Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: snowflake

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! Yesterday was a beautiful winter wonderland with hoar frost decorating everything in sight. Took me longer to get out to a local park than I wanted, but I eventually went for a short walk. It started off quite cold, but the warm sun quickly melted the ice crystals. I was trying to take a few macros, when I happened to notice this teeny snowflake just in time :) I did find another one, which had a more typical snowflake shape than the one above.

I dashed down to the park yesterday afternoon to try and get a few snowflake photos. Got an awful lot of blurry photos, but also maybe two or three that were just about sharp enough. This was the most complete snowflake that came out, but I wasn't sure about it on a black background. Not very Christmasy, so I'll keep a brighter shot of a slightly melted snowflake for a bit closer to Christmas. If you happen to think of it (you know, in between baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping, etc., etc., - yeah, right!), let me know which one you prefer. I just couldn't make up my mind which was my favourite of the two. It was slightly windy and, oh boy, does that make it harder to get anything that is so light and delicate in focus, LOL. I guess I should have taken my tiny, table-top tripod that I tend not to bother with any more. I loved it when I was trying to focus on a certain snowflake and another one with a completely different pattern, gently landed on it or nearby. What a magical world it was : ) I had such a lovely morning today - a Christmas get-together with a whole bunch of friends whom I hadn't seen for about a year and nine months!! My out-of-town botanizing trips are always on Fridays, so I've been unable to go these usual weekly get-togethers with friends. What a wonderfully warm, welcoming bunch of people they are - I'm very lucky to know these folks! I have to set my two alarm clocks and my kitchen timer for around 3:50 tomorrow morning - i.e. not all that much later than I normally get to bed! - as I have to be halfway across the city for 6:30 a.m., ready for travelling westwards with a few friends to do the Christmas Bird Count in Canmore (near Banff). Just hope I don't sleep through my alarms! I think it was three years ago that it was -30C on this Canmore Count and five hours of walking in it was not exactly fun : ) No bird photos, but I got some beautiful icicle shots, ha. The 2010 count is the National Audubon Society's 111th annual Christmas Bird Count! Sunday is the Calgary Christmas Bird Count, so it will be another early start.

This is the second blurry photo I've uploaded today! I needed some vibrant colour today - we are still in our deep-freeze and according to the weather forecast, we have about four more days before temperatures become a bit more bearable. My camera must wonder what's going on and suffering feelings of rejection. I've been just too busy the last two weeks to go out, too sad, and when you see the windchill temperature is -31C (-24F), it just makes you want to stay home in the warmth with a steaming mug of coffee, anyway. Last night, I finally wrote the words I wish to be read at my Brother's funeral in England - not the easiest thing to do, of course, and this afternoon I have a rare-for-me, splitting headache that burns every time I cough. John's funeral should be sometime within the next ten days. This tiny snowflake, even though it's so blurry, soothes me a little today : ) Taken at Glennfield in Fish Creek Park on December 16th. I'm still hoping that we get this kind of fluffy snow again, but so thankful that I went down to the park that day. Later afternoon: just received an e-mail, saying: "Three WHOOPING CRANES found Dead. Wildlife scientists at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, have concluded through preliminary testing the cranes found dead near Albany, Georgia, on Dec. 30, 2010, sustained injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. The cranes were shot sometime before Dec. 30, 2010. They were discovered and reported by hunters. The three cranes, 20-10, 24-10, and 28-10, were part of a group of five 2010 Direct Autumn Release (DAR) cranes. According to Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership trackers, they had last been tracked in Hamilton County, Tennessee, where they roosted on December 10, 2010,with cranes 6-05, 6-09, and 38-09." How could anyone carry out such a despicable act - against any wildlife, but even more so against such a highly threatened species??? www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/5263418981/

Just before last Christmas, I took a couple of photos of two of my little metal snowflake tree ornaments. Came across this photo of the second decoration the other day, and thought I'd post it. Would SO much prefer to have the "real thing" to photograph, but I'm still waiting for another day where the snow is actually falling in snowflake form. Taken down in Fish Creek Park at Bebo Grove.

This snowflake Christmas ornament was hanging on a snow-covered Spruce tree that someone had decorated in a local park (natural, not a groomed park) almost a week ago, along with the gorgeous blue bauble that I posted to Flickr a few days ago.

Created yesterday down at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. Such an overcast, cold day with a strong windchill of -21C.

It was gently snowing yesterday when we did our full-day Christmas Bird Count in the Snake's Head/Sundre area, north west of the city. I was wearing bright red, fleece mitts when we got out of the car occasionally to call in at someone's homestead. I thought this tiny snowflake was SO gorgeous, looking (to me) rather like a diamond ear-stud. If only I could have brought it home with me (LOL) so that I could try to photograph it properly with my macro lens and table-top tripod! The light snow today had no beautiful flakes, just tiny specks of white : (. Lyn (and Howard), if you happen to see this sometime, it's to say "Thank you" for the all-day ride yesterday. You, too, Dorothy (and Stephen), for getting me to and from the Count meeting place! Rebecca, you might like this one, too? : ) Oh, and by the way, I'm not interested in real diamonds (not "me" at all!) - only the kind that fall from heaven : )

OK, I just NEEDED this, LOL! It was -23C when I went to bed last night and the cold just goes on and on and on ...... Stay warm, everyone!