Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014June19

Beautiful magenta Shootingstar wildflowers, photographed at Bow Valley Provincial Park on 18 June 2013. I have taken many photos of these flowers over the last few years, but find it almost impossible to get a photo that I really like. Just love their colour. "Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems rising from where the leaves join the crown. The genus is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, and sailor caps. A few species are grown in gardens for their showy and unique flower display. The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which grab hold of the petals, and gather pollen by vibrating the flowers by buzzing their wings (buzz pollination). The vibration releases pollen from the anthers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon

This photo is from deep down in my archives, taken on 16 May 2009, at the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge. A few, rare sightings have been reported in Alberta. "The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk, formerly known as the Bay-winged Hawk, (Parabuteo unicinctus), is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo, which literally means 'similar to Buteo'. Its habitat is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range, including mangrove swamps, as in parts of its South American range. It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching. It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2 pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males. Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey (group hunting). In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at all gregarious. This social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980, Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate. Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together, as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes. They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris's_hawk www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/id

Thought a splash of vibrant colour was what was needed here and even more so in southern Alberta today, especially for those living south of Calgary, where people are getting very anxious about the amount of rain that has fallen and is expected to fall over the next couple of days. The memory of last year's devastating Alberta Flood of the Century is on people's minds, as evacuation warnings are being given in some places. Taken at the Calgary Zoo on 8 September 2011. Zinnias are some of my favourite flowers to photograph, but, unfortunately, the Zoo stopped planting them the following years. "The garden zinnia was bred via hybridisation from the wild form. Zinnias are popular garden plants with hundreds of cultivars in many flower colors, sizes and forms. There are giant forms with flower heads up to 6 in (15 cm) in diameter. Flower colours range from white and cream to pinks, reds, and purples, to green, yellow, apricot, orange, salmon, and bronze. Some are striped, speckled or bicoloured. There are "pom-pom" forms that resemble dahlias. Sizes range from dwarf varieties of less than 6 inches (15 cm) in height to 3 feett (0.9 m) tall." From Wikipedia.