Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: plough lines

The trees at the very edge of the roads were quite visible, but practically everything else disappeared in a dense fog that caught me by surprise today, 5 January 2019. I had hoped to finally drive east of the city yesterday, after already waiting a couple of months. Then I saw in the weather forecast that it was going to be a very windy day, so my plans changed. When I checked the forecast around midnight last night, we were supposedly going to have sun with some cloud this morning, clearing to a nice sunny afternoon. Yeah, right!! The thick fog had developed way before I left the eastern edge of the city and, though I was so tempted to turn around and head for home, I kept going, hoping that the fog would clear further east. Just the opposite! Most of the drive was in very poor visibility, barely able to see the road I was on and not seeing cars in the distance. Once my eyes looked further than the fences along the road edges, I could barely see anything at all, just dense fog. A far cry from an ideal day for looking for Snowy Owls! Everything was a pale grey or white and I would never have been able to see a distant owl and would barely see an owl perched high up on a power pole. After roughly almost five hours of dangerous driving conditions and 235 km travelled, I just had to give up and head for home. I did manage to find a few odds and ends to photograph, but nothing too inspiring. Post-processing turned white photos into images that had some colour and detail - not at all how things looked in reality.

Happy Easter Sunday, everyone! All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 26 March 2016, when I spent a long day driving NW of the city and then coming home via Bragg Creek and SW of the city. It was such a beautiful day and, once again, there was snow in the forecast for this coming week, so I thought I had better make the most of the good weather. When I first reached my approximate destination yesterday morning, I could see five or six cars way down the road, pulled over at the edge of the road. Often a good sign : ) Sure enough, friends had found a Great Gray Owl. For the first four minutes after I got there, the owl was perched on a barbed-wire fence in the sun, but then flew off and vanished. More than an hour later, someone saw it fly across the road and land in the distant trees. Had to look almost into the sun to get photos, so most of my images are grainy, but still happy to get them. The way these owls focus on something is amazing - they use their hearing rather than their sight. It sat there for maybe 45 minutes, barely moving except for turning its head, so not a huge variety of shots, but interesting to watch in person. When it disappeared further into the trees and out of sight, I started off on my long drive home, hoping to see a few early bird spring arrivals. I was out of luck, apart from a pair of Killdeer. Not a single Mountain Bluebird, anywhere, which did surprise me. I always enjoy driving the particular stretch of road seen in this photo. I love the emptiness, simplicity and colours at this time of year. I did notice a pair of extremely far away birds circling high in the sky - you can just about see one of them. Couldn't tell if they were Ravens or Hawks. Ha, there are small, black spots on a few photos taken further down the road, but they are bees! I can't say I enjoyed photographing "The Famous Five" with bees flying around me and my camera and the car - from the group of hives by the granaries. A nine-hour day, 291 kilometers driven, sunshine and an owl - it was an enjoyable day. The only part I didn't like was getting up very early but still not getting out till four hours later! Always a big mistake to turn on my computer if I want to get out really early!

Just a capture of plough lines in a field SE of Calgary, taken on 24 December 2013. The fields should all be bare by now, I think, even after the fresh snowfall two or three days ago.