Fish Creek Park 4

An image that has been cropped to almost nothing, lol, so the quality is really bad. However, it is so rare that I get the chance to photograph a Merlin, so wanted it for my Birds of Alberta Set. This one was seen at Votier's Flats , Fish Creek Park, two days ago.

LOL, not the most spectacular photo of snowflakes, but I just loved the tiny, separate flake in the upper left corner - such a pretty one. It's the most amazing feeling to see these tiny creations as they float and gently land (on my scarf, in this shot). Taken at Glennfield, Fish Creek Park, on December 16th.

Not a recent sighting, but just a photo I happened to come across when looking through my archives for this year and wanted to add it to my Set. Not the best, but it's different from my other Northern Pygmy-owl photos. As usual, seen at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park.

Lucky to catch a Black-capped Chickadee and a Downy Woodpecker female in the same place together. Usually, one of them has taken flight as soon as they see the other coming. Looks like the Chickadee is about to take off, though : ) Taken just over two years ago, at Burnsmead, Fish Creek Park.

This Yellow Clematis is one of the worst invasive plants here in Alberta and it has done tremendous damage to the natural areas and parks in the city. An introduced plant from Japan, this semi-woody vine grows May-September. It has a wonderfully bright, attractive flower and gorgeous, silvery-haired seedheads, but it prevents native plants from growing and even strangles and kills huge trees. PLEASE don't plant this in your garden! This particular plant was growing at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, where it is strangling a huge Spruce tree.

This photo was taken way back on 29th April 2005, with my very first little digital point-and-shoot (Olympus C750UZ). I needed the photo for something this week and thought I might as well post it on my photostream, too. Not the best of images, but I don't often get a chance to take a few shots of one of these gorgeous male Ring-necked Pheasants. Saw this one in Fish Creek Park, in the Bow Valley Ranche area.

I can't help but smile each time I look at this macro shot of a very small, individual Beardtongue flower. They grow in clusters at the top of each stem. This attractive, native plant grows on dry, rocky embankments and shale slopes and blooms in May and June. Photographed this one yesterday afternoon on a hillside at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park.

This was such a slender piece of grass of some kind, which had beautiful, teeny ice crystals forming on it. I pulled the grass and then found I couldn't hold it steady, so it's not as sharp as I wanted, by a long way. Somehow, kneeling in my jeans in 8" or 10" of cold snow just didn't appeal to me, ha. Also, I was falling behind my friends, so couldn't stop to try more macro shots. No doubt there will be other chances between now and April! Taken between Votier's Flats and Bebo Grove, in Fish Creek Park.

This sparkling "landscape" is proof of the high winds we have been experiencing very recently. Rather like a frozen desert.