Meadow Vole for a tasty snack
Lying on a bed of hoarfrost
Stubble pattern
Rural decay
Old house next to metal silo
New "barn", Granary Road
A sunrise sky that lasted till sunset
Under a Chinook arch
King of silos
Two male Snowy Owls in the same field
You never know where you'll see a Snowy Owl
Before winter arrived
A white world
Prairie life in winter
When the world turns white
Disappearing into nothingness
Hoar frost tree and vanishing fields
Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus
Lapland Longspur? No, a female Red-winged Blackbi…
A little eye-catcher
An old barn in winter
Old barn in winter
Clouds, reflected
Soothing simplicity
Rolling hills and distant peaks
A sky filled with clouds
The Famous Five from a distance
Fancy silo with stairs
When the clouds roll in
White beauty
The only one
A frosty prairie view
Fields of golden stubble
Layers and stripes
Here comes the rain
Five Swans a-swimming
The olden days
Springtime on the prairie
Trumpeter Swans
The day before Christmas
Follow the lines
Sunrise over the mountains
Sunrise pink
Zoomed to the max
Gray Partridge
Some white patches have eyes : )
An early Christmas present, 2013
Gray Partridge
Old prairie homestead
The beauty of golden stubble
Old and new on the prairies
A beautiful setting
Wide open spaces that go on forever
Stripes of colour
Fun in the sun
Christmas Eve day on the prairies
Light through the storm clouds
The row of five
Swans galore
Three in a row
In a farmer's field
Stubble stripes
Prairie drama
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
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167 visits
One of my favourite barns
I think I first saw this barn in March 2014 and it was immediately one of my favourites. Unfortunately, it is way across a huge field, so I had to zoom right in from the road.
After two whole weeks of not getting a chance to go anywhere, including looking for Snowy Owls, I finally drove SE of the city six days ago, on 13 December 2016, for a few hours. The weather had warmed up a little, after we had been getting windchills down as low as -34C. I just don't see the point of risking getting stuck along some country backroad during a deep-freeze. As it was, I did have a few minutes of panic when I couldn't get my car to start after getting out to take a few photos. The message on the start button said "Power is on", yet it would not do anything. When I pushed the button again, all the usual things came on, but the car still wouldn't drive. Eventually, after quite a few tries, I did get it to work, to my enormous relief.
My whole drive was along roads that I had driven before, some only once. Last winter, I had driven part of this area and saw several Snowy Owls, but they were no more than the tiniest white specks in the distance. In fact, during the winter of 2015/2016, I didn't see a single Snowy up close anywhere.
For most of this most recent drive, I didn't see any, but then my luck changed, and I ended up seeing two owls. After driving quite a few backroads, I spotted the first one along a main road; the second owl was along a backroad.and further away. My fully zoomed photos of both owls are still not close. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to find the first owl - a large flock of 50 or 60 Snow Buntings had also spotted it and were harassing it, making it fly off before I got the chance to get better photos.
After stopping to watch this first owl, I went back to the side roads, where I came across the second owl, perched on top of a tall power pole. Though it was a long way down the road, it flew a few seconds later, landing near the top of a huge, bare tree that was even further away. I've only ever seen a Snowy in a tree a few times.
Feeling happy to have found two of these gorgeous birds, I decided to drive to see two favourite old things - the little country church at Dinton, and Superman's old barn and homestead, used in the 1978 Superman movie. I love photographing these old structures. Actually, the tiny church in Dinton was also used in a movie - Brokeback Mountain.
"Although the tiny town of Dinton, AB does not appear on most maps, it now occupies a place in motion picture history. Locations Manager Darryl Solly was asked to find a “small unadorned church” for the del Mar wedding scene in the movie, Brokeback Mountain. The unassuming Anglican chapel at Dinton, built by prairie pioneers in 1906, shown here in these exclusive pre-production photos, was the perfect spot for Alma and Ennis to be married."
The movie stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams and depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.
www.findingbrokeback.com/Albums/StThomasChurch.html
www.ourroots.ca/e/roots/lh6/lh6b0057.jpg
Happy with my findings, it was time to start on my homeward journey, as I didn't want to be on the main highway in the dark. There was just time for me to call in quickly at the Saskatoon Farm, only to find that the restaurant had closed about 20 minutes early, so I was out of luck for my usual Quiche and Sweet Potato fries. Saskatoon Pie was still available, which nicely filled the void, having missed my lunch. A cup of coffee came in handy for my drive home, too.
After two whole weeks of not getting a chance to go anywhere, including looking for Snowy Owls, I finally drove SE of the city six days ago, on 13 December 2016, for a few hours. The weather had warmed up a little, after we had been getting windchills down as low as -34C. I just don't see the point of risking getting stuck along some country backroad during a deep-freeze. As it was, I did have a few minutes of panic when I couldn't get my car to start after getting out to take a few photos. The message on the start button said "Power is on", yet it would not do anything. When I pushed the button again, all the usual things came on, but the car still wouldn't drive. Eventually, after quite a few tries, I did get it to work, to my enormous relief.
My whole drive was along roads that I had driven before, some only once. Last winter, I had driven part of this area and saw several Snowy Owls, but they were no more than the tiniest white specks in the distance. In fact, during the winter of 2015/2016, I didn't see a single Snowy up close anywhere.
For most of this most recent drive, I didn't see any, but then my luck changed, and I ended up seeing two owls. After driving quite a few backroads, I spotted the first one along a main road; the second owl was along a backroad.and further away. My fully zoomed photos of both owls are still not close. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to find the first owl - a large flock of 50 or 60 Snow Buntings had also spotted it and were harassing it, making it fly off before I got the chance to get better photos.
After stopping to watch this first owl, I went back to the side roads, where I came across the second owl, perched on top of a tall power pole. Though it was a long way down the road, it flew a few seconds later, landing near the top of a huge, bare tree that was even further away. I've only ever seen a Snowy in a tree a few times.
Feeling happy to have found two of these gorgeous birds, I decided to drive to see two favourite old things - the little country church at Dinton, and Superman's old barn and homestead, used in the 1978 Superman movie. I love photographing these old structures. Actually, the tiny church in Dinton was also used in a movie - Brokeback Mountain.
"Although the tiny town of Dinton, AB does not appear on most maps, it now occupies a place in motion picture history. Locations Manager Darryl Solly was asked to find a “small unadorned church” for the del Mar wedding scene in the movie, Brokeback Mountain. The unassuming Anglican chapel at Dinton, built by prairie pioneers in 1906, shown here in these exclusive pre-production photos, was the perfect spot for Alma and Ennis to be married."
The movie stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams and depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.
www.findingbrokeback.com/Albums/StThomasChurch.html
www.ourroots.ca/e/roots/lh6/lh6b0057.jpg
Happy with my findings, it was time to start on my homeward journey, as I didn't want to be on the main highway in the dark. There was just time for me to call in quickly at the Saskatoon Farm, only to find that the restaurant had closed about 20 minutes early, so I was out of luck for my usual Quiche and Sweet Potato fries. Saskatoon Pie was still available, which nicely filled the void, having missed my lunch. A cup of coffee came in handy for my drive home, too.
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