Prairie life in winter
Winter beauty
Ghost Reservoir
A memory of Waterton from before the fire
A rural "winter" scene
Goodbye, winter - so glad you are gone!
Remembering winter
Smokey Eagle Lake
Yesterday's Chinook Arch
Heading into the mountains
Early fall, looking (and feeling) like winter
Tundra Swans in flight
Looking into the sun
Two of my favourite things
Clouds over Chain Lakes
Into the sun at Pine Coulee Reservoir
Rural decay down south
On the way to Chain Lakes
A view from Chain Lakes
Beauty of winter (well, late fall)
Day 6, Hotel Tadoussac, Quebec
Fall colour in Kananaskis
A beautiful day in Weaselhead
With more big storms to come
Our last morning on island of Trinidad
A view from yesterday
Winter's beauty
Old barns in the foothills
Deer on the horizon
A white world
Whites and blues of winter
Red barn in winter
Yesterday's walk in Fish Creek Park
Glorious scenery for a Christmas Bird Count!
Barn with the fallen cupola
King of silos
One of my favourite barns
A country scene
Autumn in Alberta
New "barn", Granary Road
Alberta foothills in the fall
Morning sun over Pine Coulee Reservoir
Storm clouds near the city
Early morning sunrise over the mountains
Part of the same shelf cloud
Beneath the cloud
Old granaries on the prairie
Yesterday's storm
Once a home
Fish Creek Park on a low-light day
A mountain meadow, Kananaskis, Alberta
Old homestead, Alberta
Heading for the mountains on a hazy morning
Lenticular (?) clouds over the mountains
Pine Coulee Reservoir, Alberta
Pine Coulee Reservoir, Alberta
In the middle of nowhere - spot the truck
Sheep on a smoky day
Wide angle on the Bighorn Sheep ridge
A different view from Maskinonge lookout, Waterton
Cacti on Little Tobago, Day 3
Logging piles in the Porcupine Hills
Cattle drive - and a few old barns and sheds
Dreaming of spring
Old prairie barn
Winter textures
Winter in the Nanton, Alberta, area
Non-wild horses in a wild landscape
The beautiful mountains of Alberta
Afternoon light on the foothills
Our beautiful Alberta
Nanton Christmas Bird Count
A well looked after barn
Red's the best in winter
Sharples grain elevator
01 The glory of fall
Distant haze
Our beautiful foothills on an overcast day
Across the river
The long road south
Above the tree line
Fading into the distance
Gottlob Schmidt's Antelope Hill Ranch
Antelope Hill Provincial Park
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Rolling hills from the Whaleback
International Women's Day today, 8 March 2018. Yay for Women!
All three photos posted today were taken on 29 May 2015, on a trip way down in southern Alberta. A small group of us spent the day at the Whaleback, climbing the ridges, doing a species count. We had such a great day, finding all sorts of things of interest - plants, mosses, lichens - and in my case, insects, animals and birds, too : ) In fact, anything and everything, lol.
The weather was good for walking, not too warm and, up till the last part, dry. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away for most of the day. When I went on this outing in May 2013, it rained all day, though I still managed to get plenty of photos. On 29 May 2015, it was overcast with low cloud, making scenic shots rather unpleasant.
Just before taking the turn for the road leading to a place to park, we stopped at a spot down by the river and did a search there. I was thrilled to bits to find three or four Tent Caterpillars on a plant next to a large rock and thought what a way to start the day. After taking a few photos, I walked to the other side of the rock and noticed what almost looked like a circular patch of lichen growing on the rock surface. A closer look revealed a mass of dozens of these writhing caterpillars, with several others climbing up in single file to join the rest. Still makes me itch all over, just thinking about it, lol!
Another highlight of the day for me was when I happened to notice a tiny spot of bright red deep inside a distant Early Yellow Locoweed flower. I zoomed in for a photo and thought it looked like it might be a Ladybug. Couldn't count the spots properly, so I very gently parted the petals to get a better look. Unfortunately, it crawled on to my hand and wouldn't return to a petal until after I had taken two or three shots, and then it immediately moved out of sight. I was so happy to find that it was a different kind of Ladybug, though I had seen one a few years ago - it was a Convergent Ladybug.
Part way through the day, I stayed behind while the rest of the group climbed to a higher ridge, and I explored the lower ground. It was a place where I knew I wouldn't get lost - but I did have to wait till at least some of the others returned a few hours later, as others were needed to create an opening to climb though the barbed-wire fence again. I found plenty to photograph and it was quite a feeling to be so high up with such an amazing view all around, and to be alone up there. While I sat to eat lunch on a rocky outcrop with a couple of trees, a tiny Sparrow (of some kind) came to visit a couple of times and sing for me. Also, there were maybe half a dozen Brewer's Blackbirds that stayed around the area for much of the time, flying or perched on low bushes. A truly magical time.
The rest of the group had a great time, too, and saw Parry's Townsendia flowers and lots of Balsamroot in bloom. Fortunately, I had seen the Townsendia before on a brutal hike to Picklejar Lakes several years ago. Two years before, I had also seen hillsides at the Whaleback covered in the bright yellow Balsamroot flowers. I did manage to find several plants huddled together lower down, so was happy to get a few photos of these bright and cheery flowers.
Altogether, a wonderful day in an incredibly beautiful place with great company! Many thanks, Robin and Cedric, for giving me a ride there and back - appreciated it SO much!
All three photos posted today were taken on 29 May 2015, on a trip way down in southern Alberta. A small group of us spent the day at the Whaleback, climbing the ridges, doing a species count. We had such a great day, finding all sorts of things of interest - plants, mosses, lichens - and in my case, insects, animals and birds, too : ) In fact, anything and everything, lol.
The weather was good for walking, not too warm and, up till the last part, dry. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away for most of the day. When I went on this outing in May 2013, it rained all day, though I still managed to get plenty of photos. On 29 May 2015, it was overcast with low cloud, making scenic shots rather unpleasant.
Just before taking the turn for the road leading to a place to park, we stopped at a spot down by the river and did a search there. I was thrilled to bits to find three or four Tent Caterpillars on a plant next to a large rock and thought what a way to start the day. After taking a few photos, I walked to the other side of the rock and noticed what almost looked like a circular patch of lichen growing on the rock surface. A closer look revealed a mass of dozens of these writhing caterpillars, with several others climbing up in single file to join the rest. Still makes me itch all over, just thinking about it, lol!
Another highlight of the day for me was when I happened to notice a tiny spot of bright red deep inside a distant Early Yellow Locoweed flower. I zoomed in for a photo and thought it looked like it might be a Ladybug. Couldn't count the spots properly, so I very gently parted the petals to get a better look. Unfortunately, it crawled on to my hand and wouldn't return to a petal until after I had taken two or three shots, and then it immediately moved out of sight. I was so happy to find that it was a different kind of Ladybug, though I had seen one a few years ago - it was a Convergent Ladybug.
Part way through the day, I stayed behind while the rest of the group climbed to a higher ridge, and I explored the lower ground. It was a place where I knew I wouldn't get lost - but I did have to wait till at least some of the others returned a few hours later, as others were needed to create an opening to climb though the barbed-wire fence again. I found plenty to photograph and it was quite a feeling to be so high up with such an amazing view all around, and to be alone up there. While I sat to eat lunch on a rocky outcrop with a couple of trees, a tiny Sparrow (of some kind) came to visit a couple of times and sing for me. Also, there were maybe half a dozen Brewer's Blackbirds that stayed around the area for much of the time, flying or perched on low bushes. A truly magical time.
The rest of the group had a great time, too, and saw Parry's Townsendia flowers and lots of Balsamroot in bloom. Fortunately, I had seen the Townsendia before on a brutal hike to Picklejar Lakes several years ago. Two years before, I had also seen hillsides at the Whaleback covered in the bright yellow Balsamroot flowers. I did manage to find several plants huddled together lower down, so was happy to get a few photos of these bright and cheery flowers.
Altogether, a wonderful day in an incredibly beautiful place with great company! Many thanks, Robin and Cedric, for giving me a ride there and back - appreciated it SO much!
Pam J has particularly liked this photo
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