Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014March28

This is just a quick shot through the windscreen of the car I was riding in, when a group of us went birding W of Calgary, on 2 February 2014. I zoomed in quite closely in order to avoid the highway being in my photo, so the mountain looks much closer than it really is. "Cascade Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, Alberta, adjacent to the town of Banff. The mountain was named in 1858 by James Hector after the waterfall or cascade on the southern flanks of the peak. The mountain has also been called Stoney Chief, which is related to the name of the smaller neighbouring mountain Stoney Squaw, which is still in use. Cascade is the highest mountain adjacent to the townsite." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Mountain_ (Alberta)

After being on my computer almost every waking moment yesterday, it didn't help having to type and read white text on black! By the time I edited photos for today, my eyes were so blurry and I didn't notice till just now that I shouldn't have cropped this photo quite so closely : ) Sorry about the graininess! Found this Ruddy Duck male swimming on a small slough SW of Calgary on 16 July 2013. I always find Ruddy Ducks, especially the males (like in my photo), amusing to watch. These are very small ducks but they have lots of personality, especially during the breeding season : ) The males have quite a stunning, chestnut coloured body and sky-blue bill. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruddy_Duck www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruddy_duck/id

It's a good job that at least some parts of this image is sharp., lol! Where did my long description disappear to??????? I added it two or three hours ago and now it has suddenly vanished! Will have to add it again. I love the tiny feathers that owls have, especially around the face. You can see how these tiny feathers can trap the heat to protect the owl in cold weather. Five of us had such a great day on 21 July 2013. It was a bird outing at Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of Calgary, at the foot of the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. I knew that I would be looking for wildflowers, insects and so on, as well : ) When we got to the meeting place in the city, the leader pulled out a poster for the day's event that also happened to be going on at the park at the same time. To my absolute delight, it mentioned a Bird of Prey exhibit! After our first walk, which was the Flowing Waters trail, we returned to where everyone had parked and we had an hour in which to wander round the various exhibits. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a row of owls of different sizes - a tiny Burrowing Owl, a Short-eared Owl, a Barn Owl (which we don't get in Alberta), a young Great Horned Owl with enormous eyes (seen in this image), a Turkey Vulture, and a Golden Eagle! They were tethered along the edge of the trees and needless to say, there were plenty of other people taking photos. Despite the mix of shade and harsh sunlight, I got the chance to click to my heart's content : ) Later found out that many of my photos really were not well taken, but I got at least one that came out OK for each species ... phew! Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always wish I could go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was such a treat!