Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Geranium

A large group of us spent the morning of 7 July 2019 at the home and property of Keith and Sandy Logan. They live NW of Cochrane on a 35-acre parcel of land. The group split in half and took turns to look at Keith's stunning photography and incredible woodwork and also to bio/blitz their land, to record all flora and fauna seen. We were treated to coffee and delicious cake in Keith's enormous woodworking barn. We all agree - if you sit in one of Keith's wooden chairs, you'll see that no chair could ever be more comfortable - they are simply amazing! www.keithlogan.com/Keith_Logan/Photography/Photography.html www.keithlogan.com/Keith_Logan/Woodworking/Woodworking.html Some people saw a number of birds, though they were almost all very distant sightings. I think the closest were a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, feeding young that were in a tree cavity. I did manage to get a shot of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, too. On a visit like this, I am always torn between looking for birds, wildflowers, or fungi - not to mention any cats and dogs. This day was a mix of all three - the kind of day I love. Actually, we were surprised that there were not many wildflowers to be seen. Not sure if this means we are a bit late for them. Our weather has been totally insane since New Year, so who knows what is early and what is late. I was happy to see the odd fungus here and there in the Aspen forest. All morning, we were followed around the garden by the Logan's two enormous dogs - two beautiful, friendly Newfoundland dogs, named Sally and Blueberry (?). What gorgeous dogs these are! I think food must be on their mind all the time. Whenever someone would sit and eat their lunch, either one or both dogs would come over and stand or sit and look longingly at what was being eaten. Such sweet dogs. I love to see their cats, too. On previous visits, there were three cats, but I don't know if they only have two now. What a beautiful place they are fortunate enough to call 'home'. After lunch, we drove a short distance to another place, URSA, which stands for Universal Rehabilitation Service Agency. Before non-profit URSA obtained the area, it used to belong to W.O.Mitchell, who used it as a retreat. We were introduced to Ben, who lives in W.O. Mitchell's beautiful old cabin. Ben's passion is creating amazing metal sculptures and many of his works are scattered on the land around the cabin. "William Ormond Mitchell, PC OC better known as W. O. Mitchell (March 13, 1914 – February 25, 1998) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is Who Has Seen the Wind (1947), which portrays life on the Canadian Prairies and sold almost a million copies in Canada. As a broadcaster, he is known for his radio series Jake and the Kid, which aired on CBC Radio between 1950 and 1956 and was also about life on the Prairies. In 1973, Mitchell was made an officer of the Order of Canada. The list of other honours Mitchell has received includes honorary doctorates from five Canadian universities and being sworn in as a Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on November 5, 1992. In 2000, Mitchell was honoured by the government of Canada with his image on a postage stamp." From Wikipedia. "Nestled in 18 acres of truly Albertan streams, trees and wildlife, URSA is a place that welcomes us all. The buildings and land were obtained in 2009 by Universal Rehabilitation Service Agency (URSA) with a single purpose: to create a retreat space where all individuals, regardless of ability, can experience the beauty of a relaxing and calming retreat space. We rent the URSA Retreat Centre to external groups to subsidize running it for our clients." youtu.be/iuMFd3D6Y3k As far as the weather was concerned, we were so lucky. Just a few minutes of light rain and that was it. Just enough to get rain spots on the camera lens. Thanks to Keith and Sandy for such an enjoyable time! Always a real treat to spend time with them at their home and acreage. Thank you to Stephen and Dorothy for driving the four of us there and back. Greatly appreciated, as always.

This was another thing that I saw on 27 July 2013, when a group of us did a Bioblitz along the E side of the Perrenoud WIldlife Reserve, NW of Calgary. A tiny Crab Spider, sitting on a Richardson's Geranium wildflower. "Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae. Among the Thomisidae it refers most often to the familiar species of "flower crab spiders", though not all members of the family are limited to ambush hunting in flowers. Thomisidae do not build webs to trap prey, though all of them produce silk for drop lines and sundry reproductive purposes; some are wandering hunters and the most widely known are ambush predators. Some species sit on or beside flowers or fruit, where they grab visiting insects. Individuals of some species, such as Misumena vatia (which I believe is shown n my photo), are able to change color over a period of some days, to match the flower on which they are sitting. Some species frequent promising positions among leaves or bark, where they await prey, and some of them will sit in the open, where they are startlingly good mimics of bird droppings. However, note that these members of the family Thomisidae are not to be confused with the spiders that generally are called bird dropping spiders, not all of which are close relatives of crab spiders.... The spiders of Thomisidae are not known to be harmful to humans." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_spider en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geranium_richardsonii "In 1980, George Emil Perrenoud donated this land to the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation for the purpose of a wilderness park for the benefit of the residents of the Province of Alberta." www.asrpwf.ca/media/53811/perrenoud.pdf www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9399782073

I haven't identified this tiny beetle yet. Found and photographed at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on July 8th, when I went looking for mushrooms. It was such a windy day and all the trees were bending and creaking, so I only searched the area by the parking lot. Not a mushroom to be found, but I was happy to find this beetle. The Richardson's Geranium flower is maybe an inch across, so the beetle was only very small.

A white Geranium wildflower. I like the purple veins and the centre of the flower.