Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: reeds

This evening, I have flooded my photostream, (yet again) with another 22 images taken on 22 March, Day 4 of our 13-day trip to South Texas, 19-31 March 2019. I don't seem to have all that many photos from that day - thought I took a lot more than I did at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Centre, at the Port Aransas Nature Reserve, South Texas. Day 4, 22 March 2019, was a day of birding and also driving from Rockport, where we had stayed for three nights, to Kingsville. Most of these 22 photos were taken at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve. When we arrived at that location, we discovered that only a small area near the beach was open to the public, as other parts had been closed because of damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. We had a short walk there, enjoying seeing a tiny - and fast! - Sedge Wren. We also all took photos of a white caterpillar, only to discover when we got back to Calgary, that in fact it was not a caterpillar after all, but two white moths mating : ) Shortly after leaving that area, we stopped to take a quick shot or two of a Loggerhead Shrike, perched high up on a wire. I have seen a Loggerhead Shrike before, here in Alberta, but I had never seen one this close. After we left this area, we stopped at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, on the edge of the Port Aransas Nature Reserve. We really enjoyed this birding centre and their new boardwalk and tower. Lots of birds; even a huge Alligator.

I can't remember exactly where this was, but it was somewhere in Rondeau Provincial Park. We noticed several excited birders standing at the edge of the road, so of course we had to stop and see what they were looking at. So funny, because 'all' we saw was a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which are common in Alberta. A very special sighting for birders in Ontario, though. Formed in 1894, Rondeau PP is Ontario’s second oldest Provincial Park. A delightful place! We were at the Visitor's Centre over lunchtime and an absolutely delicious curry soup was available. As for marking my photos on my map, I have no idea exactly where we saw what, so I will place all the Rondeau photos in one general location, mainly to show where Rondeau Provincial Park actually is. Also, a few of the photos may have been taken while driving to or from the park, back to our hotel in Leamington. "Rondeau protects one of the last remaining stands of old growth Carolinian Forest in Ontario. Apart from protecting 3254 ha of Oak Savannah, Carolinian Forest, Dune habitat, and Coastal wetland, Rondeau is one of North America’s best examples of a Cuspate Sandspit. Formed by the erosion and deposition of sand and gravel, the Rondeau peninsula extends into Lake Erie, and forms a protected bay which is important habitat for a variety of species at risk as well as providing many recreational opportunities. The peninsula, combined with the open bay, attracts migrating birds throughout the spring and fall, resulting in some of the best bird watching in Ontario." From Rondeau Park website. rondeauprovincialpark.ca/about-rondeau-park/ Four friends (four of the six friends with whom I went to Trinidad & Tobago in March 2017) and I left Calgary airport on 6 May 2018 and flew to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There, we rented a van and did the long drive to Point Pelee for four whole days of birding. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Leamington, which is close to Point Pelee National Park. It fills up very quickly (with birders) and our rooms were booked months ahead of time. Our four days walking at Point Pelee and area were very interesting and I, for sure, saw various things I had never seen before, including my very first Raccoon : ) Various friends had told me that the Warblers at Pelee were fantastic - so many and numerous species, and so close. Have to disagree with the "closeness" when we were there! I don't have binoculars as cameras are enough for me to carry around, so I know I missed all sorts of birds. Though my Warbler count was lower than my friends' counts, I was happy to at least get a few distant photos of some species. So many of my shots are awful, but I will still post some of them, just for the record of seeing them. Some photos are so bad that I doubt anyone can ID them. We covered several different trails at Pelee, and also drove to a few places somewhat further afield, such as Hillman Marsh. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the magnificent barn at this Conservation Area! I was in so much pain that I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk across a grassy area to take a few photos. However, it was so unusual and beautiful, that I reckoned I could try and move forward inch by inch - or crawl (ha, ha) if necessary. Another place we enjoyed was Rondeau National Park. One amazing and totally unexpected sighting just outside Pelee was a very distant male Snowy Owl sitting in a fieldl!! We walked every single day that we were at Pelee and the areas mentioned above, seeing not just birds, but a frog/toad, snakes that we suspect were mating, several Painted turtles, a few plants (including both white and red Triliums, that I had never seen growing wild before, and a couple of Jack in the Pulpit plants). The Friends of Point Pelee have food available at lunch time that one can buy. They also have a shuttle bus that one can take from the Visitor Centre all the way to the southern tip of Pelee, which is the most southern part of Canada. They have birding walks with a guide each day (there is a charge), but we walked the trails on our own, except for one morning. On 9 May, we spent the morning from 6:00 am to 11:00 am on a birding walk at Pelee with guide, Tom Hince, whom we had contacted while we were still in Calgary. At the end of our stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things. We made several trips to see different places, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese. Breathtaking! We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it was so much enjoyed! Of course, we anchored a distance away from the island and sat there and ate our sandwiches and took endless photos. It is forbidden to land on the island at nesting time. Anne B, I can't thank you enough for organizing this holiday for us all and for inviting us to spend a week at your cabin. You worked so hard and it was so much appreciated by each and every one of us. Thank you for doing all the many hours of driving, too! Janet and Anne, thank you so much for compiling the lists of birds seen each day at various locations, and posted to ebird. These entries will be a huge help while I try and sort out where we were and when, and what species we saw. Miss your cookies and muffins, Janet, that you kindly made for us in Tadoussac, to go along with the wonderful meals that Anne planned and made for us : )

I'm not sure if I have the correct ID for these snakes, but I think they might be Lake Erie Water Snakes. We saw them mating in the dried reeds along the edge of Lake Erie. This morning, I have added 6 photos from our trip to Pt. Pelee, Ontario, and Tadoussac, Quebec, in May 2018. I am trying to add any images in roughly the order in which they were taken. These 6 photos were all taken at Rondeau Provincial Park on 8 May 2018, Day 2 of our amazing trip. Formed in 1894, this is Ontario’s second oldest Provincial Park. A delightful place! We were at the Visitor's Centre over lunchtime and an absolutey delicious curry soup was available. As for marking my photos on my map, I have no idea exactly where we saw what, so I will place all the Rondeau photos in one general location, mainly to show where Rondeau Provincial Park actually is - NE of Pt. Pelee, further along the coast. Also, a few of the photos may have been taken while driving to and from the park, back to our hotel in Leamington. "Rondeau protects one of the last remaining stands of old growth Carolinian Forest in Ontario. Apart from protecting 3254 ha of Oak Savannah, Carolinian Forest, Dune habitat, and Coastal wetland, Rondeau is one of North America’s best examples of a Cuspate Sandspit. Formed by the erosion and deposition of sand and gravel, the Rondeau peninsula extends into Lake Erie, and forms a protected bay which is important habitat for a variety of species at risk as well as providing many recreational opportunities. The peninsula, combined with the open bay, attracts migrating birds throughout the spring and fall, resulting in some of the best bird watching in Ontario." From Rondeau Park website. rondeauprovincialpark.ca/about-rondeau-park/ Four friends (four of the six friends with whom I went to Trinidad & Tobago in March 2017) and I left Calgary airport on 6 May 2018 and flew to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There, we rented a van and did the long drive to Point Pelee for four whole days of birding. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Leamington, which is close to Point Pelee National Park. It fills up very quickly (with birders) and our rooms were booked many months ahead of time. Our four days walking at Point Pelee were very interesting and I, for sure, saw various things I had never seen before, including my very first Raccoon : ) Various friends had told me that the Warblers at Pelee were fantastic - so many and numerous species, and so close. Have to disagree with the "closeness" when we were there! I don't have binoculars as cameras are enough for me to carry around, so I know I missed all sorts of birds. Though my Warbler count was lower than my friends' counts, I was happy to at least get a few distant photos of some species. So many of my shots are awful, but I will still post some of them, just for the record of seeing them. Some photos are so bad that I doubt anyone can ID them. We covered several different trails at Pelee, and also drove to a few places somewhat further afield, such as Hillman Marsh. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the magnificent barn at this Conservation Area! I was in so much pain that I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk across a grassy area to take a few photos. However, it was so unusual and beautiful, that I reckoned I could try and move forward inch by inch - or crawl (ha, ha) if necessary. Another place we enjoyed was Rondeau National Park. One amazing and totally unexpected sighting just outside Pelee was a very distant male Snowy Owl sitting in a fieldl!! We walked every single day that we were at Pelee and the areas mentioned above, seeing not just birds, but a frog/toad, snakes that we suspect were mating, several Painted turtles, a few plants (including both white and red Triliums, that I had never seen growing wild before, and a couple of Jack in the Pulpit plants). The Friends of Point Pelee have food available at lunch time that one can buy. They also have a shuttle bus that one can take from the Visitor Centre all the way to the southern tip of Pelee, which is the most southern part of Canada. They have birding walks with a guide each day (there is a charge), but we walked the trails on our own, except for one morning. On 9 May, we spent the morning from 6:00 am to 11:00 am on a birding walk at Pelee with guide, Tom Hince, whom we had contacted while we were still in Calgary. At the end of our stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things. We made several trips to see different places, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese. Breathtaking! We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it

I'm not sure if I have the correct ID for these snakes, but I think they might be Lake Erie Water Snakes. We saw them mating in the dried reeds along the edge of Lake Erie. This morning, I have added 6 photos from our trip to Pt. Pelee, Ontario, and Tadoussac, Quebec, in May 2018. I am trying to add any images in roughly the order in which they were taken. These 6 photos were all taken at Rondeau Provincial Park on 8 May 2018, Day 2 of our amazing trip. Formed in 1894, this is Ontario’s second oldest Provincial Park. A delightful place! We were at the Visitor's Centre over lunchtime and an absolutey delicious curry soup was available. As for marking my photos on my map, I have no idea exactly where we saw what, so I will place all the Rondeau photos in one general location, mainly to show where Rondeau Provincial Park actually is - NE of Pt. Pelee, further along the coast. Also, a few of the photos may have been taken while driving to and from the park, back to our hotel in Leamington. "Rondeau protects one of the last remaining stands of old growth Carolinian Forest in Ontario. Apart from protecting 3254 ha of Oak Savannah, Carolinian Forest, Dune habitat, and Coastal wetland, Rondeau is one of North America’s best examples of a Cuspate Sandspit. Formed by the erosion and deposition of sand and gravel, the Rondeau peninsula extends into Lake Erie, and forms a protected bay which is important habitat for a variety of species at risk as well as providing many recreational opportunities. The peninsula, combined with the open bay, attracts migrating birds throughout the spring and fall, resulting in some of the best bird watching in Ontario." From Rondeau Park website. rondeauprovincialpark.ca/about-rondeau-park/ Four friends (four of the six friends with whom I went to Trinidad & Tobago in March 2017) and I left Calgary airport on 6 May 2018 and flew to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There, we rented a van and did the long drive to Point Pelee for four whole days of birding. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Leamington, which is close to Point Pelee National Park. It fills up very quickly (with birders) and our rooms were booked many months ahead of time. Our four days walking at Point Pelee were very interesting and I, for sure, saw various things I had never seen before, including my very first Raccoon : ) Various friends had told me that the Warblers at Pelee were fantastic - so many and numerous species, and so close. Have to disagree with the "closeness" when we were there! I don't have binoculars as cameras are enough for me to carry around, so I know I missed all sorts of birds. Though my Warbler count was lower than my friends' counts, I was happy to at least get a few distant photos of some species. So many of my shots are awful, but I will still post some of them, just for the record of seeing them. Some photos are so bad that I doubt anyone can ID them. We covered several different trails at Pelee, and also drove to a few places somewhat further afield, such as Hillman Marsh. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the magnificent barn at this Conservation Area! I was in so much pain that I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk across a grassy area to take a few photos. However, it was so unusual and beautiful, that I reckoned I could try and move forward inch by inch - or crawl (ha, ha) if necessary. Another place we enjoyed was Rondeau National Park. One amazing and totally unexpected sighting just outside Pelee was a very distant male Snowy Owl sitting in a fieldl!! We walked every single day that we were at Pelee and the areas mentioned above, seeing not just birds, but a frog/toad, snakes that we suspect were mating, several Painted turtles, a few plants (including both white and red Triliums, that I had never seen growing wild before, and a couple of Jack in the Pulpit plants). The Friends of Point Pelee have food available at lunch time that one can buy. They also have a shuttle bus that one can take from the Visitor Centre all the way to the southern tip of Pelee, which is the most southern part of Canada. They have birding walks with a guide each day (there is a charge), but we walked the trails on our own, except for one morning. On 9 May, we spent the morning from 6:00 am to 11:00 am on a birding walk at Pelee with guide, Tom Hince, whom we had contacted while we were still in Calgary. At the end of our stay at Point Pelee, we had to drive all the way back to Toronto, from where we flew to Quebec airport. From there, we had a four-hour drive to Tadoussac on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is such a delightful, small place and in a beautiful setting. One of our friends, Anne B, and her husband have a summer cabin further along the cliff from the few stores and port. She had invited the four of us to go with her from Pelee to spend a week at her beautiful home. What an absolute treat this was! We were able to meet some of her relatives, too, who also have built cabins out there. We were looked after so well, and we were able to see and photograph all sorts of birds and other things. We made several trips to see different places, including the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, where we were able to see endless thousands of Snow Geese. Breathtaking! We also had two boat trips from Tadoussac - one was a whaling trip in a Zodiac, where we saw very, very distant Beluga and Minke Whales. The Belugas looked almost like the white wave crests - but they were Belugas. The other boat trip was to the Brandy Pot Islands, inhabited by thousands of Razorbills and Common Murres, which were new birds for us, and Double-crested Cormorants that were nesting in tree tops. That long boat trip (in a tiny boat named Juno) started off in the rain and dark clouds and it was soooo cold! Thermal underwear, layers of fleece and toque and gloves were needed. This day was arranged through a contact of Anne's and it

Our Christmas Bird Count three days ago started at Frank Lake. There was some open water closer to the outlet, but most of the lake was frozen. Three days ago, on 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant. Looked like there could be about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon the next day! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night! I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it. One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow. Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders. "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open. Mallard-500 Northern Shoveler-1 f. Northern Pintail-2 Common Goldeneye-3 Gray Partridge-8 Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake Prairie Falcon-1 Rock Pigeon-56 Great Horned Owl-6 Snowy Owl-1 Blue Jay-4 Black-billed Magpie-17 Common Raven-4 Song Sparrow-1 Snow Bunting-150 Common Redpoll-790 House Sparrow-202 Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind. Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m. Coyote-4 Skunk track by observation blind Meadow Vole-1 Mule Deer-6 Moose-1 f. Km by Car- 58 Km on foot -5 Total km - 63 Time by car – 2 hrs Time on foot-5 hrs Total party hours-7 hrs"

On 10 October 2017, I decided to join friends for a three-hour walk - that included a fair bit of standing - at the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park. I was hoping that there might still be some fall colour to be seen. Strong winds and snow had removed a lot of the leaves from the trees, but there were still enough to give a golden glow to photos. We had a few good sightings, including a Great Blue Heron that seemed to have a problem with swallowing a very tiny fish it had caught. It would catch the fish, and then drop it back in the water, and repeated this several times. I don't think it ever did catch and actually eat it. Another fun thing to see was a male Downy Woodpecker that suddenly flew down to someone's hand. Chickadees and Nuthatches were also very aware that we were standing there. They are so busy searching for and collecting food to store away for the long, harsh winter months. Great Horned Owls nest each year at the east end of the park and have done so for years. I don't know how on earth someone spotted the one we saw on this walk. It was perched far away in a wooded area and was almost impossible to see. If I moved two or three inches to the left or right, the owl was hidden from view. Even though I have seen endless owls over the years, it is always a good feeling to see one again. I guess I missed the owls in this area back in March or April of this year - too busy with preparations for my trip to Trinidad & Tobago, but also, last winter was so brutal.

This beautiful Great Blue Heron was further away than it looks from my photo, but usually I see them flying way overhead or the distant side of a large pond. So, it was great to see one a little bit closer. This bird was seen yesterday, 19 June 2016, at a local pond during an afternoon birding walk - in fact, the very last birding walk of the season until around the end of August. We started our walk at Bankside and ended up at Mallard point four hours later, following the path along the Bow River. Driving the park road to Bankside, we stopped to check out the Burnsmead Ponds, where this beautiful Heron was standing. Another photographer was already there - nice to meet you, Susan, and I enjoyed our little chat. The Sunday afternoon walks are more laid back and tend to be at a more leisurely pace, which suits me much better, so I go when I can. Hard to believe that we ended up seeing 50 bird species! The absolute highlight was when Jeff H. heard, then spotted, a Grasshopper Sparrow. A very clever sighting! I have never seen one and, until recently, had never even heard of such a Sparrow. It couldn't have been much more difficult to see, as it only popped up from the grass and bushes two or three times for a split second, before disappearing again. Eventually, it flew to the plant seen in my next photo, and I was finally able to see it. I think this might just have been the fastest reaction with my camera that has ever happened and somehow the lens luckily focused on the bird rather than just on the leaves in front. Just enough detail to confirm the ID. Thanks so much, Jeff, for finding this great bird for us! Yesterday evening, I got an e-mail from Terry Korolyk, who has spent so many years finding, recording and reporting not only all his own sightings, but those of so many other people. So much work and such valuable data. He wrote the following to me: "You guys got a good one. Haven't seen a Grasshopper Sparrow report around Calgary for quite some time now. We used to occasionally get one reported east of the City. Some places in the south part of the Province used to be good for them with probably the nearest site being north of Taber. Not many reports from down there in recent years, but, I don't think anybody's gone down there looking for them." I did a quick check on ebird last night and found the following most recent sightings from Calgary and surroundings. Of course, there could have been a few unreported sightings in addition to these: 1987 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary at the Irricana Sloughs 1988 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary in Weaselhead 1988 - 6 reported by Nature Calgary at the Irricana Sloughs 1994 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary at Frank Lake FFCPPSoc. Birding Burnsmead Ponds, Bankside to Mallard Point, FCPP, Calgary. 1:15 - 5:15 PM. Sunday, June 19/16. Our Group of Seven enjoyed a sunny, warm (20 to 24C), afternoon with only light westerly winds. 1. Pied-billed Grebe - 1 2. Double-crested Cormorant - 4 3. Great Blue Heron - 2 4. Canada Goose 6 (2 adults,4 goslings) 5. Mallard - 28 6. Gadwall - 5 7. American Wigeon - 7 8. Northern Shoveler - 2 9. Blue-winged Teal - 6 10. Common Goldeneye - 3 11. Common Merganser - 6 12. Cooper's Hawk - 1 13. Red-tailed Hawk - 1 14. Swainson's Hawk - 1 15. Osprey - 1 16. Merlin - 1 17. Ring-necked Pheasant - 3 18. American Coot - 7 (2 adult, 5 young) 19. Spotted Sandpiper - 8 20. Franklin's Gull - 275 21. Ring-billed Gull - 2 22. California Gull - 1 23. Rock (Feral) Pigeon - 3 24. Northern Flicker - 5 25. Downy Woodpecker - 3 26. Western Wood Pewee - 1 heard 27. Least Flycatcher - 2 28. Eastern Kingbird - 2 29. Warbling Vireo - 1 heard 30. Black-billed Magpie - 3 31. American Crow - 4 32. Common Raven - 5 33. Tree Swallow - 30 34. Bank Swallow - 20 35. House Wren - 5 36. American Robin - 32 37. Cedar Waxwing - 6 38. European Starling - 3 39. Yellow Warbler - 6 40. Clay-coloured Sparrow - 5 41. Savannah Sparrow - 48 42. GRASSHOPPER SPARROW - 1 found by Jeff H. Photo'd by Anne E. 43. Song Sparrow - 3 44. Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 45. Baltimore Oriole - 1 46. Red-winged Blackbird - 53 47. Yellow-headed Blackbird - 5 48. Common Grackle - 5 49. Brown-headed Cowbird - 5 50. House Sparrow - 8 Muskrat - 1 White-tailed Deer - 1 Swallowtail Butterfly -1 Leaders: Bernie Diebolt, Janet Gill

I never tire of seeing this view looking over Middle Lake, in Bow Valley Provincial Park. When I drove out there three days ago, I knew this was one of the places I wanted to stop at. On 20 July 2014, I plucked up courage to do this drive that I’d never done before. I had been that route once before that I can think of, when I carpooled with others and I have visited the park quite a few times over the last few years, always carpooling with others, but going along the main HIghway 1, not 1A. A good part of the drive was in familiar territory, but I’d never driven the last part of the journey myself. I had met my youngest daughter at 9:00 a.m. and we were both eager to see a display of birds of prey that had been brought up from the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre. We came across Dee (rockymtnchick) and her partner, there to see the owls. Great to see you both! This year, there were fewer birds, but it was great to see any at all. There was a Burrowing Owl, a Barn Owl, a Great Horned Owl (photo posted two days ago), and a Golden Eagle. Another real treat that was an amusing one, was seeing a baby Barn Owl that was just 45 days old! This little ball of fluff was acting as a great ambassador, letting young kids get a close view and ask questions, and fall in love with it – and to hopefully, in the future, do everything they can as adults to protect our precious wildlife. The enjoyment of seeing these birds up close reminds one that the reason these birds are not free to live in the wild, is because of some kind of interaction with humans – such as permanent injuries from being hit by a vehicle, pesticide use, or even worse, being shot by a human! This is what happened to “Spirit”, the magnificent Golden Eagle, shot and blinded by someone. This exhibit was our first destination in the park, though on the drive from Calgary, we had stopped at the small McDougall Church at Morley (one of the photos posted two days ago). After seeing and photographing the birds of prey, we then drove to Middle Lake that’s in a different part of the park. We walked the very short distance to the edge of the lake, but didn't walk around it. From there, we drove to Many Springs Trail and did a very slow walk around the lake, stopping to look at and photograph different wildflowers and a few butterflies. Though slow, it was still further than I should have walked. Certain wildflowers were already finished, including various Orchid species, but there were still plenty of other species to see and enjoy. Even the weather cooperated, though the forecast had been for isolated showers. Not too hot, nice clouds in the sky and lovely to have my daughter’s company for the day. Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always long to go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was a much-appreciated treat!

This is where seven of us spent the day yesterday, recording all flora and fauna that we saw. Bow Valley Provincial Park lies at the foot of the very first mountains when one drives westwards from Calgary for roughly 45 minutes. In other words, the Park lies at the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. It's a very popular place with botanists, birders and photographers of any kind. We weren't sure just what we would find when we arrived, especially how much or little the Park had been affected by the recent flooding in Alberta. Parts of the Park were closed, so we didn't walk at Many Springs, but instead walked the Flowing Waters Trail and around Middle Lake (that you see in my photo above). The water level was high and the reeds around one part of the lake were lying on top of the water. I had seen two Common Loons out in the middle of the lake on 18 June, when I spent the day in the rain walking around this lake and Many Springs. Wonderfully, these Loons were still there yesterday and we saw and heard them calling. Such an amazing sound. They tend to stay in the middle of the lake, which makes it difficult or impossible to photograph them. My next photo shows one of them, 48x zoomed and heavily cropped : ) The weather was perfect yesterday and it felt so good to be out and to have no rain at all. I couldn't help but feel rather guilty, though, going out enjoying myself in such a beautiful place, knowing that there were so many people back in Calgary and so many other parts of southern Alberta, who were dealing with flooded basements and other damage. The person who was going to be leading this trip lives in nearby Exshaw and he was unable to come because of dealing with the bad flooding there. In fact, sadly, it's most likely that he has lost his house completely. It's so frustrating to me that a painful back, hips, etc. won't let me help with any clean-up. All I can do is donate to the Red Cross, and carry on with my usual volunteers shifts. I was expecting to hear from many flood victims, but only had a call from one family who had had to come to Calgary from High River, where everyone was so badly affected by the floods. We are expecing a lot more calls from flood victims in perhaps another couple of weeks. Lol, I'm not sure if I slept for 12 or 13 hours last night!!! Haven't done that for years - I usually get between 2 and maybe five hours of sleep a night. Only got about an hour and a half of sleep befere I went on this trip yesterday, partly because I was busy posting the rest of my Flickr photos on another site, but mainly because of emotional tiredness from seeing all the devastation form the "Flood of the Century" in Calgary and the rest of the southern part of the province. I was so tired when I got home late afternoon and was falling asleep at my computer, so by 4:00 p.m. I had no choice but to lie down for maybe "an hour", ha.

Yesterday, 18 June 2013, a few of us spent the day out at Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of Calgary, on the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. This area is a well-known location for birds and especially wildflowers. Unfortunately, it rained for almost the whole time we were out there, while we walked all round Middle Lake (seen in my photo above), then walked to and around Many Springs and then back to the cars at Middle Lake. From there, we drove down to the River and, as the sun was now out, we did just a short walk through the trees along the river's edge. Lol, I was totally exhausted by the time I got home - I'm used to slow-paced walks/hikes, stopping all the time to take photos. Yesterday was (for me) a fast-paced hike, which my body can't cope with, ha. Managed to get this photo of a view across Middle Lake taken when we were almost back to the cars and the weather brightened. During our walk round this lake, we saw two Loons, which was a treat. Needless to say, they were right out in the middle of the water, much too far to get even a half-decent shot. Posting my "daily three" late morning, as I needed to sleep as long as I could after yesterday's exercise : ) We have a Weather Alert in place at the moment - heavy rainfall warning. Just before 10:00 p.m. - wow, thunder, lightning, torrential rain! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was shining when I left the city. Half an hour later, this is the weather that was at my destination. Better, though, than the previous time I went recently, when everywhere was coated in freezing fog. This is the bird blind at Frank Lake, half an hour's drive from the southern edge of Calgary, taken on 19 April 2013. It's still snowing here this morning, after snow all day yesterday. Will have to clear the snow and ice off my car and see what the roads are like. I'm planning on going on a trip east of the city with friends, to visit a place I've been longing to see, so hopefully the roads will be OK. Lovely spring weather, ha.

An old photo from my archives, taken on 27 June 2011, when I went to Bow Valley Provincial Park for a day's outing. This is just one of the beautiful views. This park lies at the foot of the very eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, overlooked by Mt. Yamnuska. A great place, especially for wildflowers.

Yesterday, four of us met across the city at 7:30 a.m. and made the long drive NW of the city to the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, Spruce View, near Raven, Alberta - about 70 kilometers west of Innisfail. (Location on map is very approximate location of Spruce View, just to give a very rough idea of where we were in Alberta and as a reminder for myself.) "Founded in 1984, the Medicine River Wildlife Centre is a nonprofit organization operating under federal and provincial permits to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. MRWC now treats close to 1200 wildlife patients annually. MRWC's education programs encourage people to respect our environment and do their part in keeping wildlife safe. MRWC presents to almost 200 groups annually from schools to youth groups, to seniors to service clubs." From the MRWC website. Carol Kelly, executive director of Medicine River Wildlife Centre, and staff member Judy Boyd, made us feel most welcome, just as they have done on the other two (or is it three?) times that I have been there before. Judy very generously came with us for the day, taking us on a very interesting botanizing walk in the morning - we even found some fungi : ) After lunch, she asked us if we would be interested in travelling by canoe to check out the enormous Sandhill Slough that lies near the Centre, with a great observation tower from which one can gaze over the peaceful scene and listen to various bird songs that break the silence. We heard Sandhill Cranes, but were unable to spot them. Judy wanted to cut a few stalks of fresh green leaves (cattails?) to feed to the baby Beavers that were back inside the building, calling the Centre "home" temporarily. What an absolute thrill this was for us, to paddle our way through the reeds and open water, passing a few glorious Yellow Pond Lilies and skimming over masses of submerged Bladderpod on our journey. The arrival of dark clouds and distant thunder brought us back to the safety of shore! As always on our botanizing outings, all species of plant, bird, insect, fungi, animal, were listed, helping to create a more complete list for any area we explore. The Centre also does an amazing job of placing orphaned wildlife with foster families of the same species and this, along with all the other endless tasks, keeps them busy non-stop. Their dedication is something to witness - their respect for wildlife (shown through wildlife rehabilitation, education and research), awe-inspiring. Busy, busy, busy, day after day. They have a new dream - unfortunately, a very necessary dream - to replace the old building with a brand new one. Grants help with this, but there is also a lot of public fund-raising that goes on. They welcome every bit of help. This day would not have been possible if our friend, Stephen, had not offered to come and pick two of us up at the end of the day. When we met at the meeting place early morning, we discovered that the two people who were going to be the drivers were not coming back to the city, but instead were going to stay overnight for a very different event this weekend. It looked like the remaining two of us were not going to be able to go after all. Then Stephen, who was not coming, but was only dropping off his wife, offered to drive the long, long way to the Centre late afternoon, to pick us up. This was an incredibly generous offer, one that the two of us appreciated tremendously! Thank you so much, Stephen, for being your usual, generous self, and enabling us to spend such an enjoyable, interesting day of botanizing!! If you would like to assist injured wildlife so that they can receive proper medical treatment, be rehabilitated and then re-introduced into the wild, please contact Carol at (403) 728–3467 or email her at info@mrwc.ca. They are just in the middle of creating a new website and hope to have it completed soon. Meanwhile, check them out on Facebook. www.facebook.com/pages/Medicine-River-Wildlife-Centre/754... culture.alberta.ca/communityspirit/profile/medicineriver.... 24 Hour Emergency Line (403) 728-3467

Looking into the sun, the water and reeds were sparkling with tiny starbursts. This is a view at Lloyd Park, looking over the lake, taken on October 13th. I called in here just briefly on my way home from driving into Kananaskis along Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66). This lake is just south of Highway 22X.

I only took a few photos yesterday, when I went with several others to Bow Valley Provincial Park for the day. These were birders, LOL, and they walk at a much faster pace than my botany friends! Also, most of the wildflowers have finished now, apart mainly from Asters. This park is well known for its amazing displays of wildflowers - best time, end of June. I always love the view across this small lake, Middle Lake, with reeds in the foreground. The sky darkened with clouds as the day wore on and my scenery photos came out dark blue and little else. I've adjusted colours, etc. in this one, so that you can actually see something, but still not sure now that I've got it right ; ) Was out for about three hours this morning in Fish Creek Park. Raining and cold - well, it's only 6C this afternoon! The average low for today is 7C, so that tells you something. I think the average high for today is 21C. I ended up having to drive to three different spots, all pretty close together, as I was just in too much pain to do a long walk at a fairly fast pace. Saw a few things including two handsome White-tailed Bucks, two teeny slugs on a post, and various birds. I hadn't been to this part of the park for ages and was shocked at the devastation caused by one recent storm. So many large trees had been blown down. I was relieved to see that the Great Horned Owl's new nesting tree for this year was still standing, but two trees near it had fallen to the ground. The young owls had used these other two trees when they were learning to fly, so I'm not sure if the adults will use this nesting tree next year.

Bow Valley Provincial Park is located at the confluence of the Bow and Kananaskis Rivers, immediately east of the front range of the Rocky Mountains. It is less than an hour's drive west from Calgary along the Trans Canada Highway. This park has an amazing variety of plants, especially, and is a popular place for botanists and birders to explore, not to mention spectacular scenery. Took this photo mid July last year, on a trip with friends to botanize.

I love patterns that form in water. I always think the dried reeds at Frank Lake form fascinating shapes and reflections. So, when the birds are too far away, my camera turns to things close by : )

This photo gives an idea of what the Frank Lake area is like (mountains in the far distance). It is a well-known and very popular place for birders to visit, providing sightings of many different birds. I was so lucky today, when a friend invited me to drive down to the area for the day. As well as all the waterfowl species, we also saw two White-faced Ibis there (always a thrill, as these are very rare from May to September!) and two Great Horned Owl's nests. One nest had three large, fluffy owlets sitting on it and the other location had one owlet on a nest and another out on a branch. This latter baby was SO cute! Will probably upload a photo of it next time : ).