Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: small holes

These holes in several trees left me puzzled. They just didn't look like anything I had noticed before. Presumably they were made by some kind of Woodpecker, but I've no idea which kind. I know that the Three-toed Woodpecker "forages on live or dead conifers, especially spruces. Often scales off flakes of bark to get at insects, and may gradually remove all bark from a dead tree", from the Audubon website. We often see such stripped trees, looking very orange where all the bark has been removed, but the trees this morning were different. This evening, I decided to edit and post seven photos from today, 1 January 2019. I only took a few photos and they are really just record shots, so I thought I would get them out of the way - I need to get back to editing photos from Day 8 of our two-week trip to Ontario and Quebec in May 2018! This morning, New Year's Day 2019, I joined friends to go on the annual Fish Creel Park New Year's Day Bird Count. The road and parking lot to the area that my group covers is closed for construction. This meant having to park elsewhere and then walk down the hillside from the top of the cliff. The weather was beautiful, with blue sky and sunshine. We are all really enjoying this mid-winter weather, much deserved after several brutal winter, especially last winter. Unfortunately, there was ice everywhere, under a thin layer of more recent snow. Our walk went from 9:00 am till about noon. After that, many of us drove to Tim Horton's for coffee/lunch and thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit down and chat. Such good company for these few hours.

We are having hot weather, which always knocks me out! Today, it is supposed to get up to 31C (to feel like 33C). My place is already feeling like an oven (no air-conditioning) after the last few hot days, and this is expected to continue for a few more days. Actually, there is a Heat Warning in effect. Solitary bees are in crisis and need all the help we can give them. Bee nesting boxes can be an attractive option, and there are various ones scattered around the Ellis Bird Farm. While solitary bees are important for plant pollination, their numbers are declining due to a loss of suitable nesting locations. Nesting boxes provide a safe place to lay their eggs, helping to boost the local population of these beneficial, nonaggressive bees. However, there does seem to be a difference of opinion regarding the effectiveness of such boxes. “There are around 370 different species of native bees in Alberta, so it is very tricky to say exactly which ones are in which area. We don’t see nesting boxes for solitary bees as a substitute for companion planting or planting flowering perennials that bees love, such as dandelions, elderberry and chives. Rather they should be seen as contributing to a healthy garden, plant diversity and pollination in general.” From greengoldgarden. www.greengoldgarden.com/nesting-boxes-for-native-bees-in-... Two days ago, on 4 June 2016, I had the chance to visit somewhere that I had longed to go to for years - the Ellis Bird Farm. This was thanks to the annual Nature Calgary Bus Trip, which goes to a different location each year. When I read where this year's outing was going to be, I was so excited and registered immediately and, apparently, was the first person on the list : ) I believe there were 66 people yesterday, enjoying a great day. The sun was shining and the temperature got up to around 25C - too warm for me and for many others, especially when the whole day is spent outdoors. It was a very early start, with my alarm clocks set for 4:30 am. Unfortunately, they had also been set for 4:30 am the previous day, when I went on a Bio-blitz to the Square Butte Ranch. Being a dreadful 'night owl', this meant that I ended up doing these two trips on about 5 hours sleep total over the two nights. Not good! It is such a treat to go somewhere by bus - everyone can relax and chat. Some of the $50 charge per person went towards a donation to the Ellis Bird Farm, which was good to know. The drive from Calgary to the Ellis Bird Farm takes about an hour and a half. When we arrived, we were greeted by a long line of bird nest boxes along the fence line. Within the farm area, there were even more nest boxes - everywhere! People send them from all over the province, even from overseas. I believe the Farm has the largest collection of outdoor boxes in the world - 300+! We started off by watching a very touching old video about Charlie Ellis - what a delightful, shy, modest man he was. ""Ellis Bird Farm is both a non-profit company and a working farm. It was established in 1982 to carry on the legacy of Lacombe-area conservationists, Charlie and Winnie Ellis, when their farm was purchased by Union Carbide Canada Ltd. At the time, Charlie and Winnie operated one of the largest bluebird trails in Canada and had established their farmstead as a haven for wildlife. The Ellis family of Parkenham, Ontario, came west in 1886 to settle on a ranch near Calgary. Their son John, then a teenager, was married in 1894 to Agnes Clark who had come west from Ontario in 1888 to teach school. They lived near Calgary until 1906 when they moved with their family of four children to a quarter section homestead in the Joffre district. In 1907 they built a two-storey frame house and subsequently enlarged the farm by the purchase of an additional five quarters. After John and Agnes passed away in the early 1950s, two of their children, Charlie and Winnie, took over the farm operations. And about this same time, Charlie began a project that was to dominate the rest of his life; he set out his first nesting box for the Mountain Bluebirds." From Ellis Bird Farm website. www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/ After the video, we were divided into two large groups and then further divided again. Not easy to organize such a large number of people and it was rather confusing, Have to admit that I ended up, like varous friends, wandering around, taking photos. I always prefer to be free to do this, as there is a lot of information on the Internet, which can be read before and after such a visit. Information about their Purple Martin Geolocator Program: www.ellisbirdfarm.ca/purple-martin-geolocators.html Following our visit to the Farm, we boarded the two buses and were driven about half an hour's drive away, to the JJ Collett natural area, where the amazing Dr. Charles (Charlie) Bird took us on a walk (longer and faster paced than we were expecting, ha) along one of the trails. This is an interesting place to visit - will have to add information about it when I eventually post an image or two taken there. www.jjcollett.com/ Not sure what time we got back to the meeting place in Calgary - around 5:15 pm? I sat in my car and gulped down a mug of black coffee before driving for maybe 45 minutes to the far side of the city. My vehicle had been sitting in the sun all day and my coffee was as hot as if freshly made! Thank you, Nature Calgary and Leslie, for organizing this special day trip for us! Very successful and greatly enjoyed! Kate, thank you for your company on the drive there and back - made the time go faster and was so enjoyable.