Odds & ends

On Monday, 31st December, I took part in the 2007 Christmas Bird Count in the Sheep River/Turner Valley area, south of Calgary. The weather was an absolutely perfect winter's day! At one of the farms we stopped at, the owners had built an Inukshuk (pronounced IN-OOK-SHOOK) "art gallery" on the frozen creek that runs along the back of their home. "Inukshuk (singular), meaning "likeness of a person" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language), is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travellers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. Similar stone figures were made all over the world in ancient times, but the Arctic is one of the few places where they still stand. An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Inuit tradition forbids the destruction of inuksuit. Inukshuk in the form of human beings, called inunnguaq, seem to have been a recent development, perhaps only appearing after the arrival of European whalers in the 19th century. One of the most important types of inuksuit are those that helped in the caribou hunt. These are usually built with 2 or 3 rocks piled up and placed in converging lines along the migration route of the herd. The Inuit placed arctic heather among the rocks to simulate human hair. The figures were intended to spook the caribou and stampede them towards the places where the hunters hid. An open leg on an inukshuk found near water or a coastline may point to an open channel for navigation. If an inukshuk is in open land, a leg or arm might suggest a direction. Inuksuit placed near a lake might show that fish can be found in the lake at the same distance the figure is placed from the shoreline. Some inuksuit were built out of respect for a beloved person and are seen as memorials." From www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com .

Couldn't resist trying one of my photos At the Museum. A clever program. I would never have known about it if I hadn't seen it done by a couple of other Flickr members, so thanks.

A change from nature photos, though I did take this photo when on a birding walk at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary! We occasionally see hot air balloons in the sky over Calgary.

When birding is slow or the birds are just too far away, I click my camera elsewhere!

Just a quick shot taken south of the city, when a friend invited me to go looking for birds in the Porcupine Hills and Nanton area. Winter looked so good a week ago, but we are back to snow on the ground this morning!

Couldn't resist taking another quick Moon shot yesterday, down in Fish Creek Park. How I miss the blue sky today - and judging by the colour of the sky, we are not going to be seeing the sun for a while. Again, I am amazed at what you can see via a little point-and-shoot!

I just think this little guy looks as if he has an attitude! Saw them both on a visit to the Pasu Farm in Alberta.

Created with www.dumpr.net - fun with your flickr

Momentarily, I raised my eyes to the sky and saw ..... simple beauty.