Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014April02

I arrived home yesterday (1 April 2014) from an appointment and running a few errands, and this is what I saw when I looked up at my bedroom window. These delicate icicles made a fringe all around my roof, and they looked so pretty. Just had to get my camera - not sure which setting I had it on, but it's not just a regular image. The last few days, something similar was happening along the bottom edge of my car, too, lol! Temperature this morning is -3C (windchill is also -3C). A few flurries are in the forecast for this afternoon and evening, but at least we should be getting sun for the next few days, which will feel so good! Is it just me, or maybe a temporary glitch, but the Sets that a photo is in on Flickr seem to now be above the Groups that it's in? If this is a "permanent" (ha, ha) change, that's great!

Taken just over a year ago at Votier's Flats in Fish Creek Park, on 27 January 2013. I love the straightness, closeness and white/greyness of Aspen trees (at least, I hope I have the right ID!). "All aspens typically grow in large clonal colonies, derived from a single seedling, and spread by means of root suckers; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30–40 m (98–131 ft) from the parent tree. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, this is for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground. For this reason, it is considered to be an indicator of ancient woodlands. One such colony in Utah, U.S., given the nickname of "Pando", is estimated to be 80,000 years old, making it possibly the oldest living colony of aspens. Some aspen colonies become very large with time, spreading about 1 m (3.3 ft) per year, eventually covering many hectares. They are able to survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, with new sprouts growing after the fire burns out." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen

I was happy to come across some of these beautiful little Calypso Orchids on 10 June 2011, when I drove out west of Calgary to the forest around Maclean Pond, Kananaskis, off Elbow Falls Trail. They are such exquisite wildflowers! Unfortunately, a single flowerhead doesn't quite fit into a macro photo, but at least it does result in a blurred background (and in this case, a rather blurry flower, too, lol!). Towards the end of May, on the annual May Species Count, we always hope that these small, delicate Orchids will be in bloom. Sometimes, they are surrounded by snow, so they must be pretty hardy little things. It's hard to imagine seeing any kind of flower after the last six months of snow and ice on the ground!