Scenery 4

"There was a time when an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of southern Alberta. Excessive overhunting and a steady loss of habitat has dwindled those numbers drastically, placing bison on Alberta's endangered list. Just a short drive north of Waterton Lakes National Park entrance gate on Highway 6 is the Waterton Bison Paddock, where a protected herd of rare Plains Bison is kept for viewing as a reminder of their legacy as well as in attempt to aid in increasing their population size and advance their species." "Waterton Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also an International Peace Park, and a Biosphere Reserve. No other park in the world has these three designations. Waterton Biosphere Reserve as it is officially called, was designated in 1979 under what is called the internationally recognized "Man and the Biosphere program" of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that sure is a mouthful. Biosphere Reserves are designed to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature." www.wediscovercanadaandbeyond.ca/2010/11/red-rock-canyon-... These huge, powerful animals have a very keen sense of smell and can distinguish smells from 3 km away. The only way to see this herd is to drive the very short loop. No pedestrians or cyclists are allowed - the animals spook very easily. We drove the loop a couple of times on our first day in Waterton and went back again on the second day, and enjoyed both the animals and the beautiful setting. It was so cute to see one of the young Bison (Buffalo) come running down the hill to where several of the herd were grazing, and into the pond it went with a big splash and then straight back on to dry land. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_bison flic.kr/p/p2KF5y

NOOOO! IT'S SNOWING (1:15 p.m., 8 September 2014)!!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas .... Not good news at all for all the different species of Warbler that are passing through at the moment. Maybe a high mortality rate? Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, called in at the unique Prince of Wales Hotel so that I could take a few shots of it and the incredible view over the lake that is lined on either side with layers of "blue" mountain slopes and peaks. Strong winds were blowing, making it difficult to keep ones balance. Earlier that day, 27 August 2014, I took this photo showing how beautiful the hotel looks from a distance. "Built in 1926-27 during one of Waterton’s windiest and snowiest winters, the Prince of Wales Hotel is the park's most recognized landmark. During its construction the extreme weather conditions and poor access created many problems for contractors Douglas Oland and James Scott, from Cardston, Alberta. On December 10 1926 hurricane-force winds (estimated at 145 km/hr) blew each of the hotel's wings about 7.5 cm off their foundation. The men managed to winch the sections back in line. Three months later winds reached speeds of over 129 km/hr, again pushing the building off its foundation. This time Oland feared structural damage if they tried to pull back the now fully-framed building so he decided to leave it slightly out of plume. The hotel is named after Edward, Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII, and, like its namesake, it has a colourful history. If its Douglas fir pillars could talk they would tell you a tale of American imagination and money, built with Canadian grit and patience. Today, many people recognize the Prince of Wales as a railway hotel, but few realize it was built by the Great Northern of United States ... and not the Canadian Pacific. In February 1993 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board approved the Prince of Wales' designation as a National Historic Site, recognizing its architectural style (rustic design tradition, with peaked roofs, gables, balconies and timber-frame interior that give it an appearance of a giant alpine chalet) and its contribution to tourism in the mountains. On July 23 1995 a commemorative plaque ceremony was held at the hotel." From Parks Canada. www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul4.aspx This morning, 8 September 2014, the temperature is 3°C (37°F) and apparently feels like -1°C (28°F). Mixed precipitation today and the next two days, and then things are supposed to improve! I got up very early to go on a bird walk, but when I saw the overcast sky and large puddles outside, I changed my mind. Will go later in the week, when the sun should be shining.

This photo was taken at 6:48 a.m. on 28 August 2014, the last morning of a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park with friends, Cathy and Terry. We were up and ready to leave very early, as we wanted to do a long drive eastwards before driving all the way back to Calgary. It's roughly a three-hour drive directly from Waterton to Calgary. Before leaving the park, we took a short drive along one of the roads, from where we caught the end of the sunrise. The mountains and clouds looked so beautiful, bathed in pink. You can see the road leading back to Waterton village towards the bottom of the photo. Little did we know that this was such a different sight from the one we were to encounter late in the afternoon, when we saw a menacing cloud approaching and bringing with it a mesocyclone! We were soon engulfed by it when it came down to ground level, bringing pounding hail and tremendously strong winds.

From 26 to 28 August, I was lucky enough to go with friends Cathy and Terry down to Waterton Lakes National Park and then further east on the third day. Fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including Burrowing Owls and a family of Dusky Grouse, a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), and a few different insect species. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from the park, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - a menacing cloud that was travelling fast and furious. This photo was taken one minute after the photo in a comment box below. Despite trying our best to get away from it, it eventually engulfed our car, surrounding us with more or less zero visibility, pounding hail, thunder and lightning, and tremendously strong winds. There was nothing to do but stop the car and sit tight, hoping that the hail would not break the car windows and that this severe thunderstorm would not develop into a tornado! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, exciting (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Fortunately, we weren't caught in the very centre of it. Our road trip sure went out with a bang! Later, I contacted the Alberta Tornado Watch and posted a photo for them to see. They said the storm that happened that day was a mesocyclone.

The hamlet of Waterton is some distance off this photo, to the left. This is just one view taken from along the Chief Mountain Highway in Waterton Lakes National Park, on 27 August 2014. This park is about 276 km south of Calgary and roughly a three hour drive. During the time we were there, we explored all four drives in the area: the Akamina Pathway that leads to Cameron Lake; the Red Rock Parkway; the Chief Mountain Highway which takes you up to the US/Canada Customs; and the Bison Paddocks. This was a driving trip, not a hiking trip - which is just as well, as a young woman was attacked on one of the days that we were there, by a Cougar on one of the trails! During three days away (26, 27 and 28 August 2014) with friends Cathy and Terry, we saw so many things, including breathtaking scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer (including several that we saw in the town of Waterton, where we stayed for two nights at the clean and friendly Bear Mountain Motel), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including these endangered Burrowing Owls (way east of Waterton, on our last day), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse that are uncommon in the park. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. Oh, and we got caught in a storm like nothing we'd ever seen before - a mesocyclone, apparently. "In 1932, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was formed from Waterton and Glacier. It was dedicated to world peace by Sir Charles Arthur Mander on behalf of Rotary International. Although the park has a lot of diversity for its size, the main highlight is the Waterton lakes—the deepest in the Canadian Rockies—overlooked by the historic Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site. In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the parks' range include: prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests, deciduous and coniferous forests. The park is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated as World Heritage Site in 1995 for their distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. They are areas of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterton_Lakes_National_Park

I CAN'T GET MY FLICKR ACCOUNT TO AUTOMATICALLY RENEW!!! I have the old Pro Account, which is supposed to automatically renew unless you let them know you don't want it to do that. When I checked my account, I noticed that since then (I paid for a 2-year extension), my credit card was updated, so I changed this new expiry date in my Account. Nothing is happening! I had an e-mail from Flickr stating: "we're we're having trouble authorizing payment to renew your subscription. To fix this problem, please update your payment information or use a different payment method in your Flickr Wallet." I have done that, but still no new extension of my account has happened. Can anyone HELP - please! Today, my old subscription ran out!! Have visions of my 10,000+ images vanishing at any moment! A bit later: I clicked on Reactivate and that looks promising. I've heard horror stories about some people losing their original Flickr account when somehow a new account was started for them. I never look forward to renewal time, as I've had problems several times, which is why I took out a 2-year renewal last time!! I love this little country church, especially the long, photogenic fence line (not seen in this photo) leading up to the front from the parking lot. It was built in Carpenter's Gothic style of architecture. A sign had the following words on it: "The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time, native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta. The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history". After George McDougall's tragic death in a snowstorm, his body was brought back to the church at Morleyville and laid to rest. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8788 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley,_Alberta On 20 July 2014, I plucked up courage to do a drive that I’d never done before. I had been that route before when I carpooled with others. A good part of the drive was in familiar territory, but I’d never driven the last part of the journey myself. I had met my daughter at 9:00 a.m. and we were both eager to see a display of birds of prey that had been brought up from the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre. This year, there were fewer birds, but it was great to see any at all. This year, there was a Burrowing Owl, a Barn Owl, a Great Horned Owl, and a Golden Eagle. Another real treat that was an amusing one, was seeing a baby Barn Owl that was just 45 days old! This little ball of fluff was acting as a great ambassador, letting young kids get a close view and ask questions, and fall in love with it – and to hopefully, in the future, do everything they can as adults to protect our precious wildlife. The enjoyment of seeing these birds up close reminds one that the reason these birds are not free to live in the wild, is because of some kind of interaction with humans – such as permanent injuries from being hit by a vehicle, pesticide use, or even worse, being shot by a human! This is what happened to “Spirit”, the magnificent Golden Eagle, shot and blinded by someone. This exhibit was our first destination in the park, though on the drive from Calgary, we had stopped at the small McDougall Church seen in today's photo After seeing and photographing the birds of prey, we then drove to Middle Lake that’s in a different part of the park. We walked the very short distance to the edge of the lake, but didn’t walk around it. From there, we drove to the Many Springs Trail and did a very slow walk around the lake, stopping to look at different flowers and photograph a few butterflies. Though slow, it was still further than I should have walked. Certain wildflowers were already finished, including various Orchid species, but there were still plenty of other species to see and enjoy. Even the weather cooperated, though the forecast had been for isolated showers. Not too hot, nice clouds in the sky and lovely to have my daughter’s company for the day. Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always long to go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was a much-appreciated treat!

Yesterday was the first time this year that I managed to get out along the whole length of the Elbow Falls Trail - really an on the spur of the moment thing. The weather called for some sun and some cloud, which sounded good. After the two heavy snowfalls on 9 and 10 September, I wasn't sure what to expect before I reached the beginning of the mountains, but every bit of snow had disappeared, except on the mountain peaks. The furthest point of my drive was Forgetmenot Pond, one of my favourite places to go. This drive is the only one I will do on my own and it only takes about an hour to get from home to the Pond. This photo was taken at a place just before the Pond, along the gravel road leading to Cobble Flats. In the distance, you can see the main road. On the return drive, I called in at a place not far from the pond, where I have found a few mushrooms in previous years, and managed to find several that were in good enough condition to photograph. Other than that, I didn't see a whole lot during the few hours I was out. The scenery is spectacular and there were patches of trees that have turned yellow. Some of the trees looked as though their leaves were past their fall prime, and I came away wondering if I was a bit too early or a bit too late to see the best of the fall colours. The final place I called in at was Maclean Pond, but the light was fading somewhat and so I didn't feel like going more than a few steps into the forest. I had just got back into my car when I happened to look up just in time to see a family of beautiful Bluejays not far from the parking lot. Managed to get a few shots, but distant and not as sharp as they should have been. A nice way to end the day, though.

A not too inspiring photo, but wanted to post it to mark the season that starts the day after tomorrow, 23 September 2014. Yesterday afternoon, I did a short drive SW of the city, in search of some fall colours. This particular road seems to be where I often find the "best" splash of colour. Even so, it was a little disappointing here, too. I'm finding that the best of the colour is over in most of the places I've been. In the distance, you can just make out the dark ribbon of road that follows the undulating hills. A very faint mountain peak is on the horizon. We are having beautiful weather at the moment, with bright sunshine and bright blue skies. It's 10°C this morning, but it's supposed to get up to 24°C this afternoon. So far, it looks like we have a pleasant week coming up, too. Sure beats the two back-to-back snowstorms we had on 9 and 10 September! City streets are still lined with piles of broken tree limbs that have been removed from the thousands of trees damaged by the snowstorms that have been cut down, waiting to be removed. What a huge task this is going to be!

This photo was taken at 6:47 a.m. on 28 August 2014, the last morning of a three-day trip down south of Calgary, with friends, Cathy and Terry. The first two days were spent in Waterton Lakes National Park We were up and ready to leave very early on the third morning, as we wanted to do a long drive eastwards before driving all the way back to Calgary. It's roughly a three-hour drive directly from Waterton to Calgary. Before leaving the park, we took a short drive part way along one of the roads within the park, the Chief Mountain Highway, from where we caught the end of the sunrise. The mountains and clouds looked so beautiful, bathed in pink. Waterton village (or hamlet?), where we spent the two nights at the Bear Mountain Motel, is some distance off to the left of the photo. Little did we know that this was such a different sight from the one we were to encounter late in the afternoon, when we saw a menacing cloud approaching and bringing with it a mesocyclone! We were soon engulfed by it when it came down to ground level, bringing pounding hail and tremendously strong winds. During three days away (26, 27 and 28 August 2014), we saw so many things, including breathtaking scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including endangered Burrowing Owls (way east of Waterton, on our last day), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me, and also way east of Waterton Park!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse that are uncommon in the park. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. Definitely a great trip!