Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014March17

When I was on a birding day trip with a group of friends, going SE of Calgary on Saturday, 15 March 2014, we called in at the small hamlet of Blackie. I had been there with other friends two days earlier and I had spotted a couple of very distant Eurasian Collared Doves in a tree. When I mentioned this on Saturday, the expectation (lol!) was that, despite my dreadful sense of direction, I would find the same tree again - amazingly, I did, and then my friends spotted about six of these birds in various trees. While we were walking along one of the streets, we saw this massive Cargill grain elevator. Not exactly the most beautiful of structures and definitely not as photogenic as the three old, wooden elevators that apparently used to be along the railway line, just a very short distance away, but still rather impressive. Luckily, a Canadian Pacific train came along while we were there - the wagons that you can see behind the engine on a different track at the far left of the image were already parked there. In 2004, Blackie apparently had 3 elevators, an Ex-Agricore, Pioneer and Agricore United steel elevator. The large, green, wooden elevator was torn down in 2005 and replaced by this huge, modern grain loading terminal. The other wooden elevator, the Pioneer elevator, was torn down in December 2012. It was a fairly modern, seemingly well-kept elevator. Wish I had seen these, but I hadn't plucked up courage to drive SE of Calgary back then. "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade. The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)." www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf www.bigdoer.com/2848/exploring-history/grain-elevators-an...

Spent the whole day SE of the city again on 13 March 2014, with friends Cathy and Terry. What a slow day it was for much of the time. Took us just over 6 hours to find the first Snowy Owl - just the tiniest, distant white speck on the ground, far across a huge field. We were beginning to wonder if maybe all the Snowies had already left to fly north, so we were happy to see this one, and a second one about four hours later, perched on a distant power pole. No photo opportunities for these owls, but it felt to good to know that there were at least these two owls still in the area. We had no luck at all finding a Short-eared Owl - very different from 7th March, when we saw 8 of them, six in flight and two on the ground. In addition to the 2 Snowies, we did see 9 Great Horned Owls, though, some on nests. Weather was beautiful with some interesting clouds for part of the day, clearing much later. We were just in time to see the last of the pink sunrise colour and light on the distant mountains - always so beautiful - and our day ended with this beautiful sunset sky. I rarely see sunrises or sunsets, as I'm usually home at those times, so to see both on this day was a real treat. Some of the fields looked pretty bare, while others were still covered in snow. The "heat-wave" distortion was really bad all day long, making good, clear shots impossible. Was lucky enough to get down to the same area again yesterday, 15 March 2014. This was one of the annual trips with a bunch of friends, that I always try to go on. Again, no Short-eared Owls or Snowy Owls, but I think the highlight off the day was when we had a flock of European Starlings flying en masse over the fields near us. Various estimates suggested were 5,000 - 10,000 birds. These birds are well known for their spectacular mass aerial displays before roosting for the night and many of you have probably seen various videos of this phenomenon. Different to see a small murmuration in person, so we were really lucky. Two days earlier, I had found two Eurasian Collared Doves in one of the small hamlets in the area, so we went to check it out. With my almost non-existent sense of direction, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find the same tree, but I did, and then other birders were able to spot about six of these Doves in various trees. Thanks, Andrew, for yet another great day! www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/13192714754