Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: bursting

Most unusual for me, I was so desperately tired two evenings ago, that I couldn't even stay awake to find and edit three photos to post to Flickr yesterday morning! It was a long day of birding on 28 May 2017, for the May Species Count, and it completely knocked me out for the following day. Tiredness seems to be my constant companion, but not so tired that I can't fight it. So, no photos from me yesterday! I always love to see the hairy bud of a Poppy revealing the beauty within. This one was blooming in a greenhouse at the Saskatoon Farm. Yesterday, 30 May 2017, I was out for the day south of the city with my Daughter (a belated day out for my birthday and Mother's Day), to Nanton and a few roads nearby, then making our way north to Frank Lake and finally ending up at the Saskatoon Farm, where we were just in time to have a meal. A hot day, but nice and sunny. It takes about 45 minutes to drive south to the town of Nanton. Though I had been quite a few times over the years when carpooling with various friends, I had never driven quite that far south and through the town. My daughter wanted to walk round two or three of the antique shops there and we both wanted to take a few photos of the grain elevators. Once that was all done, we drove westwards from the town. Though the scenery is beautiful, we did not enjoy being on a main road with no shoulder to pull over to. We did stop once in a small pull-off, to get a few scenic shots. This was where we saw the metal cut-out of a cowboy riding his horse, with a bird perched on top of his hat (third photo I posted today). I can't decide if the distant bird is a Common Grackle or a Brewer's Blackbird, or something else? We decided to turn around and cross over to the other side of the main highway (#2) and drive north to Frank Lake, hoping to find a few things to photograph along the backroads. A handful of barns and a very few distant birds were enough to make the drive worthwhile. Frank Lake was deserted when we arrived there, though a couple of other people turned up shortly. Not many bird species, either. The water was quite choppy thanks to the wind, and there was just one Coot, a pair of Ruddy Ducks, a Barn Swallow and one Eared Grebe. I managed to get just the one shot (posted this morning) of the latter. Saw two American Avocets, a Killdeer and a pair of Phalaropes. Franklin's Gulls were their usual noisy selves. Not a single White-faced Ibis to be seen, and only one or two Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. When we had been on the road south of the lake, we had seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron perched on a distant fence, being harassed by several smaller birds - Brown-headed Cowbirds? I was so happy to see the Heron, as I so rarely see them. We had also seen a shorebird in a field of stubble and I need to check if this was a Long-billed Curlew. On our way home, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm and were just in time to order a meal before they closed. A quick wander round gave me the chance to grab a shot or two of a very loud Rooster and the male Wild Turkey. My favourite kind of day, so thank you, Rachel, as always!!

On 29 September 2015, I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway. This may have been the last time I go to the Zoo until next spring, as they have closed "my" parking lot at the west entrance till April next year. The north entrance is way out of my driving comfort zone, especially the drive back home. One of my favourite things at the Zoo is the butterfly room, but the season is over till around next April. I was surprised to see a few Poppies still in bloom - I always love these flowers at every stage, including the hairy buds showing just a glimpse of the beauty within. This morning, 6 December 2015, it is 0C (windchill -3C), supposed to get up to 7C this afternoon. Yet another overcast, dreary morning, though the forecast does say sun for this afternoon. Unless the forecast changes, we should be getting snow on three days of this coming week.

On 29 September 2015, I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway. This may have been the last time I go to the Zoo until next spring, as they have closed "my" parking lot at the west entrance till April next year. The north entrance is way out of my driving comfort zone, especially the drive back home. One of my favourite things at the Zoo is the butterfly room, but the season is over till around next April. I was surprised to see a few Poppies still in bloom - always love the hairy buds showing just a glimpse of the beauty within. And this morning, I overslept again! Will have to finish the descriptions, tags, etc. for the remaining two of my "daily three" later today : (

On 19 September 2015, I went to an Open House at the home of our main leader for both birding and botany. This was to mark the end of the botany season, which is always sad. We went on one last walk, around the neighbourhood, stopping to look at various plants in people's gardens, and then went back for tea and coffee and yummy snacks. This photo is of a Showy Milkweed seedpod in their garden, bursting its seams to release the beautiful seeds. I think I have only ever seen Milkweed growing in the wild in one location. ""Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner, as the pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia (or "pollen sacs"), rather than being individual grains, as is typical for plant pollen. The flower petals are smooth and rigid, and the feet of visiting insects (predominantly large wasps, such as spider wasps, which visit the plants for nectar) slip into notches in the flowers, where the sticky bases of the pollinia attach to the feet, pulling the pollen sacs free when the pollinator flies off. Bees, including honey bees only gather nectar from milkweed flowers, and are generally not effective pollinators despite the frequency of visitation. Species in the Asclepias genus grow their seeds in pods. These seed pods contain soft filaments known as either silk or floss. The filaments are attached to individual seeds. When the seed pod ripens, the seeds are blown by the wind, each carried by several filaments. Native Americans used fiber in the stems for rope, basketry, and nets. Some Native Americans believed the milky sap had medicinal qualities. However, most species of milkweed are toxic." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias_speciosa I suspect the mushroom season is over, too, as I went to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park a few days later. The grasses and plants have withered and, along with fallen leaves from the deciduous trees, have covered anything that might just be hiding underneath. The very few fungi that I did see were mostly old and definitely not photogenic. Most of my photos came out blurry, too. I didn't see many birds on this drive, either, not a single raptor, and mainly Magpies. Can't wait for next spring!!

Loved the golden glow behind this bursting Poppy bud, seen at the Reader Rock Garden on 29th September 2010. One of my favourite things to photograph. I was fortunate enough to be invited by birding friends, John and Lorrie, to go with them and a friend in search of Snowy Owls for a few hours today. We travelled the backroads east of the city and managed to see three Owls, all distant, though not too bad by the time they are heavily cropped. Two were far away across a field (one useless as far as photos are concerned) and another was perched on some sort of antenna (?) in a field. We also enjoyed seeing a solitary Snow Bunting perched on a fence - don't usually see them alone. The meeting place this morning was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I made myself do it. I try and make myself do a new location each year : ) Such a lovely sunny day today, though quite windy out east of the city. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for a lovely day!