Album For my Brother from Anne Elliott

Pretty but poisonous

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:31:09 +0000

This is an Amanita muscaria, Fly Agaric, seen on 20th August at West Bragg Creek Provincial Park. Though it is very attractive, it is also poisonous.

Red Eyed Tree Frog

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:32:13 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I was thrilled to bits to be told where to find these little guys at the Calgary Zoo. For so many years, I had seen photos of them, and always wished that I could see and photograph them. Had to aim at where I thought the frog was, as it was almost pitch black, and thankfully using flash worked out well.

"Many scientists believe the red-eyed tree frog developed its vivid scarlet peepers to shock predators into at least briefly questioning their meal choice.

These iconic rain-forest amphibians sleep by day stuck to leaf-bottoms with their eyes closed and body markings covered. When disturbed, they flash their bulging red eyes and reveal their huge, webbed orange feet and bright blue-and-yellow flanks. This technique, called startle coloration, may give a bird or snake pause, offering a precious instant for the frog to spring to safety.

Red-eyed tree frogs, despite their conspicuous coloration, are not venomous. They are found in tropical lowlands from southern Mexico, throughout Central America, and in northern South America. Nocturnal carnivores, they hide in the rain forest canopy and ambush crickets, flies, and moths with their long, sticky tongues.

Red-eyed tree frogs are not endangered. But their habitat is shrinking at an alarming rate, and their highly recognizable image is often used to promote the cause of saving the world's rain forests." From
animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/red-eye...

A real character

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:55:19 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This mushroom was definitely not at the peak of its life, but I rather liked the way it was drying out and curving. Found at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, on August 30th. Mushrooms are all long gone here, and the ground will be covered with snow any time now. Only my photo archives remain, LOL. Snow is in the forecast on several days coming up. It actually rained last night.

A short while later: I turned on my TV and saw that there is a Winter Storm Warning in effect - yuck! So, goodbye sunshine, hello snow. I think I saw a high of -13C for tomorrow? Yikes! I am so not ready for this : )

Silver Maple

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:06:17 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Not too happy with this image, apart from the lovely colour. I just have to post a red Silver Maple leaf each fall now, though, as this is so rare in our city! This Silver Maple tree, possibly a hybrid, is only a tiny tree that is growing in Bowness Park, so there are limited leaves from which to choose.

Horsetails

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:02:41 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

The sunlight in the forest was in just the right place for these two Horsetails growing in front of a fallen log. The almost seemed to glow. Seen on June 18th at the Perrenoud Natural Area, north west of Cochrane (which is north west of Calgary).

"Equisetum (pronounced /ˌɛkwɨˈsiːtəm/) (horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.

Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests. Some Equisetopsida were large trees reaching to 30 meters tall; the genus Calamites of family Calamitaceae for example is abundant in coal deposits from the Carboniferous period." From Wikipedia.

Calgary was the 2nd coldest place on earth yesterday!

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:06:42 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

And so I needed a warm, colourful shot to post today. I haven't dared look at the weather forecast yet this morning, but it is supposed to get a bit warmer by this afternoon. Tomorrow, things are supposed to improve a lot, thank goodness! The only time I've been out the last three days was a neccessary trip to get groceries yesterday afternoon. Stay warm, everyone! Took this photo of a beautiful Water Lily growing in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo on October 11th. I love the yellow flower centre - it's so perfect.

Last night, I noticed this link to the newspaper article about our weather yesterday on my son's Facebook page.

www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Calgary+coldest+place+Ea...

Crested wheatgrass

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:00:24 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I love photographing this species of grass, but unfortunately it is a very invasive species. Taken in Bow Valley Provincial Park on 30 September 2010.

'Introduced from Eurasia. Abundant. Each plant has thousands of fibrous roots extending to depths of 4m, totalling in excess of 5km, depriving native plants of moisture and ultimately nutrients; a serious threat to our native biodiversity. Stems, densely tufted, 3-4dm tall. Leaves, blades, 2-4mm wide. Flowers, spike oblong-oval; arranged in flattened comb-like cluster, 4-7cm long, 1.5-2.5cm broad; ......... Habitat: roadsides, disturbed areas." From talkaboutwildlife.ca.

LOL, after posting my images this afternoon, I forced myself to go out and face the -16C (3F) temperature, which was -27C (-16F) with windchill, and drove just to my local park for a very short walk! I had to replace my old winter boots this year, as they were treacherous on ice and in the snow. Need to get used to my new ones, which are supposed to have really good grip, a bit before I go on a longer walk. Plenty of snow everywhere, and I very quickly became tired out. Always a shock to the system, I find, when walking in deep snow - you use so many different muscles you didn't even know you had and it is quite a workout. Maybe 8" or 9" of snow, so far.

Hopeful contestant

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:50:10 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

We witnessed a really cool thing on a walk at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, this morning. A huge Mule Deer buck, accompanied by a doe, came towards us and got pretty close - certainly close enough, knowing that it's rutting season! Then this smaller buck arrived on the scene and approached the other two. Eventually, he realized that the first male was bigger and more powerful and that he might as well leave the scene, seeing as he would be out of luck. My photo is of the unfortunate "loser". He's still a pretty impressive sight, though, and we were thrilled to bits to see all three deer and this interesting behaviour.

He made our day!

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:06:28 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A friend and I spent part of today driving the gravel roads east of the city, including the Irricana and Shepard areas. Snowy Owls had been reported recently, so off we went in the hopes of possibly finding one. Well, we were so lucky, seeing three different ones. This is the first one, then we saw the next one on a fence post way across a field. The third one was perched high up (like the one in the image above) on a tangle of wires, so really not a very beautiful setting : ) Always SO amazing to see a Snowy Owl, especially on a lovely sunny day. Not the sharpest of images because of pointing my camera up towards the sky, but I'll take any image that I manage to get of one of these magnificent owls : )

Vibrant

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:31:07 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A different crop and a thin piece of grass/moss removed from a previously posted image. The red was a deeper red than other red fungi I had seen before - it really was beautiful. Found this gorgeous Russula mushroom at Bragg Creek Natural Area on September 3rd. Wow, the wonderful treaures that the forest holds, for those of us who wish to see : )

I was so thrilled to finally find three or four photos of my brother yesterday, taken 30+ years ago, that I thought I could send to my friends in England, who are arranging John's funeral. However, when I went to try and scan them, guess what, my scanner won't scan anything now. Yesterday, I tried to install the HP CD, but got an Error message just before it finished. When I went to scan, not using the USB, like I usually do, I couldn't do anything. Arghhh!!!! So, I've tried taking photos of the photos, but of course the quality is pretty useless. I am so conscious that time is running out ..... sigh.

Like between ripped paper

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:56:56 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

When I first looked at this photo, I almost felt as if I was viewing Frank Lake and the distant Rocky Mountains through a frame of ripped paper : ) We had a few hours south of the city today, searching sloughs (ponds) and Frank Lake for birds. Frank Lake is a well-known location and very popular with birders. I was very happy to see a Western Meadowlark, even though it was perched on a most unphotogenic, distant road sign, LOL. Took quite a few photos, but mainly landscapes - and most not really worth keeping. We are SO lucky to have this amazing scenery within easy reach!! Quite warm today, up to around 21C, but cooling off greatly tomorrow, with snow in the forecast sometime over the next few days.

Knitting pattern: knit 2, purl 1

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:49:27 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I loved this very small mushroom that I found growing on the end of a small branch on the ground at Mallard Point, Fish Creek Park, back on September 21st. It was just so perfect. I think these little ribbed shrooms are so pretty. The cap was maybe half an inch in height. Growing out in an open, grassy area not too far from the Bow River. Not like my usual fungi photos, which are usually taken in a dark forest.

Northern Pygmy-owl

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:28:06 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I wonder how this tiny owl (the size of a pop-can or a person's fist!) is doing today. How our weather has changed. It's still lightly snowing this morning, with a few inches of snow already on the ground (which means on my car, ha). I have a volunteer shift this afternoon, so I have no choice but to face winter (unlike yesterday, when I stayed home in the warmth all day). We were so lucky to see this little owl in Fish Creek Park on November 13th. Lots of people go there in the hopes of finding it, and most never get the chance, so I feel extra fortunate. Good luck, if you are one of those hopeful people! This is quite a crop, by the way : )

Malachite - for my good friend, Phil!

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:46:32 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

These Malachite butterflies in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo are just so beautiful, both the underside and the topside. Have to get ready soon to go off to do our Snake Monitoring and after that, must decide where to go. Just too many places and things to check out, sometimes I find it SO hard to choose : ) So often, it's the weather that helps with that decision, of course.

"Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite, is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly's wings. The wingspread is typically between 8.5 and 10 cm (3.3 and 3.9 in). The malachite is found throughout Central and northern South America, where it is one of the most common butterfly species. Its distribution extends as far north as southern Texas and the tip of Florida, to Cuba, as subspecies S. s. insularis (Holland, 1916), and south to Brazil.

Adults feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, dead animals, and bat dung. Females lay eggs on the new leaves of plants in the Acanthaceae family, especially ruellia. The larvae are horned, spiny black caterpillars with red markings." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siproeta_stelenes

Angel tears

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:36:55 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I don't know if the tears are actually part of this little angel ornament or whether they are caused by rain. Very fitting, though, as this dear little angel was part of a roadside memorial "shrine" for a 22-year-old young man. He had been found shot to death in his SUV in 2008, along a gravel backroad just outside residential area of Calgary. I found it very moving. We passed this tribute to him when we were on a Mountain Bluebird route recently.

www.calgaryherald.com/news/Police+tips+2008+killing+fine+...

Our beautiful Foothills

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:59:39 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Even though I live in a large city, this magnificent scenery is within easy reach (maybe 20 minutes' drive and a good part of that is through beautiful scenery). I was driving along 22X heading westwards on the way to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, when I saw the colour of this wheat field. I decided to turn off along a gravel side road to take a few photos. I often stop to think how lucky I am to live so close to scenes like this one.

A little world of their own

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:22:35 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

We were out on a walk at Paskapoo Slopes in the city a couple of mornings ago. Barely into the walk, friend Doug handed me this wonderful little finding! Though we did see more of these teeny little fungi growing on the ground during the walk, none were as magical as this first, up-close sight. You can imagine how tiny the new little ones on the leaf were - barely visible : )

Consolation prize

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:04:23 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I really shouldn't use this title, as I am always happy to get a photo of a Chickadee. These little birds were going crazy this afternoon and I had to delete quite a few photos, so this image is appreciated! I wonder if birds can be near- or short-sighted. One kept pecking hard at my finger tip - much more powerful than these little beaks look! The word "consolation" came out of the fact that I went to the park in the hope of seeing the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl again. I was out of luck, but a gentleman did see it briefly when I was off walking through the trees.

Dwarfing the city

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:58:34 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Taken at Beaverdam Flats just after sunrise this morning. We have a Chinook at the moment, so we are enjoying the somewhat milder temperatures. The sky just seemed so huge today, with these clouds towering over downtown.

A pink surprise

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:22:37 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Sorry - I'm afraid you might just get a bit sick of seeing fungi, as I have taken SO many photos of different ones in this past week! These pink fungi were only very small - my photo makes them look much bigger than they actually were. They were growing quite near the edge of the trail I was on, too. Doug - many thanks for the ID; much appreciated!