Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: farm animal

Yesterday afternoon, 16 July 2017, I had no choice but to get out for a short drive. My place was like an oven from weeks of heat, and I just couldn't stand it for one more minute. I drove the back roads SW of the city that I so often drive when I only have time or energy for a short drive. Today is much cooler and now, after having a couple of windows open, my place smells strongly of smoke from the B.C. wildfires and the Banff area. I posted a photo showing how the smoke is affecting Albertans. Best to stay indoors if possible, so I guess I won't be going anywhere for at least the next few days. It makes scenic shots pretty much useless. Then, last night, we had a blackout in my part of the city. Apparently, the outage was due to a motor vehicle damaging ENMAX equipment. I guess that is why two or three firetrucks came rushing down my street around 11:30 pm last night, and ENMAX vehicles were working till almost 2:00 am just down my street, within sight. Hot and windy are not my favourite conditions, but the air-conditioning in my car felt wonderful! There didn't seem to be all that much to be seen, though I suspect that one Mountain Bluebird pair has a second family to feed now. I was so happy to see the male in his usual place and even more excited when I saw him with a tiny insect in his beak, meaning only one thing - new babies. Usually, there are no cattle to be seen in the field, but yesterday, I had a lot of curious faces watching me carefully. Other than this Bluebird pair, the only other bird I photographed was an American Robin. No Snipe could be heard and only a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds to be seen. So, I decided to drive to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, intending to just check the forest around the parking lot, to see if there were any fungi growing. There were four vehicles in the parking lot and I plucked up enough courage to go a short way into the park. This place always gives me the creeps and, usually, I only go a few feet into the actual park. Knowing that bears and cougars have been seen, it's never a good feeling to be there on my own. I've only ever seen a large Moose there on a couple of occasions. A few days ago, a friend told me that she had been told that someone who has an amazing forest for fungi had said that the fungi were at their peak right now. This seemed rather unlikely, as it is still only mid-July, plus the fact that everywhere is so dry. I just had to go to Brown-Lowery to check on the fungi there - absolutely nothing, other than three or four small, shapeless blobs on tree trunks. Hopefully, we will get rain in the next few weeks. Far more important, I hope that B.C. (British Columbia, the province to our west) gets a heavy amount of rain very, very soon, though there is none in their forecast. Maybe a week ago, about 200 wildfires were being reported, causing a lot of devastation and evacuations. Now we have a forest fire here in Alberta, near Banff. Each summer, we get a lot of wildfires, the worst being the one in Fort McMurray that started on 1 May 2016. The fire spread across approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history. My heart goes out to all those affected, especially by the ongoing B.C. fires.

Two days ago, on 23 October 2016, I couldn't resist taking a photo or two of this little cow family. They were far away in a field next to the Jumpingpound Pond, where we stopped to check for birds and to watch several Swans. I think the smallest calf has such a cute expression on its face. Below, I will add the helpful, detailed report from our leader, Howard Heffler, and the eBird list compiled by Nimali S., with thanks to both of them! Thanks, too, Gail, for the ride all day long - greatly appreciated and enjoyed! "Thirteen participants met at Assumption School at 8:30 AM and spent the day birding several locations west of Calgary. We first stopped at Jumping Pound pond. There were both species of swan and a few puddle ducks. We made another quick stop at Sibbald ponds where there were six swans. It appeared to be a family of five Trumpeters and one lonely Tundra. The (apparent) Tundra was all white but had a mostly pink bill. It was being harassed by the others so we concluded (speculated) was a second year bird that still had a pink bill (or maybe a first year bird that had turned white prematurely??). It was smaller than the others and was obviously an outcast. If anyone has any thoughts they would be most welcome. It was cold and windy at Bow Valley Park and a quick walk on Flowing Waters trail proved fruitless so we moved to the Seebe dam. Again there were a few swans and ducks but the cold winds seemed unfriendly to birds and birders alike. In Exshaw it was still cold and windy and there were few birds. However, a flock of about 45 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch was the highlight of the day. These are such active birds and their feeding habits are fun to watch as the flock seems to roll forward along the ground as the birds in the back leap-frog the leaders. The Canmore Visitor Center was an excellent (warm and comfortable) bathroom and lunch stop. Harvie Heights offered a few boreal birds but not as many as hoped for. An interesting note for future planning is that the community prohibits bird feeders until November 1st in an effort to reduce conflicts with bears or cougars. Thanks to Nimali Seneviratne for keeping track of species and doing the eBird postings. The combined list for the day (including species seen while driving) was: Snow Goose 1 Canada Goose 63 Trumpeter Swan 37 Tundra Swan 30 American Wigeon 3 Mallard 40 Common Merganser 1 Common Loon 2 Western Grebe 1 Rough-legged Hawk 2 Rock Pigeon 9 Downy Woodpecker 1 Gray Jay 2 Clark's Nutcracker 3 Black-billed Magpie 6 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 6 Mountain Chickadee 7 Boreal Chickadee 1 (heard only) Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 45 White-winged Crossbill 1 House Sparrow 2 Howard Heffler Calgary"