Barns and old things

The day before yesterday (6 February 2014) was a day of huge responsibility! My youngest daughter wanted (i.e. desperately wanted!) to see her very first Snowy Owl. So, off we went, SE of the city. I took her to various areas where Snowy Owls had been seen on 25 January, when I went there with friends and we saw 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. Nothing, absolutely nothing! All we managed to find was a flock of Horned Larks and a handful of Ravens. If nothing else, my daughter has now seen just how difficult it usually is to find a Snowy : ) Of course, we were happy to stop and photograph a number of old barns and homesteads during the day, including this very distant one, that we couldn't get closer to, so I had to use 48x zoom. The very distant, magnificent Rocky Mountains were always in view over the golden stubble fields. Four or five hours later, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm on the way home and drowned our disappointment in a delicious meal, ha. Their food is so good! A most enjoyable day, even if we didn't see a Snowy.

A photo of Bow Valley Ranch, at the east end of Fish Creek Park, taken on 26 August 2013. This site has quite an interesting history, found at the two links below. Some of the indoor scenes in the movies Santa Baby 1 and Santa Baby 2 were filmed in this fine old building. "The William Roper Hull Ranche House is a late nineteenth century, brick, two-storey, Tudor (Gothic) Revival style house with Victorian Stick detailing. It is situated on approximately half a hectare in southeast Calgary near the confluence of Fish Creek and the Bow River on Crown land within Fish Creek Provincial Park. Two additions were made to the ranch house in 1946 and 1957. The heritage value of the William Roper Hull Ranche House site lies in its representation of the upper-class society that emerged amid the development of ranching in Southern Alberta. The architecture of the ranch house establishes a direct link with the early ranching industry in Southern Alberta and the lifestyles of the ranching elite, notably its owners, the influential cattle barons William Roper Hull and Patrick Burns." www.bowvalleyranche.com/history.html hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=1&ObjectID...

On 31 January 2014, I was out all day on a fun and enjoyable birding trip north of the city, with superb birder, Phil. The weather forecast turned out to be far from accurate and we found ourselves driving the backroads with snow swirling over the roads and in some places, you couldn't see where the sky ended and the earth began. Everywhere and everything was white. Winter outside the city is so very different from facing icy roads and heavy traffic in the city, with roads edged in piles of dirty brown snow that has been cleared from the roads and just won't melt. Out in the countryside, winter has a pure, clean beauty, and we both loved the simplicity of this white landscape. Neither of us knew this area, east of Highway 22, though I may have been driven in some parts on a birding trip or two a few years ago. It's an area that is way beyond my driving comfort zone, so this was real treat for me. The cold, windy weather must have kept the birds taking shelter, though Phil did find a Great Horned Owl and, on the way back to the city, a Merlin. Lots of Ravens about and a few Sparrows and Pigeons, but no Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. I was just happy seeing the wintry countryside and a number of beautiful old barns. The shapes of these seem so different from barns that I see south of the city. Several white barns, too, not the usual red. The barn in my photo was a very long barn and it was such a beauty. Thanks so much for a great day, Phil - much appreciated! An interesting link, with the information below, that answers the question: "WHY ARE BARNS USUALLY PAINTED RED?" home.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm "If you've ever driven through a rural area, it's likely that you've seen the red barns that speckle the farming landscape. There are several theories as to why barns are painted red. Centuries ago, European farmers would seal the wood on their barns with an oil, often linseed oil -- a tawny-colored oil derived from the seed of the flax plant. They would paint their barns with a linseed-oil mixture, often consisting of additions such as milk and lime. The combination produced a long-lasting paint that dried and hardened quickly. (Today, linseed oil is sold in most home-improvement stores as a wood sealant). Now, where does the red come from? In historically accurate terms, "barn red" is not the bright, fire-engine red that we often see today, but more of a burnt-orange red. As to how the oil mixture became traditionally red, there are two predominant theories. One is that wealthy farmers added blood from a recent slaughter to the oil mixture. As the paint dried, it turned from a bright red to a darker, burnt red. The other is that farmers added ferrous oxide, otherwise known as rust, to the oil mixture. Rust was plentiful on farms and is a poison to many fungi, including mold and moss, which were known to grown on barns. These fungi would trap moisture in the wood, increasing decay. Regardless of how the farmer tinted his paint, having a red barn became a fashionable thing. They were a sharp contrast to the traditional white farmhouse. As European settlers crossed over to America, they brought with them the tradition of red barns. In the mid to late 1800s, as paints began to be produced with chemical pigments, red paint was the most inexpensive to buy. Red was the color of favor until whitewash became cheaper, at which point white barns began to spring up. Today, the color of barns can vary, often depending on how the barns are used." "Dairymen, generally, realize the full importance of pure air to the herd, because they know the condition in which an unventilated stable is found on a cold morning. They know the air in such a barn is bad, and that the damp, frosty barn is an unhealthy place for the cattle. Early wooden cupolas were little more then decorations. By the early 1900's, the Jamesway cupola was an important element in cow health." I think the cupolas in my photo are either Jamesway cupolas, or very similar. www.antiquefarming.com/barn/dairy.html

A very distant, heavily cropped shot of this beautiful Great Horned Owl, seen on 25 January 2014, when I spent an amazing day with friends Cathy and Terry, SE of Calgary. I had found an e-mail on my computer around 12:45 a.m., just as I was about to turn off my computer for the night. Did I want to go birding tomorrow and, if so, to meet at 8:00 a.m.? A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. I had been missing being out and taking photos, feeling lethargic and extremely tired, so this invite was welcomed with open arms. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Can you believe that we saw 16 owls that day? SIXTEEN! We saw 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 15 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting these owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance!

An old, red barn seen SE of Calgary on 25 January 2014, when I spent a great day with friends Cathy and Terry, driving the backroads SE of the city. The crazy winter weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! This was a great day for owls - we saw 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 15 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting these owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance! An interesting link, with the information below, that answers the question: "WHY ARE BARNS USUALLY PAINTED RED?" I have added this information to several of my previously posted images, so just skip it if you've read it before : ) home.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm "If you've ever driven through a rural area, it's likely that you've seen the red barns that speckle the farming landscape. There are several theories as to why barns are painted red. Centuries ago, European farmers would seal the wood on their barns with an oil, often linseed oil -- a tawny-colored oil derived from the seed of the flax plant. They would paint their barns with a linseed-oil mixture, often consisting of additions such as milk and lime. The combination produced a long-lasting paint that dried and hardened quickly. (Today, linseed oil is sold in most home-improvement stores as a wood sealant). Now, where does the red come from? In historically accurate terms, "barn red" is not the bright, fire-engine red that we often see today, but more of a burnt-orange red. As to how the oil mixture became traditionally red, there are two predominant theories. One is that wealthy farmers added blood from a recent slaughter to the oil mixture. As the paint dried, it turned from a bright red to a darker, burnt red. The other is that farmers added ferrous oxide, otherwise known as rust, to the oil mixture. Rust was plentiful on farms and is a poison to many fungi, including mold and moss, which were known to grown on barns. These fungi would trap moisture in the wood, increasing decay. Regardless of how the farmer tinted his paint, having a red barn became a fashionable thing. They were a sharp contrast to the traditional white farmhouse. As European settlers crossed over to America, they brought with them the tradition of red barns. In the mid to late 1800s, as paints began to be produced with chemical pigments, red paint was the most inexpensive to buy. Red was the color of favor until whitewash became cheaper, at which point white barns began to spring up. Today, the color of barns can vary, often depending on how the barns are used."

On 25 January 2014, I spent an amazing day with friends Cathy and Terry, SE of Calgary. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Along one of the roads, we came across these abandoned old buildings. Much as I love seeing and photographing birds, I have always loved old barns and homesteads, too. They have so much charm and character and always make me wonder who used to live in them and why they left. Unfortunately, there are people who enter such places, out of curiosity or to photograph the insides, and sometimes to steal various old items. These buildings always stand on land that is owned by someone, so removing any object is stealing. Also, of course, many of the crumbling buildings are unsafe. Sometimes, a No Trespassing sign is in view. My friends and I always stay on the road and photograph from a distance - thank goodness for zoom. Much as I would love to see the inside of some of these fascinating places, I've only ever been inside one, and that was on a botany day trip a few years ago, where we were shown around the farm buildings by the owner of the land. We were lucky enough to see 16 owls that day! 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 15 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance!

On 31 January 2014, I was out all day on a fun and enjoyable birding trip north of the city, with superb birder, Phil. The weather forecast turned out to be far from accurate and we found ourselves driving the backroads with snow swirling over the roads and in some places, you couldn't see where the sky ended and the earth began. Everywhere and everything was white. Winter outside the city is so very different from facing icy roads and heavy traffic in the city, with roads edged in piles of dirty brown snow that has been cleared from the roads and just won't melt. Out in the countryside, winter has a pure, clean beauty, and we both loved the simplicity of this white landscape. Neither of us knew this area, east of Highway 22, though I may have been driven in some parts on a birding trip or two a few years ago. It's an area that is way beyond my driving comfort zone, so this was real treat for me. The cold, windy weather must have kept the birds taking shelter, though Phil did find a Great Horned Owl and, on the way back to the city, a Merlin. Lots of Ravens about and a few Sparrows and Pigeons, but no Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. I was just happy seeing the wintry countryside and a number of beautiful old barns. The shapes of many of these seem so different from barns that I see south of the city. Several white barns, too, not the usual red. Thanks so much for a great day, Phil - much appreciated! Some of you have already seen the following information, but for anyone else who might be interested, the folllowing link, with the information below, answers the question: "WHY ARE BARNS USUALLY PAINTED RED?" home.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm "If you've ever driven through a rural area, it's likely that you've seen the red barns that speckle the farming landscape. There are several theories as to why barns are painted red. Centuries ago, European farmers would seal the wood on their barns with an oil, often linseed oil -- a tawny-colored oil derived from the seed of the flax plant. They would paint their barns with a linseed-oil mixture, often consisting of additions such as milk and lime. The combination produced a long-lasting paint that dried and hardened quickly. (Today, linseed oil is sold in most home-improvement stores as a wood sealant). Now, where does the red come from? In historically accurate terms, "barn red" is not the bright, fire-engine red that we often see today, but more of a burnt-orange red. As to how the oil mixture became traditionally red, there are two predominant theories. One is that wealthy farmers added blood from a recent slaughter to the oil mixture. As the paint dried, it turned from a bright red to a darker, burnt red. The other is that farmers added ferrous oxide, otherwise known as rust, to the oil mixture. Rust was plentiful on farms and is a poison to many fungi, including mold and moss, which were known to grown on barns. These fungi would trap moisture in the wood, increasing decay. Regardless of how the farmer tinted his paint, having a red barn became a fashionable thing. They were a sharp contrast to the traditional white farmhouse. As European settlers crossed over to America, they brought with them the tradition of red barns. In the mid to late 1800s, as paints began to be produced with chemical pigments, red paint was the most inexpensive to buy. Red was the color of favor until whitewash became cheaper, at which point white barns began to spring up. Today, the color of barns can vary, often depending on how the barns are used." "Dairymen, generally, realize the full importance of pure air to the herd, because they know the condition in which an unventilated stable is found on a cold morning. They know the air in such a barn is bad, and that the damp, frosty barn is an unhealthy place for the cattle. Early wooden cupolas were little more then decorations. By the early 1900's, the Jamesway cupola was an important element in cow health." I think the cupolas in my photo are either Jamesway cupolas, or very similar. www.antiquefarming.com/barn/dairy.html

After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding yesterday was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat waves" all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of THOSE days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. to about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total owl count of 19, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance. In fact, this silo can be seen in my next image - the coloured spots from the sunburst leading ones eye to it. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. The beautiful Great Horned Owl, seen in my photo, was the highlight of the day for Cathy and myself! Cathy had spotted it from the road but from the opposite side of the distant barn. All she had seen was a tiny head silhouette with what looked like ear tufts : ) We turned a corner and drove just a little way to see if we could get a better view from the other side. How we longed to be able to get a closer look, but the barn was on someone's private property, of course. While we were there, a truck suddenly appeared around the corner and turned into the driveway of the farm. Needless to say, we (thanks, Terry!) couldn't resist the chance to go and ask the owner about his owl and, wonderfully, he allowed us to walk through his farm yard to get a less distant view. So, Justin, you arrived home "just-in" time for us! Thanks so much for happily letting us on to your property. It was so much appreciated. We definitely didn't want to risk disturbing the owl or make it fly - so this is a 48x zoomed image and cropped somewhat. We loved both the owl's position and the beautiful, red, peeling paint! "Just" a Great Horned Owl, but what a delightful sight! Also saw a Gyrfalcon and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat waves" made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun!

One of the beautiful old barns seen a few days ago, on 7 March 2014. Some of the fields were still deep in snow, while others, like the one in my next photo, had a lot less. There was no sign of the distant mountains - they were completely hidden by cloud. After nine days at home, making sure my stitches from minor surgery healed properly, an invitation by friends Cathy and Terry to go birding that day was welcomed with open arms - as it always is! What a great day we had, searching SE of the city, and finding some really neat birds. Most were impossible to photograph because of distance, but also because we had "heat wave" distortion all day long, making it difficult to get photos that were sharp. It was one of those amazing days, out of the house from 7:15 a.m. till about 8:15 in the evening. By the end of the day, we had seen a total count of 19 owls, from three species - 8 Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowy Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and one mystery owl. We couldn't decide if the latter was a Snowy Owl or a Short-eared Owl, as it was perched on top of a metal silo, way off in the distance (photo posted a couple of days ago, in which the coloured spots from the sunburst lead ones eye to it). An excellent birding friend reckons it's a Snowy Owl. We missed a good photo opp with one of the Short-eared Owls, when we were pulled over, further down the road than several other photographers. We did see one down on the ground near the edge of the road in a different place, though, hiding in the dried grasses, but, again, my photo is blurry. Also saw a Prairie Falcon perched on top of a metal silo and lots of Horned Larks - the latter constantly in flight or down on the road ahead of us. The "heat wave" distortion made it impossible to get anything but rather blurry shots of these, but I might be able to slightly improve one of them enough to post later. As you will no doubt agree, it was an amazing day! Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for another rewarding day (which had started off rather slowly down in that area). Lots of fun! This morning, 10 March 2014, the temperature is 1C, and it looks like wet flurries could be expected for later this afternoon and scattered flurries this evening. Yesterday's wonderfully mild weather melted a fair bit of our accumulated snow.