Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014July04

HAPPY 4th JULY to all Americans, whether at home or overseas! Somehow, I just can't imagine having a hairy caterpillar dropped down my throat, lol! No doubt this female Mountain Bluebird's babies don't mind, though. Photographed when I went for a drive along the backroads SW of the city, on 23 June 2014. 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... The famous, annual Calgary Stampede begins today, with the Stampede Parade taking place downtown this morning. William Shatner (from Star Trek) is our Parade Marshall. No worries about the weather, as it's a beautiful, sunny day today. Temperature is 21°C so far, so not unbearably hot for people who are lining the parade route or taking part in the parade. Yesterday afternoon, we got up to around 32°C, which was too hot for my liking.

HAPPY 4th JULY to all Americans, whether at home or overseas! A small Canada Violet flower, macro photographed at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), Kananaskis, on 12 June 2014. When I did a search for this species on my photostream, nothing showed up. I'm surprised that it has taken me eight years to post a photo, ha. "Viola canadensis is more commonly known as Canadian white violet, Canada violet, tall white violet, or white violet. As its name suggests, it is a species of violet which bears white blooms. The flowers are white, with yellow bases and sometimes streaks of purple. The petals are purple tinged on the backside. The leaves are heart shaped, with coarse, rounded teeth. It is native to Canada and the eastern United States. It is threatened or endangered in some areas, and abundant in others." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_canadensis The famous, annual Calgary Stampede begins today, with the Stampede Parade taking place downtown this morning. William Shatner (from Star Trek) is our Parade Marshall. No worries about the weather, as it's a beautiful, sunny day today. Temperature is 21°C so far, so not unbearably hot for people who are lining the parade route or taking part in the parade. Yesterday afternoon, we got up to around 32°C, which was too hot for my liking.

Every now and then, you can be lucky finding sunlight shining though the forest and lighting up the very fungus that you've found. This is an old photo from my archives, from a folder that I had forgotten about. Thought I'd post it and add to my Fungi, Lichens and Slime Molds 4 album - wow, that means I have 901 fungi, lichen or slime mold images on my photostream, lol. This one was photographed on 23 August 2010, SW of Calgary at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. Is this a species of Crepidotus? The famous, annual Calgary Stampede begins tomorrow, with the Stampede Parade taking place in the morning. William Shatner (from Star Trek) is our Parade Marshall. No worries about the weather, as it's a beautiful, sunny day today and tomorrow is supposed to be good, too. Too hot for my liking, though, as it's supposed to get up to 32°C (90°F) this afternoon. Lol, mid-evening, and the ice-cream van is driving up and down my street, playing Christmas songs! Hoping to make us all feel cooler??