Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: dandelions

Newly uploaded photos are not being seen this morning, 8 June - people have reported it on the Help Forum. 8 June 2019 - we have been getting wet and windy weather. Yesterday, when I checked the forecast, the temperature was only 3C (windchill -2C!). Snow was falling in the mountains yesterday and places like Canmore and Banff looked like winter wonderlands. Light flurries were even reported in the northwest corner of Calgary. Our crazy weather! Three days ago, on 5 June, I was so relieved that I was all caught up with my recent photos, leaving me with just the last few days of our 13-day birding trip to South Texas to sort through, edit and post. Then I happened to check the weather forecast and discovered that we were in for a few days of rain. That settled it, I knew I had better go for a short drive, and ended up going to my 'usual' places. Some of the birds I saw and was able to photograph included a Wilson's Snipe, a Black Tern on a fence post, a Mountain Bluebird pair against a field of yellow, Red-winged Blackbird male and female, and a female American Goldfinch who was hanging out with the Bluebirds. I tried three or four short videos while trying to lean across from the driver's seat towards the passenger seat. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep myself steady, so the videos do bounce around far too much. Also, I find the red button on both cameras in a rather awkward place. I think I must have been already zoomed in when I started taking each video. I started taking a video or two on our South Texas trip and still haven't read up how to take video. I need to find out if videos are always this shape (so wide and not very high) and I need to think about whether to turn off the sound - I had hoped to catch the Snipe making its call, but all I got was the sound of my hazard lights clicking non-stop! Anyway, I'm posting them on Flickr so that I at least know where to find them if I ever want them. By the time I got out SW of the city, a few dark clouds were rolling in and it was windy. I remember the wind slightly ruffling the Snipe's feathers, but some of the other birds were having a hard time keeping their balance, especially the Tern. Though these birds didn't come with the excitement of being lifers for me, I get just as much enjoyment from finding and taking photos of these birds that I have seen before, many times over the years. Which is just as well, as I so rarely see a new bird species, except for when I am fortunate enough to go on special trip like the one to South Texas. It also feels good to be able to share a few 'better' photos, when I post so many that are just record shots : )

Well, 24 hours ago, I was so relieved that I was all caught up with my recent photos, leaving me with just the last few days of our 13-day birding trip to South Texas to sort through, edit and post. Then, yesterday, I happened to check the weather forecast and discovered that we were in for a few days of rain. That settled it, I knew I had better go for a short drive, and ended up going to my 'usual' places. Four of the birds I saw and was able to photograph were a Wilson's Snipe, a Black Tern on a fence post, a Mountain Bluebird against a field of yellow, and a female American Goldfinch who was hanging out with a pair of Bluebirds. By the time I got out SW of the city, a few dark clouds were rolling in and it was windy. I remember the wind slightly ruffling the Snipe's feathers, but the other three birds were having a hard time keeping their balance, especially the Tern. Though these birds didn't come with the excitement of being lifers for me, I get just as much enjoyment from finding and taking photos of these birds that I have seen before, many times over the years. Which is just as well, as I so rarely see a new bird species, except for when I am fortunate enough to go on special trip like the one to South Texas. It also feels good to be able to share a few 'better' photos, when I post so many that are just record shots : ) In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i... "A female Mountain Bluebird pays more attention to good nest sites than to attractive males. She chooses her mate solely on the basis of the location and quality of the nesting cavity he offers her—disregarding his attributes as a singer, a flier, or a looker. A male Mountain Bluebird frequently feeds his mate while she is incubating and brooding. As the male approaches with food, the female may beg fledgling-style—with open beak, quivering wings, and begging calls. More often, she waits until her mate perches nearby, then silently flicks the wing farthest from him—a signal that usually sends him off to find her a snack. The oldest recorded Mountain Bluebird was a female, and at least 9 years old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Alberta in 2005. She had been banded in the same province in 1997." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/

No time to get out with my camera so, like I have been doing the last few days, I will add the description that I wrote under a previously posted photo, taken on the same day. "If I remember correctly, the last Great Gray Owl I saw was on 1 June 2016, so it had been roughly a year since then - till yesterday! What a great day our group of four people had, taking part in the annual May Species Count, 2017. We travelled in just one car, which worked out well. On the 2016 May Species Count, we had been unable to find a Great Gray, but I drove back to the area the following day, and found two of them. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken of them, each owl is just as exciting as the very first. The owl in this photo was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't. While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe. "Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl I've just seen the exact number of species we saw yesterday - 72! Amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired! In fact, so tired that, despite a day mostly at home yesterday, I was still so tired by the evening that I just couldn't look for and edit any photos for today : ) Most unusual for me - I usually fight tiredness, but definitely failed yesterday. Then today, 30 May 2017, I was out for the day south of the city with my Daughter (a belated day out for my birthday and Mother's Day), to Nanton and a few roads nearby and then making our way to Frank Lake and finally ending up at the Saskatoon Farm, where we decided to have an early supper. My favourite kind of day, so thank you, Rachel, as always!!"

Two days ago, on 30 May 2017, I was out for the day south of the city with my Daughter (a belated day out for my birthday and Mother's Day), to Nanton and a few roads nearby, then making our way north to Frank Lake and finally ending up at the Saskatoon Farm. It takes about 45 minutes to drive south on the main highway to the town of Nanton. Though I had been quite a few times over the years when carpooling with various friends, I had never driven quite that far south and through the town myself. My daughter wanted to walk round two or three of the antique shops there and we both wanted to take a few photos of the grain elevators. Once that was all done, we drove westwards from the town. Though the scenery is beautiful, we did not enjoy being on a main road with no shoulder to pull over to. We did stop once in a small pull-off, to get a scenic shot. This was where we saw the metal cut-out of a cowboy riding his horse, with a real, live bird perched on top of his hat (photo posted yesterday). We decided to turn around and cross over to the other side of the main highway (#2) and drive north to Frank Lake, hoping to find a few things to photograph along the backroads. A barn or two and a few distant birds were enough to make the drive worthwhile. Frank Lake was deserted when we arrived there, though a couple of other people turned up shortly. Not that many bird species, either. The water was quite choppy thanks to the wind, and there was just one Coot, a pair of Ruddy Ducks, a Barn Swallow, one Eared Grebe, two American Avocets, a Killdeer and a pair of Phalaropes. Franklin's Gulls were their usual noisy selves. Not a single White-faced Ibis to be seen, and only one or two Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. When we had been on a road near the lake, we had seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron perched on a distant fence, being harassed by several smaller birds - Brown-headed Cowbirds? I was so happy to see the Heron, as I so rarely see them. We had also seen a shorebird in a field of stubble but I'm not sure what it was. On our way home, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm and were just in time to order a meal before they closed at 4:00 pm.. A quick wander round gave me the chance to grab a shot or two of a very loud Rooster and the male Wild Turkey. My favourite kind of day, so thank you, Rachel, as always!!

If I remember correctly, the last Great Gray Owl I saw was on 1 June 2016, so it had been roughly a year since then - till yesterday! What a great day our group of four people had, taking part in the annual May Species Count, 2017. We travelled in just one car, which worked out well. On the 2016 May Species Count, we had been unable to find a Great Gray, but I drove back to the area two days later, and found two of them. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken of them, each owl is just as exciting as the very first. The owl in this photo was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't. While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe. "Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl I'm still waiting for the exact number of species we saw yesterday - somewhere around 75, I believe! Amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired!

Yesterday afternoon, 6 June 2015, my place was beginning to get uncomfortably warm inside. That meant I needed air-conditioning and the only place to find it was in my car. So, off I went along the backroads SW of the city. I wasn't expecting to see anything different, but there were certain birds that I was certain I would see - birds that I really enjoy photographing. I really do need to drive somewhere different, but this drive is just a fairly short drive and fits nicely into an afternoon or early evening. The "usual" included Mountain Bluebirds, all busy with collecting food for their young. Other sightings on my drive included the usual Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Terns, a pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the bright sunlight, a distant Coot feeding her little ones, a Pied-billed Grebe who was annoying an adult Coot who kept racing across the top of the water to chase the Grebe further away. My final sighting was this Coyote in a field of Dandelions. By the time I had pulled over and raised my camera, it was already heading off in the opposite direction, stopping once to look back as Coyotes tend to do. I don't often see Coyotes and when I do, I might get a very distant shot, but I always enjoy seeing one. I almost forgot to mention the highlight of my drive! Not far from home, I noticed a Canada Goose in the distance, standing in the grass right at the edge of the road. I thought it might just step out in front of me, so I stopped in my lane on this fairly busy road and turned on my hazard flashers. Sure enough, it did exactly what I was suspecting - and it was followed by its family of half a dozen or so goslings walking in a very disciplined single file, with Mom/Dad bringing up the rear. Fortunately, the cars coming behind me in the other lane also slowed down and stopped till everyone was safely to the other side. May sound silly, but I find it such an amazing, humbling experience when this happens : ) "The coyote appears often in the tales and traditions of Native Americans—usually as a very savvy and clever beast. Modern coyotes have displayed their cleverness by adapting to the changing American landscape. These members of the dog family once lived primarily in open prairies and deserts, but now roam the continent's forests and mountains. They have even colonized cities like Los Angeles, and are now found over most of North America. Coyote populations are likely at an all-time high. These adaptable animals will eat almost anything. They hunt rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, and even deer. They also happily dine on insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion. Because they sometimes kill lambs, calves, or other livestock, as well as pets, many ranchers and farmers regard them as destructive pests." From National Geographic. animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/coyote/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote

This meadow along Elbow Falls Trail, Kananaskis, on the way to Forgetmenot Pond, was covered in yellow Dandelion-type flowers. It only takes maybe 45 minutes to drive here from my home, so I'm very lucky.