Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: twig

This young White-tailed Deer was hanging out with its mother and sibling yesterday afternoon, when I joined friends for a 3-hour walk in Fish Creek Park. As you can see, there is so much snow on the ground! Difficult walking if one goes off the main path in the park. Even more snow this morning, after getting yet another snowfall overnight. Thankfully, the snow removal vehicles have just driven along the street where I live. Wish everyone would move their vehicles from the street so that the snow removers can clear closer to the curb! There were not many birds to see on the walk and I got just a very distant shot of a Townsend's Solitaire that landed in a low tangle of thin branches the far side of the creek. Really just a walk for exercise and the company of friends. The sun was shining and it really was a beautiful day.

Many times that I post a photo of a mushroom or other fungus, the ID is always tentative. I am guessing that this very tiny, turquoise fungus is Blue Stain / Chlorociboria aeruginascens. I have only ever seen these tiny mushrooms maybe three times, though I have seen just the blue stain on wood more often. I will add a better, previously posted photo, taken a few years ago, in a comment box below. If my ID is correct, then the following information applies. "The stained wood is more frequently encountered, but the tiny mushrooms are seldom seen. Saprobic (i.e.mushrooms that are saprobes survive by decomposing dead or decaying organic material) on well decayed, barkless hardwood logs and sticks (especially those of oaks; "green oak" is valuable lumber); evident as green-stained wood year-round, but the fruiting bodies typically appearing in summer and fall; widely distributed in North America. The fruiting body is cup-shaped at first, becoming flattened or disc-shaped; up to 1 cm across; with a tiny stem that may be central or somewhat off-center; smooth or slightly wrinkled; uniformly blue-green." www.mushroomexpert.com/chlorociboria_aeruginascens.html On 3 September 2016, we had a fungi morning, which was quite rewarding and definitely fun. Our leader and friend, Karel, is very knowledgeable about fungi and he took 14 of us (plus Karel's two beautiful Beagles) on a foray to West Bragg Creek, maybe an hour's drive west of the city. We had been here a few times over the years, either looking for fungi or on botany outings. Photographing our findings usually means that I am way at the back of the group or have fallen back with a friend or two. Consequently, the mushrooms have often already been plucked/cut by the time we catch up to the rest of the participants. I also miss a lot of what is being said about IDs and details. It would take far too long to write down the name of each find - each photo taken would have to be carefully numbered so that the right name could be attached and this would be such a hassle when out with a group. Since this outing, Karel has sent an email containing several photos along with IDs. The rest of my photos will have to be just nameless 'pretty pictures' : ) I must add here that any IDs that I give are always tentative, as I know so little about fungi. Another thing to add is that I never, ever pick and eat wild mushrooms!! Too many look similar, some edible, others poisonous. If you are not a fungi expert, never take the risk of eating any of them. I met up with friend, Sandy, at 8:15 am and she drove us out to the meeting place. My drive from home was done with my windshield wipers on my new car working non-stop - was it raining? No, it had rained the day before - hail, too, on my gleaming new vehicle that I had only had for five days! I needed to clean the windshield, but, once again, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to turn the wipers off. Amazes me how complicated the wiper options are! Our morning walk started off by going across the small bridge not far from the parking lot, then part way up the hill and then bush-whacking our way through the forest. This walk, which ended around lunch time, was the main one, but we did stop at a small, gravel parking area a few minutes along the main road, to do a second walk to check for any different mushrooms. This extra walk has yielded a few beauties in past years. Perhaps the most interesting find was a very small twig that had several tiny, turquoise coloured fungi cups on it. The colour looks so out of place in a natural area. My photos of them did not turn out very well, but I will eventually post one of them, just for the very unusual colour. From here, a few of us stopped at the Cinnamon Spoon cafe in Bragg Creek for lunch. Always a most enjoyable way to finish any outing. Before we climbed into the car for our return drive to Calgary, Sandy and I wandered into the beautiful Art Gallery, owned and run by Bob and Candy Cook. Named Branded Visuals Inc.(Printing Services/Wildlife Gallery), this small store is overflowing with Bob's absolutely amazing photographic works of art. Thanks so much, Bob and Candy, for remembering our chance meeting a number of years ago, down in Fish Creek Park, and for your overly generous words about my own photography. www.brandedvisuals.com/index.html Thanks so much, Karel, for giving us a great morning! We really appreciate your passing on your knowledge to us. The same thanks go to Suzanne, the mushroom specialist in Calgary. Sandy, really appreciate the ride there and back!

This is one of the Lichens that was found on a day trip N of Calgary, to the JJ Collett Natural Area, on 6 October 2013. A group of people met at JJ Collett to walk some of the well-groomed trails in search mainly for liverworts, mosses and lichens. Thanks to Janet Marsh for the ID. There are about 20,000 known species of lichen in the world. What IS a lichen? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen www.sharnoffphotos.com/lichens/lichens_home_index.html

It's about time I saw a dragonfly, lol! I saw this female Cherry-faced Meadowhawk when I was on a walk at Shannon Terrrace, Fish Creek Park, high up on the main path on the southern slope. Photographed on July 4th.

A pair of Black Meadowhawk dragonflies mating. Seen on a walk at Beaverdam Flats in the city. "A dragonfly has a life span of more than a year, but very little of that life is actually as an adult dragonfly. There are three stages of the dragonfly life cycle, the egg, the nymph, and the adult dragonfly. Most of the life cycle of a dragonfly is lived out in the nymph stage and you don’t see them at all, unless you are swimming underwater in a lake or pond with your eyes opened, of course.... Adult dragonflies only live about two months." From www.dragonfly-site.com/dragonfly-life-cycle.html . "The male has appendages at the end of its abdomen which help him to clasp the female, and the size and position of these clasps fits only the right species. He may either fly in tandem with the female or bring her down to a stationary position by clasping the back of her head. The male flaps his wings and flexes his abdomen to indicate readiness to which the female responds. They may even curl to make their abdomens meet, in which case they form a heart (also known as the wheel position). Once the sperm is transferred, the male may leave or remain attached to the female to make sure that she does not mate further and in some instances till she oviposits the eggs either on water or by depositing them in plants with the help of her sharp ovipositor." From www.blurtit.com .

These beetles are only very small, but I'm always thrilled to see one. I usually find them on wild roses, but this one crawled on to a tiny twig yesterday morning, in a local park. I believe it is called Pseudogaurotina cressonii. Hey, Bernie, if you see this, this is what I was so excited about!

Yay, spring IS here! As you can see by the blue sky, today has been a glorious day, only about 13C but it felt warmer than that to me. A perfect temperature for walking. After watching a couple of far off Tundra Swans and several distant Canvasbacks on Glenmore Reservoir this morning, I took a few shots of these beautiful catkins from a Laurel-leaved Willow (North Glenmore Park). Hard to tell from this photo, but the stems are brilliant, glowing red. Very pretty.

Happened to notice this small, broken twig lying on the ground in Fish Creek Park yesterday afternoon. I could see that there was something white on the end of it and, on closer examination, I discovered this tiny beauty!