Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: alert

A photo of one of the small Swift Foxes at the Calgary Zoo, taken on 14 September 2009. Such beautiful creatures. "Captive breeding of swift foxes began in 1973 through a privately run program. In 1978, the species was officially designated as "extirpated" in Canada by COSEWIC, and a national recovery plan was approved in 1995 to reintroduce swift foxes and create a self-sustaining Canadian population. The species is now (August 20th, 2003) listed as "endangered" by COSEWIC. Swift foxes were first officially released in Alberta in 1983. By 1996, 540 foxes had been released in the Alberta-Saskatchewan border and the Milk River Ridge areas, parts of the species' native range. Most animals released were bred in captivity; the remainder were wild-born animals imported from the United States. At present (August 20th 2003), it is estimated that there are approximately 96 swift foxes in Alberta, most of them the offspring of released foxes. The population is stable or increasing slightly, but the species remains extremely vulnerable because of its small numbers and limited distribution." From www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fishwildlife/escc/pdf/swift_fox.pdf After yesterday morning's adventure in dense fog, I'm staying home today, watching the falling snow through my window. Boy, I should have posted a really bright, colourful, cheery photo today.

Back to the usual stuff I post, LOL. One of the little Swift Foxes at the Calgary Zoo - the dearest little things. Had hoped to have something new after driving south east of the city for a short while this afternoon. Weather was beautiful, scenery spectacular but, hey, whatever happened to the street numbering?!!!! I had carefully mapped out my route, only to find that the first few gravel roads were in streets and avenues, not Range Roads and TWPs. Also, I had TWO compasses on my dashboard - yes, TWO! Obviously I am doing something wrong, as the directions were totally messed up. Maybe they don't work on a dashboard? Anyone have any suggestions at all??? It just stresses me out so much when I don't know in which direction I'm driving. One of the compasses was very expensive, so I have to be doing something wrong : ( Had hoped to find the Gyrfalcon that Ron had seen. As I was leaving, a bird of prey did circle way, way up but by the time I had turned my car around, it had disappeared completely. Note added this morning: 11 of my flower images have been posted on someone's Flickr photostream (name removed as my photos were removed from there by Yahoo). He only has four pages of images so far, so most unlikely that any of them are yours. Might not hurt to keep an eye on it, though. I have put a comment under each of my images displayed on his photostream (some of which he had also turned into black and white) and will send him a Flickrmail, asking if he knows that he just cannot do this.

One of the Great Grey Owls at the Calgary Zoo doing more than just sitting motionless on a branch of a tree. It sat on this branch out in the open and preened for a while. Taken in the summer of 2007. Of course, I much prefer to see these gorgeous owls in the wild, which does happen very occasionally - always such a thrill!

This gorgeous Snowy Owl is last spring's juvenile - at the Calgary Zoo I hasten to add, LOL. I found it quite amusing to watch how active and alert this youngster was, compared to his old, worn-out parents : ) Oh, to see one in the wild THIS close : ) I do see Snowy Owls in the wild on the very rare occasion, when I am fortunate enough to be invited to go searching for them. Just breathtaking to see a wild one.

This little guy/gal let me get surprisingly close when I was on a hike along the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail (Kananaskis, Rocky Mountains) two days ago. I'd hoped (well, kind of!) for a Grizzly Bear, but had to make do with this little Columbian Ground Squirrel, LOL. However, we did see an area where a Grizzly had been digging up the ground - and it looked very recent : ) "This is the largest Alberta ground squirrel, similar in appearance to the Richardsons Ground Squirrel. A difference noted immediately, besides it usually slightly larger size, is the rusty orange colour around the nose which often extends to the throat and forelegs and sometimes to the undersides, although this area has more of a yellowing wash. It has a somewhat longer, more bushy, frosty, dark-tipped tail. The head and nape is a slate grey. The short, fine fur has three bands of colours, resulting in the back being a decidedly dappled yellowish grey.... Highwood Pass is a good area to find these animals." From talkaboutwildlife.ca .