Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014May25

Three days ago, on 22 May 2014, I just needed to get out for a short while, so decided to call in at a wetland in SW Calgary and then drive a few of the backroads SW of the city. There was not a lot to be seen at the wetland - a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds and a handful of Red-winged Blackbirds, a pair of Red-necked Grebes, a Ruddy Duck or two, a sprinkling of Coots, a pair of Scaup, Terns and several Canada Geese. SW of the city was just as quiet, though I was happy to see a pair of Mountain Bluebirds (the male is in this shot, perched on a metal gate instead of the usual barbed-wire – not sure which is worse!) and a Great Blue Heron. Happened to notice the Heron off in a distant field when I pulled over to let a truck, which was barrelling towards me, drive over a narrow wooden bridge before I did. I guess my “reward” for being polite was to spot the beautiful Heron : ) No sign of the Snipe that I usually find at one of the wetlands each year. It's 10°C this morning (early, as it's just after 5:30 a.m.) and supposed to climb to 18°C this afternoon, with possible isolated showers. A good part of our Count is by car, stopping at various sloughs and wetlands and a few people's properties. Have a good Count Day, everyone, whatever area you cover!

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )