Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum
Still standing, tall and proud
Badland beauty
Two old churches in an almost-ghost-town
Down in the Badlands valley
Hoodoos everywhere
Very old grain elevator in the Badlands valley
Little old Catholic church in the Badlands
One of my favourite old barns
Little country church, Alberta
The remaining three
One of my favourite old barns
Long ago, someone's pride and joy
Weathered by the passing years
Flowers at the Saskatoon Farm - Solanum sp.
Berries in the sunshine
Yellow Prairie Coneflower / Mexican Hat
Artichoke
Splash of colour
Osprey
Campion / Silene sp.
Osprey
Campion
American Goldfinch collecting Thistle seeds
Wild Sunflower sp.
American Goldfinch collecting Thistle seeds
Colour in the garden
Edible King Oyster mushrooms, Akesi Farms
Bentley 1951 - my ride for a brief, wonderful mome…
Old silo, south of the city
1947 Mercury Pickup in front of Chop House, Bar U…
Reflections in a log cabin window
Slime mold, Pringle Mt forest walk
Rural Alberta
Pholiota destruens fungus on cut end of a log
Coral fungus sp.
Fungus
Pholiota terrestris growing in soil
Cystoderma cinnabarina
Cystoderma cinnabarina
Bolete
Bar U Ranch
Gaillardia
Backlit Sunflower
Amanita muscaria
Fly agaric / Amanita muscaria
Puffballs and others growing on a tree stump
Our leader for fungi walks, Karel Bergmann
Mushroom growing on top of a tall tree stump
Fly agaric / Amanita muscaria
Highlight of my day - Fly agaric / Amanita muscari…
Shaggy parasol / Chlorophyllum (formerly Macrolepi…
Shaggy parasol / Chlorophyllum (formerly Macrolepi…
Bolete
Shaggy parasol / Chlorophyllum (formerly Macrolepi…
Not "The Sickener"
The first day of fall
Mushroom with guttation droplets - Soap Tricholoma…
The last one remaining
Sunflower, against a pink barn
A group of old beauties
A usual pose of an American Pika
Fall colour in Kananaskis
Red Baneberry
Afternoon trip to the mountains
Yellow Mountain-avens / Dryas drummondii
Osprey with a fish
Osprey with a fish
Mountain Death Camas / Zigadenus elegans
American White Pelicans on the Bow River
Sainfoin / Onobrychis
American White Pelicans on the Bow River
Sainfoin / Onobrychis
Wild Licorice?
Fungi family - and slime mold?
Fungi on a tree stump
White Admiral
False Solomon's Seal
White Admiral
Purple/Water Avens / Geum rivale
Fungus guttation droplets
Bee on Tall Larkspur / Delphinium exaltatum
Canon SX60 'artistry'
Bright and beautiful
The far side of the river valley
A great use for old teapots
Old and rusty tractor
Colour for an overcast day
Great Horned Owl - rehab
The yellow has bloomed!
Swainson's Hawk, immature
Golden Eagle!
Old, red barn
Red-winged Blackbird male / Agelaius phoeniceus
Wilson's Snipe
A new find
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
Tree Swallow fledgeling
American Goldfinch male / Spinus tristis
Northern Flicker babies in cavity
House Sparrow feeding babies in cavity
Eared Grebe & baby
Eared Grebe baby
Coot baby following in Mom's footsteps
Coot juvenile
Barn Swallow with feather for its nest
Storm clouds in the direction of home
Storm clouds moving in
Barn Swallow / Hirundo rustica
Eared Grebe / Podiceps nigricollis
Frank Lake birding blind
Pika - tiny fluffball
Bighorn Sheep / Ovis canadensis
Gravel and dust - a favourite road
Bighorn Sheep / Ovis canadensis
Yellow Warbler with food for his babies
Osprey with fish
Northern Rough-winged Swallow / Stelgidopteryx ser…
Osprey with fish
Yellow Warbler female
Yellow Warbler male collecting insects
Northern Rough-winged Swallow / Stelgidopteryx ser…
Osprey with fish
Northern Rough-winged Swallow / Stelgidopteryx ser…
Osprey with fish
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
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61 visits
Badlands near Drumheller on a hazy day
Wow, what a day I had yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.
This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.
Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would i ever get out of the Badlands?
When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for yesterday, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that yesterday was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km.. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.
There was only one unpleasant thing that happened yesterday and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me.
Today, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast is for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between.
This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.
Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would i ever get out of the Badlands?
When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for yesterday, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that yesterday was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km.. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.
There was only one unpleasant thing that happened yesterday and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me.
Today, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast is for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between.
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