Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: wreath

HELP is needed to find the two amazing men who stopped (in brutal, -30C weather) to help save the life of one of our birder/photographer friends, who was in a very serious vehicle accident east of the city. Mike (Mike Kelly on Flickr), who is in hospital with a broken jaw, broken wrist, and two broken legs, really, really wants to meet his two rescuers so that he can thank them in person for saving his life. Everyone is using the social media on Facebook in an attempt to find these two good Samaritans, and I thought I would add it here, too, in the hope that someone out there might just know the hoped-for information. It would mean so much to Mike! His many friends would be so happy, too. I will add the link to today's Global TV News article. Of course, it is possible that the two rescuers might have seen the News and hopefully come forward. Mike thinks that one of them might live in British Columbia, the province to the west of us. globalnews.ca/news/3949198/calgarian-who-barely-survived-... ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* I happened to come across this photo last night while searching for certain other shots. Kind of late for Christmas, but I thought it was such a cute scene. On 2 February 2014, a group of us went on an annual birding trip west of the city, that is normally to the Sibbald Creek area, Exshaw and Harvie Heights. This year, though, we drove around the Water Valley area (NW of Calgary) first and then went straight on to Harvie Heights. Very few birds to be seen in either area, but of course it was wonderful to get out to these places, in good company. At Harvie Heights, near Canmore (near Banff), there were no Grosbeaks, no Clark's Nutcrackers, etc.. The same has been true for so many walks and outings these days - where are all the birds? The day before this trip, a group of people went to a local city park and, in just under three hours of walking, saw only five species of bird. The following is the report complied by trip leader, Andrew Hart. Thanks for a great day, as always, Andrew! "Twelve of us set out on a sunny but chilly day with temperatures ranging from -14 deg C to -8 deg C. We started off by driving around in the area to the south of Water Valley as far as the Bates Ranch. We were hoping to find owls, but despite visiting several known previous sighting locations, came up short. We did see several Ravens and Magpies, some Blue Jays (at the Winchell Lake Estates), Black Capped Chickadees, a Rough Legged Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and Hairy Woodpecker. We also saw a Coyote. After lunch we went further south and encountered a family of 6-8 Gray Jays near the Bates Ranch. We then headed to Harvie Heights. En route we passed a road-killed deer swarming with 20 Ravens, and a Coyote angling to see them off. We also saw two Bald Eagles. At Harvie Heights we saw several Mountain and Black Capped Chickadees, a Brown Creeper, Pine Siskins, Dark Eyed Juncos, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (the Woodpeckers seen by Phil Quin at a feeder by the hamlet entrance that the rest of us drove past). No Pine Grosbeaks (not that much of a surprise this year) and no Clark's Nutcrackers (more of a surprise). The incredible sunlit snow blanketed scenery made up for the relative shortcomings in bird species."

Friend, Gayle, made an appointment to go to the Cochrane Ecological Institute Centre on 9 December 2017, and invited me to go along, too. I had longed to visit and, a few years ago, two friends and I were all set to go, but a major storm prevented us from going. It made an interesting morning, going on a tour of the grounds with our guide, Lisa Dahlseide. I know Lisa in connection with the Weaselhead Natural Area in Calgary and it was so nice to see that she was going to be our leader for this walk. She has such a wealth of knowledge and her personality is very much a "people person", including doing a lot of work with young children and nature. As well as being a busy mother of three young children, she is part time Naturalist with Weaselhead/Glenmore Park Preservation Society and the Education Director for the Cochrane Ecological Institute. Unfortunately, I was too busy being distracted by taking photos of things, that I missed a lot of the explanations for the animals/birds that we saw. I always think that I will be able to find information once I get home and get on the Internet, but that doesn't always happen. Knowing that Christmas was fast approaching, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this wooden Christmas wreath that was hanging on an outside wall of one of the farm buildings.. "Wildlife" that we saw including several (4?) Bison that had originally been brought up from Waterton years ago; deer; several Wild Turkeys; two Great Horned Owls; and a pair of birds that I have never seen before - White Pheasants. I missed the explanation for these Pheasants, unfortunately. After our visit to the Centre, we drove to Cochrane for an enjoyable lunch. Took a while to drive round looking for somewhere to eat - I had no idea that Cochrane had grown so much. Thanks so much, Gayle, for a different kind of day! Much enjoyed and appreciated. vimeo.com/225317099 "The CEI (Cochrane Ecological Institute) is a family founded, charitable organization devoted to breeding endangered species for reintroduction, wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release, educating the public, monitoring habitat and species, and developing non intrusive wildlife survey methods. The CEI was founded (1971) by Miles and Beryl Smeeton and is now run by their daughter, Clio Smeeton. Miles and Beryl Smeeton were internationally known sailors, mountaineers, and explorers. The Smeetons initiated the swift fox reintroduction program in Canada in 1972, six years before the species was declared extirpated in Canada. All animals held at the CEI are destined for reintroduction. They are not maintained for public exhibit, trade, or sale. Over the 26 years of its existence the CEI has also been an integral part of the Canadian Wildlife Service's Trumpeter swan (Cygnus bucinnator) and wood bison (B.b.athabascae) reintroduction programs, as well as playing a key role in the Canadian swift fox reintroduction program. The CEI is unique in that it holds the world's longest established (1972), largest (20 pairs), and only captive breeding colony of swift fox. These animals are bred solely for reintroduction as part of the CEI's ecosystem restoration program. Internationally, as species and habitat vanish, the concept of ecosystem restoration through the reintroduction of indigenous flora and fauna, is gaining greater and greater prominence. The preservation of habitat without those species, which made that habitat a viable whole, is a sterile exercise." From the CEI's website. www.ceinst.org/about-us.html "Cochrane Ecological Institute's Swift Fox Reintroduction programs began in 1972 under the direction of Beryl and Miles Smeeton. Since that time 0ver 800 Swift fox were reintroduced to the Canadian Prairie. This has resulted in the Species being downlisted by the Canadian Government from Extirpated to Endangered. In 1998 the CEI was invited by the Blackfeet Tribal Fish and Wildlife Department, Browning, Montana to join in a partnership to start the first swift fox re-introduction in the USA on the Blackfeet Tribal Lands. Defenders of Wildlife also became partners in this project and the first swift foxes were released on Blackfeet land in the fall of 1998.This program continued until 2003. The CEI was requested to design and implement a Swift Fox reintroduction program on Blood reserve lands in Alberta Canada in 2003. This resulted in only a 2 year program because of complications resulting from permitting problems and the new Species at Risk Act in Canada." From the CEI website.

Posted partly to add a splash of colour to my photostream, but also because I suspect I am going to be short of Christmasy photos this year, as I’m so late doing everything. At least most of my overseas cards and letters are now done and in the mail today. So glad I didn’t need to buy stamps – the Post Office line-up was quite long. My youngest daughter and I went to the annual Spruce Meadows Christmas Market on 14 November 2014. This is where I saw this bright reminder of growing up in England. Afterwards, on a short drive SW of the city, we stopped to photograph the row of five old, red granaries that are popular with local photographers. Unfortunately, not a cloud in the sky - clouds make for a more interesting shot. The farm was recently sold, so everyone is hoping that the new owners will leave these granaries standing. The gate was open yesterday and we could see several contractors working on something way out in the middle of the huge field. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today, 16 December 2014, is the first Christmas Bird Count out of the city. We have to be down SE, ready to start the Count by 8:00 am. We end around 4:00 pm (maybe 4:30 pm), so it's a long day of searching. Just checked the weather forecast and found the following: “FOG ADVISORY. Persistent fog with visibility near zero is expected or occurring. Fog is becoming more widespread and is expanding westward. Many locations are reporting low visibilities this evening with near zero visibilities expected to develop tonight. As the fog continues to develop additional regions may be added to the advisory. Fog will be occurring with temperatures below freezing which may result in locally slippery conditions due to freezing fog. Fog will persist into Tuesday morning. Visibility may be significantly and suddenly reduced to near zero. Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations. If travelling, be prepared for areas of near zero visibility.” Lol, sounds like perfect birding weather – yeah, right!

A friend made the base of this wreath for me two years ago, from barbed wire! I have it hanging in my tiny hallway, just inside the front door. My original plan was to hang it outside on my front door or wall, but then I discovered that the outside electric socket does not work. Now I love the light shining from the tiny Christmas lights cozy inside my place.