Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: withered

A brief update on the Facebook issue: the photographer responsible for the posting has now deleted the post and all the angry, accusing comments left by people who changed the subject from road safety to people going out to photograph owls far too often, taking too many photos, etc., etc.. Thank goodness, I can now try and forget the whole thing, though it really doesn't make me look forward to going anywhere to take photos. This is what I wrote on a previously posted photo taken of the same flower: "Today, 1 October 2018, we are under a Special Weather Statement. A heavy snowfall is likely for parts of western Alberta this week. This morning, it is -2C (windchill -6C) with freezing drizzle in the morning with a few flurries this afternoon. I think the normal temperature for 1 October is around 15C, so we are well below average. Snow tonight, which means I am getting my snow tires put on (tomorrow) one day too late. "The start of October will look more like the middle of winter across much of southern Alberta this week, as cold air and snow feature prominently in the forecast. After what have already been record-breaking amounts so far this year, more snowfall is on the way for parts of the Prairies, as Arctic air pours down from the north and Pacific moisture creeps over the Rockies. We're looking at the risk for some significant totals this week." From the Weather Network. My rough plans for 29 September 2018 changed when I saw the weather forecast. I ended up visiting the Reader Rock Garden instead of driving to a different garden. As usual when I go there, it was a bit windy, which always makes photographing flowers, especially ones on long stems, more difficult. It was also overcast and I was hoping that it wouldn't rain. Instead, I found myself standing at the highest point of the garden, with very light snow falling for just a few minutes."

With a lot of snow forecast for 8 of the following 10 days, I feel very lucky that my daughter and I had such a beautiful day on 17 December 2017, for our Christmas get-together. Since then, we have had so much snow and, at the moment, temperatures have plunged. For tomorrow, Christmas morning, the temperature is forecast to be -24C (windchill -30C). For two upcoming, out-of-city Christmas Bird Counts, the temperature is supposed to be -18C (windchill -25C) and -21C (windchill -28C)! It was such weird weather on the day my daughter and I went off for the day, as the colour of the sunrise sky lasted all day, till we left just before sunset. A gorgeous Chinook Arch crossed the sky, staying the whole day. Some of the fields were bare, and others had a light dusting of snow on them. The day started with breakfast at the Saskatoon Farm - always enjoyable. They do close from the end of the day on 23 December and open again in the morning of 17 January. A well-earned break for everyone who works there. As always, we walked around the grounds to look for things to photograph and, as usual, we were in luck - snow-capped dead flowers, cats, dogs, and the many little House Sparrows that were in and out of one of the greenhouses. From there, we continued south to the area east of High River and drove some of the usual back roads; ones that I had driven just four days earlier. Of course, we were hoping that we might find a Snowy Owl, though I knew not to get our hopes up. Before too long, my daughter spotted our first Snowy Owl of the season - the tiniest speck of white that I could barely see with the naked eye, but it was a Snowy and that was all that mattered. Later in the day, she somehow spotted a second one; again, the tiniest speck perched on a very distant fence post. A few minutes before this second sighting, my daughter spotted two handsome Mule Deer bucks - looked like father and son - lying down next to a metal grain silo, near the edge of the road. They stayed there for a while, which was surprising, as males tend to be far more skittish. Eventually, they stood up and walked off into the field. Of course, we couldn't resist taking shots of any old barns, sheds and houses that we came across. Altogether, a great day that was much enjoyed. Thank you so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me, and doing something that we both love! These are my absolute favourite days in the year.

I think something must be up with Flickr today - note to self. With most of our autumn colour gone, it feels good to be able to look back to photos from 1 October 2016. Today, 24 October 2016, it is heavily overcast, gloomy as can be, with a temperature of 1°C. Fortunately, the last two days (a weekend) were beautiful, sunny days, as I spent Saturday birding with a group of friends east of the city, and yesterday, Sunday, I was with friends birding west of the city. Two very enjoyable days that were not great for photos, but the company was excellent. Many thanks, Andrew and Howard, for leading these days! On 1 October 2016, I finally had my very first visit to the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, thanks to friend, Sandy. I first heard about this beautiful place from my daughter, but I had never been, because it is way out of my city driving comfort zone. In the morning, it was raining, at least in my part of the city, and I wondered if going would turn out to be a big mistake. However, the rain stopped and stayed away while we were there and, though the sky was overcast, I was still able to photograph to my heart's content. I was surprised at how many flowers were still in bloom on the first day of October and I was extremely impressed with how meticulously these gardens are kept - every inch of them. So many different kinds of trees and plants, and it was very obvious that each area had been planted with so much thought and care. Amazing that dedicated volunteers have been, and continue to be, the ones to thank for these gardens. Thanks so much, Sandy, for giving me the chance to spend an afternoon in such beauty and peace! We all knew that snow wasn't far away and about a week after this visit, Calgary had its first snowfall of the season, for the whole of the Thanksgiving weekend. At least I now have some bright, colourful photos that I will be able to post in between all the coming white, snowy images that will be taken during the seven, long months of winter. "The Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs is without doubt one of the Seven Wonders of Calgary, Alberta. It boasts 1350 square meters (14 600 square feet) of gardens which includes a spectacular Wall Garden that runs an uninterrupted 1300 feet. In the gardens you will find an endless variety of annuals and perennials ranging from artemisias to zinnias. Here indeed is a place to stop and smell the roses and the peonies and the delphiniums and the chrysanthemums and the … What makes these gardens so very special is that they were created and continue to be maintained by a band of green-thumbed enthusiastic volunteers. These hale and hearty diggers, planters, seeders, weeders, mowers, waterers, pruners and community builders work two to three mornings a week to keep the gardens in primrose shape and their efforts are truly appreciated by the many walkers, joggers, and cyclists. On any given day, hundreds of people walk the wall garden with their families, friends and out-of-town visitors. It has become a treasured destination site for many. For anyone who has spent time in the gardens, it is hard to believe that they have only been here since 2006 when a humble ornamental garden (400 square feet) was developed within the existing BirthPlace Forest tree beds. The BPF, by the way, saw 7000 trees planted in the area. The project was accomplished through a partnership of BP Energy, Calgary Parks, Regional Health and Golden Acres." From the gardens' website. www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca/

On 25 September 2016, it was a day of birding east of the city, with a group of birding friends. We set out at 8:00 am and our main stopping places were Weed Lake, Marsland Basin and Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park. I will add our leader's (Howard Heffler) list of species below. Pretty much the usual sightings - lots of ducks, a number of Hawks including a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk and several juvenile White-throated Sparrows which were seen while walking around at Lynn and Sue's acreage at Marsland Basin. Also, a Merlin that was perched high up on a power pole. The water level at the wetland at Marsland Basin was very high, so there was no sign of the mudflats there - consequently, barely any shorebirds to be seen. We did have three small flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese fly in formation high overhead while we were looking out over the water, which was great. As usual, most birds we saw were much too far away for photos. As usually happens, when birds are too far away for me to see, my camera lens turns to a few other subjects, including this photo of one of the many Sunflowers that were growing in Lynn's garden. Many thanks for leading this trip, Howard, and thanks, too, to Jim for driving half of us. I always appreciate a trip like this, with people who are all expert birdspotters - and then there's me, lol! "Eight participants met at Carburn Park at 8:00 AM and spent a beautiful fall day birding three locations east of Calgary. We first stopped at the south end of Weed Lake. Water levels were high so there was almost no shorebird habitat. A highlight was the large numbers of American Pipits. Marsland Basin, thanks to Lynn and Sue, is a wonderful spot for both the wetland and the treed areas. Next we went Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park. We were not able to pick out a Mew Gull that had been recently reported there among the 100’s of Ring-billed Gulls. Thanks to Nimali Seneviratne for keeping track of species and doing the eBird postings. The combined list for the day was: Greater White-fronted Goose 108 Canada Goose 36 Gadwall 45 American Wigeon 22 Mallard 325 Northern Shoveler 400 Northern Pintail 80 Green-winged Teal 278 Bufflehead 18 Common Merganser 3 Ruddy Duck 5 Gray Partridge 20 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Eared Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 3 American White Pelican 12 Great Blue Heron 4 White-faced Ibis 1 Bald Eagle 1 Northern Harrier 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 Swainson's Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 6 American Coot 51 Killdeer 4 Long-billed Dowitcher 9 Wilson's Snipe 2 Greater Yellowlegs 4 Franklin's Gull 3 Ring-billed Gull 1,000 Rock Pigeon 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 Belted Kingfisher 2 Northern Flicker 1 Merlin 1 Blue Jay 2 Black-billed Magpie 6 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Marsh Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 Swainson's Thrush 2 European Starling 34 American Pipit 95 Ovenbird 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 Dark-eyed Junco 5 White-throated Sparrow 6 Western Meadowlark 5 Common Grackle 2 House Sparrow 12

The sun is shining this morning, 11 October 2016, after three grey, gloomy days of snow and a bit of fog. Unfortunately, this was the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, too. Feels so good to see some blue sky today. The temperature is -1C (windchill -6C). On 21 September 2016, I left home in sunshine, but by the time I reached my destination south of the city, at the Saskatoon Farm, it was overcast and dreary. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food - I had a delicious meal of quiche and sweet potato fries. www.saskatoonfarm.com/ I'm always happy to see Sunflowers, at any stage of their life, and on this visit, I saw lots of them. Mainly yellow ones, but with a few orange ones mixed in with them. Beautiful to see, on the very last day of summer.

This photo was taken in the gardens at the Calgary Zoo on 21 September 2015. The ENMAX Conservatory butterfly house display was coming to an end and the beautiful tropical plants were beginning to fade, so I really wanted to get over there while I could. This Poppy was really on its last legs and I usually don't see Poppies quite at this stage. There was just something about it that I liked. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy It was a good visit and I was happy as can be to finally get a decent photo of the glorious Himalayan Monal (a type of pheasant), and a few Water Lily shots. Today, 25 November 2015, the sun is shining, but it's -12C (windchill -17C). Brrr ..... It snowed a bit last night.

This photo was taken in Lynn's garden on 27 September 2015, when I joined friends on a most enjoyable day of birding east of the city. I love the way Sunflower petals wither and twist when the flower is dying in the fall. Below, I have added Howard Heffler's report of the day's sightings, adding that, as usual, there were some species that I didn't see myself. We were all delighted to see a huge swarm of Greater White-fronted Geese fly over the wetland at Marsland Basin. In the far distance, we could see a second huge gathering of them, but these didn't fly towards us. People were seeing several Snow Geese mixed in with the flock, but I only spotted them when I had downloaded my photos to my computer. It was also nice to see one of the four Badgers in the family that lives on a property adjacent to our friend Lynn's land. On a previous visit, I had been lucky enough to see three of these Badgers. These are so rarely seen. "We had 12 people show up for a beautiful day to explore the sloughs east of Calgary. This included a lovely young family visiting from Lac la Biche. It was a bit chilly for the first two stops at the slough on Glenmore Trail and RR 284 and at Chestermere Lake. We then went directly to Marsland Basin when we spent much of our time. Although Lynn and Sue were not at home, we explored their property and listed 38 bird species and had a good look at one member of the badger family that lives on the adjacent property. By now the sun was up, we were all warm and there were a few passerines to add to the waterfowl. A highlight was an estimated 5000 Greater White-fronted Geese flying over. From there we went to the south side of Eagle Lake where we saw a distant murmuration of an (estimated) 10,000 European Starlings. Even from a distance this is a moving sight. Cattleland Slough did not add anything new to the list so we headed for home. Thanks to everyone for their sharp eyes and to Andrew Hart for his listing skills on eBird. The list below includes birds seen by the group and includes birds seen while driving and even the Downy Woodpecker in the Carburn parking lot. The numbers reported are the (best guess) of totals from all sightings. Errors of omission or commission rest with the author…. Greater White-fronted Goose - 5000 Snow Goose - 8 Canada Goose - 100 Gadwall - 74 American Wigeon - 7 Mallard - 44 Blue-winged Teal - 4 Northern Shoveler - 22 Northern Pintail - 71 Green-winged Teal - 110 Canvasback - 8 Redhead - 6 Ring-necked Duck - 8 Lesser Scaup - 150 Bufflehead - 38 Common Goldeneye - 12 Barrow's Goldeneye - 4 Ruddy Duck - 24 Gray Partridge - 12 Horned Grebe - 21 Eared Grebe - 9 Northern Harrier - 1 Bald Eagle - 2 Red-tailed Hawk - 3 Swainson's Hawk - 1 American Coot - 390 Greater Yellowlegs - 2 Lesser Yellowlegs - 22 Long-billed Dowitcher - 3 Bonaparte's Gull - 36 Franklin's Gull - 42 Ring-billed Gull - 185 Rock Pigeon - 4 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker - 1 Black-billed Magpie - 7 American Crow - 24 Common Raven - 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 American Robin - 2 European Starling - 10000 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8 Wilson's Warbler - 3 Dark-eyed Junco - 5 Savannah Sparrow - 2 Red-winged Blackbird - 8 Yellow-headed Blackbird - 1 Western Meadowlark - 2 Brewer's Blackbird - 2 Common Grackle - 1 Brown-headed Cowbird - 10 American Goldfinch - 1 House Sparrow - 20 TOTAL: 54 species Howard Heffler" Thanks so much, Dan and Cindy, for driving Darlene and myself there and back! We both greatly appreciated it! Many thanks, too, to Lynn and her partner, for telling everyone to come out to their home and wetland as often as we like - the more often, the better : ) A reminder to anyone going out there, to please sign the small notebook kept in a plastic tub on one of the outdoor tables overlooking the wetland. If Lynn or Sue are anywhere to be seen when you visit, do introduce yourselves.

Last fall, on 28 September 2014, was the first time I had been to the Calgary Zoo since before the Alberta Flood of the Century in June 2013. I had been photographing wild things over the summer and just never made it as far as the Zoo. The west parking lot and Zoo entrance are now being kept closed for the winter, and I dread the drive home from the north entrance, so I don't get to the Zoo very often any more. There were so many people everywhere at the Zoo that day. Normally, I wouldn’t go on a Sunday, but I thought it might be a good idea to drive the dreaded Deerfoot Trail on my way home on a slightly quieter day. I usually avoid Deerfoot at all cost, as it’s a dangerous road to be on. Couldn't resist taking a quick shot of this fading Echinacea flower, with its spiky seedhead. This is one of my favourite garden flowers, beautiful at all stages of its life. "Echinacea /ˌɛkɨˈneɪʃⁱə/ is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echino), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea

Echinacea are one of my favourite flowers, no matter what stage they are at. The flower centre is so spectacular. This one was photographed (macro) at Reader Rock Garden on 10 September 2013.

A real quick uploading this morning, as I really have to get myself ready for a day trip to the mountains and I am already running so late! Straight afterwards, if I can keep awake and have any energy left, I'll be on a walk in a local park this evening. See ya later...

A withered Rudbeckia in the Calgary Zoo garden, looking beautiful to my eyes : )

After a three-hour walk along the south shore of the Glenmore Reservoir yesterday morning, and seeing around 10,000 birds out on the water (at a great distance, so no good for photos), I found something to photograph back at the parking lot : ) A row of tall Sunflowers, still beautiful with their withered and drooping golden petals, and each one wearing a cap of snow. Now, if I had photographed them today, there would be around 6 or 7 inches of snow on them!! I had no idea that these beautiful flowers had been growing there. Taken in atrocious light, so I'm glad that a few of the photos came out OK. Still snowing, too. I am so thankful that I don't have to go out today, though it will probably be even worse when I do have to go out for my volunteer shift tomorrow, ha.

A dying Echinacea flower, tangled in spider web, seen at the Calgary Zoo on 25 September 2012.

Not a spectacular shot, but there was just something I liked about the pale colours and the bokeh : ) Some kind of plant on its last legs, at Reader Rock Garden, taken on 22nd October - oh, LAST year, LOL!

Any mushrooms we've seen in the last little while have been old and withered. A few species crack into quite attractive patterns, such as this one. This was a fair sized fungus, too, growing in Bragg Creek Natural Area on 12th September. It looked so pretty against the green moss of the forest floor.

The ground was covered with similar mushrooms, in every direction, and though every single one was old and withered, I thought they had a strange kind of beauty. What a sight it must have been when they were all fresh! Seen in a small area of mixed trees in Jim Coutts' homestead garden, south of the city, near Nanton, on 5th September.

Have just spent three hours at the Zoo this afternoon, as we have more snow in the forecast over the next few days. Wanted to make the most of today's sunshine and now am in a rush to upload "my daily three" so that I can have some supper : ) This is what became of a brightly coloured rose I posted recently - I thought it turned into something quite beautiful. Apologies to my Flickr friends for not commenting much/at all - I have several projects that are keeping me running round in circles, not to mention all sorts of urgent personal things that just aren't getting done!!