Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: lying down

My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by the devastating tragedy in the province to our east, after a collision on Friday (6 April 2018) between a Saskatchewan junior hockey team’s bus and a tractor-trailer in rural Saskatchewan. That afternoon, the Broncos junior hockey team of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, were en route to a playoff game in Nipawin. Twenty-nine people were on board the team bus. Fifteen people were killed, including the coach, assistant coach, bus driver and a team announcer. Others remain in hospital. The tractor-trailer driver survived. There has been such a huge outpouring from people across Canada, and beyond. Such sadness, especially at so many young lives lost. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are a number of Wild European Rabbits in Calgary, and this is just one of them. It always feels strange to see what look like pet rabbits wandering loose in people's gardens and around a neighbourhood. This one was seen on 23 July 2014, when I went on a botany walk at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area. It was busy eating the grass by this tombstone and then it took a good look at me before continuing to feed. Right next to this area is a Cemetery - funny, I do tend to see rabbits in cemeteries, either these Wild European Rabbits, which come in all sorts of colours, or the White-tailed Jackrabbits. The town of Canmore, near Banff, in Banff National Park, has had a problem with these Wild European Rabbits. They attract Coyotes and other wildlife into the town. I know they did do something about this problem, but I don't know what the situation in Canmore is like now. I seem to remember reading that a fair number of them were sent to British Columbia to a sanctuary there and the rest were "got rid of". Here is a link to a Calgary Herald newspaper article from 15th December 2010, about the problem with these Rabbits in the town of Canmore, near Banff: They were, of course, also eating the plants in people's gardens, which some home owners complained about. "Canmore Mayor Ron Casey is taking aim at the picturesque Alberta town's rascally rabbits. Casey, who said the animals are attracting predators such as cougars, has secured support for a $50,000 budget to deal with feral rabbits." Read more: www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Canmore+cull+bear+baitin...

I so rarely see a Red Fox, so I wanted to add this to my albums, just for the record. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the 'wrong' side of the car, and also zoomed in too far. I suspect heat distortion also added to the awful quality of this image. I joined nine birding friends on 25 March 2018 for a trip east of the city. Not a lot of birds to be seen, but we were lucky to start the day with a Brown Creeper and end the day with a single male Mountain Bluebird. This was the first Bluebird I had seen this year - they are just starting to arrive now. No Snowy Owls were seen. A new bird species for me was a juvenile Iceland Gull. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It is way past time that I add apologies for falling way behind, not only with my commenting on other people’s photos, but also on keeping up with my own postings. Over the last three or four months, it has been one thing after another that needed to be dealt with – why is it that the unwelcome things never seem to come one at a time, ha? Times like Thanksgiving and Christmas are always difficult times for me, along with various 3rd anniversaries connected to my older daughter. For some reason, this season was more difficult than last year. I could definitely have done without the whole hassle of having to sort out and fix the mess that was caused when someone (or two separate people) tried to make suspicious purchases using my credit card, resulting in my card being cancelled (without any notification from the Bank!) and various services being shut down. Took about five weeks to get everything sorted out. Throw in a long issue with a camera that I bought more than a year ago and am still trying to get the manufacturer to fix the problem. When I use Playback, the camera keeps skipping over some of the photos, and it has done this since I first used the camera. When I went back to the store at the beginning, I was told that it would have to be sent off for repair. I couldn’t do that because I needed it for my Trinidad & Tobago trip. Finally, I let it be sent off just before the warranty ended, shortly before Christmas. It was so-called “repaired” and returned, but in fact it was exactly the same as before. Now I am without it for the second time, hoping that this time it will actually be fixed. Not the end of the world, that’s for sure, though photography is vital to me. I am still working on a major photo contract, which I will describe once the whole thing is finished. I’ll just say that it is a very special and exciting project for someone, involving a set of images that I took a few decades ago. Stress over my daughter’s upcoming major surgery is unavoidable and we will both be enormously relieved when it is all over with. Heavily overshadowing everything during the past three or so months was my own health. After worrying myself sick, and for much too long, I finally saw my doctor, who ordered various tests including an ultrasound, to see if I had cancer. Three days ago, I was told that nothing of any concern had been found, to my huge relief. I’d like to think that I will never be in that situation again, as ‘terrifying’ would be the word to describe it. How I feel for all those who are not so fortunate to get good news. Anyway, all these things left me feeling totally stressed out and drained, with no energy to do much at all. The day before I had my tests done, I knew I just had to get out and look for an owl, and I was so lucky : ) I have taken so few photos the last few months, which I always find depressing. Yesterday and the day before, too, I just had to get out on a couple of day trips with friends. Too tired to add descriptions on Flickr the last two mornings, but hopefully I will catch up. Thank you to anyone who happens to read this!

Today, the sun is actually shining, with a temperature of -17C (windchill -29C). I was longing to go on the annual Snowy Owl Prowl east of the city, but, after being out yesterday, I just couldn't face the long drive across the city to today's meeting place. So glad that I did go on the successful Pre-Owl-Prowl outing the other week. Instead, I plan to join several friends for a local walk this afternoon. It would be just so easy to hibernate the whole winter and I am trying to make sure I don't let that happen : ) So, yesterday, 17 February 2018, a small group of us headed way SW of the city - and into yet another snow storm. I kept checking to see if the trip was going to be cancelled, but fortunately, our leader had only read about the "few flurries" for the day. I had read further detail that said that a huge snow storm was moving into the area, bringing up to 25 cm of fresh snow, poor visibility, white-outs, treacherous roads! I knew taking photos was going to be a challenge, and seeing anything in the first place was going to be an even bigger challenge. So glad we went, though - even more so, that I wasn't driving, other than to our local meeting place in the city. The main reason for the trip was to look for Golden Eagles, though of course we were happy to see anything else, too. Last year, we saw five, but this time we couldn't find any. With such poor visibility, they could still have been out there. We did see Bald Eagles, though, and quite a few (mainly very distant) Sharp-tailed Grouse. At one location, they were on the road way ahead of us. I was able to get two or three closer shots of one of them, and managed to sharpen the 'best' one as much as I could, enough to make it just about fit to post this morning. They are such beautiful birds. I thought we might see some small birds during the day, but we saw no Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. A very distant Great Horned Owl was seen in the yard at one of the places we always used to call in at when we were doing the annual Christmas Bird Count for the area. Also spotted a distant Merlin perched in a bare-branched tree. Three Moose were seen - the one in this photo and two others together at a different location. This one had been standing but took a few steps and lay down in the deep snow. The other two were spotted when we were almost at the top of a steep, snow-covered back road. Our leader slowed down and, though I normally don't ask someone if they would stop for something, I did so this time. Oops, sorry, Tony, lol! We were stuck, unable to continue our climb to the top of the steep hill. Luckily, Tony is really good at reversing (and trying again)! There were also many Mule Deer to be seen, especially along the coulee. I love the landscape in this whole area and always enjoy photographing it. Yesterday, the weather was so bad that most of the landscape was just a faint shape in the distance, or else had completely vanished. Sometimes, it was difficult to tell if the distant shapes were actually hills or clouds! A great day, despite the weather. Thanks so much, Tony, for the ride and for another most enjoyable day!

With a lot of snow forecast for 8 of the next 10 days, I feel very lucky that my daughter and I had such a beautiful day yesterday, 17 December 2017, for our Christmas get-together. Along with the snow will come much colder temperatures, too, unfortunately. Looks like we could be getting around 20 cm of snow tomorrow, badly timed for one of our out-of-city Christmas Bird Counts. Yesterday was rather chilly, with a cold wind. It was such weird weather, as the colour of the sunrise sky lasted all day, till we left just before sunset. A gorgeous Chinook Arch crossed the sky, staying the whole day. Some of the fields were bare, and others had a light dusting of snow on them. The day started with breakfast at the Saskatoon Farm - always enjoyable. They do close from the end of the day on 23 December and open again in the morning of 17 January. A well-earned break for everyone who works there. As always, we walked around the grounds to look for things to photograph and, as usual, we were in luck - dead Sunflowers, cats, dogs, even a little House Sparrow that was inside one of the greenhouses. From there, we continued south to the area east of High River and drove some of the usual back roads; ones that I had driven just four days earlier. Of course, we were hoping that we might find a Snowy Owl, though I knew not to get our hopes up. Before too long, my daughter spotted our first Snowy Owl of the season - the tiniest speck of white that I could barely see with the naked eye, but it was a Snowy and that was all that mattered. Later in the day, she somehow spotted a second one; again, the tiniest speck perched on a very distant fence post. A few minutes before this second sighting, my daughter spotted two handsome Mule Deer bucks - looked like father and son - lying down next to a metal grain silo, near the edge of the road. They stayed there for a while, which was surprising, as males tend to be far more skittish. Eventually, they stood up and walked off into the field. Of course, we couldn't resist taking shots of any old barns, sheds and houses that we came across. Altogether, a great day that was much enjoyed. Thank you so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me, and doing something that we both love! These are my absolute favourite days in the year.

This morning, shortly before 11:00 am, I was sitting at my computer, knowing that the temperature outside was a cold 4C (windchill 0C). What a difference from several days ago, when we were getting very hot weather. I noticed that there are snowflake icons in the forecast for a couple of upcoming days. It feels good knowing that I made a crock-pot of piping hot chili overnight - yes, I have been known to cook very occasionally : ) Just what is needed today. On 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing this weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time, so wanted to avoid that. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime. All the flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. This beautiful Helmeted Guineafowl, along with several others, two or three Turkeys and different kinds of chickens, lives at the Saskatoon Farm. "The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been widely introduced into the West Indies and southern France.... While guineafowl are native to Africa, the Helmeted Guineafowl has been domesticated and both feral and wild-type birds have been introduced elsewhere." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmeted_guineafowl “Frequently domesticated and included in exotic bird collections, the helmeted guineafowl is an easily recognizable bird and the most widespread game bird in Africa. In other parts of the world, feral and farm populations of these birds can be frequently seen and escapees are regular.” birding.about.com/od/Grouse-Quail-And-Pheasants/p/Helmete... As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 25-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

Yesterday, 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing this weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime, though the one in this photo is already aging. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

I was just backing up a few photo folders this afternoon, when I got a message on the screen saying that my hard drive is 90% full, and to get another hard drive. I wanted to make sure I backed up my recent photos before having to renew my Internet Security software. Now, instead of going through all the photos form my trip, I am going to have to spend time checking and deleting a pile of old photos from my computer before I add any new ones that I will be taking. On 14 March 2017, our second day on Tobago, we were taken to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve via the Roxborough-Parlatuvier Rd. This is the oldest rainforest reserve in the western hemisphere, set up in 1776 under British rule. There are various trails here, with Gilpin Trace being the best known and most popular. It had been arranged that a man would be there with the back of his truck full of rubber boots that we could rent - and how grateful we were that we now had what turned out to be much-needed footwear. He was a real entrepreneur. Our guide was Gladwyn James, whose father, Adolphus James, is a renowned ornithologist on the island. Unfortunately, he is now retired. One of the roads we drove along was named "James Path" in honour of his father - I posted a photo of Gladwyn standing by the road sign. Actually, I sent the photo to our main naturalist here, as he had done a similar outing with Gladwyn's father, back on 2nd March 1978! At lunch time on this day, we were taken to the Bloody Bay Recreation Centre, where we had sandwiches that were brought along by our guide. This place is in such a beautiful setting, including a view way down to the coast. This dog was there when we first arrived and still there when we came back later. The dogs that we had seen anywhere looked so thin - hard to tell if they were being fed enough food. Bear with me, everyone, as I think I am going to have to post 5 photos (I posted 6 the first two days) from my trip each day, otherwise it will take me many months (years?) to get them on to Flickr. Obviously, no comments expected, unless you happen to notice that I have given the wrong ID for something or maybe if you like one photo in particular. Actually, I am so disappointed with my photos - never have so many (bird) photos come out blurry, many totally blurry and no use at all. I'm not sure why, though the light was often really bad and maybe the humidity had some effect. For some species, I will be posting awful shots, just for the record. I might even post a pile of photos at a time some evenings, when far fewer people are on Flickr, and then post a few better images the following morning. Won't even stop and add descriptions, etc., just so that I can get my photos added to my albums. It will take me forever to do much of a write-up about this trip, but I hope to add an extra bit of information about each photo to the very simple, basic description. Right now, I'm still working out just where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary in the evening of 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself somewhat organized and should be seeing to all sorts of important things. Instead, of course, I have been stuck in front of my computer all day, each day : ) Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting - but a thrill, of course! In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago. Still can't believe I've actually had this trip! This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on the much larger island of Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to squeeze past each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road took just over an hour each way. I'm already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

Early hours of the morning, on 4 April 2017, and I have just posted a whole pile of photos so that I can put them into my Trinidad & Tobago albums. I think I have pretty well finished Day 2 of our trip, apart from a handful of remaining images. There are several photos that are just about as bad as they could possibly be - posting them just for the record of what birds I saw. Will post two more when I have had some sleep, and they will be my main photos for today. No need to comment on the few dozen shots I've just added. I don't know how other people edit and upload all their holiday photos in such a short time - it's taking me forever : ) And now I must get to bed - it's 2:30 am! On 14 March 2017, our second day on Tobago, we were taken to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve via the Roxborough-Parlatuvier Rd. This is the oldest rainforest reserve in the western hemisphere, set up in 1776 under British rule. There are various trails here, with Gilpin Trace being the best known and most popular. It had been arranged that a man would be there with the back of his truck full of rubber boots that we could rent - and how grateful we were that we now had what turned out to be much-needed footwear. He was a real entrepreneur. Our guide was Gladwyn James, whose father, Adolphus James, is a renowned ornithologist on the island. Unfortunately, he is now retired. One of the roads we drove along was named "James Path" in honour of his father - I posted a photo of Gladwyn standing by the road sign. Actually, I sent the photo to our main naturalist here, as he had done a similar outing with Gladwyn's father, back on 2nd March 1978! At lunch time on this day, we were taken to the Bloody Bay Recreation Centre, where we had sandwiches that were brought along by our guide. This place is in such a beautiful setting, including a view way down to the coast. This dog was there when we first arrived and still there when we came back later. The dogs that we had seen anywhere looked so thin - hard to tell if they were being fed enough food. Bear with me, everyone, as I think I am going to have to post 5 photos (I posted 6 the first two days) from my trip each day, otherwise it will take me many months (years?) to get them on to Flickr. Obviously, no comments expected, unless you happen to notice that I have given the wrong ID for something or maybe if you like one photo in particular. Actually, I am so disappointed with my photos - never have so many (bird) photos come out blurry, many totally blurry and no use at all. I'm not sure why, though the light was often really bad and maybe the humidity had some effect. For some species, I will be posting awful shots, just for the record. I might even post a pile of photos at a time some evenings, when far fewer people are on Flickr, and then post a few better images the following morning. Won't even stop and add descriptions, etc., just so that I can get my photos added to my albums. It will take me forever to do much of a write-up about this trip, but I hope to add an extra bit of information about each photo to the very simple, basic description. Right now, I'm still working out just where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary in the evening of 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself somewhat organized and should be seeing to all sorts of important things. Instead, of course, I have been stuck in front of my computer all day, each day : ) Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting - but a thrill, of course! In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago. Still can't believe I've actually had this trip! This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on the much larger island of Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to squeeze past each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road took just over an hour each way. I'm already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

On 25 January 2017, I had such a great day, spent with friend, Phil. We drove the main roads and zig-zagged along the back roads SE of the city, hoping to find owls and any other birds that we might be lucky enough to see. I haven't been able to get out much this winter, and have had very little luck finding certain owls, including Snowies, Short-eared Owls and a Long-eared Owl. Phil has an unusual ability to see things that are almost invisible to the naked eye; things that I know I would never spot if I was driving on my own. Amazing how some people can do this - and, of course, the rest of us always benefit from their ability. I was confident that we would see a Snowy Owl, but had no idea that we would see 11 of them by the end of the day! In the morning, there were few birds of any kind to be found, but thankfully more gradually appeared as the day wore on. Birds for the day included the 11 Snowy Owls, 3 Rough-legged Hawks (one a very dark individual), 2 Prairie Falcons, quite a few Grey Partridge, and a beautiful, distant Bald Eagle down on the ground the far side of a field. It was bathed in beautiful sunset light, which showed the detail of each and every feather. Mammals for the day included a number of Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer, some of them surrounded by hoar-frosted stubble. We also saw a very distant Red Fox hunting, 3 Elk (which surprised both of us), and several Coyotes. Everywhere was covered in hoar frost, which made for a nice setting for these two distant deer. Thanks so much, Phil, for such a great day! A day of hoar frost and glorious cloud formation, beautiful landscape, and more than enough Snowy Owls to keep anyone happy. Perfect company, too, of course. Greatly appreciated!

It's already past noon today, so our weather has warmed up somewhat. I wasn't up in time to see what the temperature was much earlier, but I know it was forecast to be a few degrees colder than it is right now. Yet another deep-freeze day, at -21C (windchill -31C). I haven't been out with my camera since 29 November and it is already 9 December. Supposed to warm up very slightly in a few days' time - I really hope so, as the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts start very soon. Both photos posted today were taken on 1 October 2016. On this day, I finally had my very first visit to the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, thanks to friend, Sandy. I first heard about this beautiful place from my daughter, but I had never been, because it is way out of my driving comfort zone. In the morning, it was raining, at least in my part of the city, and I wondered if going would turn out to be a big mistake. However, the rain stayed away while we were there and, though the sky was overcast, I was still able to photograph to my heart's content. I was surprised at how many flowers were still in bloom on the first day of October and I was extremely impressed with how meticulously these gardens are kept - every inch of them. So many different kinds of trees and plants, and it was very obvious that each area had been planted with so much thought and care. Amazing that dedicated volunteers have been, and continue to be, the ones to thank for these gardens. Thanks so much, Sandy, for giving me the chance to spend an afternoon in such beauty and peace! "The Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs is without doubt one of the Seven Wonders of Calgary, Alberta. It boasts 1350 square meters (14 600 square feet) of gardens which includes a spectacular Wall Garden that runs an uninterrupted 1300 feet. In the gardens you will find an endless variety of annuals and perennials ranging from artemisias to zinnias. Here indeed is a place to stop and smell the roses and the peonies and the delphiniums and the chrysanthemums and the … What makes these gardens so very special is that they were created and continue to be maintained by a band of green-thumbed enthusiastic volunteers. These hale and hearty diggers, planters, seeders, weeders, mowers, waterers, pruners and community builders work two to three mornings a week to keep the gardens in primrose shape and their efforts are truly appreciated by the many walkers, joggers, and cyclists. On any given day, hundreds of people walk the wall garden with their families, friends and out-of-town visitors. It has become a treasured destination site for many. For anyone who has spent time in the gardens, it is hard to believe that they have only been here since 2006 when a humble ornamental garden (400 square feet) was developed within the existing BirthPlace Forest tree beds. The BPF, by the way, saw 7000 trees planted in the area. The project was accomplished through a partnership of BP Energy, Calgary Parks, Regional Health and Golden Acres." From the gardens' website. www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca/ After our walk in the Gardens, I went back to Sandy's place and we had an early supper. Her dog, Finn, looked like he was hoping for a treat.

Gentle or aggressive? It seems to depend on which website one is searching. Wikipedia (below) says Longhorns are gentle, but last night I read that they are aggressive. Standing there on the road, I know I felt glad that there was a fence between them and us! I stood in the road to take this shot, as two of these cattle were lying down and I didn't want to force them to stand up and move away, they looked so comfortable. "The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to 7 ft (2.1 m) tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and 36 to 80 in (0.91 to 2.03 m) tip to tip for bulls. Similar cattle were imported by Spanish colonists into other parts of North America, including California and Florida. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring. A longhorn can be any color or mix of colors but dark red and white color mixes are the most dominant. Texas Longhorns with elite genetics can often fetch $40,000 or more at auction with the record of $170,000 in recent history for a cow. Due to their innate gentle disposition and intelligence, Texas Longhorns are increasingly being trained as riding steers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Longhorn On 26 June 2016, a fair-sized group of people spent the morning on a walk with Erik Butters, out past Cochrane and near Waiporous, NW of Calgary. This land is rolling, open hills and areas of woodland, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. This event was the 8th Annual Flora & Fauna Fundraising for Ghost River Watershed Outing. Fortunately, I knew how to drive to this distant location, so I was able to pick up friend Dorothy and off we went together. We allowed plenty of time to get there, just in case of heavy traffic or else we saw something interesting en route. This meant that there was time for me to stop and take a few photos of a Llama in someone's field, a couple of beautiful Longhorn cattle lying down and a small herd of maybe half a dozen Elk that we saw way off in the distance. I think everyone was more than ready for lunch by the time our hike was over! Going to our destination was all uphill, which I normally avoid at all cost. Coming down used less energy, but painful knees felt every step on the way down : ) Around 1:00 pm, Erik and his partner provided a great BBQ for those of us from Calgary and for the people who had joined us from elsewhere. As always, the food was delicious! Thank you so much, both of you! Amazingly, the sun shone and there was no rain, despite the weather forecast.

Hello, winter - again! Our forecast is "Temperature deep dive, snow on the horizon for Alberta." This morning, it is -1C (windchill -4C) and it has just started snowing at 10:00 am. Looks like we should have this kind of temperature for the next two weeks. I'm so glad I went on a birding walk yesterday and did some grocery shopping. The cat in this photo was the mother of three young kittens that my daughter and I saw at the Saskatoon Farm almost a year ago, on 21 December 2015. They were the cutest little things, having free run of the place. One spot, that was very obviously a favourite, was the pile of boxes in bright, shiny, sparkling wrapping, placed under the Christmas tree. Constantly on the move, the kittens were not easy to photograph at all. The 'gifts', loosely joined together by a string of tree lights, gradually moved away from the tree, sliding over the wooden floor. What absolute fun for these little kittens - and for any young girls that came to visit the Farm and were drawn like magnets to these irresistible cuties. On 21 December 2015, my daughter and I had our Christmas get-together. Like last year, she asked if I wanted to spend the day out of the city, looking for Snowy Owls (and other things). We were both so happy to at least see a (very distant) Snowy Owl, which she cleverly spotted, even though we had hoped to find a much closer one. Thank goodness, the previous year, my daughter and I did see and photograph beautiful Snowies E and NE of the city that were nice and close. Finding one of these magnificent birds of prey was not the only purpose in our minds, though. It was our Christmas get-together, and we had a great day, in beautiful sunshine and in one of my favourite areas to explore. We had first planned to go NE of the city, but my daughter, waiting for her surgery on 11 January 2016, didn't feel up to travelling that far. So, plans changed and instead, we went to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers delicious food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/ Afterwards, we then went a bit further, to drive some of the roads east of High River, hoping to possibly find a Snowy Owl. We went as far as Mossleigh, where we stopped to take a few quick photos of the three grain elevators and then found a group of several old barns that I don't remember seeing before. They were off the main road, but fortunately the narrow gravel road had enough snow packed on it that the short drive was very smooth. From there, we also stopped at the little wooden church at Dinton. Later in the afternoon, we couldn't resist the temptation to call in at Glamorgan Bakery on the way home and buy a few Christmas goodies, followed by a desperately needed food shopping trip. I just hadn't had a chance to go grocery shopping and had run out of even basic things. This was a huge relief, especially as I knew that I would be having a very long day on 23rd December, taking part in the Drumheller area Christmas Bird Count. Thanks so much for a great day out, Rachel. The best kind of day, as far as I am concerned : ) Many thanks, too, for the beautiful, very carefully chosen (as always!) Christmas gifts.

Gentle or aggressive? It seems to depend on which website one is searching. Wikipedia (below) says Longhorns are gentle, but last night I read that they are aggressive. Standing there on the road, I know I felt glad that there was a fence between them and us! I stood in the road to take this shot, as two of these cattle were lying down and I didn't want to force them to stand up and move away, they looked so comfortable. I did remove three strands of barbed-wire that ran across the width of the image : ) "The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to 7 ft (2.1 m) tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and 36 to 80 in (0.91 to 2.03 m) tip to tip for bulls. Similar cattle were imported by Spanish colonists into other parts of North America, including California and Florida. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring. A longhorn can be any color or mix of colors but dark red and white color mixes are the most dominant. Texas Longhorns with elite genetics can often fetch $40,000 or more at auction with the record of $170,000 in recent history for a cow. Due to their innate gentle disposition and intelligence, Texas Longhorns are increasingly being trained as riding steers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Longhorn This beautiful Longhorn was lying down in a field along Highway 40 yesterday morning, 17 June 2016, when two friends and I travelled to the meeting place for a day's walk in the Benchlands area, NW of Cochrane. The walk was in the Meadow Creek area, Ghost River Watershed, and our leaders were Heinz Unger (from Benchlands) and Gus Yaki. Just remembered that my two friends and I spotted a Red Fox at the meeting place, while we were waitng for everyone else to arrive! "Benchlands is a hamlet in Alberta within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8.[ The Ghost River is located on the hamlet's south side, while Highway 40 borders the north side." From Wikipedia. The trail took us through forest and across open meadows, with a wonderful view of the distant mountains the closer we got to our destination. I only took a few photos, including of Spotted Coralroot, a beautiful wild orchid that has tiny flowers and grows mostly in montane woodlands. I think this was the highlight for me, as I rarely get to see it. Another interesting thing that was pointed out to us was a bear 'rubbing tree', with a few strands of hair still caught in the bark. A relief that there was no bear to be seen! Thanks so much for the ride, Sandy - glad you were able to come at the last minute. Also glad that the weather was kind to us, starting off rather chilly in the morning, but gradually warming up to around 21C later in the day. Thanks so much, Heinz, for arranging for us to explore this private land and accompanying us on the hike - always a treat.

It snowed again last night and is still snowing. The temperature this morning, 24 November 2015, is -6C (windchill -14C). On 1 November 2015, it was mostly cloudy with a short windy and drizzly period. Though the temperature was 8°C, it felt cold and, once again, I wore two fleece jackets, a fleece vest and a light jacket! Bebo Grove is one of the coldest places in the city, so I made sure I was prepared. The morning had been nice and sunny, which is why I decided to meet a few friends for a birding walk. However, the rain started shortly before I was ready to leave home and I was very tempted to change my plans. Glad I didn't, as the rain stopped and I would have missed seeing this handsome Mule Deer buck and two others, in a grassy area. They were busy feeding on the dead leaves and twigs and eventually decided to lie down and rest for a while, blending in well with their surroundings. Our two-and-a-half hour walk took us through the area at the bottom of the stairs, then eastwards to bridge 4 and then west from the picnic area. Bird numbers were certainly way down. "The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are the size of their ears, the color of their tails, and the configuration of their antlers. In many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deer's tail is black-tipped, whereas the whitetail's is not. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated; they "fork" as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with whitetails. Each spring, a buck's antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. Shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_deer The other thing I would have missed is a Great Horned Owl. Not sure if it's the same one I photographed recently in the same area - I think it could be. It would have been so easy to not see this owl, as it was sleeping on top of a low, broken tree surrounded by a tangle of branches that made the owl easy to miss. Two other friends had just returned to the parking lot after going for a walk and they offered to walk back to show us where they had seen this owl, so that helped. Adding the list of bird species seen, compiled by our leader, Bernie. Thanks for a very enjoyable walk, Bernie! 1. Coopers' Hawk -1 2. Bald Eagle -2 3. Ring-billed Gull-8 4. Great Horned Owl-1 5. Hairy Woodpecker-3 6. Northern Flicker-1 7. Blue Jay-2 8. Black-billed Magpie-4 9. Common Raven-7 10. Black-capped Chickadee-30 11. Boreal Chickadee-1 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 13. White-breasted Nuthatch-1 14. Bohemian Waxwing-27 15. Pine Grosbeak-8 16. Pine Siskin-12

It snowed again last night. The temperature this morning (18 November 2015) is -4°C (windchill -11°C) and I suspect everywhere will be very slippery. On 1 November 2015, it was mostly cloudy with a short windy and drizzly period. Though the temperature was 8°C, it felt cold and, once again, I wore two fleece jackets, a fleece vest and a light jacket! Bebo Grove is one of the coldest places in the city, so I made sure I was prepared. The morning had been nice and sunny, which is why I decided to meet a few friends for a birding walk. However, the rain started shortly before I was ready to leave home and I was very tempted to change my plans. Glad I didn't, as the rain stopped and I would have missed seeing this handsome Mule Deer buck and two others, in a grassy area. They were busy feeding on the dead leaves and twigs and eventually decided to lie down and rest for a while. Our two-and-a-half hour walk took us through the area at the bottom of the stairs, then eastwards to bridge 4 and then west from the picnic area. Bird numbers were certainly way down. "The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are the size of their ears, the color of their tails, and the configuration of their antlers. In many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deer's tail is black-tipped, whereas the whitetail's is not. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated; they "fork" as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with whitetails. Each spring, a buck's antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. Shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_deer The other thing I would have missed is a Great Horned Owl. Not sure if it's the same one I photographed recently in the same area - I think it could be. It would have been so easy to not see this owl, as it was sleeping on top of a low, broken tree surrounded by a tangle of branches that made the owl easy to miss. Two other friends had just returned to the parking lot after going for a walk and they offered to walk back to show us where they had seen this owl, so that helped. Thanks, David and Melanie! Adding the list of bird species seen, compiled by our leader, Bernie. Thanks for a very enjoyable walk, Bernie! 1. Coopers' Hawk -1 2. Bald Eagle -2 3. Ring-billed Gull-8 4. Great Horned Owl-1 5. Hairy Woodpecker-3 6. Northern Flicker-1 7. Blue Jay-2 8. Black-billed Magpie-4 9. Common Raven-7 10. Black-capped Chickadee-30 11. Boreal Chickadee-1 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 13. White-breasted Nuthatch-1 14. Bohemian Waxwing-27 15. Pine Grosbeak-8 16. Pine Siskin-12

This morning, it's SNOWING! And it's settling, unfortunately. We really can't complain, though, as we have just enjoyed a wonderful fall. Yesterday afternoon, 1 November 2015, was mostly cloudy with a short windy and drizzly period. Though the temperature was 8°C, it felt cold and, once again, I wore two fleece jackets, a fleece vest and a light jacket! Bebo Grove is one of the coldest places in the city, so I made sure I was prepared. The morning had been nice and sunny, which is why I decided to meet a few friends for a birding walk. However, the rain started shortly before I was ready to leave home and I was very tempted to change my plans. Glad I didn't, as the rain stopped and I would have missed seeing this handsome Mule Deer buck and two others, in a grassy area. They were busy feeding on the dead leaves and twigs and eventually decided to lie down and rest for a while. Our two-and-a-half hour walk took us through the area at the bottom of the stairs, then eastwards to bridge 4 and then west from the picnic area. Bird numbers were certainly way down. "The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are the size of their ears, the color of their tails, and the configuration of their antlers. In many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deer's tail is black-tipped, whereas the whitetail's is not. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated; they "fork" as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with whitetails. Each spring, a buck's antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. Shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_deer The other thing I would have missed is a Great Horned Owl, seen in one of the photos I've posted today. Not sure if it's the same one I photographed recently in the same area - I think it could be. It would have been so easy to not see this owl, as it was sleeping on top of a low, broken tree surrounded by a tangle of branches. Not the best photo, but it gives an idea of how easily these owls can hide. Two other friends had just returned to the parking lot after going for a walk and they offered to walk back to show us where they had seen this owl, so that helped. Thanks, David and Melanie! Adding the list of bird species seen, compiled by our leader, Bernie. Thanks for a very enjoyable walk, Bernie! 1. Coopers' Hawk -1 2. Bald Eagle -2 3. Ring-billed Gull-8 4. Great Horned Owl-1 5. Hairy Woodpecker-3 6. Northern Flicker-1 7. Blue Jay-2 8. Black-billed Magpie-4 9. Common Raven-7 10. Black-capped Chickadee-30 11. Boreal Chickadee-1 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch-4 13. White-breasted Nuthatch-1 14. Bohemian Waxwing-27 15. Pine Grosbeak-8 16. Pine Siskin-12

Happy 4th July to all Americans, everywhere! Took this photo yesterday, 3 July 2015, when four of us were lucky enough to visit and botanize the farm belonging to Meghan Vesey and Kwesi Haizel. This 53 acre farm, Akesi Farm, is a 90 minute drive from downtown Calgary and is near the town of Sundre, NW of Calgary. It is permaculture based with future crops of eggs, mushrooms, fruits and nuts! Hard to believe that this beautiful place has only belonged to this young, hardworking, enthusiastic couple since November 2014. A tremendous amount of work, thought and planning has already gone into adding to what was already there, with a little help from family and friends. Meghan walked with us to show us the different parts of the acreage - forest and grassland. Everything seen was listed, including plants, birds, fungi, insects, animals and so on. This list will then be given to Meghan and Kwesi, along with any photos taken while we were there for the day. We are always happy to visit someone's land and compile a very detailed list of our findings for them. It's always a win/win situation - we enjoy what we are doing and love to explore a new location, and the owner ends up with a record of what was found on their property. There are several wooden buildings on their property, including this large, fine barn which I had been longing to see. As you can see from this photo, the weather was beautiful, though still much too hot for me. Having been out on several outdoor trips recently in very hot weather, as well as being home in a place that felt like an oven, I really was not feeling all that great yesterday and perhaps did a bit too much walking. I do have to also mention that we had the company of their three gorgeous dogs and one cat. The one seen in this photo is Zakyra, who must have been so hot under all that thick fur. Meghan says: "She knows the boundaries and “works” all night. During the day, she can be quite lazy! At night, Zakyra can be heard barking all over the property keeping wildlife away from the chickens and geese. Zakyra became 'our dog' when we moved in. She is a very loving and special dog." As for the cat, she followed us when we were walking around one of the ponds near the house, obviously hunting for "something". At one point, she disappeared a short way up one of the trees, only to come flying out of it a few seconds later. Judging by her behaviour afterwards, I suspected she had been stung in the eye by one of the bees and, sure enough, that's what had happened, poor thing. We were treated royally when we sat down outside to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate a delicious lunch of different salads and goodies - and cold lemonade that was more than welcome! Thank you so much, Meghan, Kwesi and Meghan's mother, Maurita, for all the work you put into preparing this feast for us - most generous! We all wish you the very best with your endeavours. With such hard work and obvious enthusiasm, I'm sure you will do well. On the way home, we stopped and walked down to the Elkton Bog. I had been there before, maybe a couple of times. We wanted to see how wet or dry the area was, at the same time seeing a few plants including carnivorous Sundew and Cotton Grass. This walk on extremely uneven ground (and wet in many places) finished me off for the day - I was utterly, totally, completely exhausted!!

This photo was taken on 23 December 2014, when I was out on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for Drumheller, NE of Calgary. The group of friends I was with, travelling in three cars, covered the NE quadrant of the Count circle plus an extra bit of land S of Highway 9. There were 10 of us in total, including 3 people from Drumheller. Part of our area included a walk along the edge of the Red Deer River. I'd forgotten that we would be doing this walk - too far for me, so I had to turn back just before the far end. When I was with the group, we spotted this little Snowshoe Hare just a few feet away from the path, hiding in the bushes. It was impossible to get a clear shot through the tangle of bear branches. It's unfortunate when these animals have turned white in the winter and there is little or no snow on the ground. This makes them a much easier target for predators. At lunch time, we were all treated to home made hot beef and barley soup and tea/coffee at the home of Jim McCabe, who lives in Drumheller and joined us for the Count, along with the two others. Jim works at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and is the senior preparation technician and lab supervisor there. "The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a Canadian tourist attraction and a centre of palaeontological research noted for its collection of more than 130,000 fossils." (Wikipedia), Located in the Badlands of Alberta, it is known for it's amazing dinosaur finds. I will add the final report of our group's leader (Gus Yaki) below. As far as Snowy Owls are concerned, the driver of the vehicle in which I spent the whole day (another Anne!) and I saw a total of 8 Snowy Owls, including owls seen on the drive to and from the Count area. That makes 18-20 Snowy Owls that I had been lucky enough to see within 4 days (10-12 of them seen when my daughter and I searched E and NE of Calgary three days earlier, on 20 December)! "HORSESHOE Canyon/Drumheller CBC, N side of Red Deer River, 0830-1315; 23Dec2014. Sunny, becoming overcast, calm, -8 to -3 to -10°C. Ring-necked Pheasant-1 m. (at Murrays). Eurasian Collared Dove-2+ Snowy Owl-1 juv. Downy Woodpecker-5 Hairy Woodpecker-2 Northern Flicker-1+ Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-9 Common Raven-4 Black-capped Chickadee-20 Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-2 House Sparrow-75. Mammals: Coyote-2, Eastern Gray Squirrel-black morph-2 Meadow Vole-1 Snowshoe Hare-1 Mule Deer-1. Feeder Birds at Jim McCabe’s Place, Nacmine, not on our territory. 1315-1400, 23Dec2014. Eurasian Collared-Dove-1 Downy Woodpecker-2 Black-billed Magpie-1 Black-capped Chickadee-5 Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 White-breasted Nuthatch-1 Also noted 9 Mule Deer on the Nacmine slope from our territory on the N. side of the Red Deer River. Birds on East Side of Count Circle, Terr #4. 1400-1530, 23Dec2014. Snowy Owl-1 ad m just N of #9, on RR 20.4, just after Jim McC. left us. May have seen it in the morning as well. Black-billed Magpie-12 Common Raven-8 Unidentified small passerine, possible Horned Lark-1, seen flying away. Mammals: Coyote-4 Two people reported Gray Jay-1. Because this is unlikely in the prairie, they have filed a Rare Bird Documentation Form. Gus Yaki" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHY THE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT MATTERS news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141227-christmas...