Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#145

LOL, no, I haven't just been to Safeway (grocery store), but I did buy a bunch of mixed "Daisies&quot from there about 10 days ago, that included these small flowers. I so need a change from wild flowers, fungi, etc. : ) Today, a few of us did a wonderful hike in Kananaskis, going part way along the Pocaterra Cirque Trail. We took so long botanizing, that we didn't get quite as far as we could have gone. However, that was the whole purpose of the hike, to record all the flora and fauna that were seen. It was a toss-up between Ptarmigan Cirque Trail and this one, which some of us had never done before. Pocaterra Cirque Trail won - and we weren't sorry. The scenery was spectacular, we saw and recorded new plants, saw several (very distant) Mountain Sheep on the highest nearby mountain ridge, were surrounded with meadows of wildflowers, and enjoyed the company of good friends. So, another such enjoyable day - we were out about 12 hours, including the drive to Highwood Pass on Highway 40 and back home. A long day, especially in the heat AND after getting absolutely not one minute's sleep last night, but not a strenuous climb! Oh, and it started to rain and (small) hail while we were still at our furthest point. Then we had torrential rain and lightning for most of the drive back to Calgary. A number of people had pulled off the road, it was so bad. Just before Calgary, the sky was blue and the sun was shining : ) Thanks, again, David, for sharing this beautiful place with us today : )

Time for another photo of this cutie, one of the Red Pandas at the Calgary Zoo. I think this may have been the time when I saw them getting a treat of grapes to eat. "The Red Panda, also called the Firefox or Lesser Panda (Latin name: Ailurus fulgens, "shining cat"), is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat (40 - 60 cm long, 3 - 6 kg weight). The Red Panda is endemic to the Himalayas in Bhutan, southern China, Pakistan, India, Laos, Nepal, and Burma. There is an estimated population of fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. Their population continues to decline due to habitat fragmentation." From Wikipedia.

A pretty typical winter scene, but posted partly to cool down those of you who live in hotter climes : ). I always enjoy seeing snow-capped wooden posts and tree trunks and the mixture of light and shadows.

This needed to be posted today, as our world is white. An amazing hoar frost has covered everything, turning everywhere into a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, the sky has been dull gey and the light has been dreadful all day. However, I decided to drive some of the backroads south of 22X this afternoon - just got home - but I haven't gone through my photos yet. I'm hoping that at least one photo will turn out OK, despite the awful light. This Chinese Lantern has yet to turn bright orange, but I thought it was quite pretty in this mid-stage, too. This species of plant was, in fact, first discovered in Japan. Seen at the Reader Rock Garden at the end of September.