Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014June29

A small Wild Strawberry flower, macro photographed at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), Kananaskis, on 12 June 2014. Also known as Virginia Strawberry, Common Strawberry, Smooth Wild Strawberry, and Strawberry. Latin synonyms - Fragaria glauca. These native flowers are 12-18mm across, in small clusters. "Wild Strawberries bloom from April to June. Flowers are 3/4 inch wide, with five white petals. The petals are attached to a cone-shaped part of the flower. This cone starts off yellow, then later becomes larger, thicker, and redder. This is the "strawberry" part of the Wild Strawberry plant, and it contains dry seeds." www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/wild_strawberry.htm

A photo from my archives, that I am finally posting. I spent 31 May 2013, with a small group of friends, doing the May Species Count for the Whaleback. This location is about 170 km south of Calgary, down towards Pincher Creek. The South Whaleback is near Maycroft, just N of Oldman River, about 5 kms W from #22. I'm adding photos taken on that trip to a Set of photos that, up till recently, contained images taken on the Small Whaleback on 10 July 2011. On 31 May 2013, we covered the southern end of the Whaleback. Actually, I'm not sure exactly which is the Whaleback and which is the South Whaleback - confusing. The whole area is made up of endless hills and the Rocky Mountains are in the distance, quite close in this very southern part of Alberta. It rained or drizzled all day, so I had to battle water spots on the camera lens as well as low light and wind. The yellow Balsamroot, which we don't get further north, closer to Calgary, was just beautiful. I'm not sure what the plant in this photo is, but it looked so pretty surrounded by bright orange Lichen - Xanthoria, probably elegans. It was a good day, great company, a few interesting finds and glorious scenery to thoroughly enjoy. "More commonly known as the Whaleback, the Bob Creek Wildland and its sister area the Black Creek Heritage Rangeland protects Whaleback Ridge and one of Alberta’s most important elk winter ranges. A montane environment of Douglas Fir and rough fescue grasses, this area in southwest Alberta has sweeping vistas of the Livingstone Range hanging over the western boundary and the Castle Mountains to the south." www.crownofthecontinent.net/content/the-whaleback/cotCA82...

Eight or nine years ago, I was out with a group of birding friends somewhere (?) outside the city, and we saw a Bobolink far in the distance, at the top of a very tall tree. You needed a scope to see it, but I was in such awe at seeing such a beautiful bird - one that I'd never heard of before - that I never even thought of trying to get a photo of it. I've never seen this uncommon (in Alberta) bird since ...... until yesterday!! Yesterday, my oldest daughter came down for a few hours, and after she left, I decided I would drive a few of the backroads SW of the city. At the last moment before turning round and heading home, I remembered that someone had seen a Bobolink in that area fairly recently, so I decided to drive a little further than planned. Imagine my excitement when one of the black birds I checked out (and there were MANY along all those roads!) turned out to be not a Red-winged Blackbird or a Brewer's Blackbird, but a beautiful Bobolink! I only got a distant view, but I was so happy just to see it and to get any photo at all. "Perched on a grass stem or displaying in flight over a field, breeding male Bobolinks are striking. No other North American bird has a white back and black underparts (some have described this look as wearing a tuxedo backwards). Added to this are the male’s rich, straw-colored patch on the head and his bubbling, virtuosic song. As summer ends he molts into a buff and brown female-like plumage. Though they’re still fairly common (Note: uncommon in Alberta) in grasslands, Bobolink numbers are declining. Bobolinks are small songbirds with large, somewhat flat heads, short necks, and short tails. They are related to blackbirds and orioles, and they have a similar shaped, sharply pointed bill." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bobolink/id This is a long weekend for some people here in Canada, as Tuesday, 1 July 2014 is Canada Day. Can't say I want to promote a beer commercial, but I thought this one was kind of neat. Please don't drink and drive at any time, but the roads will most likely be packed and crazy the next few days! youtu.be/t41wNkGvJ9k Posting my "daily three" late this morning (just before noon, I think), having slept late after getting to bed at a ridiculous time (around 3:00 a.m., I think) this morning!