Odds & ends

Just messing about down at the park. They have a couple of wooden picnic shelters there with these two large round holes. Not all that many fall leaves on the trees now.

I had a very different kind of day today, visiting the Fairview Colony of Hutterites, east of Calgary. This was the first time I had been out there. After stopping for lunch in Beiseker, we spent a most enjoyable and interesting afternoon being shown around the Colony. The people who live there are delightfully friendly and welcoming and such hard working people! We could not get over how absolutely immaculate everywhere was - unbelievable. One really could eat off the floor here! This is a little cat who is a member of the Colony : )

Another photo of the friendly little cat that we came across on our visit to the Fairview Colony of Hutterites yesterday.

When I was at the Calgary Zoo recently, a Peacock was strutting fairly close by. He gave a bit of a shake and I saw this small, rather downy feather flutter to the ground. Me being me, I couldn't resist bringing it home and photographing it, LOL!

I always get a slightly strange feeling when I look at this rather uninteresting photo. Normally, you would be inside looking through the window at the tree outside, but thanks to the (blurry) reflection, things are reversed. Might just delete this photo : )

I thought the grain and knots in this fence looked a little like abstract human figures : )

I was out from 6:10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today, taking part in a Christmas Bird Count on the Cochrane Reserve, north-west of Calgary. Not sure of the exact number of bird species we saw, but it was around 23. Just outside our count area at the end of the day, we saw a beautiful little Northern Pygmy-owl atop a tall Spruce tree. Thanks, Tony, for bringing your scope - what an amazing view we were able to get of this tiny, perfect owl! We called in at various farms and ranches and saw all sorts of things in addition to the birds. One of these things was this huge, gentle dog that I think must be quite elderly. It followed us around in a quiet, dignified manner. Loved the colour of its fur in the sunlight.

Two days ago, I took part in the Cochrane Reserve 2007 Christmas Bird Count. This is north-west of the city. We also stop and visit various farms/ranches in the area and talk with the owners about what species of birds they see on their land. Lots of very friendly, helpful people! This and another Llama live on one of the farms. Did you know that they have a bad habit of spitting? There are too many Llamas in Alberta now and people find that they are unable to sell them. They are useful, though, in helping to keep Coyotes away from the farm animals.