Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: W of Nanton

"Thirteen keen birders showed up for the trip this morning (28 January 2017) at 8:00 a.m. The initial meeting place was Fish Creek Glennfield. After car pooling, We planned to meet again at the Truck Stop south of Nanton. From here, we drove West along 533 to our starting point-William's Coulee. Most of the day was spent birding in the Western half of the Nanton Christmas Bird Count circle. Our target for the trip was Golden Eagle, and the birds didn't disappoint. We found six, plus one more bird that we thought may have been a duplicate, so was not counted. We watched a group of four adult Bald Eagles, and thirty Ravens feasting on a carcass. Sharp-tailed grouse numbers came in at 44, but the four groups that we saw only gave us quick glimpses. A late afternoon treat was a Prairie Falcon circling over the parked cars, and giving everyone a great look. A second Prairie Falcon was found in a coulee, several kilometres to the East. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day, take in the beautiful scenery, and help spot the birds. Golden Eagle 6 Bald Eagle 7 Rough-legged Hawk 1 Prairie Falcon 2 Great Horned Owl 5 Sharp-tailed Grouse 44 Gray Partridge 10 Common Raven 40 Black-billed Magpie 25 European Starling 10 Rock Pigeon 5 Tony Timmons" I absolutely love this whole area, so I couldn't resist going on Tony's day trip. The scenery is spectacular and, even if no birds had been seen, I would still go, just to be driven in this seemingly endless area of foothills, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Though this is winter, we were surprised at how little snow was on the ground. I think the temperature got up to about +11C, but the wind was very strong - too strong to be able to hold my camera steady. For me, the highlights of the trip were the scenery and a Spruce tree in which three (though I only saw two) Great Horned Owls were hiding. Also, I loved the sight of a herd of horses who made their way in our direction, against a beautifully wild landscape. How different this whole area would look in the summer time. A most enjoyable day, Tony! Thanks so much for giving up a Saturday for us - much appreciated! Pat, thank you for the ride out there, and Tony for the ride the rest of the day.

"Thirteen keen birders showed up for the trip this morning (28 January 2017) at 8:00 a.m. The initial meeting place was Fish Creek Glennfield. After car pooling, We planned to meet again at the Truck Stop south of Nanton. From here, We drove West along 533 to our starting point-William's Coulee. Most of the day was spent birding in the Western half of the Nanton Christmas Bird Count circle. Our target for the trip was Golden Eagle, and the birds didn't disappoint. We found six, plus one more bird that we thought may have been a duplicate, so was not counted. We watched a group of four adult Bald Eagles, and thirty Ravens feasting on a carcass. Sharp-tailed grouse numbers came in at 44, but the four groups that we saw only gave us quick glimpses. A late afternoon treat was a Prairie Falcon circling over the parked cars, and giving everyone a great look. A second Prairie Falcon was found in a coulee, several kilometres to the East. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day, take in the beautiful scenery, and help spot the birds. Golden Eagle 6 Bald Eagle 7 Rough-legged Hawk 1 Prairie Falcon 2 Great Horned Owl 5 Sharp-tailed Grouse 44 Gray Partridge 10 Common Raven 40 Black-billed Magpie 25 European Starling 10 Rock Pigeon 5 Tony Timmons" I absolutely love the area that we covered yesterday, and I couldn't resist going on Tony's day trip. The scenery is spectacular and, even if no birds had been seen, I would still go, just to be driven in this seemingly endless area of foothills, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Though this is winter, we were surprised at how little snow was on the ground. I think the temperature got up to about +11C, but the wind was very strong - too strong to be able to hold my camera steady. For me, the highlights of the trip were the scenery and a Spruce tree in which three (though I only saw two) Great Horned Owls were hiding. Also, I loved the sight of this herd of horses who made their way in our direction, against a beautifully wild landscape. How different this whole area would look in the summer time. A most enjoyable day, Tony! Thanks so much for giving up a Saturday for us - much appreciated! Pat, thank you for the ride out there, and Tony for the ride the rest of the day.

"Thirteen keen birders showed up for the trip this morning (28 January 2017) at 8:00 a.m. The initial meeting place was Fish Creek Glennfield. After car pooling, We planned to meet again at the Truck Stop south of Nanton. From here, We drove West along 533 to our starting point-William's Coulee. Most of the day was spent birding in the Western half of the Nanton Christmas Bird Count circle. Our target for the trip was Golden Eagle, and the birds didn't disappoint. We found six, plus one more bird that we thought may have been a duplicate, so was not counted. We watched a group of four adult Bald Eagles, and thirty Ravens feasting on a carcass. Sharp-tailed grouse numbers came in at 44, but the four groups that we saw only gave us quick glimpses. A late afternoon treat was a Prairie Falcon circling over the parked cars, and giving everyone a great look. A second Prairie Falcon was found in a coulee, several kilometres to the East. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day, take in the beautiful scenery, and help spot the birds. Golden Eagle 6 Bald Eagle 7 Rough-legged Hawk 1 Prairie Falcon 2 Great Horned Owl 5 Sharp-tailed Grouse 44 Gray Partridge 10 Common Raven 40 Black-billed Magpie 25 European Starling 10 Rock Pigeon 5 Tony Timmons" I absolutely love the area that we covered yesterday, and I couldn't resist going on Tony's day trip. The scenery is spectacular and, even if no birds had been seen, I would still go, just to be driven in this seemingly endless area of foothills, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Though this is winter, we were surprised at how little snow was on the ground. I think the temperature got up to about +11C, but the wind was very strong - too strong to be able to hold my camera steady. For me, the highlights of the trip were the scenery and a Spruce tree in which three (though I only saw two) Great Horned Owls were hiding. Also, I loved the sight of this herd of horses who made their way in our direction, against a beautifully wild landscape. How different this whole area would look in the summer time. A most enjoyable day, Tony! Thanks so much for giving up a Saturday for us - much appreciated! Pat, thank you for the ride out there, and Tony for the ride the rest of the day.

HAPPY SPRING, everyone! Here, today is heavily overcast and the forecast is for showers this afternoon and tomorrow, and a few snow flurries for Sunday. The temperature is 0C (windchill -3C). Ha, almost noon, and I've just noticed that it's snowing. Good, it looks as if Flickr may be working OK this morning. All day yesterday, my photos were obviously not showing up on most people's Contacts' Photos page. I know some people were having the same problem. I'm digging into my archives for all three of my photos today. I haven't been getting out much with my camera, and on the days I have been out, there hasn't been much to photograph. Hopefully, that will change soon. It is so rare that I get a cold, but I know I have been run down the last while, and I came out in a cold a couple of days ago. This photo was taken on 21 May 2010, when I was on a Botany outing with a group of friends. A few of us were very fortunate on that day to have Anna Cairns guide us up and down rolling hills covered in natural prairie grassland, to look especially for a plant that none of us had never seen before - Yellow Bells / Fritillaria pudicao. Sure enough, after quite a lot of searching and a long hike, we found several hiding amongst the grasses. This area was west of Nanton (south west of Calgary) and this location is the furthest north recording of this species. We found several other new plants, too, which is always great. We had all seen Moss Phlox (seen in this photo) before. I will add a previously posted photo of a clump of bluish Moss Phlox seen on the same day, in a comment box below.

Happened to come across this photo in my archives and decided to post it. I think I only have three photos of this species in my photostream, and I'm not likely to see these flowers again. This zoomed in and cropped photo of a tiny, native Yellow Bell wildflower (Fritillaria pudica) was taken in extreme wind conditions, LOL, so it's a miracle that it came out sharp. Also known as Yellow Fritillary. A few of us were very fortunate on 21 May 2010 to have Anna Cairns guide us up and down rolling hills covered in natural prairie grassland, to look for these delicate little flowers. Sure enough, after quite a lot of searching and a long hike, we found several hiding amongst the grasses. This area was west of Nanton (south west of Calgary) and this location is the furthest north recording of this species. A first time for all of us. We found several other new plants, too, which is always great.