Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014September17

With a weather forecast of rain and snow for the following two or three days, there were a couple of places that I thought I had better get to on Saturday, 6 September 2014. (Little did we all know that we were in for two days of heavy snowfall that has caused a huge amount of damage to thousands of trees and shrubs throughout the city.) The first place I wanted to get to was Brown-Lowery, to check if there were any mushrooms. The previous time I went, I had only found a couple of things. On 6 September, it was a little more rewarding and I found several large clusters of tiny mushrooms growing on tree stumps or at the base of trees and various tiny mushrooms growing in the moss, including the small one in the macro shot above. Also found several patches of bright orange Coral Fungi. Quite a few people were in the park, so I felt safer going a very short way in. Far enough, as it turned out, to watch an adult and a juvenile Three-toed Woodpecker, feeding together on a tree trunk. The young one was copying Mom or Dad, but its soft squeaking sound resulted in the adult feeding it, too. This Woodpecker species seems to be reasonably tolerant of people. They are rare birds here, so I feel very lucky to have seen these two and any others in the past. A few days ago, 13 September, I called in at Brown-Lowery again, just to check how much snow was on the ground from our two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September. Stood in the muddy parking lot and peered through the trees. Lots of snow, unfortunately, so all plants and mushrooms are now buried beneath a blanket of white. On the way home, I decided to call in at Fish Creek Park, hoping to find a Beaver or a Mink that a friend had told me about. Though I did see a couple of Beavers, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of them. One of them was a huge animal - this was the one that was very recently found in a trap, biting off one of its front legs that was caught in the trap. Someone had been there when this was happening and she made several reports about it. Thanks, Linda, for doing this. Such a cruel way to deal with any Beaver problem! The now three-legged animal seems to be doing reasonably OK. I was luckier with the Mink, catching it in a couple of quick shots. No sign of it since then. On the walk back to my car, I was lucky enough to see a distant doe with her two fawns. Apparently, there is another doe with triplets.

When I went back and had a better look through the photos I took at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 6 September 2014, I came across this shot that is somewhat sharper and better than most of that day's photos. The weather forecast was for upcoming rain, so I decided that I had better get over to the park straight away, as I wanted to check for any mushrooms. I had been there fairly recently, and only found a couple of things. The visit on 6 September was a little more rewarding and I found several large clusters of tiny mushrooms growing on tree stumps or at the base of trees. Also found several patches of bright orange Coral Fungi. Quite a few people were in the park, so I felt safer going a very short way in. Far enough, as it turned out, to watch an adult and juvenile Three-toed Woodpecker, feeding together on a tree trunk. The young one was copying Mom or Dad, but its soft squeaking sound resulted in the adult feeding it, too. Not sure if this is the adult or the young one in this photo. You can tell this tree has been used by the Three-toed Woodpeckers, as some of the bark has been stripped, leaving the orange/brown wood below. This Woodpecker species seems to be reasonably tolerant of people. These are rare birds here, so I feel very lucky to have seen these two and any others in the past. birdsofalberta.com/List/detail.php?id=226 www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... On the way home, I decided to call in at Fish Creek Park, hoping to find a Beaver or a MInk that a friend had told me about. Though I did see a couple of Beavers, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of them that day. One of them was a huge animal - this was the one that was recently found in a trap, biting off one of its front legs that was caught in the trap. Someone had been there when this was happening and she made several reports about it. Thanks, Linda, for doing this. Such a cruel way to deal with any Beaver problem! The now three-legged animal seems to be doing reasonably OK. I was luckier with the Mink, catching it in a couple of very quick shots. On the walk back to my car, I was lucky enough to see a distant doe and her two fawns. Apparently, there is another doe with triplets in the area.

This photo was taken on 27 July 2014, in a friend's back garden that is full of vegetables. I like seeing Garlic plants - both fascinating and quite beautiful. I wonder how much damage was caused to everything by the two snowstorms we had on 9 and 10 September. Or maybe my friends had already pulled most of the vegetables - hopefully. "Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. With a history of human use of over 7,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent seasoning in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was known to Ancient Egyptians, and has been used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Garlic is grown globally, but China is by far the largest producer of garlic, with approximately 10.5 million tonnes (23 billion pounds) grown annually, accounting for over 77% of world output. India (4.1%) and South Korea (2%) follow, with Egypt and Russia (1.6%) tied in fourth place and the United States (where garlic is grown in every state except for Alaska) in sixth place (1.4%).[17] This leaves 16% of global garlic production in countries that each produce less than 2% of global output. Much of the garlic production in the United States is centered in Gilroy, California, which calls itself the "garlic capital of the world"." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic