Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Violaceae

On 7 June 2015, it was a hot day – way too hot for my liking. I wasn’t keen on the idea of being out in the sun for three hours, but neither could I have stayed in my place one more minute - it felt like an oven! Decided to join birding friends for a walk at the west end of South Glenmore Park and we had a lovely, leisurely walk, stopping often to look at, or listen to/for, a variety of birds. I think my favourites were a pair of colourful American Goldfinch. It was also fun to see a little Black-capped Chickadee looking out from its nest cavity. Will add Janet and Bernie’s bird list below, for my own memory. There were quite a few species of wildflowers as well, including this Canada Violet. I don’t go on all that many walks, so I tend to miss many of the wildflowers. "Viola canadensis is more commonly known as Canadian white violet, Canada violet, tall white violet, or white violet. As its name suggests, it is a species of violet which bears white blooms. The flowers are white, with yellow bases and sometimes streaks of purple. The petals are purple tinged on the backside. The leaves are heart shaped, with coarse, rounded teeth. It is native to Canada and the eastern United States. It is threatened or endangered in some areas, and abundant in others." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_canadensis Thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon, both of you! A stop afterwards at the Good Earth café was so much appreciated, too. 1. Great Blue Heron - 1 2. Canada Goose - 40 3. Mallard - 5 4. Gadwall - 2 5. Swainson's Hawk - 1 6. Franklin's Gull - 30+ 7. Woodpecker sp. likely Sapsucker - 1 8. Olive-sided Flycatcher -1 9. Least Flycatcher - 12 10. Red-eyed Vireo - 2 11. Black-billed Magpie - 1 12. American Crow - 4 13. Common Raven - 1 14. Tree Swallow - 4 15. Black-capped Chickadee - 2 @nest site. 16. House Wren - 11 17. American Robin - 6 18. Cedar Waxwing - 6 19. Yellow Warbler - 10 20. Chipping Sparrow - 1 21. Clay-coloured Sparrow - 4 22. Baltimore Oriole - 1 23. Red-winged Blackbird - 3 24. Brown-headed Cowbird - 3 25. House Finch - 3 26. American Goldfinch - 5 27. House Sparrow - 2 Least Chipmunk - 1 Muskrat - 1 Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly - 10+ Blue Azure - 1 Alpine sp. Butterfly - 15+

HAPPY 4th JULY to all Americans, whether at home or overseas! A small Canada Violet flower, macro photographed at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), Kananaskis, on 12 June 2014. When I did a search for this species on my photostream, nothing showed up. I'm surprised that it has taken me eight years to post a photo, ha. "Viola canadensis is more commonly known as Canadian white violet, Canada violet, tall white violet, or white violet. As its name suggests, it is a species of violet which bears white blooms. The flowers are white, with yellow bases and sometimes streaks of purple. The petals are purple tinged on the backside. The leaves are heart shaped, with coarse, rounded teeth. It is native to Canada and the eastern United States. It is threatened or endangered in some areas, and abundant in others." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_canadensis The famous, annual Calgary Stampede begins today, with the Stampede Parade taking place downtown this morning. William Shatner (from Star Trek) is our Parade Marshall. No worries about the weather, as it's a beautiful, sunny day today. Temperature is 21°C so far, so not unbearably hot for people who are lining the parade route or taking part in the parade. Yesterday afternoon, we got up to around 32°C, which was too hot for my liking.

A photo from back on June 14th, taken in Weaselhead. Came across this macro image and decided to post it partly because I needed a change of colour on my stream - so much green recently, and I'm not a "green" person, ha. Sorry all three of my images posted today have far too much blur! These fragrant, bluish-purple flowers are up to 2 cm across. "Medicinally, early blue violet was used as a poultice for bruises, and a violet syrup was made to relieve epilepsy, inflamed eyes, insomnia, jaundice, and sore throats. In modern times, violets have been used to colour and flavour medicines." plantwatch.fanweb.ca/plant-information/early-blue-violet Yikes, just after noon and suddenly we have high winds and very heavy rain! Hope it doesn't last too long, as I really should go to the store that is supposed to be building a ground-level deck to cover my entire (very small) back yard. Heard no word back from them and so I will have to go and talk with them. Also desperately need to go and buy a new external hard drive, as I am almost out of room! I always have two on the go, but one caused major computer trouble (i.e. blue screen, etc.) a few months ago and I daren't try plugging it in again. So, must get a new one. Thunder and lightning - going to turn off my computer! Later: for those of you who may have been following the HORNBY ISLAND BALD EAGLE webcam (for the last few months or even the last few years), I've just come across this beautiful little video (created by someone who goes by the name of "beans") from YouTube, showing the Hornby Island Bald Eagle family (Mom, Dad, Alexandra and young David) - a delightful tribute to this amazing family, from nest building to egg hatching and wing flapping to a final fledging. Wishing these majestic Eagles well on their salmon fishing that has just started. Watching such a nest will change your life, I can guarantee : ) youtu.be/sgM9-Fg7v1k

LOL, I think I surprised even myself when this photo loaded - pretty sharp, unlike some of my photos : ) We saw several of these wildflowers at 12 Mile Coulee a few days ago. We don't see many of these plants in the city, so it's always a pleasure when they are found. Flowers are 10-15 mm across, growing April-early June.

This was another new plant for me on a hike along the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail in Kananaskis on 12th July. Actually, there were still patches of snow around these plants.