Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: magenta

Just added 11 more odds and ends tonight, still from Day 2 of our 13-day trip to South Texas. Having posted so many images from basically our first full day, I rather think I will have to be somewhat more 'disciplined" in my choices, or I will never finish. Later morning, on Day 2 of our holiday, 20 March 2019, after our drive to The Big Tree and then along the Lamar Beach Road area, we went to the Connie Hagar Cottage Sanctuary. This is a small, 6.25 acre nature sanctuary that exists in Rockport itself. Such a peaceful place to wander, watching for plants and butterflies as well as birds. There is a small pond, where we watched a young White Ibis, a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret all feeding together. Lovely to see their reflections in the water, too. Last night, I was Googling and came across an article from 19 March 2019, telling about a group of students who chose to spend their Spring Break week helping to tidy the Sanctuary. Good for them! "The Connie Hagar Cottage Sanctuary is a mixture of oak motte and native grasses. This is the original location of the famed Rockport Cottages, operated by Connie and Jack Hagar. Mrs. Hagar moved to Rockport in 1935 and devoted her life to documenting birdlife in the Rockport area." From link below. aransaspathways.com/connie-hagar-cottage-sanctuary/ After spending some time at this Sanctuary, we went to the Aransas First Cove Harbor Wetlands Sanctuary, followed by eventually finding the Newbury Park Hummingbird Garden. This was definitely not what we were expecting - just a small area of grass and trees with picnic tables. However, we did see a beautiful Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly and a small, purple Winecup flower (from the Mallow family). Afterwards, a repeat drive along Cape Velero Drive and area turned up some nice birds, too.

We have an overcast, windy day here today, 22 June 2017. The temperature is only 9C (windchill 5C). Yesterday, I had wondered whether to finally go and take a few garden flower photos today, but I've changed my mind. On 7 June 2017, a group of eight of us spent a wonderful day exploring Elbow Falls and Forgetmenot Pond, in Kananaskis. We drove west of the city into the eastern edge of the mountains, stopping at three different places, including a stop along the edge of the main highway, where we found beautiful Shooting stars and a few little brown cup fungi. Forgetmenot Pond is actually a man-made pond, left over from the excavation of a gravel pit. The water is crystal clear. It's just a short walk around the pond, but enjoyable to do. The main road this far into Kananaskis only opens in June each year, as a winter gate at Elbow Falls closes in December for the winter months, to protect the wildlife in the area. I found the following 4-minute video on YouTube, taken by Kenneth Lori using a DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter and taken on 16 June 2016. It travels over Forgetmenot Pond and the surrounding river and mountains. youtu.be/fEamf0nDXt4 What a great day we had! It was one beautiful find after another, and I think we all must have arrived back home at the end of the day, feeling happy and content. Dorothy and Stephen, as always, you planned a wonderful day for us and you even managed to arrange with the weatherman for beautiful sunshine and warmth, with an occasional welcome slight breeze. I still can't believe how lucky we were, seeing so many interesting things. In fact, I'm finding it difficult to decide what was the highlight for me. The Harlequin Duck, the distant Common Nighthawk flying high overhead, the two Morel mushrooms, the small cluster of beautiful brown cup fungi?? And so on .... Great to spend a day with such a pleasant group of keen, interested people. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day - my favourite kind of day : ) Thank you, also, for the ride and for the donuts you brought along for everyone to enjoy. Nice to end our day with a stop at the Cinnamon Spoon cafe in Bragg Creek, for a very welcome coffee.

This morning, I am posting four more photos taken two days ago, when a group of eight of us spent a wonderful day exploring Elbow Falls and Forgetmenot Pond, in Kananaskis. We drove west of the city into the eastern edge of the mountains, stopping at three different places, including a stop along the edge of the main highway, where we found these Shooting stars and the little brown cup fungi seen in one of the photos posted this morning. Shooting stars belong to the Primrose family, Primulaceae. Forgetmenot Pond is actually a man-made pond, left over from the excavation of a gravel pit. The water is crystal clear. It's just a short walk around the pond, but enjoyable to do. The main road this far into Kananaskis only opens in June each year, as a winter gate at Elbow Falls closes in December for the winter months, to protect the wildlife in the area. Yesterday, I found the following 4-minute video taken by Kenneth Lori using a DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter and taken on 16 June 2016. It travels over the pond and the surrounding river and mountain scenery. youtu.be/fEamf0nDXt4 What a great day we had yesterday! It was one beautiful find after another, and I think we all must have arrived back home at the end of the day, feeling happy and content. Dorothy and Stephen, as always, you planned a wonderful day for us and you even managed to arrange with the weatherman for beautiful sunshine and warmth, with an occasional welcome slight breeze. I still can't believe how lucky we were, seeing so many interesting things. In fact, I'm finding it difficult to decide what was the highlight for me yesterday. The Harlequin Duck, the distant Common Nighthawk, the dried-up Morel mushrooms, the small cluster of beautiful brown jelly cup fungi?? And so on .... Great to spend a day with such a pleasant group of keen, interested people. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day - my favourite kind of day : ) Thank you, also, for the ride and for the donuts you brought along for everyone to enjoy. Nice to end our day with a stop at the Cinnamon Spoon cafe in Bragg Creek, for a welcome cup of coffee.

Found this little Shootingstar just off Elbow Falls Trail, at Maclean Pond, in Kananaskis, on 12 June 2014. They are such exquisite wildflowers! Unfortunately, a single flowerhead doesn't quite fit into a macro photo, but I have to balance that with being able to get a soft, blurred background. "The genus (Dodecatheon) is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, and sailor caps. A few species are grown in gardens for their showy and unique flower display. The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which grab hold of the petals, and gather pollen by vibrating the flowers by buzzing their wings (buzz pollination). The vibration releases pollen from the anthers." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon

Beautiful magenta Shootingstar wildflowers, photographed at Bow Valley Provincial Park on 18 June 2013. I have taken many photos of these flowers over the last few years, but find it almost impossible to get a photo that I really like. Just love their colour. "Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems rising from where the leaves join the crown. The genus is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, and sailor caps. A few species are grown in gardens for their showy and unique flower display. The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which grab hold of the petals, and gather pollen by vibrating the flowers by buzzing their wings (buzz pollination). The vibration releases pollen from the anthers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon

Beautiful magenta Shootingstar wildflowers, photographed at Bow Valley Provincial Park on 18 June 2013. Can't remember for sure, but I think the background was the distant river way down below. "Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems rising from where the leaves join the crown. The genus is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, and sailor caps. A few species are grown in gardens for their showy and unique flower display. The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which grab hold of the petals, and gather pollen by vibrating the flowers by buzzing their wings (buzz pollination). The vibration releases pollen from the anthers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon

Another wildflower that I came across in the Maclean Pond area. These small flowers are such a beautiful colour and shape.

Not the best photo, but usually I see and photograph the Saline Shootingstars, so wanted to add a Mountain Shootingstar to my Plants of Alberta Set(s). These small, native wildflowers are such a pretty magenta. Photographed on Nose Hill.

These small, native wildflowers are exquisite. The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. Every now and then, I need to add a splash of a totally different colour in my photostream, so, even though I did post a similar photo ages ago, I thought this photo would do the trick, ha. Photographed at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail, on June 10th. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon

Always a lovely combination, Fireweed with a backdrop of Aspen. This was taken in the forest near Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail, Kananaskis, on August 16th.

"The name Dodecatheon has its roots in the Greek words twelve (dodeka) and gods (theos). Pliny gave this name to a spring flower, thought to be the primrose, which was under the protection of the twelve principal gods." I think I'm right in saying that we get two species of Shootingstar here, but I can never remember which is which. Found and (macro) photographed this individual flower out in Kananaskis, at Maclean Pond, on June 10th. Just love the colour of the magenta sepals. If you have time, you might enjoy watching this short video of a young Lowland Gorilla at the Calgary Zoo who loves break-dancing. Her spins and fancy footwork are amazing! shar.es/Hdj4D

The reason for my "Noooo ...!!!" is that I only noticed the little Ladybug when I got home and looked at my photo on the computer! I was standing way back and zooming in, concentrating on trying to keep the flower in my viewfinder (it was so windy, as it always seems to be). So, I didn't see the black and white beetle - and it's a NEW one for me. Ha, I'm trying not to think about the possible macro I could have taken! Now, if only it would still be around next time I go. I don't know if this could be the tiny black & white ladybug - Psyllobora vigintimaculata.;

Can't really "complain" though, as the sun is shining so far this morning and that's always good. A lot of the snow that fell the night before last has melted already, too. These brightly coloured flowers were growing in the garden borders at the Calgary Zoo on October 11th last year. Just checked our forecast - snow later today and more snow this weekend.

I'm posting two photos (this and the Sora) today that are being posted for interest, definitely not for photographic merit, LOL! We managed to find these tiny Calypso Orchids two days ago in the forest at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, when we were doing the annual May Species Count in the Priddis area. I always think of these tiny wild orchids as being very delicate, but they seemed to have held up well after our recent snow the other day! The paths at Brown-Lowery were in an awful state - snow, slippery slush and mud!

When I called in at Safeway (grocery store) yesterday, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a small bunch of these strange flowers! They came in several different colours and I was told that the colour is natural. Of course, I gave in to temptation. I KNEW I should have written down the name! Does anybody know?? The name begins with "S". The soft, almost velvety texture made me think of a Sesame Street character. OK - it has been so hot today and I spent hours walking and botanizing in the heat : ) Thanks, Suzie, for the ID - yes, it's a crimson Cockscomb Celosia! I didn't see the name written down, but the lady in the store told me it was Celosia, and I was thinking that started with an "S". Well done!

Saw these brilliantly coloured flowers today at the Reader Rock Garden. Luckily, the background came out very dark.

We found this garden escapee growing in the "wild" in North Glenmore Park the other week. Also known as Rose Campion. Not a very inspiring photo, but I did want one image of this flower included in my Plants of Alberta Set. I like the white ray pattern and the tiny "crown" in the centre. The colour is really pretty, too.

This plant belongs to the Pea family. Also known as Northern Sweetvetch, Bear-root, Mackenzie's Hedysarum, Northern Hedysarum, or Sweet Vetch. It is native to Alberta, is a perennial and is poisonous.