Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 19 November 2016

The only reason that I'm posting this uninspiring photo is that I wanted to add it to my album on the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. I was there on a birding walk on Saturday morning and our leader, Janet, had noticed this plant before and didn't know what it was. We found it growing in a small inlet leading into the Bow River. Her concern was that it might be an introduced species that should not be there. The leaves are very green for mid-November, so I should check and see if it is a non-native plant - no, it is a native plant. I don't see it very often and never think of it as introduced. Anyway, seeing as neither of us knew the ID, I sent the photo to our main Naturalist in the city and he let us know that it was Water Smartweed / Polygonum amphibium. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persicaria_amphibia This photo was taken two days ago, at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It was yet another cold, very overcast day and I almost didn't go. However, I had not been out of the house for several days in a row and just needed to get out somewhere. The lighting was atrocious, though this photo came out well enough for what I needed. Many thanks for the morning walk, Janet and Bernie, and for lunch afterwards at the Blackfoot Diner/Truckstop. Just what was needed after a cold walk. I will add their final list of species in a comment box below.

"An adult muskrat is about 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 inches) long, almost half of that tail, and weighs from 0.7 to 1.8 kg (1.5 to 4 lb). Muskrats are much smaller than beavers (Castor canadensis), with whom they often share their habitat." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat This photo was taken yesterday at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It was yet another cold, very overcast day and I almost didn't go. However, I had not been out of the house for several days in a row and just needed to get out somewhere. The lighting was atrocious, though this photo came out reasonably OK. The next photo, of a Great Horned Owl, is really bad quality, but I wanted to post it just for the record. Many thanks for the morning walk, Janet and Bernie, and for lunch at the Blackfoot Diner/Truckstop. Just what was needed after a cold walk. I will add their final list of species in a comment box below.

This photo was taken yesterday at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It was yet another cold, very overcast day and I almost didn't go. However, I had not been out of the house for several days in a row and just needed to get out somewhere. The lighting was atrocious, and this photo is really bad quality, but I wanted to post it just for the record. I hadn't seen the owl at the Sanctuary for a long time. "With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics. Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl Many thanks for the morning walk, Janet and Bernie, and for lunch at the Blackfoot Diner/Truckstop. Just what was needed after a cold walk. I will add their final list of species in a comment box below.