Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: cones

This was a lucky sighting, when a friend and I decided to go and get coffee at the Gift Shop at Bow Lake. We had already seen the bird a couple of times, but it was perched high up on top of a tree. This time, we had a much better view. Great coffee, too : ) www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clarks_Nutcracker/overview The day before yesterday, 23 June 2018, I had the wonderful chance to return to two of my favourite places in the mountains - Bow Lake and Peyto Lake. This was thanks to the annual Bus Trip for Nature Calgary, with each year being to a different location in Alberta. These two Lakes are too far for me to drive (roughly two and a half hours), but mainly because they are way out of my driving comfort zone. I think I have only ever been to Peyto Lake twice before, the first time being something like 38 years ago, and the second time being in August 2013. Almost 40 years ago, I fell in love with Bow Lake, my absolute favourite place. I have been lucky enough to visit it a handful of times in recent years. Unfortunately, we couldn't capture the beautiful, really deep turquoise colour that Peyto lake is so well known for. Too many low clouds and an overcast, damp day, but you can still see the beauty of this lake and its gorgeous surroundings. The forecast that I had seen for this whole area had been for snow-rain showers, with a high temperature of 12C and a low of 1C. Though the day started off with rain, we were lucky that we only had a few raindrops while we were out walking. It was really dreary weather, though, which was not good as far as photography was concerned. Our first stop was at Peyto Lake, where we walked the short distance to the wooden Lookout deck. From there, we hiked a loop through the forest, finding a few wildflowers and some beautiful Orange Peel Fungus. On the way back to the Lookout, you really need to be very careful to take a path that leads back to the correct parking lot! The last few people took the wrong path and ended up waiting for a bus that never came for them. So easily done. They were eventually found, but after a long delay. "Peyto Lake (pea-toe) is a glacier-fed lake located in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The lake itself is easily accessed from the Icefields Parkway. It was named for Ebenezer William Peyto, an early trail guide and trapper in the Banff area. The lake is formed in a valley of the Waputik Range, between Caldron Peak, Peyto Peak and Mount Jimmy Simpson, at an elevation of 1,860 m (6,100 ft). During the summer, significant amounts of glacial rock flour flow into the lake, and these suspended rock particles give the lake a bright, turquoise color. Because of its bright color, photos of the lake often appear in illustrated books, and area around the lake is a popular sightseeing spot for tourists in the park. The lake is best seen from Bow Summit, the highest point on the Icefield Parkway. The lake is fed by the Peyto Creek, which drains water from the Caldron Lake and Peyto Glacier (part of the Wapta Icefield), and flows into the Mistaya River." wikimapia.org/655560/Peyto-lake From Peyto Lake, we drove to the nearby Bow Lake, which just takes my breath away. I had told a couple of friends how beautiful it is, but that the best kind of day to visit is a sunny day with absolutely calm lake water so that reflections are seen. Well, that was definitely not the kind of day we had, but one makes the best of what one gets. We spent time there, walking part way along the edge of the lake, looking for any bird and wildflower species, and simply soaking up the amazing beauty of our surroundings. www.travelalberta.com/ca/listings/bow-lake-1997/ On the way back to Calgary, we were very lucky to notice a handful of cars that had pulled over on the side of the road. This always makes one wonder if a bear has been sighted. Sure enough, our bus driver slowed down and stopped for a short while to allow us to take a few photos. After a few minutes, I heard our organizer tell someone (or more than one person) to stop using flash, as it was stressing out the bear. Tell me, just WHY would anyone think it was OK to use flash on a wild animal that was just a few feet away from our bus!!! An animal that was busy feeding on dandelions and had been taking no notice of us. A photo I posted yesterday shows a moment that the bear raised its head and stared in that photographer's direction. So maddening when photographers don't have respect for wildlife and just don't think! I happened to be sitting on the 'wrong' side of the bus and had two or three rows of people who were sitting or standing up, all trying to get their shots in between the people in front of them. So, my photos are not good, but serve as a record of having had the privilege of seeing such a beautiful creature. A final, short stop on the way home was near Castle Mountain, which is a very impressive sight. It also has an interesting history, which I will add when I eventually post a photo taken there. Many thanks, Penny, for organizing our trip to such perfect places! I know a huge amount of work goes into making all the plans - thanks, too, to John for helping out with this. A very successful and most enjoyable outing. Shirley and Pam - I greatly appreciated your driving to meeting places here in the city!

"With a flash of white tail feathers and a flurry of dark-tipped wings, the Eurasian Collared-Dove settles onto phone wires and fence posts to give its rhythmic three-parted coo. This chunky relative of the Mourning Dove gets its name from the black half-collar at the nape of the neck. A few Eurasian Collared-Doves were introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s. They made their way to Florida by the 1980s and then rapidly colonized most of North America." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Collared-Dove/id Yesterday, 25 September 2017, I spent the day with a friend, travelling south of the city to the Pine Coulee Reservoir and area. I absolutely love the rolling hills scenery in this whole area. I have still never driven it myself, as I know I could very easily get myself totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Most of the birds we saw were far away, needing Tony's spotting scope or at least binoculars, except for a Eurasian Collared-Dove, a Belted Kingfisher and several small birds. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the scenery and anything else that caught my eye. We called in at the Pine Coulee campground and the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground and did a walk at each. Both were deserted and so peaceful. At the Willow Creek Provincial Park campground, the silence was broken by the call of a Belted Kingfisher. There was a bright yellow sign warning that there was a bear in the area, but it was nowhere to be seen. The weather was perfect all day, starting off chilly, but getting up to about 20C in the afternoon, and a sky full of clouds. Thanks so much for the invite, Tony - much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed! Pure luxury, too, not having to drive. "Located 119kms south of Calgary. 9kms west of Stavely on road #527. Willow Creek Basin Southern Alberta. The campground is situated on the south west shore of Pine Coulee Reservoir and contains 25 campsites for both RV's and tents. Most of the sites are surrounded by willow bushes creating a wind break and some privacy. A few choice sites are located near the lake. Amenities include, group camping, fire pits but no firewood available, dry toilets, water, garbage bins, power, boat launch, and picnic tables. Pine Coulee Reservoir is excellent for water skiing, wind surfing and fishing. Due to the lack of lakes located near Calgary you can expect to see hordes of boaters here during the summer. Boaters should use caution near the southeast end, there are a several large rocks submerged just under the surface that have destroyed many props and claimed a life. The reservoir was created for irrigation and is approximately 18kms long. It holds strong Walleye and Northern Pike populations and there is a public dock located next to campground where you can sit and fish. You'll need a fishing license to try your luck. The well maintained grassy area in the center of the campground is a good spot for astronomers and star gazers." From AlbertaWow. www.albertawow.com/campgrounds/Pine_Coulee/Pine_Coulee_Ca...

Monday, 1 August 2016, was mostly a quiet day at home - it was a long weekend and I didn't really want to be doing a longish drive with a lot of traffic on the roads. Late in the afternoon, I did get out to see a pair of Swainson's Hawks and also drove to a local Osprey family, that I think has three youngsters still on the nest. Seeing the Hawks was quite an experience - I was dive-bombed three times in the two minutes maximum that I was there! A friend had told me about this family, but he didn't have the same experience as I had! This is a juvenile in my photo - I don't know how many young ones there are. Posting it just for the record. Yesterday and today, I have been without my vehicle, because it suddenly developed a really bad, noisy muffler problem. It was going to be a major expense ($4,660) to repair/replace the various parts and I have just heard back that one part is no longer available. To find one would mean being without my car for two weeks! So, I think I will collect the car and just drive within the few roads by me (groceries, etc.) with an extremely noisy vehicle. It looks like I will have to buy a new car - something that I have been thinking about the last few years, as the car is now over 17 years old. Not something I wanted to do on the spur of the moment like this, though. Unfortunately, I will have to cancel my plans to take my daughter to the mountains tomorrow. For years and years I have longed to drive there myself and finally plucked up courage to go with my daughter to help me navigate.

It was the annual May Species Count on 28 and 29 May 2016, so I had no time for anything else over the weekend. My group's Saturday Count was down in Fish Creek Provincial Park, at Votier's Flats and Shaw's Meadow. On Sunday, our usual small group (six of us in two cars) covered an area SW of the city - which happens to be one of my favourite and most visited areas. We had a great day, stopping at a few wetlands and calling in at Barb Castell's acreage where she usually has amazing birds to show us. Several special species were missing, but we were delighted to watch a teeny Ruby-throated Hummingbird. We were also happy to see seven Rose-breasted Grosbeaks during the day, and a male American Kestrel that caught a frog for supper. No owls to be found anywhere, but I did go back the following evening and saw two separate Great Gray Owls in our Count area. We stopped at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and ate our picnic lunches and then did a short walk to look for Calypso Orchids. I took too long to try and get a sharp photo of a little group of fungi, that I missed the orchids, but that's OK, as I have seen them several times before. After the Count came to an end, I drove a few of the back roads again, taking a few more shots of the Wilson's Snipe - a favourite of mine. I also pulled over to get a few shots of this little House Wren, standing on top of its (?) wooden nest box. "A plain brown bird with an effervescent voice, the House Wren is a common backyard bird over nearly the entire Western Hemisphere. Listen for its rush-and-jumble song in summer and you’ll find this species zipping through shrubs and low tree branches, snatching at insects. House Wrens will gladly use nestboxes, or you may find their twig-filled nests in old cans, boots, or boxes lying around in your garage." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Wren/id "The count goes May 28-29: Calgary birders have been out in force every May since 1979, contributing to a broad census of the constantly changing patterns of bird distributions in North America. Last year (2015) we found 212 species. The count circle is the same as previous years, extending from Olds to Nanton, and from Exshaw to Standard, and includes a variety of environments." From NatureCalgary. I will add the final list from our leader, Gus Y - 70 bird species seen, wow! "May species count, Terr. #22, Priddis Area: Plummers Rd, from Hwy 22 to #762, SW of Calgary, 0730-1530, Sun. 29May2016. 58 km. Mostly sunny, becoming overcast at noon, S wind, becoming gusty, 10 -20 kph. 13-18°C. Canada Goose-45 Gadwall-2 American Wigeon-6 Mallard-29. Blue-winged Teal-16 Cinnamon Teal-8 Northern Shoveler-3 Green-winged Teal-4 Redhead-6 Ring-necked Duck-12 Lesser Scaup-29 Bufflehead-5 Hooded Merganser-1 f. Ruddy Duck-11 Ring-necked Pheasant-3 Great Blue Heron-1 Swainson’s Hawk-2 Red-tailed Hawk-6 American Kestrel-2 Sora-6 American Coot-10 Killdeer-5 Spotted Sandpiper-8 Wilson’s Snipe-10 Wilson’s Phalarope-4 Black Tern-22 Mourning Dove-1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1 Red-naped Sapsucker-1 Black-backed Woodpecker-2 Northern Flicker-3 Western Wood-Pewee-5 Least Flycatcher-6 Easterm Phoebe-1 Easterm Kingbird-1 Gray Jay-2 Clark’s Nutcracker-1 Black-billed Magpie-6 American Crow-4 Common Raven-5 Tree Swallow-86 Cliff Swallow-6 Barn Swallow-2 Black-capped Chickadee-3 Mountain Chickadee-1 Boreal Chickadee-2 Red-breasted Nuthatch-2 House Wren-9 Mountain Bluebird-29 American Robin-13 Gray Catbird-2 European Starling-8 Tennessee Warbler-11 Yellow Warbler-6 Cape May Warbler-1 Chipping Sparrow-8 Clay-coloured Sparrow-13 Savannah Sparrow-4 Song Sparrow-1 Lincoln’s Sparrow-4 White-throated Sparrow-1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak-7 Black-headed Grosbeak-1, or hybrid. Red-winged Blackbird-178 Western Meadowlark-2 Yellow-headed Blackbird-2 Brewer’s Blackbird-7 Brown-headed Cowbird-6 Baltimore Oriole-4 American Goldfinch-5 Richardson’s Ground Squirrel-11 Muskrat-1 Mule Deer-1 White-tailed Deer-4 Boreal Chorus Frog-10+ Green Comma Butterfly-2 Western White-1 Tiger Swallowtail-2 Gus Yaki"

I have just watched this short (maybe 13 minutes?) video about a young girl who is removed from her home and placed in foster care. A friend had added it to her Facebook page and it is so beautifully acted by the young actress, and powerful. Maybe not to everyone's taste but, in my opinion, important to watch. www.littlethings.com/removed-foster-care?utm_source=fbsp&... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, 22 May 2016, when my daughter and I spent a great day together, as a slightly early treat for my birthday : ) Always my favourite way to spend a day! We weren't quite sure what we would be doing, as it depended on how my daughter was feeling - so much pain, while waiting for surgery. We did know for sure that we were going straight to the Saskatoon Farm for a delicious meal, though. Not a day for walking outside, as it poured with rain the whole day. In fact, it has barely stopped at all the last couple of days, with the added surprise of a few minutes of falling snow early yesterday morning. If we could only send at least some of our rain up north to help with everyone fighting the devastating wildfire that continues to spread! That whole area has been getting some rain apparently, but not enough to put an end to the destructive path. The whole province has been a tinder box, waiting to go up in flames, so we are very grateful for the rain that's falling. Just a shame that it is on our long weekend for Victoria Day. I haven't checked yet, but especially the mountain area was forecast to have a lot of snow, so I woud imagine a lot of campers will have returned to the city already. The temperature yesterday morning was 2C (windchill -2C) and it remained cold all day, just like the day before, when I was out with my camera all day. After the Saskatoon Farm, we went westwards into Okotoks, so that we could visit the little rustic antique place, All through the House. From there, we drove various back roads, looking for any birds that might not be hiding from the cold and rain. I was so happy that we saw a couple of Snipe standing on fence posts, as they make such beautiful photos. We even saw several hawks - more than I usually see when I go for a drive. The one in my photo was one of a pair of Swainson's Hawks. Its mate was in a nearby tree. Very often, photos I take from inside the car tend to not come out properly and I get too many blurry shots. Thankfully, some did come out OK. In fact, I have been amazed at how some of my photos came out the last two days, despite the awful weather. Normally, I would have stayed at home on such wet, dreary days, as I get mostly blurry, grainy shots in bad weather with low light. Not sure how I ended up with lots of sharp images, but maybe I need to get out more, even when the weather is not encouraging at all. "A classic species of the open country of the Great Plains and the West, Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, or even run after insects on the ground. In fall, they take off for Argentine wintering grounds—one of the longest migrations of any American raptor—forming flocks of hundreds or thousands as they travel." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Hawk/id Thanks so much, Rachel, for a much-enjoyed day and thank you for the (as always) carefuly chosen gifts and cards. Most of all, thank you for spending the day with me!

Another photo from my archives. I'm always happy to come across a Puffball or a group of them in the forest. I love the texture on the caps. Found this one and a few other species in Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, SW of Calgary, on 17 August 2013. Apparently, 2013 was not a particularly good year for fungi, but I also only got out maybe four or so times to look for them. So many places were closed due to devastation caused by Alberta's Flood of the Century in June. It was a strange and quite depressing summer for everyone, especially, of course, for all the many thousands of people who suffered damage to their homes or lost them completely.

It almost looks like this male White-winged Crossbill has a red feather sticking out from the top of its head, but it's just a bit of disgarded husk from one of the many seeds it had been eating from the cones. You can really see the crossed tips of its beak in this photo. On 16 November 2015, it would have been my older daughter’s birthday. Feeling that I needed to get out for a while, I met up with a group of friends for a three-hour walk in Weaselhead. It had snowed a bit overnight and, though it was mostly sunny, the temperature was around 1°C. This meant winter jacket and winter boots complete with ice-grabbers as the paths were very icy and slippery. 27 species of bird were seen. Two or three people saw what they reckoned was an owl (Great Horned) in flight from the forest. A Snow-shoe Hare in its white, winter coat was just about visible, hiding in a tangle of bushes. We had quite good views of several White-winged Crossbills. These are such colourful birds - at least the males are. The females are a greenish yellow, but still beautiful. Their bills are crossed, to enable them to get the seeds out of the cones. They tend to land high up in tall trees, hence a zoomed and cropped image. “A medium-sized finch of the boreal forest, the White-winged Crossbill is adapted for extracting seeds from the cones of coniferous trees. It moves large distances between years tracking the cone crop from place to place.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/white-winged_crossbill/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-barred_Crossbill 1.Canada Goose-200+ 2.Swan sp.,-7 3.Mallard-4 4.Common Goldeneye-1 f. 5.Northern Goshawk-1 6.Rough-legged Hawk-1 7.Killdeer-1 8.Ring-billed Gull?-1 9.Great Horned Owl-1 10.Downy Woodpecker-4+ 11.Hairy Woodpecker-1 12.Northern Flicker-2 13.Blue Jay-4+ 14.Black-billed Magpie-20 15.Common Raven-2+ 16.Black-capped Chickadee-50+ 17.Boreal Chickadee-4 18.Red-breasted Chickadee-1 19.White-breasted Nuthatch-1 20.Bohemian Waxwing-100+ 21.Dark-eyed Junco-1+ 22.Pine Grosbeak-10+ 23.House Finch-1 24.Red Crossbill-1 f. 25.White-winged Crossbill-75+ 26.Common Redpoll-30+ 27.House Sparrow-6

On 16 November 2015, it would have been my older daughter’s birthday. Feeling that I needed to get out for a while, I met up with a group of friends for a three-hour walk in Weaselhead. It had snowed a bit overnight and, though it was mostly sunny, the temperature was around 1°C. This meant winter jacket and winter boots complete with ice-grabbers as the paths were very icy and slippery. 27 species of bird were seen. Only two or three people saw what they reckoned was an owl (Great Horned) in flight from the forest. A Snow-shoe Hare in its white, winter coat was just about visible, hiding in a tangle of bushes. We had quite good views of several White-winged Crossbills. These are such colourful birds - at least the males are. The females are a greenish yellow, but still beautiful. Their bills are crossed, to enable them to get the seeds out of the cones. They tend to land high up in tall trees, hence a zoomed and cropped image. “A medium-sized finch of the boreal forest, the White-winged Crossbill is adapted for extracting seeds from the cones of coniferous trees. It moves large distances between years tracking the cone crop from place to place.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/white-winged_crossbill/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-barred_Crossbill 1.Canada Goose-200+ 2.Swan sp.,-7 3.Mallard-4 4.Common Goldeneye-1 f. 5.Northern Goshawk-1 6.Rough-legged Hawk-1 7.Killdeer-1 8.Ring-billed Gull?-1 9.Great Horned Owl-1 10.Downy Woodpecker-4+ 11.Hairy Woodpecker-1 12.Northern Flicker-2 13.Blue Jay-4+ 14.Black-billed Magpie-20 15.Common Raven-2+ 16.Black-capped Chickadee-50+ 17.Boreal Chickadee-4 18.Red-breasted Chickadee-1 19.White-breasted Nuthatch-1 20.Bohemian Waxwing-100+ 21.Dark-eyed Junco-1+ 22.Pine Grosbeak-10+ 23.House Finch-1 24.Red Crossbill-1 f. 25.White-winged Crossbill-75+ 26.Common Redpoll-30+ 27.House Sparrow-6

Nine days ago, on 16 November 2015, it would have been my older daughter’s birthday. Feeling that I needed to get out for a while, I met up with a group of friends for a three-hour walk in Weaselhead. It had snowed a bit overnight and, though it was mostly sunny, the temperature was around 1°C. This meant winter jacket and winter boots complete with ice-grabbers as the paths were very icy and slippery. 27 species of bird were seen. Only two or three people saw what they reckoned was an owl (Great Horned) in flight from the forest. A Snow-shoe Hare in its white, winter coat was just about visible, hiding in a tangle of bushes. We had quite good views of several White-winged Crossbills. These are such colourful birds - at least the males are. The females are a greenish yellow, but still beautiful. Their bills are crossed, to enable them to get the seeds out of the cones. They tend to land high up in tall trees, hence a zoomed and cropped image. “A medium-sized finch of the boreal forest, the White-winged Crossbill is adapted for extracting seeds from the cones of coniferous trees. It moves large distances between years tracking the cone crop from place to place.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/white-winged_crossbill/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-barred_Crossbill 1.Canada Goose-200+ 2.Swan sp.,-7 3.Mallard-4 4.Common Goldeneye-1 f. 5.Northern Goshawk-1 6.Rough-legged Hawk-1 7.Killdeer-1 8.Ring-billed Gull?-1 9.Great Horned Owl-1 10.Downy Woodpecker-4+ 11.Hairy Woodpecker-1 12.Northern Flicker-2 13.Blue Jay-4+ 14.Black-billed Magpie-20 15.Common Raven-2+ 16.Black-capped Chickadee-50+ 17.Boreal Chickadee-4 18.Red-breasted Chickadee-1 19.White-breasted Nuthatch-1 20.Bohemian Waxwing-100+ 21.Dark-eyed Junco-1+ 22.Pine Grosbeak-10+ 23.House Finch-1 24.Red Crossbill-1 f. 25.White-winged Crossbill-75+ 26.Common Redpoll-30+ 27.House Sparrow-6

Yesterday, 16 November 2015, would have been my older daughter’s birthday. Feeling that I needed to get out for a while, I met up with a group of friends for a three-hour walk in Weaselhead. It had snowed a bit overnight and, though it was mostly sunny, the temperature was around 1°C. This meant winter jacket and winter boots complete with ice-grabbers as the paths were very icy and slippery. 27 species of bird were seen. Only two or three people saw what they reckoned was an owl (Great Horned) in flight from the forest. A Snow-shoe Hare in its white, winter coat was just about visible, hiding in a tangle of bushes. We had quite good views of several White-winged Crossbills. These are such colourful birds - at least the males are. The females are a greenish yellow, but still beautiful. Their bills are crossed, to enable them to get the seeds out of the cones. They tend to land high up in tall trees, hence a zoomed and cropped image. “A medium-sized finch of the boreal forest, the White-winged Crossbill is adapted for extracting seeds from the cones of coniferous trees. It moves large distances between years tracking the cone crop from place to place.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/white-winged_crossbill/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-barred_Crossbill 1.Canada Goose-200+ 2.Swan sp.,-7 3.Mallard-4 4.Common Goldeneye-1 f. 5.Northern Goshawk-1 6.Rough-legged Hawk-1 7.Killdeer-1 8.Ring-billed Gull?-1 9.Great Horned Owl-1 10.Downy Woodpecker-4+ 11.Hairy Woodpecker-1 12.Northern Flicker-2 13.Blue Jay-4+ 14.Black-billed Magpie-20 15.Common Raven-2+ 16.Black-capped Chickadee-50+ 17.Boreal Chickadee-4 18.Red-breasted Chickadee-1 19.White-breasted Nuthatch-1 20.Bohemian Waxwing-100+ 21.Dark-eyed Junco-1+ 22.Pine Grosbeak-10+ 23.House Finch-1 24.Red Crossbill-1 f. 25.White-winged Crossbill-75+ 26.Common Redpoll-30+ 27.House Sparrow-6

Red Crossbills are less common than the White-winged Crossbills, so it was really nice to see 25 of these beautiful birds, males and females, high up in the Spruce trees, feeding on the plentiful cones yesterday. Last year, there was a cone shortage, but this year the trees are laden with cones. I think I only have one other photo of Red Crossbills in my photostream, taken in December 2011 during a Christmas Bird Count in the city. “A stocky finch of mature coniferous forests, the Red Crossbill is dependent on the seed cones that are its main food. Its peculiar bill allows it access to the seeds, and it will breed whenever it finds areas with an abundance of cones. It may wander widely between years to find a good cone crop… Head and body of the male is deep brick red to reddish yellow, or greenish. Wing feathers blackish brown, without wingbars. Tail blackish brown. The female is uniformly olive or grayish, with greenish or greenish yellow chest and rump. Wing feathers blackish brown, without wingbars. Tail blackish brown.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red_Crossbill/id This male Red Crossbill was seen yesterday morning at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, when I went on a walk with a small group of birding friends. It was around 2C when we started our walk and it was cold. Can’t believe I was wearing two fleece jackets and a fleece vest, light jacket, jeans and long-johns, woollen hat and two pairs of gloves! I will add the list of species seen, thanks to our leaders, Janet and Bernie. Thanks, both of you, for a most enjoyable walk in beautiful sunshine. It was great going for lunch at the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner afterwards, too. www.blackfootdiner.ca/ “Inglewood Sanctuary, Calgary. 9-11:15 a.m. Sat. Oct 24/15. Sun/cloud mix, light North wind, 2 to 5C. 1. Double-crested Cormorant - 1 2. Great Blue Heron - 1 3. Wood Duck - 13 4. Mallard - 15 5. Hooded Merganser - 1 6. Rough-legged Hawk - 1 7. Bald Eagle - 1 8. Ring-billed Gull - 20 9. Feral Pigeon - 1 10. Northern Flicker - 2 11. Downy Woodpecker - 1 12. Black-billed Magpie - 10 13. American Crow - 4 14. Black-capped Chickadee - 10 15. White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 17. European Starling - 20 18. RED CROSSBILL - 25 19. COMMON REDPOLL - 4 Mule Deer - 7 Porcupine - 1 Eastern Gray Squirrel - 2

I thought these young White Spruce cones were attractive - neat colour and design. Almost looked jelly-like : )

At least 10 of these beautiful White-winged Crossbills flew into a Spruce tree laden with cones, when we were in the parking lot at Carburn Park yesterday, 31 January 2013. The males are such a beautiful red. Mixed in with them were at least 10 of the less common Red Crossbills. These birds are always so far away, that I can't really tell if I'm photographing a White-winged or a Red Crossbill until I check my images. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-winged_Crossbill/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-barred_Crossbill

These pretty, young, red, female cones of the Subalpine Larch were growing up on Plateau Mountain - not the very top plateau, but in the alpine meadow just below. Photographed on July 2nd.

Just a shot of the tip of a branch of a Lodgepole Pine tree on the acreage at Janel Butler's (and family) farm on 16th May, where we spent a good part of the day botanizing. Looks like a spider had been playing Cat's Cradle with it's delicate web, LOL. Gotta dash (again!), as I am spending the whole day at the Zoo with my oldest daughter. She has been recovering from surgery and was desperate to get out for a few hours.

The cones on a Lodgepole Pine turn inwards on the branches, looking towards the trunk of the tree. Just a simple shot but, hey, I am always happy when I get a blurred background, LOL! This is the provincial tree of Alberta. These are female cones, and there are small prickles on the scales of female cones. "One of the most drought tolerant of our native conifers..... Cones are short cylindrical to egg-shaped, curved away from branches, 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in.) long, remain on trees for many years. Scales armed with a small prickle." www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex998 ? "The most common and abundant tree in the Rocky Mountains and foothill regions. Occurring on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains where it frequently forms dense even-aged stands as the result of fire. In areas adjacent to jack pine, the two species integrate." www.abtreegene.com/trees.html plantwatch.fanweb.ca/plant-information/lodgepole-pine/lod... We were out for a good part of the day today on a beautiful walk, north west of the city, in a huge Provincial Park that is yet not open to the public (and probably won't be for another 1-3 years?). It's called the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and is incredibly beautiful land. Will add a link to information about it when I get home this evening - I'm about to dash out down a few gravel backroads : ) I can't take one more step, so driving a car sounds just what I need. Rain and cloud are in the forecast for the next four days, and the sun that I saw ten minutes ago seems to have already disappeared. Better dash out while it is still dry.

I like the needles of the Ponderosa Pine - this one was growing in Edworthy Park.

From left to right, the cones of Black Spruce, White Spruce and Blue Spruce, photographed in North Glenmore Park three days ago. And yes, it was cold enough for wearing mitts, LOL!