Happy New Year!
Ice crystals along the creek
Who made these holes?
Three-toed Woodpecker female
White-tailed Deer in the park
Love in the park
Three-toed Woodpecker female
Fish Creek Park on New Year's Day
Llama in winter
Long red barn
Up close with a Llama
"Just" Pigeons
Barn creativity
Llama
Same old barn as in other photo today
Overload of Llamas : )
Elegant eating : )
Mangalitsa pig
Llama, glancing back
Mangalitsa pig
The white Llama
Boldly red
Llama beauty
Hidden in the forest
Llama AND a barn
Sheep
Mountain Chickadee feeding on suet
Blue Jay / Cyanocitta cristata
Farm cat in the hay bales
Garden decoration
Christmas Llama - oops, Bird! - Count
A favourite old barn
Have you ever seen a furry pig?
Mountain Chickadee
A touch of sun on the distant peaks
Moose
Santa on a farm shed
Red barn, High River Christmas Bird Count
Bird Count at Frank Lake outflow
Modern-way cattle drive
Early morning birding start at Frank Lake outflow
Black-capped Chickadee
Happy Christmas Day!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Evening Grosbeak male, Priddis Count
See also...
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
112 visits
Both barns in a drive-by shot
I am adding these five photos this afternoon, as I have yet another early morning tomorrow, for the annual New Year's Day Bird Count for Fish Creek Park.
Four of the photos posted this afternoon were taken the day before yesterday, 29 December 2018, when four of us (using just one car) took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve area. I'm not sure why it's called Wildlife Reserve, as it consists of regular back roads and farms just like on our other Counts. The area our group covered was right on the east edge of the count circle.
One of my absolute favourite things to photograph on this annual Count are the Llamas at one of the farms.. This farmer has seven of these large, amusing animals, and they are always one of the highlights of this Count for me. Most of these animals were given to them by other farmers who no longer wanted them. This light-coloured one is so regal.
"Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia.
Another of my favourite (very welcoming) farms to stop at had a beautiful, old dog named Fang, who sadly died this year. They have a "newer" dog who had just had leg surgery. Apparently, this Andolesian Shepherd is an amazing dog with the owner's young children. Three cats are also at the farm, but I didn't see any of them on this trip. The enthusiastic landowners work so hard in the area of native species, growing various species in their greenhouses. Steven Tannas was excited to show us some of his new additions - pigs. I love pigs, but was totally unprepared to see large pigs that were covered in curly fur! His four pigs are called Mangalitsa pigs (also called Mangalica or Mangalitza) - I think three of them are Swallow-bellied Mangalica (black and blonde) and one is a Red Mangalica (reddish-brown). They are being fed left-over, expired grocery store vegetables, so were busily munching on a variety of nutritious gourds. Apparently, babies are striped.
"The Mangalica (also Mangalitsa or Mangalitza) is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig. It was developed in the mid-19th century by crossbreeding Hungarian breeds from Szalonta and Bakony with the European wild boar and the Serbian Šumadija breed. The Mangalica pig grows a thick, woolly coat similar to that of a sheep. The only other pig breed noted for having a long coat is the extinct Lincolnshire Curly-coated pig of England." From Wikipedia.
modernfarmer.com/2014/03/meet-mangalitsa-hairy-pig-thats-...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalica
Steven runs Tannas Conservation Services Ltd.. One of their projects is the rough fescue (native grass) restoration project, which has been very successful over the past 7+ years. Check the links below to discover all the other things that Steven's work involves:
www.tannasenvironmental.com/about-us/our-history.html
www.tannasenvironmental.com/
www.nativeplantproducer-esrs.com/About-Us.htm
The neighbouring farm, which is also included in our area, has two beautiful old, red barns and I was longing to see these again. Unfortunately, no one was home, but I did get the chance to take four or five shots as we drove past them. I always wish we could find someone home, so that I could ask permission to get out of the car and take a few photos. Have to remember that this IS a bird count, not a barn count, so I feel very lucky to get any photos of any barns : )
The weather was so beautiful, with the temperature starting off at 0C and later getting up to about PLUS 8C. It was heavily overcast till noon and then brightened up and turned into a glorious afternoon. The Count last year (December 2017) was just the opposite, with a bitterly cold temperature of -23C.
A huge thank-you to the various landowners who were kind enough to allow us to wander round their farmyards. These visits make our day so much more interesting and rewarding! So many delightful people. One of our stops is especially welcoming each year - with coffee and cookies ready waiting, not to mention the use of a washroom, which is always greatly appreciated : )
Thank you, Dave, for being willing to drive the four of us all day. Without drivers, these counts just would not be able to take place, so it is appreciated so much.
Four of the photos posted this afternoon were taken the day before yesterday, 29 December 2018, when four of us (using just one car) took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Cochrane Wildlife Reserve area. I'm not sure why it's called Wildlife Reserve, as it consists of regular back roads and farms just like on our other Counts. The area our group covered was right on the east edge of the count circle.
One of my absolute favourite things to photograph on this annual Count are the Llamas at one of the farms.. This farmer has seven of these large, amusing animals, and they are always one of the highlights of this Count for me. Most of these animals were given to them by other farmers who no longer wanted them. This light-coloured one is so regal.
"Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia.
Another of my favourite (very welcoming) farms to stop at had a beautiful, old dog named Fang, who sadly died this year. They have a "newer" dog who had just had leg surgery. Apparently, this Andolesian Shepherd is an amazing dog with the owner's young children. Three cats are also at the farm, but I didn't see any of them on this trip. The enthusiastic landowners work so hard in the area of native species, growing various species in their greenhouses. Steven Tannas was excited to show us some of his new additions - pigs. I love pigs, but was totally unprepared to see large pigs that were covered in curly fur! His four pigs are called Mangalitsa pigs (also called Mangalica or Mangalitza) - I think three of them are Swallow-bellied Mangalica (black and blonde) and one is a Red Mangalica (reddish-brown). They are being fed left-over, expired grocery store vegetables, so were busily munching on a variety of nutritious gourds. Apparently, babies are striped.
"The Mangalica (also Mangalitsa or Mangalitza) is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig. It was developed in the mid-19th century by crossbreeding Hungarian breeds from Szalonta and Bakony with the European wild boar and the Serbian Šumadija breed. The Mangalica pig grows a thick, woolly coat similar to that of a sheep. The only other pig breed noted for having a long coat is the extinct Lincolnshire Curly-coated pig of England." From Wikipedia.
modernfarmer.com/2014/03/meet-mangalitsa-hairy-pig-thats-...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalica
Steven runs Tannas Conservation Services Ltd.. One of their projects is the rough fescue (native grass) restoration project, which has been very successful over the past 7+ years. Check the links below to discover all the other things that Steven's work involves:
www.tannasenvironmental.com/about-us/our-history.html
www.tannasenvironmental.com/
www.nativeplantproducer-esrs.com/About-Us.htm
The neighbouring farm, which is also included in our area, has two beautiful old, red barns and I was longing to see these again. Unfortunately, no one was home, but I did get the chance to take four or five shots as we drove past them. I always wish we could find someone home, so that I could ask permission to get out of the car and take a few photos. Have to remember that this IS a bird count, not a barn count, so I feel very lucky to get any photos of any barns : )
The weather was so beautiful, with the temperature starting off at 0C and later getting up to about PLUS 8C. It was heavily overcast till noon and then brightened up and turned into a glorious afternoon. The Count last year (December 2017) was just the opposite, with a bitterly cold temperature of -23C.
A huge thank-you to the various landowners who were kind enough to allow us to wander round their farmyards. These visits make our day so much more interesting and rewarding! So many delightful people. One of our stops is especially welcoming each year - with coffee and cookies ready waiting, not to mention the use of a washroom, which is always greatly appreciated : )
Thank you, Dave, for being willing to drive the four of us all day. Without drivers, these counts just would not be able to take place, so it is appreciated so much.
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Sign-in to write a comment.