Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: private property

This is a three-week-old Barred Owlet, really just a bundle of fluff that was too young to do anything : ) It and its only sibling were carefully shown to a group of us bird lovers and photographers, so this is not a "natural" photo, but a posed one. On 4 June 2013, we had such a great day! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) on private land up near Edmonton. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and me up there. The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! As usual, we felt so privileged to get this wonderful chance! Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded one of these that he hadn't yet banded), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other was three weeks old. The Barred Owlets were very much bigger than the Saw-whets. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_Owl

This is a three-week-old Barred Owlet, really just a bundle of fluff that was too young to do anything : ) It and its only sibling were carefully brought down from the nesting box to show a group of us bird lovers and photographers, so this is not a "natural" photo, but a posed one. Of course, me being me, I loved the bright orange lichen that was growing on this branch, too : ) On 4 June 2013, we had such a great day! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) on private land up near Edmonton. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's paid work (his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so really this was the last chance he'd be able to do this. As usual, we felt so privileged to get this wonderful chance! Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded one of these that he hadn't banded with the others the other day), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other was three weeks old. The Barred Owlets were very much bigger than the Saw-whets. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog (photo posted today, too). Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : ) Previously posted photo of an adult Barrred Owl (seen at a talk at the University of Calgary a few years ago) is in a comment box below. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_Owl It's pouring with rain and thunder here this afternoon and I'm so glad : ) Waiting for my car to be looked at and fixed next Tuesday, so I am avoiding going out anywhere for these few days. A wet day makes it easier to bear, ha. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This tiny Northern-Saw-whet Owl female has six little ones this season. On 4 June 2013, we had such a great day! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) on private land up near Edmonton. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's paid work (his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so really this was the last chance he'd be able to do this. As usual, we felt so privileged to get this wonderful chance! Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded one of these that he hadn't banded with the others the other day), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other was three weeks old. The Barred Owlets were very much bigger than the Saw-whets, but they, too, were about 3 weeks old, I believe. The female adults of both families were up high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on (image above shows the female Northern Saw-whet Owl), so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog (photo posted today, too). Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : ) "Adults are 17–22 cm (6.7–8.7 in) long with a 42–56.3 cm (17–22.2 in) wingspan. They can weigh from 54 to 151 g (1.9 to 5.3 oz) with an average of around 80 g (2.8 oz), making them one of the smallest owls in North America. In relative size to other owls they are close to the size of an American Robin." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This helpless little thing is a tiny Northern Saw-whet Owlet, around one week old, being held very gently by the five-year-old daughter of Richard Chamberland, licensed Raptor Bander. I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) up near Edmonton. Both families of owls had nested in wooden nest boxes. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes, that were on private property). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's paid work (his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so we were lucky to get this chance. Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded the older one of these that he hadn't banded with the others the other day, but that was now old enough to be banded), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets, seen in the image above) was only about a week old and the other was three weeks old. I think the Barred Owlets were about three weeks old. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog. Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : ) Previously posted photo of an adult Northern Saw-whet Owl is in a comment box below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id NO WILD BIRD OR ANIMAL SHOULD EVER BE TAKEN HOME AS A PET!!!

A very grainy photo, taken deep in the woods where the light was not good, but I did want to add it to my Sets. Not every day that we see a tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) up near Edmonton. Both families of owls had nested in wooden nest boxes. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes, that were on private property). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's paid work (his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so we were lucky to get this chance. Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded the older one of these that he hadn't banded the other day and that was now old enough to be banded), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other was about three weeks old. I think the Barred Owlets were about three weeks old. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. My photo above shows the adult female Saw-whet before she left the nest box that Richard had built and placed on the property of someone who had volunteered to have a nest box. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog. Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id NO WILD BIRD OR ANIMAL SHOULD EVER BE TAKEN HOME AS A PET!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This cluster of Oyster Mushrooms was quite spectacular. Found while botanizing private property near Millarville, south of the city, on 25th June.

I would have prefered a photo of the other side of this large Orb-Weaver spider, but the only ones I managed to get of the upperside were when it had crawled along its web and half disappeared behind leaves - and these shots came out too blurry. Seen on a hike in the Porcupine Hills on private property, back on 5th September.

The ground was covered with similar mushrooms, in every direction, and though every single one was old and withered, I thought they had a strange kind of beauty. What a sight it must have been when they were all fresh! Seen in a small area of mixed trees in Jim Coutts' homestead garden, south of the city, near Nanton, on 5th September.

The countryside south west of Calgary is so beautiful - rolling, endless hills with a backdrop of the distant Rocky Mountains! No doubt they are now covered with a blanket of snow, but I loved the mix of sunlight and shadows when we did this hike on 5th September. We were very lucky to be given this chance to botanize a brand new area, as this was on private property, west of Nanton.

This was just one small view seen yesterday, when four of us explored (i.e bird and botanize) someone's private property in Millarville. Some areas were meadows of Dandelions, others had native plants in good supply, and some places had been taken over by non-native species, such as Brome Grass. A very beautiful and interesting 20 (?) acres! Thank you, Marilyn, for this privilege!

Tall Lungwort, also called a Bluebell, has buds that are pink. I didn't notice the tiny insect wings until I saw my photo on my computer. Sometimes, the flowers of this wildflower are pale blue and other times quite a deep, rich blue. These ones were growing near Millarville, south of Calgary, on private property that four of us were lucky enough to bird and botanize yesterday

Three days ago, 4 June 2013, we had such a great day! I had been invited (and could bring a couple of friends) to go and see a family of tiny Northern Saw-whet Owls (with 6 owlets) and a family of Barred Owls (2 owlets) on private land up near Edmonton. It's a three-hour drive from Calgary north to Edmonton, and then the owls were a further half-hour drive. (We had just a very short drive between the two owl familes). Worth every minute of it to see these two species of beautiful owls! Thanks so much, Rob, for driving Phil and I up there - I appreciate it SO much! Good to have the company of you guys - made the journey seem shorter : ) The owls were a little younger than they might have been, but still so precious to see! Richard's work (paid - his endless work with owls and other raptors is all voluntary) gets busier from now on, plus his summer weekends will be spent with his family (good for him!), so really this was the last chance he'd be able to do this. As usual, we felt so privileged to get this wonderful chance! Richard showed us two of the six Saw-whet babies (and banded one of these that he hadn't banded with the others the other day), and both the Barred Owlets. One of the Saw-whets was only about a week old and the other (seen in the photo I posted yesterday) was three weeks old. I think the Barred Owlets were about three weeks old and were very much bigger than the Saw-whets. The female adults of both families were high in fairly near, tall trees while this was going on, so we were very lucky to get photos of them, too. Trying to remember - I think I've only ever seen two Saw-whet owls in the wild, and this was the very first time I'd ever had the chance to see a Barred Owl in the wild : ))))))) At long, long last - and it felt so good! I also got the chance to meet several people from Flickr, including Don Delaney and part of his "gang". Lovely to meet you, Don, and the rest of you! Richard - we can't thank you enough for what you do (as a licenced Raptor Bander) and for sharing your love and knowledge of wildlife with others. Your young daughter (5 years old) is so lucky to be brought up with so many incredible opportunities and such a love of nature. What a keen eye she has, finding all sorts of interesting things for us to see, including a little Wood Frog (photo posted today, too). Wonderful to see such caring, gentleness and joy for all flora and fauna from such a young child, not to mention her knowledge about all these things! I was so impressed : )