Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: logs

Friends, Dorothy and Stephen, made a decision to drive down south on 20 February 2017 and asked if I would like to go with them. As always, my answer was a delighted "Yes, please!" Our mutual friend, Janet, also came along. The weather forecast looked good, especially compared to the forecast snow for the next few days - actually, it has snowed in Calgary the last few days so, if it also snowed south of us, then this whole area will be looking very different now. After meeting at their house, the four of us left at 8:30 am and drove to Nanton. If one travels on Highway 2, Nanton is a 46-minute drive from the southern edge of Calgary, about 72 kms. From Nanton, we basically drove in a huge circle between Highway 2 and Highway 22, covering such beautiful scenery. Some of these roads were new roads for us, certainly for me. Each year, I take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton, and my small group covers the area to the SW of Nanton, but much closer to the town than the area we explored six days ago. There was very little or no snow to be seen for most of the day, which must be a concern to some of the local farmers. Most of the fields were completely bare. The most snow we saw was when we were driving up the Sky View Road, seen in this photo. My friends' target bird was the Golden Eagle, but all of us were happy as can be to see anything else that we might come across. As it turned out, not only did we not see a single Golden Eagle, there were not many birds of any kind to see all day. A flock of 50+ Starlings, and 25 Common Ravens, various Magpies, a few Pigeons, Canada Geese and a couple of heard Red-breasted Nuthatches were all that we saw. For animals, we saw one Coyote, five Mule Deer and a couple of White-tailed Deer. However, perhaps our biggest excitement came when we found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive. We could see the huge herd in the distance, with one lone cowboy on his horse at the rear, coming towards us. The whole procession was following another farmer, driving very slowly with a huge hay bale in the back of his truck. After taking a quick few distant shots, we climbed back into our vehicle and waited, and waited, and waited till the very last cow had walked past us. The cowboy said he appreciated the fact that we had stopped, not wanting to spook any of the animals. As soon as they were past us, we climbed out of the car to take a quick photo or two. I think I've only ever seen a cattle drive maybe twice before. So good to see a genuine cowboy at work, doing what he does so well. Another interesting stop was when we were driving along part of the Sky View Road. We came across a logging sight, with a couple of large piles of cut logs waiting to be trucked out of the area. Fortunately, it was Family Day, so there were no huge logging trucks on the rough, gravel road leading up the hillside. We were hoping to reach the Lookout in case there were amazing views from up there, but we decided that it might be risky to drive the last part of the road that would have led to the Lookout. We had climbed high enough to already find a lot more snow and the rough, narrow road was not in the best condition. This was where we saw the two White-tailed Deer. We had seen beautiful views already, lower down the road, so we were happy. "Between the Rockies' vigorous upthrusts and the recumbent lines of the grassland plains, the Porcupine Hills provide a softly rounded interface, gentle contours that stir the heart, They are always so beautiful, from the wildflowers of spring to the hazy shimmer of summer and the sharp gold of fall aspens, and even in the austerity of a landscape under the sharp shadows of snow. The hills bring magic to all the seasons." These are the first few lines from the book, "Exploring the Routes Less Travelled - Country Roads of Alberta", by Liz Bryan. This is a book that my daughter gave me a year or two ago and I had forgotten just which journeys it covered. Once I was back home, while I was Googling the area that I had just spent the day exploring with my friends, I came across this book online. The short chapter on this area made interesting reading. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day, exploring a new area. It was so much fun to see some new things and, of course, the scenery was spectacular. How lucky we are to live within reach of such beauty! Having been out so few times in many weeks, and having taken barely any photos at all, this kind of day was exactly what I needed.

I would imagine (and hope) that many, many people will be stopping today to remember the horrific events of 11th September 2001. So many mental images that will never, ever leave our minds and hearts. People from so many different countries, not just the US. So many stories of loss and heartbreak - and so many stories of bravery and heroic actions. Remembering .... all those who lost their lives on that fateful day: all those who lost loved ones and close friends or fellow workers; all those who rushed in to "do their job" or "to help others" in any way they could. Remembering .... all those who were severely injured on that fateful day and who have bravely suffered every day since then; all those Firemen, Emergency Medical people, Police - men and women, who have suffered and continue to suffer emotionally and physically, including illnesses caused by being exposed to harmful chemicals. The list goes on and on. Remembering ... and praying that we never see another day like September 11th, 2001. This photo was taken yesterday evening in South Glenmore Park, down by the Glenmore Reservoir. I went with three friends for our last but one botany walk of the year. Normally, I tend not to go out in the evenings, especially as I now find night driving difficult. However, I did go yesterday, as I wasn't sure if this was going to be our last botany walk for this year. Also, someone who went on a different day this week said he had seen a mushroom growing on a log down at the edge of the water and I was hoping to find it. Well into our walk, there it was, lol! Hence this rather strange and uninspiring photo. I did take a close photo, too, but posted this one first. Not the most beautiful fungus in the world, but I was still happy to find it. The city has released more water into the Reservoir and the narrow "shore" is now under water, unfortunately.

THIS year's annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton (roughly 98 km / 61 miles S of Calgary) was so different from last year's Count, with more snow mainly seen only from the higher roads, making the roads so much easier to drive, and temperatures that were much milder (-7C). As usual, I didn't get many birds photos, but I was very happy to get a shot or two of Sharp-tailed Grouse. I absolutely love the scenery on this Count, so I was able to get a few shots to show some typical landscapes. I usually manage to get the odd photo of a farm cat, too. The LAST Nanton Count was originally supposed to have taken place on 28 December 2013, but the weather forecast warned of a Flash Freeze, and so it was postponed till 5 January 2014. The weather was bright and sunny for us that day. However, photos taken on that day did not show how brutally cold it was! On the hour-long drive south of Calgary, we hit -34C (-29.2F)!!!!! It did eventually warm up a few degrees and thankfully, there was no or very little wind, which makes all the difference. The only walking we had to do was when we called in at various farms and homesteads. One backroad in particular had too much snow on it, so we had to leave that one out. Also, there was just too much snow in many of the farmyards, so we weren't able to check out all the trees and bushes as thoroughly as we would like to have done. After the Count, we returned to the meeting place at the home of Leah and Bill, where they had prepared a delicious supper that they so generously provide each year for us (as well as a breakfast snack). You couldn't wish for a nicer family (includes their son, Mike, who puts in a lot of effort organizing this annual Count each year). I'm posting Andrew Hart's E-bird Summary of our small (just four of us in one car) group's day (leader Tony Timmons). Won't be of interest to most of you, but it helps me remember what we see from year to year! Andrew Hart BirdLog Checklist Summary for: Dec 14, 2014 Number of Checklists: 7 Number of Species: 14 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Williams Coulee Date: Dec 21, 2014, 8:20 AM (2): CA-AB-Cayley - 50.3485x-114.0250 - Dec 21, 2014, 8:57 AM Date: Dec 21, 2014, 8:55 AM (3): Nanton general area Date: Dec 21, 2014, 9:45 AM (4): CA-AB-Nanton - 50.3330x-113.8737 - Dec 21, 2014, 11:18 AM Date: Dec 21, 2014, 11:18 AM (5): Nanton general area Date: Dec 21, 2014, 11:52 AM (6): Williams Coulee Date: Dec 21, 2014, 2:20 PM (7): Nanton general area Date: Dec 21, 2014, 2:30 PM 36 Sharp-tailed Grouse -- (2),(3) 6 Golden Eagle -- (1),(3),(5),(6) 3 Rough-legged Hawk -- (2),(3),(6) 102 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (3),(4) 1 Hairy Woodpecker -- (1) 1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) -- (4) 1 Merlin -- (4) 1 Prairie Falcon -- (1) 27 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(7) 42 Common Raven -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(7) 11 Black-capped Chickadee -- (3),(4) 4 European Starling -- (4) 21 Common Redpoll -- (4) 38 House Sparrow -- (2),(4),(7) Andrew Hart" I will also add leader Tony Timmons' account - simpler to read : ) A few of the numbers are slightly different in each summary, though I'm not quite sure why. We were so lucky to see so many Golden Eagles this Count. "Nanton Count-Area D Species 14 Rough-legged Hawk 3 Golden Eagle 5 Merlin 1 Sharp-tailed Grouse 46 Rock Pigeon 106 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Northern Shrike 1 Black-billed Magpie 36 Common Raven 44 Black-capped Chickadee 11 Common Redpoll 21 European Starling 4 House Sparrow 38 Prairie Falcon 1 Seen in Williams Coulee, included in Area B Tony Timmons"

This was taken on 9 September 2012, when I went with friends from England to the Banff area, Lake Louise, and Moraine Lake (seen in the image above). We had some sunshine at the beginning of our trip, but it poured with rain for the rest of the day. Took a few photos, anyway, and some seem to have come out reasonably, despite the weather and very low cloud cover. Surprisingly, the colour of the lake still looked turquoise, which is part of the magic of this very popular destination. Had a great day, though, thanks to Linda and Tony! I don't usually take people in my photos, but wasn't going to wait any longer in pouring rain - and I always love a red jacket. "Moraine Lake is a glacially-fed lake in Banff National Park, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet (1,885 m). The lake has a surface area of .5 square kilometres (0.19 sq mi). The lake, being glacially fed, does not reach its crest until mid to late June. When it is full, it reflects a distinct shade of blue. The color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine_Lake