Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: yellow flowers

Caragana grows everywhere! Also known as Siberian Peashrub. This hardy shrub is a native of Siberia, as the name implies. Wherever it grows, nothing else can grow beneath it. It is one of the worst (if not THE worst) invasive plants/shrubs found here. It spreads and overtakes all our natural areas. It is an introduced species, so insects and birds don't use it, and it is seemingly impossible to get rid of. "Useful for shelterbelts, but should be kept out of natural areas, where it may spread. Dense groves of Caragana exclude almost all other vegetation." www.anpc.ab.ca/wiki/index.php/Caragana_arborescens en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caragana_arborescens One week ago, on 7 May 2015, I joined friends to go on a birding walk at the south end LaFarge Meadows, accessed off 194th Ave. The weather was beautiful, though the temperature was only 7C-11C, and the birds were so far away. I did manage to get a distant shot of two of the three Trumpeter Swans (both juveniles) that were near the river. A Bald Eagle flew overhead and a Great Blue Heron flew in the far distance. A little Savannah Sparrow posed in a small tree for us and a Muskrat was seen in the large pond by the river. After the walk, I decided to call in at a wetland in SW Calgary, hoping that at least a few of the birds would be close enough for photos. I met a delightful, enthusiastic and knowledgeable photographer/birder while I was there, and she showed me the area accessed from an entrance point that I had never tried before. I had hoped to maybe see a Common Grackle at this wetland, as I had seen photos taken there by other people, and sure enough, there was one down near the water's edge. Just managed to get one lucky shot before the bird flew off. Many people don't like Grackles, but I see them so rarely and I think they are beautiful birds. A few duck species and other birds were seen, including Ruddy Duck, Lesser Scaup, and Mallards (of course). Also Coots, a pair of Grebes, and a few Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds. WHY PHOTOGRAPHERS (and others) GET SUCH A BAD NAME! Shown on The Weather Network. I'm still shaking my head over this short video! www.theweathernetwork.com/videos/Gallery/all/video_galler...

On 27 July 2014, a few of us had a "tour" of a naturalist's garden, as part of an Open House here in the city. I was glad to have the chance to take a few photos of some colourful flowers, including the Showy Milkweed that I posted yesterday. This tiny Crab Spider had obviously slowly changed its colour to camouflage itself against the yellow 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, 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. These spiders may be yellow or white, depending on the flower in which they are hunting. Especially younger females, which may hunt on a variety of flowers such as daisies and sunflowers, may change color "at will". Older females require large amounts of relatively large prey to produce the best possible clutch of eggs. They are therefore, in North America, most commonly found in goldenrod (Solidago sp.), a bright yellow flower which attracts large numbers of insects, especially in autumn. It is often very hard even for a searching human to recognize one of these spiders on a yellow flower. The color change from white to yellow takes between 10 and 25 days, the reverse about six days." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misumena_vatia It's supposed to get up to 34C (93.2F) this afternoon! Far too hot without air-conditioning! Maybe thunderstorms, which would feel great. After my volunteer shift, I need to go food shopping - can't wait to stand in the frozen foods section : )

This is another landscape photo from Red Rock Coulee, in SE Alberta, taken on 23 September 2013. Two friends and I left Calgary on Monday morning, 20 September 2013, and had to reach Elkwater in the Cypress Hills (not that far from the Saskatchewan border), several hours' drive away, where we were going to stay in a little rustic cabin for three nights. On the way there, we stopped at Red Rock Coulee, which is just 56 kms (35 mi) southwest of Medicine Hat. Actually, this particular photo was taken on Monday, 23 September 2013, when we called in again, this time walking down the hillside and into one of the coulees. While my friends searched for Lichens, I wandered around, taking photos of the scenery and anything else I came across, including the dry, cracked ground. We didn't know what the plant in this photo was. Most of the flowers on this plant were dead, but there were still just a few that were bright yellow. The extremely high winds were not pleasant at all, to say the least! In fact, strong winds were everywhere in many parts of SE Alberta. I was expecting a lot of my photos to be blurry, as I could barely keep my balance or hold my camera. This is Rattlesnake territory, too, but fortunately we didn't come across any, thank goodness! At least, not here, but one was seen (not by me!) at the Pinhorn Grazing Lease, when we were monitoring the Yucca plants. "The main feature of this natural landscape is the huge red boulders; some measuring 2.5 m across. They are scattered over a relatively small distance. Bedrock is close to the surface in this area, covered by only a thin layer of soil. Water erosion has carved the landscape over time and a badlands topography has formed in places. The bands of colour visible in the exposed bedrock are made of dark gray shales, greenish and gray sandstones, bentonitic clays and thin bands of ironstone. The most striking features of this landscape are the round reddish boulders. These are sandstone concretions and at up to 2.5 m in diameter, they are among the largest in the world. The boulders were formed in prehistoric seas as layers of sand, calcite and iron oxide collected around a nucleus formed by shells, leaves or bones. The concretions grew larger as the circulating waters deposited more layers. The reddish colour comes from iron oxide." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rock_Coulee

This shrub is growing in Fish Creek Park, at Votier's Flats. Also saw another one at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It looks very similar to Canada Buffaloberry. Tiny (about 4 mm across), brownish yellow flowers, no petals, only 4 sepals. This photgraph shows a male specimen, as it has 8 stamens per flower. "Shepherdia argentea (Silver Buffaloberry or Bull berry, thorny buffaloberry) is a species of Shepherdia, native to central North America from southern Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) south in the United States to northern California and New Mexico. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2-6 m tall. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs (rarely alternately arranged), 2-6 cm long, oval with a rounded apex, green with a covering of fine silvery, silky hairs, more densely silvery below than above. The flowers are pale yellow, with four sepals and no petals. The fruit is a bright red fleshy drupe 5 mm in diameter; it is edible but with a rather bitter taste.[2] The berry is one of the mainstays of the diet of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, the provincial bird of Saskatchewan. The plant contains a low concentration of tetrahydroharmol, which acts as a psychedelic drug in high enough doses." From Wikipedia.

Thought some of you might be interested in seeing what an Edelweiss flower looks like, if you haven't seen one before. Lots of us remember the movie, "The Sound of Music". This plant was growing near a tombstone in St. Mary's Cemetery, right next to where we walk at the Erlton/Roxborough Natural Area. Taken on 25 July 2012. Normally, these flowers grow in inaccessible places and are associated with alpine and mountaineering. "The common name comes from German edel, meaning "noble", and weiß (also spelled weiss) "white", thus signifying "noble whiteness". Leaves and flowers are covered with white hairs and appear woolly (tomentose). Flowering stalks of Edelweiss can grow to a size of 3–20 cm (in cultivation, up to 40 cm). Each bloom consists of five to six small yellow flower heads (5 mm) surrounded by bracts in star formation. The flowers are in bloom between July and September." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leontopodium_alpinum