Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 26 August 2015

I think this photo must be showing as my main photo (i.e. very last photo posted). Apparently, my actual main photo isn't showing up for my Contacts on their Contacts page. I have suspected that the same old problem has been going on the last few days. Such a tiny thing in the 'big picture' of life, but it annoys me so much when Flickr messes this up. Though this Echinacea flower had no visiting bees on it when I took the photograph, I will add the information that I posted on another photo I took on the same visit to the Reader Rock Garden on 26 August 2015. Bees are in trouble and need our help. Apparently, there are an estimated 300+ native bee species in Alberta and 800+ species in Canada. I had no idea! "Bees are the world's most important plant pollinators. Several species of bees have been imported to Alberta to pollinate crops and to produce honey. These and the native wild bees (like the bumblebee) play an extremely important role in nature. Without them, many fruits and seeds would not be produced." esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wild-species/invertebrates/... "The systemic nature of the problem makes it complex, but not impenetrable. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors—pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. Many of these causes are interrelated. The bottom line is that we know humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss." From Greenpeace. www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-b... "How many different species of wild bees would you guess we have here in Alberta? How many can you name? Most people drastically underestimate the diversity of bees that call this province home and think of them only as either bumblebees or honeybees. The reality is much richer, with a surprising estimate of over 300 different kinds of bees in Alberta. All of them provide an essential ecosystem service by pollinating crops, gardens, and wildflowers. For example, pollination increases the yield of canola, an important crop grown in Alberta, by 10-30% (Morandin and Wilson, 2005). Because of their important role as crop pollinators, bees are of interest to the ABMI’s (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute) Ecosystem Services Assessment Project. This project is mapping ecosystem services, which are the benefits provided by natural systems that contribute to our health and well-being. In order to map pollination services, the project requires information on the abundance and diversity of bees in Alberta, and where they’re living—information that is lacking for many areas of the province. To address this information gap, the project has partnered with Dr. Jessamyn Manson at the University of Alberta to conduct two years of wild bee surveys across Alberta’s agricultural zone. These surveys are occurring in commercial canola fields all the way from the US border to sites near Grande Prairie." From an article on the ABMI's blog, written on 4 February 2015. The bee team has conducted a second field season in 2015 and continuing to process the 2014 samples. blog.abmi.ca/2015/02/04/the-latest-buzz-on-albertas-wild-... www.amazon.com/The-Beekeepers-Lament-Billion-America/dp/0...

Rather wish I hadn't bothered to post this photo, but I don't have the time or energy to look for a different one. I grabbed it last night, hoping to add a change of colour on my photostream, which is looking very green these days : ) Fortunately, at least the Hollyhocks and Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift on 26 August 2015. Most of the flowers there had finished for the season and many of the ones that did still exist were past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including this beautiful pink Hollyhock flower. I think its little visitor is a Tarnished Plant Bug. "Alcea (Ál-ce-a), commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcea I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not that day, as the air quality had been very poor for a number of days, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Fortunately, the rain that had been falling for a few days helped the firefighters fight the flames.

Fortunately, at least the Hollyhocks and Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift on 26 August 2015. Most of the flowers there had finished for the season and many of the ones that did still exist were past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including these Hollyhock buds with a little visitor. "Alcea (Ál-ce-a), commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcea I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not that day, as the air quality had been very poor for a number of days, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Fortunately, the rain that had been falling for a few days helped the firefighters fight the flames.

Fortunately, at least the Gladioli and Hollyhocks were still in bloom and in good condition on 26 August 2015, when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers had finished for the season and many of the ones that did still exist were past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including this vibrant, daisy-like flower. I know so little about garden flowers, so if you know what kind of flower this is, I would love to know. I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not that day, as the air quality had been very poor for a number of days, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Fortunately, the rain that had been falling for a few days helped the firefighters fight the flames. It's an overcast, dreary morning here, with a temperature of -1C (windchill -5C). The sun is supposed to come out this afternoon, along with cloudiness.

After a bitterly cold day yesterday (17 January 2016), standing in a temperature of -15C with a windchill of -22C, I needed a warm, sunny shot for today. Fortunately, at least the Hollyhocks and Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift on 26 August 2015. Most of the flowers there had finished for the season and many of the ones that did still exist were past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including this beautiful pink Hollyhock flower. "Alcea (Ál-ce-a), commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcea I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not that day, as the air quality had been very poor for a number of days, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Fortunately, the rain that had been falling for a few days helped the firefighters fight the flames.

Fortunately, at least the Gladioli and Hollyhocks were still in bloom and in good condition on 26 August 2015, when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers had finished for the season and many of the ones that did still exist were past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including this vibrant Poppy. Not sure if it’s a double Iceland Poppy or something different. I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not that day, as the air quality had been very poor for a number of days, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Fortunately, the rain that had been falling for a few days helped the firefighters fight the flames.

Echinacea are one of my favourite flowers to photograph, whether a bud, partially open flower, fully open or in the final stage. Love the pattern of the green, hairy bracts (?). Took this photo on 26 August 2015 at the Reader Rock Garden. "Echinacea /ˌɛkɨˈneɪʃⁱə/ is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echino), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea

Apparently, there are an estimated 300+ native bee species in Alberta and 800+ species in Canada. I had no idea! "Bees are the world's most important plant pollinators. Several species of bees have been imported to Alberta to pollinate crops and to produce honey. These and the native wild bees (like the bumblebee) play an extremely important role in nature. Without them, many fruits and seeds would not be produced." esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wild-species/invertebrates/... "The systemic nature of the problem makes it complex, but not impenetrable. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors—pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. Many of these causes are interrelated. The bottom line is that we know humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss." From Greenpeace. www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-b... "How many different species of wild bees would you guess we have here in Alberta? How many can you name? Most people drastically underestimate the diversity of bees that call this province home and think of them only as either bumblebees or honeybees. The reality is much richer, with a surprising estimate of over 300 different kinds of bees in Alberta. All of them provide an essential ecosystem service by pollinating crops, gardens, and wildflowers. For example, pollination increases the yield of canola, an important crop grown in Alberta, by 10-30% (Morandin and Wilson, 2005). Because of their important role as crop pollinators, bees are of interest to the ABMI’s (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute) Ecosystem Services Assessment Project. This project is mapping ecosystem services, which are the benefits provided by natural systems that contribute to our health and well-being. In order to map pollination services, the project requires information on the abundance and diversity of bees in Alberta, and where they’re living—information that is lacking for many areas of the province. To address this information gap, the project has partnered with Dr. Jessamyn Manson at the University of Alberta to conduct two years of wild bee surveys across Alberta’s agricultural zone. These surveys are occurring in commercial canola fields all the way from the US border to sites near Grande Prairie." From an article on the ABMI's blog, written on 4 February 2015. The bee team has conducted a second field season in 2015 and continuing to process the 2014 samples. blog.abmi.ca/2015/02/04/the-latest-buzz-on-albertas-wild-... www.amazon.com/The-Beekeepers-Lament-Billion-America/dp/0... This photo of an Echinacea flower was taken at the Reader Rock Garden on 26 August 2015.

Problems with Flickr this morning - sometimes I can't connect to Flickr, other times only the photo appears with no tags, comments, etc., can't always add tags, and so on. Fortunately, at least the Gladioli and Hollyhocks were still in bloom and in good condition on 26 August 2015, when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers have finished for the season and many of the ones that do still exist are past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though, including this little white Iceland Poppy. I think I like the colourful bokeh as much as the flower itself.. This species is native to subpolar regions of Europe, Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia (but not in Iceland). They were first described by botanists in 1759. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_nudicaule I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not, as the air quality was very poor for a number of days recently, due to smoke blowing across from the devastating forest fires in Washington State, northwest US. Hopefully, the rain that fell in the last few days has helped all the firefighters fight the flames. Today, 1 September 2015, is the first day back to school for the public school kids, and the sun is shining and the air at least looks clear.

When I got up almost an hour ago, the sky was blue and the sun was brightly shining. It seems to have clouded over now, but hopefully the smoky air that we've had the last few days has disappeared. That means that the forecast rain for the northwest United States actually happened, which should help all those brave firefighters in their battle against the widespread flames. This is a close shot of a pale pink Hollyhock flower that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 26 August 2015. I always love to see the centres of these large flowers. Fortunately, at least the Hollyhocks and Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers there have finished for the season and many of the ones that do still exist are past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though. "Alcea (Ál-ce-a), commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcea

An update on my daughter who was in the hospital for a few days. She was allowed to go home three evenings ago, though the medical staff still aren't completely sure of the cause of the problem. She has a follow-up appointment in September, so hopefully she and we will know more at that time. Meanwhile, I feel totally drained, ha! Fortunately, at least the Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition yesterday, 26 August 2015, when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers have finished for the season and many of the ones that do still exist are past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiolus I wasn't sure whether I should go there or not, as the air quality is very unpleasant at the moment. Even in the house, it smells of smoke. The following is from the Weather Network website. A friend let me know that the numbers given were inaccurate (too high), but we were still well over the "high" level. "In the city of Calgary the air quality health index was off the charts through the overnight hours Tuesday (25 August 2015), peaking at 19 on a scale where 10 is considered 'high'." The smoke is being blown here from the northwestern United States (Washington State) and it affects the visibility the whole day. Most unpleasant, and I don't know how people who live much closer to the wildfires are managing! We are being told to stay indoors, close all windows, and not use air-conditioning (which most of us don't have in our homes), including in our cars. Temperature this afternoon is supposed to reach 27C (to feel like 30C). Definitely a day to stay home - photography would be useless, as the sky is so heavily smoke-laden. "Thursday, August 27, 2015, 10:11 AM - Southerly winds continue to spread heavy plumes of smoke north into British Columbia and Alberta from the large wildfires burning in Washington state. However, there is relief in sight as a series of low pressure systems are expected to cool temperatures down and bring a substantial amount of rain." From the Weather Network. So many Firefighters bravely battling the flames down in this whole area, as well as all those fighting the fires in British Columbia! A huge thank-you to each and every one of them!