Reader Rock Garden 1

I suspect you can find a lot of photos of Globe Thistles on Flickr, LOL. They really are very attractive. I kind of liked the bokeh in this image. Not sure what the temperature was today, but it was way too hot for my liking. Was walking for something like three and a half hours this morning, in Weaselhead. Most of the flowers still in bloom tend to be yellow, though there were also lots of purple Asters of one kind or another. An afternoon of volunteering was followed by a desperate dash into Safeway, and now I need to start thinking about getting all my stuff ready for a full day of botanizing tomorrow.

A Sweetpea that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden about two weeks ago. Once again, I have been out botanizing all day today (alarm went off at 4:45 a.m.!!!) and only got home about 6:30 p.m. A handful of us recorded all the flora and fauna seen at a couple of other natural areas near Sundre, north west of Calgary. One location was the 90 acre Bearberry Prairie Natural Area located on the north side of the Red Deer River, and the other location, immediately adjacent to it on the east side, was the 159 acre Sundre Natural Area. The forecast was for rain (again!), but we were lucky enough to have it stay dry when we were got there and while we were doing our hike. Later: have had to spend the last three plus hours dealing with an attack on my computer. Took forever to do a full scan, for a start. I also got two "notices" from Windows Security (?) telling to click on a button to "start protection". Told me I had five viruses and listed them. However, I noticed two or three "suspicious" (?) things about them, including the fact that they had spelt "address" wrong (they used "adress") and the grammar wasn't perfect. After my Norton full-scan told me that someone had tried to attack my computer, it also said that this attack had been blocked and that no action was necessary. Seemed strange that I got THIS info and yet the two other notices told me to "click for protection". I'm wondering if they weren't fake (but fairly cleverly done) notices and were in fact part of the "attack". I just ignored them and did what Norton Internet Security told me, i.e. no action required. And now I'm totally stressed out - guess I need some supper as it's now 11:00 p.m.!! Sigh .... Sorry, just haven't had a chance to comment this evening! Oh, and the "funny" part is, I was Googling to see if I could find any good mushroom poems when the attack happened!!!

Not sure what this shrub/tree at the Reader Rock Garden is, but I rather liked the bokeh, so thought I'd post it. I was out along some of the gravel backroads the later half of this afternoon, mainly photographing Tree Swallows. Was out botanizing the Beaverponds Environmental Reserve (West Bragg Creek area) all morning and half the afternoon. Quite a hot day today and sunny. These day trips always totally knock me out : )

Happened to notice these backlit leaves on an Ohio Buckeye tree growing at the Reader Rock Garden. Not red, LOL, but still so pretty. Posting my photos late today. Totally exhausted this evening, after a full day's hike to Marsten Creek trail (which we have climbed before). I thought I could manage this one, but my legs let me down ... sigh. Agonizingly painful, which meant that on any incline, I had to stop for a minute after every few steps. This resulted in my getting separated from my three friends, which was NOT a good feeling. After crossing the creek and climbing up through the forest, I lost them just in the last few minutes of the climb. When I came out into an open meadow, not a sign of anyone at all! Very fortunately, I could see the highway below me, way in the distance. After manoeuvering through and over fallen trees and coming across a couple of "cliffs", I finally managed to find my way back down. No sign of many of them back at the car - they were all searching for me up the mountain side - sorry guys, though I really don't know how this happened! Not as bad as earlier in the afternoon, when I waited while my friends did a final bit of the climb to look for lichens on a high outcrop. As time passed, I began to wonder if maybe they had come down a different way and already gone past me. I waited and waited and waited in an open, hillside meadow, keeping an eye open for Grizzlies and Coyotes. I have no sense of direction and tend to see everything in "macro vision", consequently not noticing my surroundings. I reached the point when I began to wonder if it would be better to attempt to pass over the hill through the forest (and, I know, get totally lost!) to reach the highway, or would it be better to spend the night (if I had to) against one of the outcrops. Trust me, It was the greatest relief possible when I saw three tiny figures climbing down the mountain in my direction!!! And then I go and get separated from them again! No comment - other than to say I can't let this happen again, so no more mountain hikes for me, only flattish forest botanizing trips! Sigh ... Off to the mountains again tomorrow, to the Golden Eagle Migration location, but fortunately only a bit of walking : )

I always get mixed up between Jack Rabbit and Snowshoe Hare, so I hope I have named this one correctly! Every now and then, I will see one of these hares/rabbits hopping past my home. Saw this one at the beautiful Reader Rock Garden in the city.

I love Echinacea flowers at all the different stages they go through, from a bud like this one, to the dried flowers in the late fall.

The leaves of the Cotoneaster shrub turn such glorious colous in the fall. Most unfortunately, this introduced species from Asia has spread to all our natural areas and has become a serious problem, preventing native species from growing.

I find that so often a background matches the colours of an object in a photo. This time, I ended up with rather clashing colours : )

I don't think I've taken Poppy buds before, just the seedpods. The buds are quite interesting and have a beauty of their own.