Odds & ends

To have the chance to visit Waterton Lakes National Park yesterday, 24 June 2017, was such an absolute treat! This was an annual bus trip arranged by Nature Calgary, with the destination being different each year. To visit Waterton for just one day makes for a very long day - takes about 3 hours to drive each way, for a start. We had two main stopping places in the park - the lookout at Maskinonge Lake, and a longer stop at Cameron Lake, where I always like seeing the colourful canoes lined up near the pier. Luckily, we had beautiful weather all day. Actually, we weren't too sure if the road going through the mountains to Cameron Lake was going to be open. It was due to reopen the day before out trip but, fortunately, the gate was open yesterday. Once at Cameron Lake, we found an empty picnic table right near the beach, and ate our picnic lunch. We were able to walk along the forest trail that followed the shoreline on the right edge of the lake. At a certain point, one has to turn around and go back along the same trail. Cameron Lake is one of my favourite places in the park, with a beautiful view of the lake and a pleasant, flat walk through the forest. There didn't seem to be a lot of forest wildflower species in bloom - maybe we were just a bit too early for them. However, the huge, creamy white flowers of Bear Grass growing along the edge of the road up to the lake had everyone in absolute awe. The road is only narrow and our bus was huge, so on the drive there, all we could do was gasp in amazement, with no chance for taking photos. We asked our excellent driver if there was any chance he would be willing and able to stop at one of the very small pull-offs at the edge of the road on the return drive - and he did! He was expecting maybe five or six people would get off, but I think almost everyone wanted to get a close look at these amazing plants. Even the driver himself got out to look and take photos. He had apparently never been to Waterton before and had never seen Bear Grass. We noticed tiny Crab Spiders on two of the flowers; one was lying in wait and the other had caught an insect. These spiders don't construct webs, but camouflage themselves by changing their colour to that of the flower they are hiding in, and then they wait. We also saw several stems of Striped Coralroot orchid in the ditch by some of the Bear Grass. After spending a couple of hours at Cameron Lake, the driver took us back into town, as some people had said they wanted to eat there before the long drive back to Calgary. Others, including myself, would have preferred to have spent the time somewhere else, seeing nature and taking photos. However, we were able to walk to the lake's edge, from where we were able to take a few scenic photos - something I had been hoping for. On our way back to the bus, some of us called in at a very popular ice cream shop - we all agreed it was the best, tastiest ice cream we had ever had! A huge, single scoop of wild cherry in a waffle cone - what more could one want? Penny, you did a great job of organizing this wonderful trip for us all! I know a lot of work goes into setting up an outing like this, and we all appreciate the time and effort you put into planning this. Such a perfect destination for this year's annual bus trip! Pam, thanks for your company on this long drive - helped make it far more enjoyable!

I wasn't going to post any photos this morning, as I knew I had to set my alarm clocks for 5:00 am. Annoyingly, I woke up some time before the alarms went off, so I decided to quickly edit a couple of photos to add. This one was taken at Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park, on 8 July 2017. Much as I don't like seeing people or dogs down on the rocks and in the creek at Red Rock Canyon, it was so hot there that I could understand anyone wanting to do this.

Good news from the Ipernity Members Association (IMA) yesterday, 15 July 2017, for those Flickr members who are also on the ipernity website! I added it to yesterday's posts, but later in the day, after people had commented. "Dear members, We are absolutely delighted to share with you that the legal basis of our IMA goal to take the Ipernity platform over is achieved: Ipernity S.A. (represented by Christophe Ruelle) and IMA (represented by Eric Desjours) signed the contract regarding the transfer of the Ipernity platform, the underlying intellectual property and associated rights from Ipernity S.A. to IMA. We can share in short the following details of the contract and next steps: The price for the transfer is 1 €. IMA will cover 12,000€ of costs that had been incurred by hosting and maintaining the Ipernity platform during the negotiations. Codes and passwords are being handed over as we speak. IMA has a 15 days withdrawal right. Ipernity S.A. will then start the transfer of the accounts of Amazon, Paypal, Google, etc. Other necessary legal processes will follow. The transfer process will be finished end of July. We will keep you informed! Best regards, William and Eric" www.ipernity.com/group/2260604/discuss/187672 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Two days ago, on 14 July 2017, it was a hot day, but our bio-blitz of the Rusty Bucket Ranch, west of Calgary, started at 8:00 am, to catch the coolest part of the day. This was the first time we had been there and we had such a great morning. What a beautiful place and area! Thirteen of us gathered to explore part of the land belonging to Liz and Alan Breakey - 160 acres, mostly wooded, with many streams feeding into Bragg Creek. The gorgeous garden itself was full of bright, healthy plants, including these Bittersweet Nightshade flowers. Once we were in the forest, we came across all sorts of wildflower species and even a few fungi. We all met the challenges of small, hidden logs along the trail, lying in wait to trip anyone who was not paying careful attention. One of the last areas was a bog, where the small, partly hidden pools of water were difficult or impossible to avoid - I nearly lost a shoe in there, lol! On the final stretch back to the house, we caught sight of a distant buck with its new growth of antlers; also, a few of the sheep that the Breakey family raises. A really fun walk for us all, with all sorts of things of interest. Many thanks to Liz and Alan for inviting us to the Rusty Bucket Ranch to explore and list all species seen! Thank you, too, for the very warm welcome you gave us, and for the muffins, delicious lemon drink, and coffee! After the morning's hike, we all returned to the city and thoroughly enjoyed a BBQ lunch put on by our botany/birding friends, Dorothy and Stephen. I hadn't had a burger in years - and this one was so good! Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for all the time and effort you put into this. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon, chatting with friends and eating all sorts of 'goodies'. Happy to see the tiny Hummingbird that has been visiting your garden, and lovely to see the bright yellow American Goldfinch. It was quite windy, too, which felt wonderful on a hot day.

Yesterday afternoon, 16 July 2017, I had no choice but to get out for a short drive. My place was like an oven from weeks of heat, and I just couldn't stand it for one more minute. I drove the back roads SW of the city that I so often drive when I only have time or energy for a short drive. Today is much cooler and now, after having a couple of windows open, my place smells strongly of smoke from the B.C. wildfires and the Banff area. I posted a photo showing how the smoke is affecting Albertans. Best to stay indoors if possible, so I guess I won't be going anywhere for at least the next few days. It makes scenic shots pretty much useless. Then, last night, we had a blackout in my part of the city. Apparently, the outage was due to a motor vehicle damaging ENMAX equipment. I guess that is why two or three firetrucks came rushing down my street around 11:30 pm last night, and ENMAX vehicles were working till almost 2:00 am just down my street, within sight. Hot and windy are not my favourite conditions, but the air-conditioning in my car felt wonderful! There didn't seem to be all that much to be seen, though I suspect that one Mountain Bluebird pair has a second family to feed now. I was so happy to see the male in his usual place and even more excited when I saw him with a tiny insect in his beak, meaning only one thing - new babies. Usually, there are no cattle to be seen in the field, but yesterday, I had a lot of curious faces watching me carefully. Other than this Bluebird pair, the only other bird I photographed was an American Robin. No Snipe could be heard and only a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds to be seen. So, I decided to drive to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, intending to just check the forest around the parking lot, to see if there were any fungi growing. There were four vehicles in the parking lot and I plucked up enough courage to go a short way into the park. This place always gives me the creeps and, usually, I only go a few feet into the actual park. Knowing that bears and cougars have been seen, it's never a good feeling to be there on my own. I've only ever seen a large Moose there on a couple of occasions. A few days ago, a friend told me that she had been told that someone who has an amazing forest for fungi had said that the fungi were at their peak right now. This seemed rather unlikely, as it is still only mid-July, plus the fact that everywhere is so dry. I just had to go to Brown-Lowery to check on the fungi there - absolutely nothing, other than three or four small, shapeless blobs on tree trunks. Hopefully, we will get rain in the next few weeks. Far more important, I hope that B.C. (British Columbia, the province to our west) gets a heavy amount of rain very, very soon, though there is none in their forecast. Maybe a week ago, about 200 wildfires were being reported, causing a lot of devastation and evacuations. Now we have a forest fire here in Alberta, near Banff. Each summer, we get a lot of wildfires, the worst being the one in Fort McMurray that started on 1 May 2016. The fire spread across approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history. My heart goes out to all those affected, especially by the ongoing B.C. fires.

Yesterday, 16 August 2017, I had a most enjoyable day out with friends Dorothy and Stephen, and Janet. All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday. 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. 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 phtotgraph. We also enjoyed watching three gorgeous Kestrels flying from tree to tree. The males, especially, are such beautifully-coloured birds. Time to make some breakfast (oops, brunch!) before I add a few more lines.

All three photos posted this morning were taken yesterday, when I at last did a long-overdue drive east of the city. This is my least favourite direction in which to drive from the city and I have to say it stresses me out so much. Once I reach the back roads, I can relax a little, but I am always worried about getting lost. The best few minutes in the five and a half hours I was out were when I came across a beautiful Swainson's Hawk juvenile (hope I have identified it correctly!), perched on a fence post. Finally, a hawk perched along a back road, where I could stop. Amazingly, not one single vehicle came along while I was there. It felt so good to get a few photos of a hawk in the wild, unlike the ones I photographed recently at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre. I had really hoped I would see a perched hawk and, in fact, I had seen another one earlier in my drive, though that one was more distant. That's all I needed, to make me feel happy and that the drive was worthwhile. For the first time ever, and after having driven past the location other times, I stopped at Weed Lake (south end). Lots of birds, but most were really too far to photograph. Still, I was happy to see a Killdeer and what I think was a little Semipalmated Plover close enough to get a few shots. One disturbing thing I found on the path was a large dead, white bird with a long neck. There were two cylindrical canisters on top of the rotting body - looks like these were empty fireworks. No idea how long this body had been there, or if anyone else has seen it there. Added later: apparently, this dead Swan has been there since at least April of this year.

Approximately 53 KM northeast of Calgary, Irricana is surrounded by numerous irrigation canals, which is where the town gets its name. "The name dates the town back to the irrigation projects in the area. By 1909, the town had a post office, hotel and store operated by the Irricana Trading Company. Originally incorporated as a village on June 9, 1911, Irricana changed its status to a town 94 years later on June 9, 2005. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Irricana recorded a population of 1,216 living in 473 of its 479 total private dwellings." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irricana www.calgaryregionfocus.com/experience-beautiful-community... "The Sunflower mural is painted on the east side of 233 2nd street (Main street) and is one of the few early murals painted directly on the building’s exterior wall. Utilizing her background as a graduate of the Alberta College of art and Design in Calgary, Brenda Campbell campaigned for an on going mural program in Irricana to help brighten up Irricana and enhance the local economy. As well as the large bright yellow sunflowers there is a hint of a white picket fence, as well as a hidden mouse in this mural. This large painting is the end result of many local community volunteers and many volunteer hours." lin.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Irricana-CPB-2016.pdf My daughter and I had a such a great day yesterday, 5 September 2017. She had a free day, so we decided to drive east of the city and visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to older, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. Loved this old tractor that was standing alone - liked the rather photogenic tree nearby, too. While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were about four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to see. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked simple enough. Returning to the city via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished of with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads. I knew it would take me ages to get any description added to the three photos I posted this morning!

My daughter and I had a such a great day on 5 September 2017. She had a free day, so we decided to drive east of the city and visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful, full-sized, old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to old, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House at the Museum, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, watered with well water, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to see. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked simple enough. Returning to the city via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished off with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads.