Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: working

Friend, Gayle, made an appointment to go to the Cochrane Ecological Institute Centre tthree days ago, on 9 December 2017, and invited me to go along, too. I had longed to visit and, a few years ago, two friends and I were all set to go, but a major storm prevented us from going. It made an interesting morning, going on a tour of the grounds with our guide, Lisa Dahlseide. I know Lisa in connection with the Weaselhead Natural Area in Calgary and it was so nice to see that she was going to be our leader for this walk. She has such a wealth of knowledge and her personality is very much a "people person", including doing a lot of work with young children and nature. As well as being a busy mother of three young children, she is part time Naturalist with Weaselhead/Glenmore Park Preservation Society and the Education Director for the Cochrane Ecological Institute. Unfortunately, I was too busy being distracted by taking photos of things, that I missed a lot of the explanations for the animals/birds that we saw. I always think that I will be able to find information once I get home and get on the Internet, but that doesn't always happen. "Wildlife" that we saw including several (4?) Bison that had originally been brought up from Waterton years ago; deer; several Wild Turkeys; two Great Horned Owls; and a pair of birds that I have never seen before - White Pheasants. I missed the explanation for these Pheasants, unfortunately. After our visit to the Centre, we drove to Cochrane for an enjoyable lunch. Took a while to drive round looking for somewhere to eat - I had no idea that Cochrane had grown so much. Thanks so much, Gayle, for a different kind of day! Much enjoyed and appreciated. vimeo.com/225317099 "The CEI (Cochrane Ecological Institute) is a family founded, charitable organization devoted to breeding endangered species for reintroduction, wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release, educating the public, monitoring habitat and species, and developing non intrusive wildlife survey methods. The CEI was founded (1971) by Miles and Beryl Smeeton and is now run by their daughter, Clio Smeeton. Miles and Beryl Smeeton were internationally known sailors, mountaineers, and explorers. The Smeetons initiated the swift fox reintroduction program in Canada in 1972, six years before the species was declared extirpated in Canada. All animals held at the CEI are destined for reintroduction. They are not maintained for public exhibit, trade, or sale. Over the 26 years of its existence the CEI has also been an integral part of the Canadian Wildlife Service's Trumpeter swan (Cygnus bucinnator) and wood bison (B.b.athabascae) reintroduction programs, as well as playing a key role in the Canadian swift fox reintroduction program. The CEI is unique in that it holds the world's longest established (1972), largest (20 pairs), and only captive breeding colony of swift fox. These animals are bred solely for reintroduction as part of the CEI's ecosystem restoration program. Internationally, as species and habitat vanish, the concept of ecosystem restoration through the reintroduction of indigenous flora and fauna, is gaining greater and greater prominence. The preservation of habitat without those species, which made that habitat a viable whole, is a sterile exercise." From the CEI's website. www.ceinst.org/about-us.html "Cochrane Ecological Institute's Swift Fox Reintroduction programs began in 1972 under the direction of Beryl and Miles Smeeton. Since that time 0ver 800 Swift fox were reintroduced to the Canadian Prairie. This has resulted in the Species being downlisted by the Canadian Government from Extirpated to Endangered. In 1998 the CEI was invited by the Blackfeet Tribal Fish and Wildlife Department, Browning, Montana to join in a partnership to start the first swift fox re-introduction in the USA on the Blackfeet Tribal Lands. Defenders of Wildlife also became partners in this project and the first swift foxes were released on Blackfeet land in the fall of 1998.This program continued until 2003. The CEI was requested to design and implement a Swift Fox reintroduction program on Blood reserve lands in Alberta Canada in 2003. This resulted in only a 2 year program because of complications resulting from permitting problems and the new Species at Risk Act in Canada." From the CEI website.

An interesting article from AlbertaFarmer, published on 13 February 2017, about the MULTISAR (Multiple Species At Risk) program. Fifteen years ago, no one wanted to sign up for the conservation initiative. Now, ranchers in Alberta are so eager to make their grazing land better for native species, there’s a waiting list to sign up for the conservation program that makes it happen. Very good news! www.albertafarmexpress.ca/2017/02/13/multisar-conservatio... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friends, Dorothy and Stephen, made a decision to drive down south on 20 February 2017 and asked if I would like to go with them. As always, my answer was a delighted "Yes, please!" Our mutual friend, Janet, also came along. The weather forecast looked good, especially compared to the forecast snow for the next few days - actually, it's snowing again as I type this, shortly before noon on 24 February 2017. After meeting at their house, the four of us left at 8:30 am and drove to Nanton. If one travels on Highway 2, Nanton is a 46-minute drive from the southern edge of Calgary, about 72 kms. From Nanton, we basically drove in a huge circle between Highway 2 and Highway 22, covering such beautiful scenery. Some of these roads were new roads for us, certainly for me. Each year, I take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton, and my small group covers the area to the SW of Nanton, but much closer to the town than the area we explored four days ago. This scenic shot was taken while we were pulled over on the side of the road, waiting for the cattle drive to safely approach and pass us. As you can see, there was no snow to be seen - the lack of moisture must be a concern to some of the local farmers. Most of the fields were completely bare. Things have probably changed over the last couple of days, though, as we had a fair bit of snow yesterday and it's still snowing today. My friends' target bird was the Golden Eagle, but all of us were happy as can be to see anything else that we might come across. As it turned out, not only did we not see a single Golden Eagle, there were not many birds of any kind to see all day. A flock of 50+ Starlings, and 25 Common Ravens, various Magpies, a few Pigeons, Canada Geese and a couple of heard Red-breasted Nuthatches were all that we saw. For animals, we saw one Coyote, five Mule Deer and a couple of White-tailed Deer. However, perhaps our biggest excitement came when we found ourselves in the middle of this cattle drive. We could see the huge herd in the distance, with one lone cowboy on his horse, coming towards us. The whole procession was following another farmer, driving very slowly with a huge hay bale in the back of his truck. After taking a quick few distant shots, we climbed back into our vehicle and waited, and waited, and waited till the very last cow had walked past us. The cowboy said he appreciated the fact that we had stopped, not wanting to spook any of the animals. As soon as they were past us, we climbed out of the car to take a quick photo or two. I think I've only ever seen a cattle drive maybe twice before. So good to see a genuine cowboy at work, doing what he does so well. Another interesting stop was when we were driving along part of the Sky View Road. We came across a logging sight, with a couple of large piles of cut logs waiting to be trucked out of the area. Fortunately, it was Family Day, so there were no huge logging trucks on the rough, gravel road leading up the hillside. We were hoping to reach the Lookout in case there were amazing views from up there, but we decided that it might be risky to drive the last part of the road that would have led to the Lookout. We had climbed high enough to already find a lot more snow and the rough, narrow road was not in the best condition. This was where we saw the two White-tailed Deer. We had seen beautiful views already, lower down the road, so we were happy. "Between the Rockies' vigorous upthrusts and the recumbent lines of the grassland plains, the Porcupine Hills provide a softly rounded interface, gentle contours that stir the heart, They are always so beautiful, from the wildflowers of spring to the hazy shimmer of summer and the sharp gold of fall aspens, and even in the austerity of a landscape under the sharp shadows of snow. The hills bring magic to all the seasons." These are the first few lines from the book, "Exploring the Routes Less Travelled - Country Roads of Alberta", by Liz Bryan. This is a book that my daughter gave me a year or two ago and I had forgotten just which journeys it covered. Once I was back home, while I was Googling the area that I had just spent the day exploring with my friends, I came across this book online. The short chapter on this area made interesting reading. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day, exploring a new area. It was so much fun to see some new things and, of course, the scenery was spectacular. How lucky we are to live within reach of such beauty! Having been out so few times in the last few weeks and having taken barely any photos at all, this kind of day was exactly what I needed.

"Between the Rockies' vigorous upthrusts and the recumbent lines of the grassland plains, the Porcupine Hills provide a softly rounded interface, gentle contours that stir the heart, They are always so beautiful, from the wildflowers of spring to the hazy shimmer of summer and the sharp gold of fall aspens, and even in the austerity of a landscape under the sharp shadows of snow. The hills bring magic to all the seasons." These are the first few lines from the book, "Exploring the Routes Less Travelled - Country Roads of Alberta", by Liz Bryan. This is a book that my daughter gave me a year or two ago and I had forgotten just which journeys it covered. Last night, while I was Googling the area that I had just spent the day exploring with friends, Dorothy & Stephen, and Janet, I came across this book. The short chapter on this area made interesting reading. Dorothy and Stephen had made a decision to drive down south and asked if I would like to go with them. As always, my answer was a delighted "Yes, please!" The weather forecast looked good, especially compared to the forecast snow for tonight and the next few days. After meeting at their house, the four of us left at 8:30 am and drove to Nanton. From there, we basically drove in a huge circle between Highway 2 and Highway 22, covering such beautiful scenery. Some of these roads were new roads for us, certainly for me. Each year, I take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the town of Nanton, and my small group covers the area to the SW of Nanton, but much closer to the town than the area we explored yesterday. My friends' target bird was the Golden Eagle, but all of us were happy as can be to see anything else that we might come across. As it turned out, not only did we not see a single Golden Eagle, there were not many birds of any kind to see all day. A flock of 50+ Starlings, and 25 Common Ravens, various Magpies, a few Pigeons, Canada Geese and a couple of heard Red-breasted Nuthatches were all that we saw. For animals, we saw one Coyote, 5 Mule Deer and a couple of White-tailed Deer. However, perhaps our biggest excitement came when we found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive. We could see the huge herd in the distance, with one lone cowboy on his horse, coming towards us. The whole procession was following another farmer, driving very slowly with a huge hay bale in the back of his truck. After taking a quick few distant shots, we climbed back into our vehicle and waited, and waited, and waited till the very last cow had walked past us. The cowboy said he appreciated the fact that we had stopped, not wanting to spook any of the animals. As soon as they were past us, we climbed out of the car to take a quick photo or two. I think I've only ever seen a cattle drive maybe twice before. So good to see a genuine cowboy at work, doing what he does so well. Another interesting stop was when we were driving along part of the Sky View Road. We came across a logging sight, with a couple of large piles of cut logs waiting to be trucked out of the area. Fortunately, yesterday was Family Day, so there were no huge logging trucks on the rough, gravel road leading up the hillside. We were hoping to reach the Lookout in case there were amazing views from there, but we decided that it might be risky to drive the last part of the road that would have led to the Lookout. We had climbed high enough to already find a lot more snow and the rough road was not in the best condition. This was where we saw the two White-tailed Deer. We had seen beautiful views already, lower down the road, so we were happy. Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day, exploring a new area. It was so much fun to see some new things and, of course, the scenery was spectacular. How lucky we are to live within reach of such beauty! Having been out so few times in the last few weeks and having taken barely any photos at all, this kind of day was exactly what I needed.

Wish I could remember more clearly our six months' stay in Doha, Qatar (Middle East), from the end of 1966 to the beginning of 1967. I don't have a lot of photos taken during that time, but thankfully have enough to bring back some memories. This city and the desert outside it, was where I learned to drive (in a little red Mini) : )