mushroom surrounded by beautiful moss.

This tiny mushroom was growing on a jagged tree stump right by the trail at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park around the end of fungi season last year. The sunlight was shining down just along the path edges, so I was really lucky with the lighting - which I wish would happen more often : ) No flash was used. The handful of mushrooms that I did find were all growing along the edge of the trail through the dark forest. There are still several more months till fungi season begins again for us. Oh, and yes, the reason for my title was the thin string of spider's web under the mushroom cap : ) Wasn't sure whether to "get rid" of it, or simply leave it be. We have more snow again today : ) A good thing, really, as I have so much to sort through and clear out at home, before my condo management arranges for new, desperately-needed upstairs windows to be replaced in all the buildings. Everyone has been complaining constantly for at least 12 years, so hopefully this is going to happen. Also have to start on my basement once I've cleared upstairs, so that the "several large boxes" of belongings from my parents and brother will eventually be able to fit inside my place when they arrive in something like three months' time. I'd rather be doing this while it's still cold and snowing than when the weather greatly improves - though I suspect I'll be still doing this sorting out right up till when the boxes arrive! I'm definitely not striving for perfection, just to clear enough room and make the place look more reasonable : ) I hate doing it, lol!

Photographed this beautiful butterfly at the Calgary Zoo, way back in May. They always look very smart and elegant, especially against the rich green foliage. "Heliconius charithonia, commonly known as the Zebra Longwing or Zebra Heliconian, is a species of butterfly belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae of the Nymphalidae. It was declared the official butterfly for the state of Florida in the United States in 1996. The butterfly ranges over parts of North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. In North America the butterfly is found in the southern parts of the United States including Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North and South Carolina. In South and Central America, it has been recorded in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Because of their relatively long lifespan and their activity throughout the day, this is a popular species with butterfly houses." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconius_charithonia Was out walking all morning in the comparatively new Clearwater Park, off Highway 8 in the city.

I was just magnetized by this amazingly beautiful black and white butterfly at the Calgary Zoo yesterday afternoon. It's only a small butterfly, but I just love the smart abstract pattern. I've been trying to find an ID for this on Google, but unlucky so far : ) I think this is a Dirce Beauty Colobura (Colobura dirce), which is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Central America and the Northern parts of South America. The length of the fore-wings is about 33 mm.

I had to go back into my archives a little way for this photo, to 22nd August. Seen in West Bragg Creek Natural Area. Looks like our mushroom season is pretty much over for this year, so most of my mushroom photos from now on will have to come from my archives. Love these beautiful, elegant white ones with their upturned caps, showing off their graceful gills. LOL, can you tell I absolutely love photographing fungi?

Went with a friend south and east of the city yesterday, to Frank Lake and then east to the Shepard area. The wind was terrible - strong and cold! Not a lot of birds in these locations, both of which are very popular with birders. We saw plenty of open water on the various sloughs/ponds, but a good many of the birds were Northern Shovelers. We saw quite a few Tundra and Trumpeter Swans, which is always a treat. These are Trumpeters in this photo. They are dazzling white when the sun shines on them.

A friend very kindly invited me to go down south of the city to Frank Lake today. We spent about eight hours at various places around this huge lake and also stopping at a few sloughs to search for shorebirds. This American Avocet was closer to the road than others we had seen earlier. They are such beautiful, elegant birds! The female's bill is more upturned and shorter than the male's.