Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: specland

Taken 6th August 2005 looking from the Many Springs area. These mountains (and the very interesting wetlands at their feet) are the first mountains one encounters on the drive from Calgary to Banff. The huge variety of wildflowers in this area is breathtaking!

This was what the park looked like this morning when I went on a birding walk for a couple of hours. Actually, it was beautiful out.

The following was written by Peter Sherrington: "The visitors that day were just a few of the 1,500 people who came last year to witness the amazing spectacle. But they would not even have known about the site had it not been for a single bird -- a Golden Eagle -- that soared over the valley on the morning of March 20, 1992, as I was conducting a bird survey in the area with my friend Des Allen. The eagle was followed by another and then another. Quickly we realized that the birds were moving systematically along the ridges of the Fisher Range, crossing the Kananaskis Valley to Mount Lorette, where they'd soar briefly before disappearing to the northwest. At the end of the day, we had counted 103 Goldens, and I was convinced that we had discovered a previously unknown migration route. Two days later I returned to the area with a small group of observers, and in a single afternoon we counted 247 eagles moving along exactly the same route." I have been out to this location twice now and watched a trail of teeny black specks that are Golden Eagles. Fascinating that these birds know exactly where to fly on their migration route. Peter Sherrington does absolutely amazing, dedicated work recording every single one of these Golden Eagles each migration period.

'A winter scene' On Black I sometimes go for a walk along this edge of this river. This happened to be a magical scene early in March, with a perfect hoarefrost. A while back, I posted a close-up view of the trees in the far distance, that looked as if they were "floating". Looks better in large size. The highest this photo got in Explore was #136 on 13th January 2007.

Well, not exactly, as this is a creek, not a pond. This is where I was walking this morning, in around -7C temperatures. As the sun came out and it warmed a little, it really was nice walking weather. After this walk, I went to a different part of the park to check on "my" Great Horned Owl. When I parked there, I noticed a couple with a camera and tripod set up. Feeling rather rude, I walked over to them to see what they had found. "My" two owls were in a different place and they were together in the same tree, next to each other. A bit later, I noticed a young woman walking through the grove of trees where I usually see one of these owls and I told her where they were. To my surprise, she took me to see a THIRD owl there! So, now I don't know if the two together were the adults and the younger one was separate. Or maybe it was the young one sitting with one of its parents and the other adult was across the parking lot. Hmmm.... THREE - wow!