https://www.ipernity.com/tag/293827/keyword/18390 https://cdn.ipernity.com/p/101/C3/7B/293827.buddy.jpg https://www.ipernity.com/tag/293827/keyword/18390 Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:03:50 +0000 Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:03:50 +0000 https://www.ipernity.com https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/50114444 tag:ipernity.com,2019-08-10,doc-50114444 Sat, 10 Aug 2019 16:31:36 +0000 2019-08-08T12:47:32-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/50114444"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/44/44/50114444.ee029cdc.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Maybe an early Eaton catalogue kit home design?<br /> <br /> The day before yesterday, 8 August 2019, was more of a barn day than a bird day. A while ago, another photographer had mentioned that a few barns in a certain area SE of Calgary had been removed and I was curious to see if I could tell which ones were missing. There is one huge barn in particular that I am always hoping still stands. I would love to be able to get photos from both sides of it, but it is way out in a farmer's field that is, of course, private property. Standing in the road, I can only get a distant shot and, as often happens, I had a problem with heat distortion on distant shots. There is an old, round, wooden grain bin and a partly hidden, smaller barn just near the barn, too. I think the first time I ever saw the barn was on 21 January 2015, when I took my daughter out for the day.<br /> <br /> My intention two days ago had been to leave early in the morning, but it was already 10:45 am when I climbed into my car. Seeing that the weather forecast for the next six days included rain on each day, I knew I just had to do this trip straight away. Some of the roads I drove to get to my destination(s) were familiar, but others less so. There are two or three highway intersections that are confusing to me and I usually end up taking the wrong turn. <br /> <br /> For a change, I turned off the main highway going south before my usual turn, in order to shorten the distance. My first sighting was a distant Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wooden fence at a wetland that used to be a great spot, but now is totally dried up.<br /> <br /> After a quick stop at a tiny church that I always photograph when I am out that way, I continued east till I came to the three old Mossleigh grain elevators - one of the places I always get confused about which way to drive. Ideally, a dramatic sky would have been great, but I have taken better photos in the past.<br /> <br /> From Mossleigh, I did my usual exploring, finding that a lovely old, wooden house was still standing. I believe this was built from a kit years ago, and it remains in reasonably good condition.<br /> <br /> Eventually, I found the large barn that I wanted to see again. It took me a while to work out which road it was on (thought I knew!), but I found it after some driving back and forth. It was good to see the smaller barn, in less then good condition, just down the road. The other two times that I have been standing in the road to take photos of this smaller barn, a lady has come along the road from a nearby farm and very kindly told me to on in and take any photos I'd like. No-one around yesterday, so I stayed on the road,of course. At one point, I happened to glance up the road and saw what I thought was someone's dog on the crest of the road. When I zoomed in on my camera, I realized it was a coyote, who started walking towards me. Unfortunately, it turned off into the field and disappeared. When I was at this smaller barn, it amused me to see a magnificent Mule near the barn, plus a horse. The Mule looked huge and was a real poser, wanting to be in almost every shot I took. Such a gorgeous creature, that I don't remember seeing there before.<br /> <br /> Once I had taken a few photos, I started on my homeward drive, not stopping anywhere as I could see that, if I hurried, I could get to the Saskatoon Farm in time to get a meal before the restaurant closed for the day. Yay, I just made it.<br /> <br /> Knowing that Frank Lake was only a short drive away, I couldn't resist driving back south to have a quick look. Found a couple of my friends there and spent some enjoyable time with them. Only took a few photos there, most to be deleted, before heading home. A fun day, though hot and hazy.</div> Long ago, someone&#039;s pride and joy <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/50114444"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/44/44/50114444.ee029cdc.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Maybe an early Eaton catalogue kit home design?<br /> <br /> The day before yesterday, 8 August 2019, was more of a barn day than a bird day. A while ago, another photographer had mentioned that a few barns in a certain area SE of Calgary had been removed and I was curious to see if I could tell which ones were missing. There is one huge barn in particular that I am always hoping still stands. I would love to be able to get photos from both sides of it, but it is way out in a farmer's field that is, of course, private property. Standing in the road, I can only get a distant shot and, as often happens, I had a problem with heat distortion on distant shots. There is an old, round, wooden grain bin and a partly hidden, smaller barn just near the barn, too. I think the first time I ever saw the barn was on 21 January 2015, when I took my daughter out for the day.<br /> <br /> My intention two days ago had been to leave early in the morning, but it was already 10:45 am when I climbed into my car. Seeing that the weather forecast for the next six days included rain on each day, I knew I just had to do this trip straight away. Some of the roads I drove to get to my destination(s) were familiar, but others less so. There are two or three highway intersections that are confusing to me and I usually end up taking the wrong turn. <br /> <br /> For a change, I turned off the main highway going south before my usual turn, in order to shorten the distance. My first sighting was a distant Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wooden fence at a wetland that used to be a great spot, but now is totally dried up.<br /> <br /> After a quick stop at a tiny church that I always photograph when I am out that way, I continued east till I came to the three old Mossleigh grain elevators - one of the places I always get confused about which way to drive. Ideally, a dramatic sky would have been great, but I have taken better photos in the past.<br /> <br /> From Mossleigh, I did my usual exploring, finding that a lovely old, wooden house was still standing. I believe this was built from a kit years ago, and it remains in reasonably good condition.<br /> <br /> Eventually, I found the large barn that I wanted to see again. It took me a while to work out which road it was on (thought I knew!), but I found it after some driving back and forth. It was good to see the smaller barn, in less then good condition, just down the road. The other two times that I have been standing in the road to take photos of this smaller barn, a lady has come along the road from a nearby farm and very kindly told me to on in and take any photos I'd like. No-one around yesterday, so I stayed on the road,of course. At one point, I happened to glance up the road and saw what I thought was someone's dog on the crest of the road. When I zoomed in on my camera, I realized it was a coyote, who started walking towards me. Unfortunately, it turned off into the field and disappeared. When I was at this smaller barn, it amused me to see a magnificent Mule near the barn, plus a horse. The Mule looked huge and was a real poser, wanting to be in almost every shot I took. Such a gorgeous creature, that I don't remember seeing there before.<br /> <br /> Once I had taken a few photos, I started on my homeward drive, not stopping anywhere as I could see that, if I hurried, I could get to the Saskatoon Farm in time to get a meal before the restaurant closed for the day. Yay, I just made it.<br /> <br /> Knowing that Frank Lake was only a short drive away, I couldn't resist driving back south to have a quick look. Found a couple of my friends there and spent some enjoyable time with them. Only took a few photos there, most to be deleted, before heading home. A fun day, though hot and hazy.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49907646 tag:ipernity.com,2019-08-07,doc-49907646 Wed, 07 Aug 2019 16:34:08 +0000 2019-08-05T14:40:47-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49907646"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/76/46/49907646.638762b7.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This old grain elevator was built in the 1920's. Its roof was blown off during a bad storm in 2015. I had really hoped that a new roof could be built, to give some much-needed protection.<br /> <br /> "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.<br /> <br /> The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-arrowwood-alberta/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-...</a><br /> <br /> An interesting film about how the old grain elevators work (or worked). Grain Elevator by Charles Konowal, National Film Board of Canada, 15:57 minutes in length.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator</a><br /> <br /> Wow, what a day I had the day before yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.<br /> <br /> This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.<br /> <br /> Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would I ever get out of the Badlands?<br /> <br /> When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for that day, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day, getting up to 30C. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that it was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km, using roughly three-quarters of a tank of gas. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.<br /> <br /> There was only one unpleasant thing that happened and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. <br /> <br /> Yesterday, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast was for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between. Sure enough, 4:30 pm and we had torrential rain, wind and thunder - SO glad we weren't out in this! Today, it is very overcast - happy I decided to do my long drive two days ago.</div> Very old grain elevator in the Badlands valley <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49907646"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/76/46/49907646.638762b7.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This old grain elevator was built in the 1920's. Its roof was blown off during a bad storm in 2015. I had really hoped that a new roof could be built, to give some much-needed protection.<br /> <br /> "There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.<br /> <br /> The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-arrowwood-alberta/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-...</a><br /> <br /> An interesting film about how the old grain elevators work (or worked). Grain Elevator by Charles Konowal, National Film Board of Canada, 15:57 minutes in length.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator</a><br /> <br /> Wow, what a day I had the day before yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.<br /> <br /> This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.<br /> <br /> Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would I ever get out of the Badlands?<br /> <br /> When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for that day, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day, getting up to 30C. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that it was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km, using roughly three-quarters of a tank of gas. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.<br /> <br /> There was only one unpleasant thing that happened and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. <br /> <br /> Yesterday, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast was for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between. Sure enough, 4:30 pm and we had torrential rain, wind and thunder - SO glad we weren't out in this! Today, it is very overcast - happy I decided to do my long drive two days ago.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49898376 tag:ipernity.com,2019-08-06,doc-49898376 Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:35:03 +0000 2019-08-05T13:52:50-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49898376"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/83/76/49898376.85310c13.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">"There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.<br /> <br /> The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-arrowwood-alberta/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-...</a><br /> <br /> An interesting film about how the old grain elevators work (or worked). Grain Elevator by Charles Konowal, National Film Board of Canada, 15:57 minutes in length.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator</a><br /> <br /> Unfortunately, it was hazy and the sun was in the wrong direction. Better than nothing .... Too bad that the roof, which was blown off in a bad storm, has never been repaired.<br /> <br /> Wow, what a day I had yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.<br /> <br /> This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.<br /> <br /> Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would i ever get out of the Badlands?<br /> <br /> When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for yesterday, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that yesterday was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km.. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.<br /> <br /> There was only one unpleasant thing that happened yesterday and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. <br /> <br /> Today, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast is for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between.</div> Still standing, tall and proud <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/49898376"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/83/76/49898376.85310c13.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">"There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.<br /> <br /> The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-arrowwood-alberta/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/8049/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-...</a><br /> <br /> An interesting film about how the old grain elevators work (or worked). Grain Elevator by Charles Konowal, National Film Board of Canada, 15:57 minutes in length.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator</a><br /> <br /> Unfortunately, it was hazy and the sun was in the wrong direction. Better than nothing .... Too bad that the roof, which was blown off in a bad storm, has never been repaired.<br /> <br /> Wow, what a day I had yesterday, 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.<br /> <br /> This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.<br /> <br /> Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would i ever get out of the Badlands?<br /> <br /> When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for yesterday, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that yesterday was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km.. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.<br /> <br /> There was only one unpleasant thing that happened yesterday and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me. <br /> <br /> Today, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast is for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47482564 tag:ipernity.com,2018-10-15,doc-47482564 Mon, 15 Oct 2018 17:17:33 +0000 2018-10-12T15:18:58-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47482564"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/25/64/47482564.f24a7e6b.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This morning, I am again returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.<br /> <br /> I love this old barn and I had wanted to find it for a number of years after coming across a photo somewhere on the Internet. One day, a friend happened to post a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been out looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.</div> Filtered barn <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47482564"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/25/64/47482564.f24a7e6b.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This morning, I am again returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.<br /> <br /> I love this old barn and I had wanted to find it for a number of years after coming across a photo somewhere on the Internet. One day, a friend happened to post a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been out looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468976 tag:ipernity.com,2018-10-13,doc-47468976 Sat, 13 Oct 2018 17:02:38 +0000 2018-10-12T15:06:20-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468976"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/89/76/47468976.34515e90.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">It's snowing - again! Our temperature is -3C (windchill -9C). So far, the forecast for the coming week looks amazing! Temperatures between 12C and 19C (for Wednesday). What a difference and finally, it looks like we might actually be going to get a fall season after all. Hopefully, there will still be enough leaves left on the trees to give at least a bit of fall colour.<br /> <br /> This morning, I am returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong yesterday afternoon! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.<br /> <br /> I love this old barn and I had wanted to find it for a number of years after coming across a photo somewhere on the Internet. One day, a friend happened to post a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been out looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.</div> A favourite barn <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468976"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/89/76/47468976.34515e90.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">It's snowing - again! Our temperature is -3C (windchill -9C). So far, the forecast for the coming week looks amazing! Temperatures between 12C and 19C (for Wednesday). What a difference and finally, it looks like we might actually be going to get a fall season after all. Hopefully, there will still be enough leaves left on the trees to give at least a bit of fall colour.<br /> <br /> This morning, I am returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong yesterday afternoon! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.<br /> <br /> I love this old barn and I had wanted to find it for a number of years after coming across a photo somewhere on the Internet. One day, a friend happened to post a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been out looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468950 tag:ipernity.com,2018-10-13,doc-47468950 Sat, 13 Oct 2018 16:59:38 +0000 2018-10-12T15:03:27-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468950"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/89/50/47468950.a84f1ce2.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="182" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">It's snowing - again! Our temperature is -3C (windchill -9C). So far, the forecast for the coming week looks amazing! Temperatures between 12C and 19C (for Wednesday). What a difference and finally, it looks like we might actually be going to get a fall season after all. Hopefully, there will still be enough leaves left on the trees to give at least a bit of fall colour.<br /> <br /> This morning, I am returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong yesterday afternoon! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.</div> On its last legs <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47468950"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/89/50/47468950.a84f1ce2.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="182" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">It's snowing - again! Our temperature is -3C (windchill -9C). So far, the forecast for the coming week looks amazing! Temperatures between 12C and 19C (for Wednesday). What a difference and finally, it looks like we might actually be going to get a fall season after all. Hopefully, there will still be enough leaves left on the trees to give at least a bit of fall colour.<br /> <br /> This morning, I am returning to local photos instead of continuing with images from our Pt Pelee and Tadoussac trip back in May of this year. You can't tell from this photo, taken on 12 October 2018, but I was barely able to hold my camera, or open my car door to get in and out, the wind was so strong yesterday afternoon! Seeing sunshine all morning, I reckoned it might be a good time to dash east of the city and visit a couple of old wooden barns and sheds that I enjoy photographing. When I stepped out of my front door, I could feel the wind, but as I knew I would not be trying to take photos of flowers that would blow in and out of the viewfinder, I thought it would be OK. Well, was I wrong! It was definitely not fun driving the highway and, little did I know, the wind would become stronger and the dark clouds and rain would move in. Needless to say, in the end, I just had to give up and return home. Fortunately, I was able to get the main photos I was hoping for, straight away, before the storm worsened.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47033892 tag:ipernity.com,2018-07-21,doc-47033892 Sat, 21 Jul 2018 16:55:37 +0000 2018-07-20T16:48:58-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47033892"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/38/92/47033892.93473f46.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Yesterday, 20 July 2018, I no choice but to get out for a while. My place is unbearable on so many summer days and, at the moment, I dare not open any windows in case my house mouse (mice?) finds another tiny space to get in. All this week, I have been getting to sleep around 4:00 or 4:30 am, because of hearing the moving, "cracking" sounds inside my bedroom walls. The one night, from 2:00 am till around 3:30 am, I just sat on my bed, watching, as it sounded like there was something actually in my room. Sure enough, after half an hour, the mouse appeared around the hinged edge of my open bedroom door and darted out across the landing, heading for my computer room. Lack of sleep, which is the absolute last thing I need, is really getting to me and is stopping me from getting out on any day drives. The stress of having this most unwelcome rodent(s) in my house is so draining. So, yesterday, mid-afternoon, I was desperate to get away from it all and do just a short drive SE of the city.<br /> <br /> I think this was only the second time I had driven down there this year - it only takes maybe half an hour. There is so much endless construction going on in the south part of the city (well, in all parts of the city) and I discovered yesterday that roads had been changed. Not a good feeling! Huge overpasses are being built in every direction, mainly as part of the Ring Road around the city.<br /> <br /> When I reached the area I wanted to explore, I pulled over to check for any birds. Practically nothing, until I noticed a whitish bird perched on a very distant fence post. "Gull" was what first came to mind, but when I zoomed in on my camera, I was delighted to find that it was a Black-crowned Night-heron. Later on, I was feeling even more grateful to have seen this bird, as there was practically nothing else to be seen. It had turned out to be a very hot, hazy day, with very strong winds. At the blind, there was one Ruddy Duck swimming by and immediately disappearing. One American Coot was in the reeds with a baby. Several distant Yellow-headed Blackbirds, a Tern, a distant Western Grebe being followed by a growing youngster (who could barely keep up with her thanks to the very choppy, wind-blown water), and a sprinkling of shorebirds were the only other things I saw.<br /> <br /> The glorious colour of Canola fields was what I was really hoping for on this trip. A photogenic old barn, sitting in a field of gold, was also what I was hoping to find. I did manage to find a very distant old shed and so was able to get a shot or two. Though the smell of Canola really is not pleasant, I find that just driving through a yellow landscape is wonderful, even on a very windy day.<br /> <br /> "In the 1970s, canola was created through traditional plant cross-breeding by removing two things found in the rapeseed plant: glucosinolates and erucic acid. Erucic acid was removed because it was believed to be inedible or toxic in high doses. The newly developed plant was renamed "canola" – a combination of "Canadian" and "Oil" (or ola) to make this difference apparent." From the link below.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-canola-and-rapeseed-206047" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-canola-and...</a><br /> <br /> Then it was time to return home. Back to reality, back to heat and stuffy air - and the dreaded house mouse!</div> Glorious Canola <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/47033892"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/38/92/47033892.93473f46.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Yesterday, 20 July 2018, I no choice but to get out for a while. My place is unbearable on so many summer days and, at the moment, I dare not open any windows in case my house mouse (mice?) finds another tiny space to get in. All this week, I have been getting to sleep around 4:00 or 4:30 am, because of hearing the moving, "cracking" sounds inside my bedroom walls. The one night, from 2:00 am till around 3:30 am, I just sat on my bed, watching, as it sounded like there was something actually in my room. Sure enough, after half an hour, the mouse appeared around the hinged edge of my open bedroom door and darted out across the landing, heading for my computer room. Lack of sleep, which is the absolute last thing I need, is really getting to me and is stopping me from getting out on any day drives. The stress of having this most unwelcome rodent(s) in my house is so draining. So, yesterday, mid-afternoon, I was desperate to get away from it all and do just a short drive SE of the city.<br /> <br /> I think this was only the second time I had driven down there this year - it only takes maybe half an hour. There is so much endless construction going on in the south part of the city (well, in all parts of the city) and I discovered yesterday that roads had been changed. Not a good feeling! Huge overpasses are being built in every direction, mainly as part of the Ring Road around the city.<br /> <br /> When I reached the area I wanted to explore, I pulled over to check for any birds. Practically nothing, until I noticed a whitish bird perched on a very distant fence post. "Gull" was what first came to mind, but when I zoomed in on my camera, I was delighted to find that it was a Black-crowned Night-heron. Later on, I was feeling even more grateful to have seen this bird, as there was practically nothing else to be seen. It had turned out to be a very hot, hazy day, with very strong winds. At the blind, there was one Ruddy Duck swimming by and immediately disappearing. One American Coot was in the reeds with a baby. Several distant Yellow-headed Blackbirds, a Tern, a distant Western Grebe being followed by a growing youngster (who could barely keep up with her thanks to the very choppy, wind-blown water), and a sprinkling of shorebirds were the only other things I saw.<br /> <br /> The glorious colour of Canola fields was what I was really hoping for on this trip. A photogenic old barn, sitting in a field of gold, was also what I was hoping to find. I did manage to find a very distant old shed and so was able to get a shot or two. Though the smell of Canola really is not pleasant, I find that just driving through a yellow landscape is wonderful, even on a very windy day.<br /> <br /> "In the 1970s, canola was created through traditional plant cross-breeding by removing two things found in the rapeseed plant: glucosinolates and erucic acid. Erucic acid was removed because it was believed to be inedible or toxic in high doses. The newly developed plant was renamed "canola" – a combination of "Canadian" and "Oil" (or ola) to make this difference apparent." From the link below.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-canola-and-rapeseed-206047" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-canola-and...</a><br /> <br /> Then it was time to return home. Back to reality, back to heat and stuffy air - and the dreaded house mouse!</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46629938 tag:ipernity.com,2018-05-05,doc-46629938 Sat, 05 May 2018 14:38:49 +0000 2018-05-03T11:29:07-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46629938"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/99/38/46629938.88bd973e.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">These will be the last photos I post for maybe a couple of weeks, as I am taking a much-needed break!<br /> <br /> This was a lovely find two days ago, on 3 May 2018. A bit different from many of the old, abandoned buildings I come across.<br /> <br /> Three days ago, I was so torn as to whether or not to accept an invite from my friend, Pam, to take a drive SE of the city. I really, really wanted to go, even more so as I have barely been out for ages. However, I am running out of time to get certain things done, and also I was concerned that if I slightly moved in a 'wrong' way, my knees would give way or my rotator cuffs and lower back would become even more painful. Not what I need, especially right now. In the end, I decided that, yes, I would go after all, and I am so glad that I made that decision.<br /> <br /> We started off at Frank Lake, a place that is very familiar to both of us. We knew that Western Grebes and Eared Grebes were being seen and we both hoped they would be there that morning. A pair of Eared Grebes gave a little performance of part of their mating dance. The photo I posted this morning was taken with the Nikon B700 - in fact, I gave up using the FZ200 for pretty well all my photos at Frank Lake and just kept my fingers crossed that the new B700 (with far more zoom, but less sharpness) would give me at least a few photos that were good enough to keep. I am still having the problem of image shift on some of the shots - photo jumps upward, downward or to one side, cutting off parts of birds and resulting in ridiculous compositions. At Frank Lake, I could rest both elbows on a very sturdy window ledge, making it impossible for normal, self-created camera shake to happen. <br /> <br /> Though I have quite a few photos of Eared Grebes on my Flickr photostream, I think I only have one previous photo of a Western Grebe. I don't see them very often and when I do, they are so far away. They were far away when we were there, but we were able to watch as they did a bit of their mating dance, including when each bird gathered a beak full of wet, rotting plant material and they went face to face in an amorous gesture. These birds also swam off separately, giving us a few chances for further shots. Still at the blind, we were so lucky when a pair of Eared Grebes came close enough to capture a shot or two of part of their mating dance. <br /> <br /> By the way, the blind is surrounded by lake and flood water! Parts of the boardwalk were under 5" or 6" of water, through which we had to wade. If you do go, make sure you concentrate, or you might find yourself swimming in the lake! Elsewhere in the whole SE area, there was a lot of water in some of the fields, creating what I suspect will turn out to be only temporary sloughs. <br /> <br /> A few of the other birds we saw two days ago at various places included a few dozen Tundra Swans; plenty of Northern Shovelers; several Western Meadowlarks; a Great Horned Owl and her little white, fuzzy owlet, sitting on a distant nest; and a Ferruginous Hawk female lying down in her nest. Of course, the usual suspects included Canada Geese, Mallards, and so on.<br /> <br /> When it came time to leave Frank Lake, I had assumed we would then start on the drive back to the city. Instead, Pam surprised me by saying that we would go further south - and further south we definitely went! Made such a great day. Thanks so much, Pam, for this treat - greatly appreciated.</div> Once was home <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46629938"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/99/38/46629938.88bd973e.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">These will be the last photos I post for maybe a couple of weeks, as I am taking a much-needed break!<br /> <br /> This was a lovely find two days ago, on 3 May 2018. A bit different from many of the old, abandoned buildings I come across.<br /> <br /> Three days ago, I was so torn as to whether or not to accept an invite from my friend, Pam, to take a drive SE of the city. I really, really wanted to go, even more so as I have barely been out for ages. However, I am running out of time to get certain things done, and also I was concerned that if I slightly moved in a 'wrong' way, my knees would give way or my rotator cuffs and lower back would become even more painful. Not what I need, especially right now. In the end, I decided that, yes, I would go after all, and I am so glad that I made that decision.<br /> <br /> We started off at Frank Lake, a place that is very familiar to both of us. We knew that Western Grebes and Eared Grebes were being seen and we both hoped they would be there that morning. A pair of Eared Grebes gave a little performance of part of their mating dance. The photo I posted this morning was taken with the Nikon B700 - in fact, I gave up using the FZ200 for pretty well all my photos at Frank Lake and just kept my fingers crossed that the new B700 (with far more zoom, but less sharpness) would give me at least a few photos that were good enough to keep. I am still having the problem of image shift on some of the shots - photo jumps upward, downward or to one side, cutting off parts of birds and resulting in ridiculous compositions. At Frank Lake, I could rest both elbows on a very sturdy window ledge, making it impossible for normal, self-created camera shake to happen. <br /> <br /> Though I have quite a few photos of Eared Grebes on my Flickr photostream, I think I only have one previous photo of a Western Grebe. I don't see them very often and when I do, they are so far away. They were far away when we were there, but we were able to watch as they did a bit of their mating dance, including when each bird gathered a beak full of wet, rotting plant material and they went face to face in an amorous gesture. These birds also swam off separately, giving us a few chances for further shots. Still at the blind, we were so lucky when a pair of Eared Grebes came close enough to capture a shot or two of part of their mating dance. <br /> <br /> By the way, the blind is surrounded by lake and flood water! Parts of the boardwalk were under 5" or 6" of water, through which we had to wade. If you do go, make sure you concentrate, or you might find yourself swimming in the lake! Elsewhere in the whole SE area, there was a lot of water in some of the fields, creating what I suspect will turn out to be only temporary sloughs. <br /> <br /> A few of the other birds we saw two days ago at various places included a few dozen Tundra Swans; plenty of Northern Shovelers; several Western Meadowlarks; a Great Horned Owl and her little white, fuzzy owlet, sitting on a distant nest; and a Ferruginous Hawk female lying down in her nest. Of course, the usual suspects included Canada Geese, Mallards, and so on.<br /> <br /> When it came time to leave Frank Lake, I had assumed we would then start on the drive back to the city. Instead, Pam surprised me by saying that we would go further south - and further south we definitely went! Made such a great day. Thanks so much, Pam, for this treat - greatly appreciated.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46536044 tag:ipernity.com,2018-04-17,doc-46536044 Tue, 17 Apr 2018 16:43:52 +0000 2017-10-30T12:12:35-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46536044"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/60/44/46536044.b6e05461.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">I had not planned to post any photos today, as I was expecting to be at a hospital across the city, waiting for my daughter to have her major surgery. However, yesterday evening, she told me not to bother to go early, as she had to be there at 6:00 am and would then be going straight in to get ready for surgery and then a recovery period of 1-2 hours after roughly 4-5 hours of surgery ( longer if necessary). It is now 11:08 am and I am so stressed out, not knowing how things are going and not sure just how to plan the rest of the day. My daughter said that if I am thinking of going over later, to phone the hospital and check with the unit to see if she is up to having visitors. Will need to get a taxi, as I will never drive to that part of the city. <br /> <br /> To add to my stress, I have a MOUSE in the HOUSE, for the very first time ever. A few years ago, a number of my neighbours had mice indoors, but not me. I love wildlife, but when it comes to having a mouse inside my home, that is a very different matter. It terrifies me, wondering where it is and if it will suddenly run across the floor, making me scream. I was watching TV yesterday afternoon, when I suddenly saw out of the corner of my eye a dark shape run across my hall floor and into the kitchen. A minute later, it ran back in the opposite direction - and disappeared. I think it may have got in through my front door when I opened it yesterday, to place something in my mailbox for a neighbour to pick up. There are now five traps set! I see one is now upside down, but I don't know if the mouse triggered it or if it was too delicately set. This is not just a mouse, it's a LARGE mouse - or maybe it's not even a mouse, but maybe something like a Meadow Vole? All I know is that it is not welcome and it is making me extremely nervous and stressed out. <br /> <br /> And so goes my day, lol!<br /> <br /> This photo, zoomed in from the road, was taken on 30 October 2017. I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still find a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I had only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. Once again, I added a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail.<br /> <br /> A large barn in a photo I posted a while ago was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had taken just a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to the decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good!<br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and stood by my car to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : )<br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are so good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Standing up well <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46536044"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/60/44/46536044.b6e05461.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">I had not planned to post any photos today, as I was expecting to be at a hospital across the city, waiting for my daughter to have her major surgery. However, yesterday evening, she told me not to bother to go early, as she had to be there at 6:00 am and would then be going straight in to get ready for surgery and then a recovery period of 1-2 hours after roughly 4-5 hours of surgery ( longer if necessary). It is now 11:08 am and I am so stressed out, not knowing how things are going and not sure just how to plan the rest of the day. My daughter said that if I am thinking of going over later, to phone the hospital and check with the unit to see if she is up to having visitors. Will need to get a taxi, as I will never drive to that part of the city. <br /> <br /> To add to my stress, I have a MOUSE in the HOUSE, for the very first time ever. A few years ago, a number of my neighbours had mice indoors, but not me. I love wildlife, but when it comes to having a mouse inside my home, that is a very different matter. It terrifies me, wondering where it is and if it will suddenly run across the floor, making me scream. I was watching TV yesterday afternoon, when I suddenly saw out of the corner of my eye a dark shape run across my hall floor and into the kitchen. A minute later, it ran back in the opposite direction - and disappeared. I think it may have got in through my front door when I opened it yesterday, to place something in my mailbox for a neighbour to pick up. There are now five traps set! I see one is now upside down, but I don't know if the mouse triggered it or if it was too delicately set. This is not just a mouse, it's a LARGE mouse - or maybe it's not even a mouse, but maybe something like a Meadow Vole? All I know is that it is not welcome and it is making me extremely nervous and stressed out. <br /> <br /> And so goes my day, lol!<br /> <br /> This photo, zoomed in from the road, was taken on 30 October 2017. I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still find a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I had only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. Once again, I added a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail.<br /> <br /> A large barn in a photo I posted a while ago was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had taken just a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to the decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good!<br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and stood by my car to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : )<br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are so good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46483570 tag:ipernity.com,2018-04-05,doc-46483570 Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:02:10 +0000 2017-08-16T10:21:19-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46483570"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/35/70/46483570.e80076f4.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 16 August 2017, I had a most enjoyable day out with friends Dorothy, Stephen and Janet. We basically covered a similar area that we had been to, back on 20 February 2017. Everywhere looked different because of the landscape colouring at different times of the year. You could tell that this whole area would be spectacular at any time of the year. Also, on 3 August 2015, three of us had been on a botany trip with a group to the Timber Ridge Conservation Site, which is also in the Porcupine Hills.<br /> <br /> What I love about a drive like this is that you just never know what you might find. I love photographing anything that catches my eye, so I never return home disappointed. The wildflowers are now pretty much finished, though we did see several patches of beautiful Fireweed. Most of the birds we saw were Hawks, and there were a lot of them, but none that we were able to phototgraph. We also enjoyed watching three gorgeous Kestrels flying from tree to tree. The males, especially, are such beautifully-coloured birds.<br /> <br /> I'm always happy to come across an old barn and, on this day, an old schoolhouse. Before this outing, I had noticed a photo on Google of a small, white schoolhouse somewhere in this area, and I was delighted when we happened to come across it. We even made two new friends while we were taking photos of it - two very friendly donkeys that were hanging out by the building. This school in the Greenbank school region was open from 1910-1945. Made me think of the schoolhouse in Little House on the Prairie<br /> <br /> The views from the narrow, gravel road that leads up into the Porcupine Hills are amazing. Unfortunately, the smoke haze from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires was still present, as it had been for weeks, making it a problem to take decent scenic shots. The summer of 2017 was now officially the worst year on record for wildfires in British Columbia. <br /> <br /> After stopping to eat our lunch along one of the gravel roads in the Hills, that gave a nearby herd of cows some entertainment, we started on our return journey to the city. Early in the morning, we had driven south on Highway 2, but our return drive north was on Highway 22.<br /> <br /> Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for yet another wonderful day spent in such beautiful scenery! Janet, so glad you were able to join us, too.</div> Donkey guardians of the old schoolhouse <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46483570"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/35/70/46483570.e80076f4.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 16 August 2017, I had a most enjoyable day out with friends Dorothy, Stephen and Janet. We basically covered a similar area that we had been to, back on 20 February 2017. Everywhere looked different because of the landscape colouring at different times of the year. You could tell that this whole area would be spectacular at any time of the year. Also, on 3 August 2015, three of us had been on a botany trip with a group to the Timber Ridge Conservation Site, which is also in the Porcupine Hills.<br /> <br /> What I love about a drive like this is that you just never know what you might find. I love photographing anything that catches my eye, so I never return home disappointed. The wildflowers are now pretty much finished, though we did see several patches of beautiful Fireweed. Most of the birds we saw were Hawks, and there were a lot of them, but none that we were able to phototgraph. We also enjoyed watching three gorgeous Kestrels flying from tree to tree. The males, especially, are such beautifully-coloured birds.<br /> <br /> I'm always happy to come across an old barn and, on this day, an old schoolhouse. Before this outing, I had noticed a photo on Google of a small, white schoolhouse somewhere in this area, and I was delighted when we happened to come across it. We even made two new friends while we were taking photos of it - two very friendly donkeys that were hanging out by the building. This school in the Greenbank school region was open from 1910-1945. Made me think of the schoolhouse in Little House on the Prairie<br /> <br /> The views from the narrow, gravel road that leads up into the Porcupine Hills are amazing. Unfortunately, the smoke haze from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires was still present, as it had been for weeks, making it a problem to take decent scenic shots. The summer of 2017 was now officially the worst year on record for wildfires in British Columbia. <br /> <br /> After stopping to eat our lunch along one of the gravel roads in the Hills, that gave a nearby herd of cows some entertainment, we started on our return journey to the city. Early in the morning, we had driven south on Highway 2, but our return drive north was on Highway 22.<br /> <br /> Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for yet another wonderful day spent in such beautiful scenery! Janet, so glad you were able to join us, too.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46403582 tag:ipernity.com,2018-03-19,doc-46403582 Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:19:47 +0000 2017-11-06T16:28:56-06:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46403582"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/35/82/46403582.5d511819.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken in the afternoon of 6 November 2017, when I decided to dash out east of the city again. Most roads were clear of snow, apart from the gravel back roads, so I reckoned I had better make the most of it before the next snowfall. There were four barns and an old house that I had photographed on 27 October 2017 and I wanted to get them with snow on the ground. There was enough snow on the ground to make it look like winter, but not huge amounts yet. It was all I could do to walk along the road and take long enough to grab a few shots - it was so cold, and windy, too, which is never a good combination!<br /> <br /> The one barn (not the collapsing one seen in this photo) was one that I had wanted to see for a number of years. A friend had posted a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos. The barn in this photo was in the same area.<br /> <br /> Apart from one occasion, I had avoided driving east of the city from the south for a few years, as the roads are so confusing, with dozens of huge road signs and several massive overpasses. It is so easy to be in the wrong lane and take the wrong turn-off, which happened to me one time maybe a couple of years ago, twice in one day. That was enough to put me off trying again. However, finally having done it recently, I knew it was much faster to get out east that way. There are two tricky turn-offs and I almost missed both of them on my last trip. If there had been a lot of traffic, I would have been out of luck. The fact that the clocks have just been set back an hour didn't even cross my mind and I found myself driving back to the city when it was getting dark - making those huge road signs very difficult, if not impossible, to read!<br /> <br /> No sign of wildlife, except for a flock of Gray Partridge that flushed up from the side of the road and flew and landed way out in a field. A couple of Ravens were the only other birds seen.</div> On its way down <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46403582"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/35/82/46403582.5d511819.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken in the afternoon of 6 November 2017, when I decided to dash out east of the city again. Most roads were clear of snow, apart from the gravel back roads, so I reckoned I had better make the most of it before the next snowfall. There were four barns and an old house that I had photographed on 27 October 2017 and I wanted to get them with snow on the ground. There was enough snow on the ground to make it look like winter, but not huge amounts yet. It was all I could do to walk along the road and take long enough to grab a few shots - it was so cold, and windy, too, which is never a good combination!<br /> <br /> The one barn (not the collapsing one seen in this photo) was one that I had wanted to see for a number of years. A friend had posted a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos. The barn in this photo was in the same area.<br /> <br /> Apart from one occasion, I had avoided driving east of the city from the south for a few years, as the roads are so confusing, with dozens of huge road signs and several massive overpasses. It is so easy to be in the wrong lane and take the wrong turn-off, which happened to me one time maybe a couple of years ago, twice in one day. That was enough to put me off trying again. However, finally having done it recently, I knew it was much faster to get out east that way. There are two tricky turn-offs and I almost missed both of them on my last trip. If there had been a lot of traffic, I would have been out of luck. The fact that the clocks have just been set back an hour didn't even cross my mind and I found myself driving back to the city when it was getting dark - making those huge road signs very difficult, if not impossible, to read!<br /> <br /> No sign of wildlife, except for a flock of Gray Partridge that flushed up from the side of the road and flew and landed way out in a field. A couple of Ravens were the only other birds seen.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46294866 tag:ipernity.com,2018-02-22,doc-46294866 Thu, 22 Feb 2018 16:35:51 +0000 2018-02-21T13:43:25-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46294866"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/48/66/46294866.a9068de9.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This morning started off overcast and now, unexpectedly, it has started to snow. I'm sure snow was not in the forecast. Ha, five minutes later, and the snow has stopped.<br /> <br /> I'm posting three less-than-inspiring images this morning, mainly as a record of a very enjoyable day out. Yesterday, 21 February 2018, I spent the day with two friends, driving the back roads NW of the city, especially hoping for any owls. No luck with Great Gray Owls, but my friends did an amazing job of spotting two extremely distant Short-eared Owls. I would never even have noticed the birds and, if I had, I would simply have thought 'Ravens'. They were way across a valley, barely visible, seen flying and, for a moment, perched on top of a distant tree. The photo I managed to get when one owl took off from the tree top is not even 'good' enough to post. Just four or five seconds out of the car and it was so unbearably cold for some reason, even though the temperature was not unusually low. <br /> <br /> Along one of the roads, we passed an outdoor enclosure full of domestic birds that looked like Pheasants/Grouse. Last night, I tried to find the ID for the bird in one of the photos posted today, but was unsuccessful. One friend thought it might be a Chukar, but I don't think it is. <br /> <br /> At another location, we stopped to take a look at 'something' that was lying at the side of the gravel road. I posted a rather unpleasant photo of it today, hoping that maybe someone might recognize what it is. To me, the legs and feet look like a Turkey, but there were white feathers scattered everywhere. I don't know if anyone in the area has domestic Turkeys, but I don't think Wild Turkeys have any white feathers. Maybe it died and the owner tossed the bird so that wildlife could feed on it? With Coyotes and various Owls in the area, it may have been prey.<br /> <br /> Wildlife seen during the day included a morning treat of a huge flock of an estimated 5,000 Snow Buntings, mainly in flight like a swarm of insects, but also picking up gravel (?) from the road way ahead of us. Such a beautiful sight, especially when in flight. When they land in a field, it is so impressive to see the ground covered in these small, white birds. Unfortunately, a couple of unidentified Falcons flew in and scattered them.<br /> <br /> Other wildlife included a couple of distant Coyotes together, and two Rough-legged Hawks. Everything seen yesterday was much too far away, even with a reasonable zoom, but each and every sighting was much appreciated, especially the Short-eared Owls and the Buntings. Thanks so much, guys, for inviting me!</div> Rusty and abandoned <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46294866"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/48/66/46294866.a9068de9.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This morning started off overcast and now, unexpectedly, it has started to snow. I'm sure snow was not in the forecast. Ha, five minutes later, and the snow has stopped.<br /> <br /> I'm posting three less-than-inspiring images this morning, mainly as a record of a very enjoyable day out. Yesterday, 21 February 2018, I spent the day with two friends, driving the back roads NW of the city, especially hoping for any owls. No luck with Great Gray Owls, but my friends did an amazing job of spotting two extremely distant Short-eared Owls. I would never even have noticed the birds and, if I had, I would simply have thought 'Ravens'. They were way across a valley, barely visible, seen flying and, for a moment, perched on top of a distant tree. The photo I managed to get when one owl took off from the tree top is not even 'good' enough to post. Just four or five seconds out of the car and it was so unbearably cold for some reason, even though the temperature was not unusually low. <br /> <br /> Along one of the roads, we passed an outdoor enclosure full of domestic birds that looked like Pheasants/Grouse. Last night, I tried to find the ID for the bird in one of the photos posted today, but was unsuccessful. One friend thought it might be a Chukar, but I don't think it is. <br /> <br /> At another location, we stopped to take a look at 'something' that was lying at the side of the gravel road. I posted a rather unpleasant photo of it today, hoping that maybe someone might recognize what it is. To me, the legs and feet look like a Turkey, but there were white feathers scattered everywhere. I don't know if anyone in the area has domestic Turkeys, but I don't think Wild Turkeys have any white feathers. Maybe it died and the owner tossed the bird so that wildlife could feed on it? With Coyotes and various Owls in the area, it may have been prey.<br /> <br /> Wildlife seen during the day included a morning treat of a huge flock of an estimated 5,000 Snow Buntings, mainly in flight like a swarm of insects, but also picking up gravel (?) from the road way ahead of us. Such a beautiful sight, especially when in flight. When they land in a field, it is so impressive to see the ground covered in these small, white birds. Unfortunately, a couple of unidentified Falcons flew in and scattered them.<br /> <br /> Other wildlife included a couple of distant Coyotes together, and two Rough-legged Hawks. Everything seen yesterday was much too far away, even with a reasonable zoom, but each and every sighting was much appreciated, especially the Short-eared Owls and the Buntings. Thanks so much, guys, for inviting me!</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46162278 tag:ipernity.com,2018-01-20,doc-46162278 Sat, 20 Jan 2018 14:04:43 +0000 2017-12-19T12:52:33-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46162278"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/22/78/46162278.07be04be.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant, with low visibility. Looked like there were about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence by the next morning. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon the next day! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night!<br /> <br /> I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it.<br /> <br /> One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow.<br /> <br /> Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders.<br /> <br /> "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open.<br /> <br /> Mallard-500 <br /> Northern Shoveler-1 f. <br /> Northern Pintail-2 <br /> Common Goldeneye-3 <br /> Gray Partridge-8 <br /> Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake <br /> Prairie Falcon-1 <br /> Rock Pigeon-56 <br /> Great Horned Owl-6 <br /> Snowy Owl-1 <br /> Blue Jay-4 <br /> Black-billed Magpie-17 <br /> Common Raven-4 <br /> Song Sparrow-1 <br /> Snow Bunting-150 <br /> Common Redpoll-790 <br /> House Sparrow-202<br /> Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind.<br /> <br /> Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m.<br /> <br /> Coyote-4 <br /> Skunk track by observation blind <br /> Meadow Vole-1 <br /> Mule Deer-6 <br /> Moose-1 f.<br /> <br /> Km by Car- 58 <br /> Km on foot -5 <br /> Total km - 63 <br /> <br /> Time by car – 2 hrs <br /> Time on foot-5 hrs <br /> Total party hours-7 hrs"</div> An old, abandoned Chevrolet <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46162278"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/22/78/46162278.07be04be.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 19 December 2017, it was the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for High River, a town to the south of Calgary. I am adding the report by Gus Yaki, the leader of our small group of 7, travelling in two cars. What Gus did not add, because he did not stay for the delicious Potluck supper after the Count, is that the forecast snow (Snowfall Warning in effect) arrived in full force in the evening and the drive back to Calgary was most unpleasant, with low visibility. Looked like there were about 10" of the white stuff on top of my fence by the next morning. Thanks so much, Lorrie and John, for being so kind and picking me up in the early morning and driving me all day long, and then dropping me off for the Potluck and returning later to collect me ready for the three of us to return to Calgary. Appreciated more than I can say! Thanks, also, to Greg Wagner for organizing the Count - as usual, great job! Last, but not least, many thanks to those who organized and prepared such a wonderful feast for us all to thoroughly enjoy at the end of the day! I left home around 7:00 am and arrived home about 8:15 pm, finally getting to bed at 2:00 am and eventually waking up at noon the next day! Was I tired after a full day out, especially after only two hours sleep the previous night!<br /> <br /> I should also add my thanks to the various property owners who very kindly gave us permission to wander round their farmyards in search of any birds. Being allowed to do this adds so much more interest to our Count day, and we really appreciate it.<br /> <br /> One exciting sighting was a beautiful female Moose, maybe two years old! This was the very first sighting ever of a Moose in our SE quadrant of the High River Count circle. From a distance, she was barely noticeable through the falling snow.<br /> <br /> Common Redpolls were enjoyed at some feeders. They gave me the first opportunity to take photos this season. Much as I prefer photos without feeders, I am very glad for this chance. They are such dainty little birds, and fast-moving. It always looks like a feeding frenzy when they are at the feeders.<br /> <br /> "High River CBC, SE Quadrant, including Frank Lake. 0800-1545, Tue, 19 Dec2017. Light overcast, light snow beginning at 1100. N Wind 10kph, -07 to -06°C. Ground bare initially, 3 cm at end. Little Bow River, mostly open.<br /> <br /> Mallard-500 <br /> Northern Shoveler-1 f. <br /> Northern Pintail-2 <br /> Common Goldeneye-3 <br /> Gray Partridge-8 <br /> Bald Eagle-1 ad, on Frank Lake <br /> Prairie Falcon-1 <br /> Rock Pigeon-56 <br /> Great Horned Owl-6 <br /> Snowy Owl-1 <br /> Blue Jay-4 <br /> Black-billed Magpie-17 <br /> Common Raven-4 <br /> Song Sparrow-1 <br /> Snow Bunting-150 <br /> Common Redpoll-790 <br /> House Sparrow-202<br /> Ring-necked Pheasant tracks by observation blind.<br /> <br /> Gord Fraser, on W side of Little Bow, just N of 594 Av, had 40 Gray Partridges this a.m.<br /> <br /> Coyote-4 <br /> Skunk track by observation blind <br /> Meadow Vole-1 <br /> Mule Deer-6 <br /> Moose-1 f.<br /> <br /> Km by Car- 58 <br /> Km on foot -5 <br /> Total km - 63 <br /> <br /> Time by car – 2 hrs <br /> Time on foot-5 hrs <br /> Total party hours-7 hrs"</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46031028 tag:ipernity.com,2017-12-18,doc-46031028 Mon, 18 Dec 2017 16:51:17 +0000 2017-12-17T13:47:02-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46031028"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/10/28/46031028.ea25151f.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">With a lot of snow forecast for 8 of the next 10 days, I feel very lucky that my daughter and I had such a beautiful day yesterday, 17 December 2017, for our Christmas get-together. Along with the snow will come much colder temperatures, too, unfortunately. Looks like we could be getting around 20 cm of snow tomorrow, badly timed for one of our out-of-city Christmas Bird Counts. Yesterday was rather chilly, with a cold wind. It was such weird weather, as the colour of the sunrise sky lasted all day, till we left just before sunset. A gorgeous Chinook Arch crossed the sky, staying the whole day. Some of the fields were bare, and others had a light dusting of snow on them.<br /> <br /> The day started with breakfast at the Saskatoon Farm - always enjoyable. They do close from the end of the day on 23 December and open again in the morning of 17 January. A well-earned break for everyone who works there. As always, we walked around the grounds to look for things to photograph and, as usual, we were in luck - dead Sunflowers, cats, dogs, even a little House Sparrow that was inside one of the greenhouses.<br /> <br /> From there, we continued south to the area east of High River and drove some of the usual back roads; ones that I had driven just four days earlier. Of course, we were hoping that we might find a Snowy Owl, though I knew not to get our hopes up. Before too long, my daughter spotted our first Snowy Owl of the season - the tiniest speck of white that I could barely see with the naked eye, but it was a Snowy and that was all that mattered. Later in the day, she somehow spotted a second one; again, the tiniest speck perched on a very distant fence post. <br /> <br /> A few minutes before this second sighting, my daughter spotted two handsome Mule Deer bucks - looked like father and son - lying down next to a metal grain silo, near the edge of the road. They stayed there for a while, which was surprising, as males tend to be far more skittish. Eventually, they stood up and walked off into the field. <br /> <br /> Of course, we couldn't resist taking shots of any old barns, sheds and houses that we came across. <br /> Altogether, a great day that was much enjoyed. Thank you so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me, and doing something that we both love! These are my absolute favourite days in the year.</div> A sunrise sky that lasted till sunset <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46031028"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/10/28/46031028.ea25151f.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">With a lot of snow forecast for 8 of the next 10 days, I feel very lucky that my daughter and I had such a beautiful day yesterday, 17 December 2017, for our Christmas get-together. Along with the snow will come much colder temperatures, too, unfortunately. Looks like we could be getting around 20 cm of snow tomorrow, badly timed for one of our out-of-city Christmas Bird Counts. Yesterday was rather chilly, with a cold wind. It was such weird weather, as the colour of the sunrise sky lasted all day, till we left just before sunset. A gorgeous Chinook Arch crossed the sky, staying the whole day. Some of the fields were bare, and others had a light dusting of snow on them.<br /> <br /> The day started with breakfast at the Saskatoon Farm - always enjoyable. They do close from the end of the day on 23 December and open again in the morning of 17 January. A well-earned break for everyone who works there. As always, we walked around the grounds to look for things to photograph and, as usual, we were in luck - dead Sunflowers, cats, dogs, even a little House Sparrow that was inside one of the greenhouses.<br /> <br /> From there, we continued south to the area east of High River and drove some of the usual back roads; ones that I had driven just four days earlier. Of course, we were hoping that we might find a Snowy Owl, though I knew not to get our hopes up. Before too long, my daughter spotted our first Snowy Owl of the season - the tiniest speck of white that I could barely see with the naked eye, but it was a Snowy and that was all that mattered. Later in the day, she somehow spotted a second one; again, the tiniest speck perched on a very distant fence post. <br /> <br /> A few minutes before this second sighting, my daughter spotted two handsome Mule Deer bucks - looked like father and son - lying down next to a metal grain silo, near the edge of the road. They stayed there for a while, which was surprising, as males tend to be far more skittish. Eventually, they stood up and walked off into the field. <br /> <br /> Of course, we couldn't resist taking shots of any old barns, sheds and houses that we came across. <br /> Altogether, a great day that was much enjoyed. Thank you so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me, and doing something that we both love! These are my absolute favourite days in the year.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46023444 tag:ipernity.com,2017-12-16,doc-46023444 Sat, 16 Dec 2017 17:27:54 +0000 2017-10-30T12:01:44-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46023444"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/34/44/46023444.2e761191.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">There seems to be so little activity on Flickr this morning. Hardly surprising with the website still in such a mess. Bad Pandas and almost every single thing not working properly or at all. Makes me wonder if Flickr is about to make yet another huge change. Also, I guess lots of people are out doing their Christmas shopping : ) I won't be posting any photos tomorrow morning, as I have an early start and won't have time to mess around with Flickr and all its present problems. <br /> <br /> Last night, when I checked the weather forecast for today, 16 December 2017, I was so happy to see that it had changed and that the snowflake icons for last night and today had been removed. Well, how wrong can a forecast be?! Hello, again, winter! Woke up to glorious blue sky and sunshine - and a winter wonderland. Not what I wanted though, as I had just washed off all the gravel road dust and dried mud from my car, ready for spending a few hours out with my daughter for our Christmas get-together. The roads are not going to be good. <br /> <br /> This photo, zoomed in from the road, was taken on 30 October 2017. I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still find a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I had only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. Once again, I added a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail.<br /> <br /> The large barn in a photo I posted a while ago was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to the decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good!<br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and stood by my car to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : )<br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are so good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Fine old house <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/46023444"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/34/44/46023444.2e761191.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">There seems to be so little activity on Flickr this morning. Hardly surprising with the website still in such a mess. Bad Pandas and almost every single thing not working properly or at all. Makes me wonder if Flickr is about to make yet another huge change. Also, I guess lots of people are out doing their Christmas shopping : ) I won't be posting any photos tomorrow morning, as I have an early start and won't have time to mess around with Flickr and all its present problems. <br /> <br /> Last night, when I checked the weather forecast for today, 16 December 2017, I was so happy to see that it had changed and that the snowflake icons for last night and today had been removed. Well, how wrong can a forecast be?! Hello, again, winter! Woke up to glorious blue sky and sunshine - and a winter wonderland. Not what I wanted though, as I had just washed off all the gravel road dust and dried mud from my car, ready for spending a few hours out with my daughter for our Christmas get-together. The roads are not going to be good. <br /> <br /> This photo, zoomed in from the road, was taken on 30 October 2017. I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still find a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I had only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. Once again, I added a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail.<br /> <br /> The large barn in a photo I posted a while ago was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to the decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good!<br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and stood by my car to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : )<br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are so good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45955918 tag:ipernity.com,2017-12-05,doc-45955918 Tue, 05 Dec 2017 15:59:43 +0000 2017-09-17T15:51:27-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45955918"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/59/18/45955918.dcc8a40d.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 17 September 2017, after noticing snowflake icons in the weather forecast for Calgary for that week, I decided I would do a drive east and north-east of the city. In 2016, I had done a similar drive with my daughter, but this time I did not go as far as Drumheller. Actually, I still drove quite a bit further than I had intended - 346 km, 215 miles. If I had had enough self-discipline, I would have left home much earlier, as it was 11:20 am when I finally got into my car.<br /> <br /> My intention was to drive a few back roads, searching for old barns. Most of my drive ended up on highways, simply for the purpose of saving time, so it wasn't till I was more or less at the furthest point that I actually saw a barn. <br /> <br /> I think my first stop was at Sharples - I couldn't see a sign pointing to this tiny place, so it took me a while to find the hilly, gravel road leading to it. By this time, unfortunately, there was a haze over the landscape and the light was far from good. Having driven so far, I was determined to take photos. As with any beautiful old elevator or barn, it will be a sad day when each one finally collapses. The grain elevator at Sharples certainly does not look in good condition, with its outer layer (fire retardant?) peeling badly.<br /> <br /> "The Elevator is marked P&H. This company, Parrish & Heimbecker, was one of the smaller players in the Canadian grain industry with a fewer number of elevators seen when compared to the big boys like UGG (United Grain Growers), Pioneer and the Alberta Wheat Pool (“The Pool”). Interestingly, each elevator company used specific colours on their structures making identifying them a fairly easy task. P&H mostly used either silver like what’s seen here, or a light yellow-ish colour – most other companies stuck to one colour.<br /> <br /> The elevator here was built just after the rail line was opened (early 1920s) and the large annex attached was added some twenty years later. An annex like this was a quick and easy way to increase capacity and a large elevator allowed for more efficient loading of rail cars. While solid looking, the building is succumbing to the elements. The siding in particular is starting to peeling away.<br /> <br /> There used to be a second elevator here, an AWP, Alberta Wheat Pool built late 1920s, that was torn down in the 1980s." From the link below that leads to an excellent site by Chris and Connie "bigdoer".<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/461/exploring-history/sharples-alberta-ghost-town/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/461/exploring-history/sharples-alberta-gh...</a><br /> <br /> While I was standing there, taking photos of the grain elevator and the old barn, a farmer came down to the gravel road on his tractor and stopped to have a pleasant chat. I guess I could have asked for permission to walk closer to the barn and elevator, but it is not on his property. Anyway, I never go close to barns or go inside, as I never ask for permission. That doesn't stop a lot of photographers, but I can't do it. <br /> <br /> I told this pleasant man that I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, and he said that we WERE in the middle of nowhere, ha. I was planning to go back the same way I had come, but he told me that there was an old house the other way, that people photograph. That changed my mind, though I knew I would continue to feel in the middle of nowhere. Definitely worth it, as I also came across a site of old, abandoned miners' cabins before reaching the old house. When coal was no longer mined, the area was left and the railway lines were torn up at a later date.<br /> <br /> One other abandoned house I passed was one that my daughter and I had found last year. It was built among the rolling hills, far, far away from any road, and is a very impressive sight. This year, they were doing road work repair by a bridge just a matter of feet away from the only possible place to pull over and stop. Thankfully, I was still able to stop and take photos. <br /> <br /> The last place I stopped on the way home was to take a few shots of a row of five old granaries. They are quite popular with photographers. Later: I believe that these wooden sheds have recently been removed.<br /> <br /> Altogether, a good few hours out. Though I didn't see a lot, the things I did see were most welcome and appreciated. I was glad to get in another long drive before the snow arrived.</div> Part of an abandoned mining camp <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45955918"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/59/18/45955918.dcc8a40d.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 17 September 2017, after noticing snowflake icons in the weather forecast for Calgary for that week, I decided I would do a drive east and north-east of the city. In 2016, I had done a similar drive with my daughter, but this time I did not go as far as Drumheller. Actually, I still drove quite a bit further than I had intended - 346 km, 215 miles. If I had had enough self-discipline, I would have left home much earlier, as it was 11:20 am when I finally got into my car.<br /> <br /> My intention was to drive a few back roads, searching for old barns. Most of my drive ended up on highways, simply for the purpose of saving time, so it wasn't till I was more or less at the furthest point that I actually saw a barn. <br /> <br /> I think my first stop was at Sharples - I couldn't see a sign pointing to this tiny place, so it took me a while to find the hilly, gravel road leading to it. By this time, unfortunately, there was a haze over the landscape and the light was far from good. Having driven so far, I was determined to take photos. As with any beautiful old elevator or barn, it will be a sad day when each one finally collapses. The grain elevator at Sharples certainly does not look in good condition, with its outer layer (fire retardant?) peeling badly.<br /> <br /> "The Elevator is marked P&H. This company, Parrish & Heimbecker, was one of the smaller players in the Canadian grain industry with a fewer number of elevators seen when compared to the big boys like UGG (United Grain Growers), Pioneer and the Alberta Wheat Pool (“The Pool”). Interestingly, each elevator company used specific colours on their structures making identifying them a fairly easy task. P&H mostly used either silver like what’s seen here, or a light yellow-ish colour – most other companies stuck to one colour.<br /> <br /> The elevator here was built just after the rail line was opened (early 1920s) and the large annex attached was added some twenty years later. An annex like this was a quick and easy way to increase capacity and a large elevator allowed for more efficient loading of rail cars. While solid looking, the building is succumbing to the elements. The siding in particular is starting to peeling away.<br /> <br /> There used to be a second elevator here, an AWP, Alberta Wheat Pool built late 1920s, that was torn down in the 1980s." From the link below that leads to an excellent site by Chris and Connie "bigdoer".<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bigdoer.com/461/exploring-history/sharples-alberta-ghost-town/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bigdoer.com/461/exploring-history/sharples-alberta-gh...</a><br /> <br /> While I was standing there, taking photos of the grain elevator and the old barn, a farmer came down to the gravel road on his tractor and stopped to have a pleasant chat. I guess I could have asked for permission to walk closer to the barn and elevator, but it is not on his property. Anyway, I never go close to barns or go inside, as I never ask for permission. That doesn't stop a lot of photographers, but I can't do it. <br /> <br /> I told this pleasant man that I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, and he said that we WERE in the middle of nowhere, ha. I was planning to go back the same way I had come, but he told me that there was an old house the other way, that people photograph. That changed my mind, though I knew I would continue to feel in the middle of nowhere. Definitely worth it, as I also came across a site of old, abandoned miners' cabins before reaching the old house. When coal was no longer mined, the area was left and the railway lines were torn up at a later date.<br /> <br /> One other abandoned house I passed was one that my daughter and I had found last year. It was built among the rolling hills, far, far away from any road, and is a very impressive sight. This year, they were doing road work repair by a bridge just a matter of feet away from the only possible place to pull over and stop. Thankfully, I was still able to stop and take photos. <br /> <br /> The last place I stopped on the way home was to take a few shots of a row of five old granaries. They are quite popular with photographers. Later: I believe that these wooden sheds have recently been removed.<br /> <br /> Altogether, a good few hours out. Though I didn't see a lot, the things I did see were most welcome and appreciated. I was glad to get in another long drive before the snow arrived.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45938046 tag:ipernity.com,2017-12-01,doc-45938046 Fri, 01 Dec 2017 16:26:42 +0000 2017-11-06T16:30:32-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45938046"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/80/46/45938046.0ad8a2db.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken in the afternoon of 6 November 2017, when I decided to dash out east of the city again. Most roads were clear of snow, apart from the gravel back roads, so I reckoned I had better make the most of it before the next snowfall. There were four barns and an old house that I had photographed on 27 October 2017 and I wanted to get them with snow on the ground. There was enough snow on the ground to make it look like winter, but not huge amounts yet. It was all I could do to walk along the road and take long enough to grab a few shots - it was so cold, and windy, too, which is never a good combination!<br /> <br /> The barn in this photo is one that I had wanted to see for a number of years. A friend had posted a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.<br /> <br /> Apart from one occasion, I had avoided driving east of the city from the south for a few years, as the roads are so confusing, with dozens of huge road signs and several massive overpasses. It is so easy to be in the wrong lane and take the wrong turn-off, which happened to me one time maybe a couple of years ago, twice in one day. That was enough to put me off trying again. However, finally having done it recently, I knew it was much faster to get out east that way. There are two tricky turn-offs and I almost missed both of them on my last trip. If there had been a lot of traffic, I would have been out of luck. The fact that the clocks have just been set back an hour didn't even cross my mind and I found myself driving back to the city when it was getting dark - making those huge road signs very difficult to read!<br /> <br /> No sign of wildlife, except for a flock of Gray Partridge that flushed up from the side of the road and flew and landed way out in a field. A couple of Ravens were the only other birds seen.</div> A happy find <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45938046"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/80/46/45938046.0ad8a2db.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken in the afternoon of 6 November 2017, when I decided to dash out east of the city again. Most roads were clear of snow, apart from the gravel back roads, so I reckoned I had better make the most of it before the next snowfall. There were four barns and an old house that I had photographed on 27 October 2017 and I wanted to get them with snow on the ground. There was enough snow on the ground to make it look like winter, but not huge amounts yet. It was all I could do to walk along the road and take long enough to grab a few shots - it was so cold, and windy, too, which is never a good combination!<br /> <br /> The barn in this photo is one that I had wanted to see for a number of years. A friend had posted a photo of an old barn and it turned out to be the very barn that I hadn't yet found. Without being asked, he told me exactly where it was. I had been looking for it just a few days before and must have missed it by just one road. I would love to have photographed it looking head on, but, as always, I stayed on the road to get my photos.<br /> <br /> Apart from one occasion, I had avoided driving east of the city from the south for a few years, as the roads are so confusing, with dozens of huge road signs and several massive overpasses. It is so easy to be in the wrong lane and take the wrong turn-off, which happened to me one time maybe a couple of years ago, twice in one day. That was enough to put me off trying again. However, finally having done it recently, I knew it was much faster to get out east that way. There are two tricky turn-offs and I almost missed both of them on my last trip. If there had been a lot of traffic, I would have been out of luck. The fact that the clocks have just been set back an hour didn't even cross my mind and I found myself driving back to the city when it was getting dark - making those huge road signs very difficult to read!<br /> <br /> No sign of wildlife, except for a flock of Gray Partridge that flushed up from the side of the road and flew and landed way out in a field. A couple of Ravens were the only other birds seen.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45899458 tag:ipernity.com,2017-11-24,doc-45899458 Fri, 24 Nov 2017 16:39:42 +0000 2014-02-02T11:17:04-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45899458"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/94/58/45899458.e1d036da.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Sometimes, I just can't help myself, lol! When out on a birding trip with friends, my eye does tend to wander and find things that I just can't resist, while everyone else is concentrating hard on looking for birds! In this case, on 2 February 2014, a group of us were on an annual birding trip west of the city, that is normally to the Sibbald Creek area, Exshaw and Harvie Heights. This year, though, we drove around the Water Valley area (NW of Calgary) first and then went straight on to Harvie Heights. Very few birds to be seen in either area, but of course it was wonderful to get out to these places, in good company. At Harvie Heights, near Canmore (near Banff) ,there were no Grosbeaks, no Clark's Nutcrackers, etc.. The same has been true for so many walks and outings these days - where are all the birds? Yesterday, a group of people went to a local city park and, in just under three hours of walking, saw only five species of bird. <br /> <br /> The following is the report complied by trip leader, Andrew Hart. Thanks for a great day, as always, Andrew!<br /> <br /> "Twelve of us set out on a sunny but chilly day with temperatures ranging <br /> from -14 deg C to -8 deg C<br /> <br /> We started off by driving around in the area to the south of Water Valley as far as the Bates Ranch.<br /> <br /> We were hoping to find owls, but despite visiting several known previous sighting locations came up short.<br /> <br /> We did see several Ravens and Magpies, some Blue Jays (at the Winchell Lake Estates), Black Capped Chickadees, a Rough Legged Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and Hairy Woodpecker.<br /> <br /> We also saw a Coyote.<br /> <br /> After lunch we went further south and encountered a family of 6-8 Gray Jays near the Bates Ranch.<br /> <br /> We then headed to Harvie Heights. En route we passed a road killed deer swarming with 20 Ravens, and a Coyote angling to see them off. We also saw two Bald Eagles.<br /> <br /> At Harvie Heights we saw several Mountain and Black Capped Chickadees, a Brown Creeper, Pine Siskins, Dark Eyed Juncos, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (the Woodpeckers seen by Phil Quin at a feeder by the hamlet entrance that the rest of us drove past). No Pine Grosbeaks (not that much of a surprise this year) and no Clark's Nutcrackers (more of a surprise).<br /> <br /> The incredible sunlit snow blanketed scenery made up for the relative shortcomings in bird species."</div> A peaceful winter scene <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45899458"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/94/58/45899458.e1d036da.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">Sometimes, I just can't help myself, lol! When out on a birding trip with friends, my eye does tend to wander and find things that I just can't resist, while everyone else is concentrating hard on looking for birds! In this case, on 2 February 2014, a group of us were on an annual birding trip west of the city, that is normally to the Sibbald Creek area, Exshaw and Harvie Heights. This year, though, we drove around the Water Valley area (NW of Calgary) first and then went straight on to Harvie Heights. Very few birds to be seen in either area, but of course it was wonderful to get out to these places, in good company. At Harvie Heights, near Canmore (near Banff) ,there were no Grosbeaks, no Clark's Nutcrackers, etc.. The same has been true for so many walks and outings these days - where are all the birds? Yesterday, a group of people went to a local city park and, in just under three hours of walking, saw only five species of bird. <br /> <br /> The following is the report complied by trip leader, Andrew Hart. Thanks for a great day, as always, Andrew!<br /> <br /> "Twelve of us set out on a sunny but chilly day with temperatures ranging <br /> from -14 deg C to -8 deg C<br /> <br /> We started off by driving around in the area to the south of Water Valley as far as the Bates Ranch.<br /> <br /> We were hoping to find owls, but despite visiting several known previous sighting locations came up short.<br /> <br /> We did see several Ravens and Magpies, some Blue Jays (at the Winchell Lake Estates), Black Capped Chickadees, a Rough Legged Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and Hairy Woodpecker.<br /> <br /> We also saw a Coyote.<br /> <br /> After lunch we went further south and encountered a family of 6-8 Gray Jays near the Bates Ranch.<br /> <br /> We then headed to Harvie Heights. En route we passed a road killed deer swarming with 20 Ravens, and a Coyote angling to see them off. We also saw two Bald Eagles.<br /> <br /> At Harvie Heights we saw several Mountain and Black Capped Chickadees, a Brown Creeper, Pine Siskins, Dark Eyed Juncos, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers (the Woodpeckers seen by Phil Quin at a feeder by the hamlet entrance that the rest of us drove past). No Pine Grosbeaks (not that much of a surprise this year) and no Clark's Nutcrackers (more of a surprise).<br /> <br /> The incredible sunlit snow blanketed scenery made up for the relative shortcomings in bird species."</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45878618 tag:ipernity.com,2017-11-22,doc-45878618 Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:54:33 +0000 2017-10-30T12:18:30-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45878618"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/86/18/45878618.3dd8d509.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="182" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 30 October 2017, I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still found a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old, red barns. Having been there once before, with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. The leaning barn in this photo looks as if maybe the wooden planks at each end have been removed on purpose, perhaps for the owner to re-use the wood for other purposes, or maybe sold to someone who uses aged wood for artistic creations?<br /> <br /> The much larger barn of the two I wanted to see was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn, and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! <br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at on this day was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things - some of which are seen in the next photo. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) <br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are SO good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Old, see-through barn <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45878618"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/86/18/45878618.3dd8d509.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="182" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">On 30 October 2017, I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still found a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old, red barns. Having been there once before, with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. The leaning barn in this photo looks as if maybe the wooden planks at each end have been removed on purpose, perhaps for the owner to re-use the wood for other purposes, or maybe sold to someone who uses aged wood for artistic creations?<br /> <br /> The much larger barn of the two I wanted to see was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. <br /> <br /> The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn, and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! <br /> <br /> Another place I stopped at on this day was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things - some of which are seen in the next photo. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) <br /> <br /> On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are SO good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.</div> Anne Elliott https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45863172 tag:ipernity.com,2017-11-19,doc-45863172 Sun, 19 Nov 2017 14:04:55 +0000 2017-11-12T15:34:27-07:00 nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45863172"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/31/72/45863172.5b16e471.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken on a trip to Pine Coulee Reservoir a week ago, on 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Coulee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills, and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it.<br /> <br /> Several previous trips had covered part of this latest drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. Later in the drive, we crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. <br /> <br /> Actually, the other day, I was reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and I discovered that, in fact, I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago:<br /> <br /> "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." <br /> <br /> As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a rough, wooden fence.<br /> <br /> Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : )<br /> <br /> Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new (or forgotten) places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where.</div> Old house next to metal silo <p class="who"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/home/293827">Anne Elliott</a> has posted:</p><p class="preview"><a href="https://www.ipernity.com/doc/293827/45863172"><img src="https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/31/72/45863172.5b16e471.240.jpg?r2" width="240" height="180" alt=""/></a></p><div class="description">This photo was taken on a trip to Pine Coulee Reservoir a week ago, on 12 November 2017. A group of eight of us went S and SE of the city on a birding trip to one of my favourite areas. This included Pine Coulee Reservoir, Clear Lake and the Twin Valley Reservoir. I just love some of the landscape through which we drove - barren, rugged, middle-of-nowhere kind of scenery. It looks so different in each season - I think my favourite time of year is when there is a covering of snow on the empty hills, and ice on most of the water. I've still not had the courage to drive in this area myself, as I know that I might never find my way out of it.<br /> <br /> Several previous trips had covered part of this latest drive, but much of the return drive was in a huge area that I had never been to before. Later in the drive, we crossed the main highway #2 south and travelled the backroads way, way south of the Frank Lake area, and kept going north until we got back to the city. The Twin Valley Reservoir was one of the stops we made in this new-to-me area. <br /> <br /> Actually, the other day, I was reading my account of a trip made on 9 November 2013, and I discovered that, in fact, I HAD been to this area before. Just shows that I often have no idea where we are at any given time. Since the trip in 2013, I do have a somewhat better understanding of the area S and SE of Calgary. The following is from Terry Korolyk's account of that day, four years ago:<br /> <br /> "The north end of Clear Lake was frozen, so, we headed north to the Twin Valleys Dam Reservoir, and, drove up the east side of it. This produced more Rough-legged Hawks,and, a Prairie Falcon. Some herds of Mule Deer and flocks of Gray Partridge were seen on the trip home via Highways 804, 799, 552, and Dunbow Road." <br /> <br /> As on almost all these day trips out of the city, almost every bird is far, far away, needing at least binoculars and best of all, a scope. Two Great Horned Owls and a couple of tiny Common Redpolls were the only closer photos I took. This was the first time that I had seen Redpolls this year, so it was a nice sighting. They were flying back and forth from the trees to perch on a rough, wooden fence.<br /> <br /> Also, as always happens, my camera lens turns to things other than birds. Scenic shots are always taken - after all, I feel that it is important to record the habitat of any birds seen. I have no excuse to give for photographing any old barn or homestead, other than that I LOVE to photograph them : )<br /> <br /> Terry, you took us on such an amazing trip! So many new (or forgotten) places, to me at least. You even arranged with the weatherman for a beautiful, sunny day. It couldn't have been a better outing - so very enjoyable. Now all I need to do is look at a map and try and find roughly where we travelled! Really appreciate your carefully made lists of all species seen, and where.</div> Anne Elliott