Insects of Alberta 3

Tonight, I have just posted the final 11 photos taken on a fungi walk, on 14 September 2019. A small group of us were invited to explore the 18-acre property, SW of the city, belonging to Rick and Connie Hillary. This we did, on 14 September 2019. This beautiful mix of forest and grassland held so many treasures of the fungus kind and others. At the very start of our nature walk, Rick was happy to show us the beautiful mushrooms that were growing near his house. What an absolute treat! Even Karel, our fungi leader, had never seen this species before - Shaggy parasol / Chlorophyllum (formerly Macrolepiota) rhacodes. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw them - so perfect, hiding in the grass. Rick told us there were other species to enjoy, further along the walk. One small area, especially, had a good variety growing amongst the trees. Our cameras barely stopping shooting - so much fun. Two of the three dogs in this family accompanied us for the whole walk. Mother and daughter, who were such loving animals. What a dog paradise they live in, giving them the freedom to run and play-fight, seemingly with boundless energy. Only after several hours, when our walk ended, did their energy seem to run out temporarily, giving me a chance to take photos of them. Thank you so much, Rick and Connie, for your very kind invitation. I hope you could tell how much we enjoyed ourselves! The extra and unexpected kindness of providing us with cheese and crackers and delicious cake afterwards was so much appreciated. Karel, thank you, as always, for your knowledge of the fungi world and for helping us find and learn. I know you will enjoy your mushroom suppers from the Boletes you came across : )

Tonight, I have just posted the final 11 photos taken on a fungi walk, on 14 September 2019. A small group of us were invited to explore the 18-acre property, SW of the city, belonging to Rick and Connie Hillary. This we did, on 14 September 2019. This beautiful mix of forest and grassland held so many treasures of the fungus kind and others. At the very start of our nature walk, Rick was happy to show us the beautiful mushrooms that were growing near his house. What an absolute treat! Even Karel, our fungi leader, had never seen this species before - Shaggy parasol / Chlorophyllum (formerly Macrolepiota) rhacodes. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw them - so perfect, hiding in the grass. Rick told us there were other species to enjoy, further along the walk. One small area, especially, had a good variety growing amongst the trees. Our cameras barely stopping shooting - so much fun. Two of the three dogs in this family accompanied us for the whole walk. Mother and daughter, who were such loving animals. What a dog paradise they live in, giving them the freedom to run and play-fight, seemingly with boundless energy. Only after several hours, when our walk ended, did their energy seem to run out temporarily, giving me a chance to take photos of them. Thank you so much, Rick and Connie, for your very kind invitation. I hope you could tell how much we enjoyed ourselves! The extra and unexpected kindness of providing us with cheese and crackers and delicious cake afterwards was so much appreciated. Karel, thank you, as always, for your knowledge of the fungi world and for helping us find and learn. I know you will enjoy your mushroom suppers from the Boletes you came across : )

Instead of posting more mushroom/fungus photos tonight, I had thought about uploading a few totally different images. However, I have ended up starting to post photos (8) from today, 22 September 2019. We were fortunate enough to be invited to explore another acreage SW of the city. It is so interesting to see that various acreages, really not all that far from each other, can have some different species. Again, I drove myself instead of carpooling, as I had been invited to a friend's birthday party and needed to get back to the city by a certain time, in order to get a ride with another friend. From years of experience, I know only too well that once you get our enthusiastic leaders into the field, there is no telling how long they will stay out there! Normally, that is fine, but today I had a deadline. The weather was beautiful for our bioblitz, which was so much appreciated, as there are snowflake icons in our weather forecast in a few days' time. It still definitely feels like fall, though, and golden leaves were constantly falling to the ground, making it a challenge to see any fungi. Many of the mushrooms we saw today have started to rapidly decline, but others proved to be of interest. One of my favourites was a mushroom that had a number of water droplets on its cap. I could be wrong, but I suspect that these were guttation droplets, Usually, I see these on Red-belted polypores growing on tree trunks, so it was interesting to see these on the cap of a smallish mushroom. We were warmly welcomed by the landowners, Michael and Marie-Claude Singleton. Marie-Claude accompanied us on the walk, which was great. Their beautiful property is a mix of mowed lawn (that certain mushrooms love), grassland and forest. They have a beautiful pond, too, edged with very healthy cattails and other water plants. Thank you so much, Michael and Marie-Claude, for inviting us to come and see what is growing on your land. The coffee, too, was just what was needed after time spent outdoors.

Back to a day out in Kananaskis with friend, Pam, on 5 September 2019. On 5 September 2019, friend Pam and I had a great day out in Kananaskis. It had been just over two months since I drove myself out there, but Pam had been only two days before. There were a few different places that she wanted to stop, and she was hoping to see a bear - preferably a Grizzly, but we were out of luck for that. However, we were lucky enough to see two Black Bears, which was such a treat. Our day started off really well, leaving the city at 7:00 am. Driving along a backroad SW of the city, a small, rather cute, old barn was our first find. It was set back from the road a little and easily missed, so I'm glad I spotted it. Further on, we came across a White-tailed Deer feeding in a field, and it looked so beautiful in the early morning sun. Normally, I don't get out this early and I know I miss that special light. After quite a bit of driving, we were taken by surprise by our first Black Bear sighting of the day. Definitely not in a place that we would have expected. The animal was a long way off, part way up a big hill, and would have been very easy to miss. Luckily, a vehicle had stopped at the side of the road and we saw someone with a tripod - always a hopeful sign. Scouring the hillside, I spotted a black shape amongst the grass and small bushes. Bear! After taking our photos, I made sure I walked over to the other people and thanked them for spotting and stopping. Once we got into the mountains, we found ourselves facing dense fog, which seemed to go on forever. It felt like our outing might just have to end soon after it had begun. Fortunately, though, it did eventually clear when we reached the Ptarmigan Cirque area, and we found ourselves in sunshine. Looking back in the direction from which we had just come, the low cloud made for a beautiful scene. One little White-crowned Sparrow sat in a tree at the edge of the parking lot and gave us a chance to take photos. It seemed unusually tolerant of us. Further north, we stopped at the Pika location and were able to get a few somewhat distant shots. We didn't stay here for very long, as we had other places to visit. A further half-hour drive brought us to a beautiful lake with an incredibly beautiful setting - Wedge Pond. For quite a few years, I have never been sure where this pond was and whether I had ever been there before. It certainly didn't feel familiar. As well as the spectacular scenery, I also photographed a rather beautiful Moth that had landed on a thistle. The bright yellow splash of colour from three or four Goat's-beard wildflowers gave another photo opportunity - they are attractive flowers, but it's too bad they are a highly invasive weed. Leaving Wedge Pond, we continued northwards and were so delighted to see our second Black Bear of the day. This was a very challenging bear to photograph, as it walked off into the trees and soon disappeared completely. Photos tended to be missing either a head, or a rear end, or capturing barely anything at all. Coming back south, about an hour later, we stopped at Buller Pond, where we saw a few mushrooms, including a small scattering of beautiful Shaggy Mane/Inky Cap mushrooms. I love the scenery at Buller Pond and at Peninsular, giving a fine view of the Opal Range with its incredible erosion patterns. A small group of Bighorn Sheep made a nice ending to our day in Kananaskis. No matter how many I see, they are always welcome. Very recently, I seem to have seen them almost everywhere I have been. A most enjoyable day - thanks so much, Pam, for the invite and exciting day. Sorry we didn't manage to find a Grizzly Bear for you, but two Black Bears were still a real treat..

Adding this image from my archives, on 31 March 2024. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same day, I will add it under this post. Winter returned, followed by a few pleasant days. Another snowstorm is forecast for in a few days' time, though, adding to the snow that is already on the ground. Can't go anywhere, anyway, as excruciating pain that may be caused by the sciatic nerve (?) or bursitis (?) on the right side of my body is making it almost impossible to walk even a few steps indoors. One thing after another after another after another .... Last time I went out was 22 February. "Yesterday morning, 19 October 2019, 10 of us set out on a day birding trip south of the city, to Pine Coulee Reservoir. Each year, I never expect to come home with photos of birds, as they are always very, very distant. However, I love that whole area, with its rolling hills and endless Alberta sky, but I have not yet driven there myself. On day outings, we always carpool to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We spent just over three hours driving around the lake, a distance of almost 24 km, making stops at various points to check for (mainly) waterfowl. Several distant, sunlit Swans flew over, and an extremely distant Rough-legged Hawk kept our attention for a few minutes. At one location, a few Swans were mixed in with Canada Geese and ducks - somewhat closer, but photos were not really worth posting. We stopped at a campsite along the edge of the reservoir and did a short walk. A lone Pine Grosbeak did what Grosbeaks like to do - find a really tall tree and perch at the top of it. I posted a photo of it, just for the record. Hopefully, this bird will eventually find the rest of its flock or be able to join a new group. As always happens, my camera lens turned to other things as well. Scenic shots tend to be the main subject, including a few taken looking into the sun, along with some reasonably interesting skies. At one viewpoint, I spotted a lonely caterpillar slowly making its way over one of the large rocks that edged a parking lot. No idea what species of moth it will turn into. Normally, we would have stayed out a bit longer, but our day was cut short as a few of us needed to get back to the city, ready to go to the annual "Banquet" in the evening. This year's guest speaker was Dr. Robert Berdan, who spoke mainly about micro-photography. Amazing what micro images and videos he captures. I had first met him when he did some work for me. The brand new National Museum of Qatar had requested to use 24 of my very old Middle East photos taken in Doha, Qatar. They needed the photos to be scanned at museum quality, and Dr. Berdan did this for me. Many thanks for the ride, Tony! Appreciated so much, as I had planned to take a cab. You did brilliantly, getting us out of the awful, tangled web of new roads/construction on the way home. A total maze, even more so in the dark. Thanks for a very enjoyable trip, Tony, as always. You guys did really well to find 41 species!"