Cats and Dogs

Though this beautiful Tabby looks like it was resting peacefully, in fact it was no such thing. It was a hyper little cat, constantly on the move and almost all my photos are ready to be deleted, LOL! Seen at one of the farms on our Bird Count yesterday in the Cochrane Wildlife Preserve and Water Valley area. Such a friendly kitty and simply beautiful. Out of the whole, long day, I saw one bird to photograph - a Pine Grosbeak - and even that one was right at the top of a very tall Spruce tree, LOL!

This is my friend, Joan's, other pet, a gal named Missy. Two very cute dogs. Thanks so much, Joan, for the delicious lunch yesterday - so much enjoyed by all of us!

I think this will probably be the last (or maybe the last but one) photo I will post of a friend's cat called Mandy. It was fun photographing a friend's pet instead of the usual flowers, birds and insects!

This dog came along the path towards us this afternoon with his owner who was on her bike. He decided that if he lay down with a stick and looked at us with THESE eyes, we would for sure play with him - which of course we did! Beautiful expression - who could resist? He must have had a quick dip in the river!

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

This little dog belongs to a lady at whose house/homestead we meet for the Nanton Bird Count. Always friendly and curious and just wanted to go outside to "play" - but it was still dark that morning and cold : ) A cute little thing.

I have longed to take a few pet photos, and I got the chance this afternoon when I went for a yummy lunch (nothing like egg sandwiches and homemade plum tart with whipped cream!!) at a friend's house with a couple of other friends. Just love these huge yellow saucers and the whiskers! Thank you, Mandy, for posing for me, however briefly!

I wasn't too sure this afternoon, when this heavy set dog and his buddy "welcomed" us on a farm northwest of the city, but they were only doing their watch-dog duty : ). Four of us had set out at 7:00 a.m. (actually, I had left home at 6:30 a.m.) to drive around the area near Cochrane, to record birds and mammals seen on the Cochrane Bird Count. We found only 12 species of bird but 6 species of mammals, including two Moose. We did a pretty brutal hike at Big Hills Spring Provincial Park, often following the partly frozen creek seen in my previous photo. Lots of snow on the ground, of course covering those nasty fallen branches and rocks : ) Around mid-afternoon, we called in at a farm to see what birds might be hanging around. However, our vehicle got stuck in the snow in the long driveway and took forever to get it cleared. The owner of the farm got his son to drive a piece of equipment to help clear some of the snow and get us out of there. By this time, the decision was made to call it a day and return home. Our temperatures rose to around 4C this afternoon, but there was a very cold wind.

Another of the many cute farm cats we met while doing the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on January 2nd, south of Calgary, around the Nanton area. I'm sure that the cats we saw on this day were cuter than cats we see elsewhere, ha. I've placed the image in just a very approximate location on my map, as I don't have an address for this location. Just in case anyone is wondering where on earth Nanton is : ) Our weather forecast - aren't we lucky? : ) I'm hoping it will be the light, fluffy kind of snow rather than the fine, powdery kind with no obvious individual snowflakes. I think I've only been out walking maybe three times in the last three weeks, which is not good. "An intense low is expected to pack a punch for Alberta residents beginning Friday afternoon. This will bring a significant change to weather conditions this weekend. Substantial snowfall accumulations are in the forecast, with most areas seeing anywhere from 10 to 15 centimeters. Higher amounts are expected outside of Edmonton and along the Alberta, Saskatchewan border. Watches and warnings have been implemented across several communities. “The storm will pick up intensity starting Friday afternoon, this will include heavy amounts of snow and gusty winds,” explains Brian Dillon, a meteorologist here at The Weather Network. According to Environment Canada, northwesterly winds will be particularly strong with gusts potentially reaching 60 km/h." www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&s... Stay warm, everyone, and drive safely - if you really have to go out. And now it's back to urgent e-mails and thinking about what I want to write, to be read out at my brother's funeral.