Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: haze

Will have to add descriptions, etc. later, as I have a dental appointment to get to. Later. Yesterday, 2 August 2019, was a day of a little bit of everything, which was fun. I only decided around noon to go for an afternoon drive west of the city. It was hot and there was a haze over the mountains. Both cameras took photos with rather blown out skies - because of the haze? My destination was Forgetmenot Pond, out past Bragg Creek. Forget-me-not is the name of a flower. This weekend is a long weekend for a Civic Holiday on Monday, so I thought there might be far fewer people yesterday, Thursday. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea as me! There was a good variety of wildflowers, some of which I will have to leave unidentified and post simply as "pretty pictures". So nice to find Prairie Gentians, which I haven't seen for a long time. A few others were Grass-of-Parnassus, Elephant's Head Lousewort, different Paintbrush, Alpine Bistort, and beautiful Yellow Mountain-avens. Love the small flowers of the latter and their beautifully twisted seedheads. The only birds I saw in the area were Barn Swallows who were nesting, and a calling Spotted Sandpiper, perched on a piece of driftwood the far side of the river. After walking around the lake, I started on my return drive. Before long, I decided to take a quick look in a forested area, to see if there were any mushrooms, but only found the ones seen in one of today's photos. While I was there, cows were the furthest thing from my mind. I guess they are let loose in that area of forest, so they do a good job of fertilizing everything. When I spotted the two mushrooms, I was excited and didn't realize that my left shoe ended up in something that felt very soft and a little slippery! Sigh! Maclean Pond was the only other place I stopped, just briefly, during my mountain drive, until I was closer to home. Thought I would drive along one of the roads that had given me a good variety of birds fairly recently. This time, absolutely nothing. I discovered that one road was blocked (maybe part of the major road construction going on for the Ring Road around the city?), Instead, I came back along a road I hadn't been along for quite a while - and what an amazing sight I saw. Way down the road, I could see some large brown animals on the road. My first thought was 'cows'. However, I pulled over and zoomed right in to check, discovering that they were Elk. Maybe two or three hundred of them - they just kept coming and when you thought they would be no more, another group appeared on the hillside. They were all constantly calling, which you can hear on the little bit of video I took. Will post another short, somewhat closer bit of video later. There were males, females and young ones. Fortunately, no other vehicles came along the road while I was there. An amazing thing to witness.

Thank you so much, Shirley, for inviting us all out to visit you yesterday (25 August 2018) while you were out again at your summer trailer at Eagle Lake for the weekend! It was a fairly cool day, which was great, but the smoke is still being blown in from the wildfires in British Columbia. I was just reading an article this morning about the awful air quality in Seattle and theirs has been roughly the same as ours. They reckon the very poor air quality is equivalent to smoking seven cigarettes a day. I had stayed home the two days before this outing, to avoid breathing in the toxic air. It was such a pleasure to see some of "your" birds that you enjoy so much. Compared to our visit on 17 June 2017, there were fewer species to be seen, but enough to keep us happy. I think the highlight for me was a Western Kingbird that posed so beautifully on a tangle of metal pipes down near the edge of the water. I also loved taking a couple of quick shots of such a cute goat just as we were leaving. We had stopped so that one of us could get out and buy several food items from a Hutterite stand that was in the trailer campground. I got out to get a bottle of water from my backpack in the back of the car and a friend in the car behind caught my attention and pointed out this animal posing so nicely. Great to see everyone who went, and we all enjoyed an array of delicious salads and desserts that left me feeling full till the early evening. We also enjoyed meeting your two Grandchildren, Shirley, who happened to be staying with you for the weekend. So good to see them both making lists of the bird species seen. Many thanks, Anne B, for driving some of us us east across the prairies. Hugely appreciated, as always!

International Women's Day today, 8 March 2018. Yay for Women! All three photos posted today were taken on 29 May 2015, on a trip way down in southern Alberta. A small group of us spent the day at the Whaleback, climbing the ridges, doing a species count. We had such a great day, finding all sorts of things of interest - plants, mosses, lichens - and in my case, insects, animals and birds, too : ) In fact, anything and everything, lol. The weather was good for walking, not too warm and, up till the last part, dry. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away for most of the day. When I went on this outing in May 2013, it rained all day, though I still managed to get plenty of photos. On 29 May 2015, it was overcast with low cloud, making scenic shots rather unpleasant. Just before taking the turn for the road leading to a place to park, we stopped at a spot down by the river and did a search there. I was thrilled to bits to find three or four Tent Caterpillars on a plant next to a large rock and thought what a way to start the day. After taking a few photos, I walked to the other side of the rock and noticed what almost looked like a circular patch of lichen growing on the rock surface. A closer look revealed a mass of dozens of these writhing caterpillars, with several others climbing up in single file to join the rest. Still makes me itch all over, just thinking about it, lol! Another highlight of the day for me was when I happened to notice a tiny spot of bright red deep inside a distant Early Yellow Locoweed flower. I zoomed in for a photo and thought it looked like it might be a Ladybug. Couldn't count the spots properly, so I very gently parted the petals to get a better look. Unfortunately, it crawled on to my hand and wouldn't return to a petal until after I had taken two or three shots, and then it immediately moved out of sight. I was so happy to find that it was a different kind of Ladybug, though I had seen one a few years ago - it was a Convergent Ladybug. Part way through the day, I stayed behind while the rest of the group climbed to a higher ridge, and I explored the lower ground. It was a place where I knew I wouldn't get lost - but I did have to wait till at least some of the others returned a few hours later, as others were needed to create an opening to climb though the barbed-wire fence again. I found plenty to photograph and it was quite a feeling to be so high up with such an amazing view all around, and to be alone up there. While I sat to eat lunch on a rocky outcrop with a couple of trees, a tiny Sparrow (of some kind) came to visit a couple of times and sing for me. Also, there were maybe half a dozen Brewer's Blackbirds that stayed around the area for much of the time, flying or perched on low bushes. A truly magical time. The rest of the group had a great time, too, and saw Parry's Townsendia flowers and lots of Balsamroot in bloom. Fortunately, I had seen the Townsendia before on a brutal hike to Picklejar Lakes several years ago. Two years before, I had also seen hillsides at the Whaleback covered in the bright yellow Balsamroot flowers. I did manage to find several plants huddled together lower down, so was happy to get a few photos of these bright and cheery flowers. Altogether, a wonderful day in an incredibly beautiful place with great company! Many thanks, Robin and Cedric, for giving me a ride there and back - appreciated it SO much!

Today is the first day of September already! Here, trees have started getting yellow leaves, everywhere is bone dry, and two days ago, the temperature rose to 33C. Still got a few very hot days in the forecast. The crazy imbalance of weather just gets worse and worse, with no rain and continuing wildfires in the west, and too much water brought to Texas by hurricane/tropical storm Harvey, causing devastating flooding and damage in the eastern U.S.. If only the two sides could share the water - how ironic it all is. Yesterday, 31 August 2017, I went with 16 birder friends on a day's outing east of Calgary. What a full, rewarding day we had, with 83 species seen! I have added our leader's final list in a comment box below, mainly for my own interest/record. Thanks, Andrew! There were many species that I did not see, as they were too far away, but I was delighted to see three or four species that I hadn't seen or photographed before, including a Black-bellied Plover and Baird's Sandpipers. It was yet another smoky day (which we've been getting all summer, from the wildfires in British Columbia and, to a much lesser extent, Alberta), but yesterday's temperature was more bearable than most of our summer (got up to around 25C). Early morning felt quite chilly, in fact. Today, the smoke blown into Alberta continues. I saw on TV this morning that the dreadful Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, that started well over a year ago on 1 May 2016, is finally completely out. After meeting in the city, we car-pooled in five cars east to Langdon. Our first stop was at Weed Lake; first the south end and then the east side. All the birds were far away, so any photos I took were group shots or a single, very distant lone bird. This kind of birding is very different from when I go out anywhere on my own. It involves a lot of very careful study of each area we stop at, with binoculars and scopes, and it provides very important information on all the bird species. When I go out by myself, I am looking for any kind of bird that is close enough to photograph - usually, the closer the better, of course. I never count bird numbers and I don't make lists. I simply look for anything beautiful - and that often includes old barns, scenery, wildflowers, insects, and so on. From Weed Lake, we continued east, eventually reaching Eagle Lake and Marsland Basin. I always love going to the latter location; a great place that is called 'home' for our friends, Lyn and Sue. They have a wonderful wetland on their property. After looking at the distant birds, I wandered around the grounds, finding a beautiful, tiny butterfly (Checkered Skipper sp.?), Sunflowers in the garden with a pair of American Goldfinches feeding on the Sunflower seeds, and the two donkeys. Needless to say, by the time we reached the Eagle Lake area, I wasn't sure where we were, each time we stopped. A day later, I'm hoping I can remember where I saw at least some of the birds in my photos. A thoroughly enjoyable trip - thanks, Andrew, as always! Many thanks, too, Lenora and Dick, for letting Dorothy and me carpool with you. It was so much appreciated. By the way, I didn't post any photos to Flickr yesterday. The day before was such a hot day (up to 33C, which is no joke when you don't have air-conditioning) and the smoke was bad. By the time evening came, I was just too hot and tired to look through photos and edit them. Also, I knew I was going to have a very early start next morning (4;50 am) and had no energy to post anything that early.

Another smoky day here in Calgary (21 July 2017), with a temperature of 20C this morning and cloudy. The air quality yesterday was expected to reach High Risk, but it seemed to be bearable late in the afternoon. So, I took a drive along some of my favourite roads SW of the city, seeing a few of the 'usual' things. I often can't stop at this location, as there is only enough room for two vehicles, and there is usually one car there, at least. I was happy to find that the spot was empty yesterday - then, half a minute later, three guys on noisy motor bikes pulled up next to me! I really hope that B.C. (British Columbia, the province to our west) gets a heavy amount of rain very, very soon. The other day, about 145 wildfires were being reported in B.C., causing a lot of devastation and evacuations. Now we have a forest fire here in Alberta, near Banff. Each summer, we get a lot of wildfires, the worst being the one in Fort McMurray that started on 1 May 2016. The fire spread across approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history. My heart goes out to all those affected, especially by the ongoing B.C. fires.

Yesterday afternoon, 16 July 2017, I had no choice but to get out for a short drive. My place was like an oven from weeks of heat, and I just couldn't stand it for one more minute. I drove the back roads SW of the city that I so often drive when I only have time or energy for a short drive. Today is much cooler and now, after having a couple of windows open, my place smells strongly of smoke from the B.C. wildfires and the Banff area. I posted a photo showing how the smoke is affecting Albertans. Best to stay indoors if possible, so I guess I won't be going anywhere for at least the next few days. It makes scenic shots pretty much useless. Then, last night, we had a blackout in my part of the city. Apparently, the outage was due to a motor vehicle damaging ENMAX equipment. I guess that is why two or three firetrucks came rushing down my street around 11:30 pm last night, and ENMAX vehicles were working till almost 2:00 am just down my street, within sight. Hot and windy are not my favourite conditions, but the air-conditioning in my car felt wonderful! There didn't seem to be all that much to be seen, though I suspect that one Mountain Bluebird pair has a second family to feed now. I was so happy to see the male in his usual place and even more excited when I saw him with a tiny insect in his beak, meaning only one thing - new babies. Usually, there are no cattle to be seen in the field, but yesterday, I had a lot of curious faces watching me carefully. Other than this Bluebird pair, the only other bird I photographed was an American Robin. No Snipe could be heard and only a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds to be seen. So, I decided to drive to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, intending to just check the forest around the parking lot, to see if there were any fungi growing. There were four vehicles in the parking lot and I plucked up enough courage to go a short way into the park. This place always gives me the creeps and, usually, I only go a few feet into the actual park. Knowing that bears and cougars have been seen, it's never a good feeling to be there on my own. I've only ever seen a large Moose there on a couple of occasions. A few days ago, a friend told me that she had been told that someone who has an amazing forest for fungi had said that the fungi were at their peak right now. This seemed rather unlikely, as it is still only mid-July, plus the fact that everywhere is so dry. I just had to go to Brown-Lowery to check on the fungi there - absolutely nothing, other than three or four small, shapeless blobs on tree trunks. Hopefully, we will get rain in the next few weeks. Far more important, I hope that B.C. (British Columbia, the province to our west) gets a heavy amount of rain very, very soon, though there is none in their forecast. Maybe a week ago, about 200 wildfires were being reported, causing a lot of devastation and evacuations. Now we have a forest fire here in Alberta, near Banff. Each summer, we get a lot of wildfires, the worst being the one in Fort McMurray that started on 1 May 2016. The fire spread across approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It was the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history. My heart goes out to all those affected, especially by the ongoing B.C. fires.

"Helios. A solar-powered, interactive, kinetic sculptural installation consisting of eight large scale repurposed vintage mechanical horses running wild across the breathtaking prairie landscape at Leighton Art Centre. The horses were released (note: until yesterday, 13 November 2016) onto the 80 acre property in celebration of Alberta Culture Days." From Lisa Brawn's website. www.lisabrawn.com/ "In 2013 I purchased a herd of broken down coin-operated horses as the core components of a giant sculptural installation. These are the mechanical horses that stood outside Woodwards, Woolworths, Kresge’s, and so on, in Calgary and small towns in Southern Alberta from the 1950s through the 1980s. I believe these horses are a touchstone of that era, holding a place of local historical value in our collective cultural imagination, and that compelled me to reimagine and reactivate them in a contemporary context. I have been presenting the horses in different configurations and environments, and emphasizing distinct elements as the project unfolds. The first iteration consisted of dynamic mechanical multiples in the 150’ public art spectacle, Spacepony for Beakerhead, 2014. The horses emerged from a UFO and invaded Fort Calgary in a historical reenactment of questionable veracity. I then collaborated with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks on a multidisciplinary performance emphasizing movement, rhythm, and desire; Year of the Horse, at Theatre Junction Grand. For this production eight horses were further altered to battery power and remote activation, with heavy duty swivel casters and clear plexiglass base panels to reveal the mechanical workings. The current installation at Leighton Art Centre references the herds of free-roaming horses called "Wildies" in Alberta. This stage of transformation consisted of installing solar panels, application of silver leaf (to reflect the sky and surroundings), and changing the activation to motion sensors. The reflective surfaces have a confounding effect in this prairie landscape environment, making the extremely substantial installation somewhat illusory or ephemeral." www.lisabrawn.com/index.php/blog/item/helios This photo was taken four days ago, on 10 November 2016, when I decided on the spur of the moment to do a short drive SW of the city. I haven't been taking much in the way of photos the last couple of weeks and have been feeling less and less motivated to go out. However, on this particular day, I wanted to go to the Leighton Art Centre to see Lisa's artistic display. The last day for this exhibit was 13 November 2016, so I only just made it in time. By mistake, it took me much longer to get there than it should have done, despite following their map, and I arrived there five minutes after they closed. I asked if I could still wander part way down the hill to take a few photos. As the lady said, it was 'magic hour', with a wonderful sunset. At one point, the valley below and the distant mountains (zoomed in this photo) almost disappeared in an orange haze. It did, indeed, feel magical. This was not my first visit to the Centre, as I had been decades ago with my youngest daughter's Kindergarten class. In more recent years, I had been a couple of times with botany friends, to list all the plant species that we could find. Check out Lisa's Flickr stream to see the hundreds/thousands of beautiful painted woodcuts that she has created. www.flickr.com/photos/lisabrawn leightoncentre.org/

This photo was taken two days ago, on 10 November 2016, when I decided on the spur of the moment to do a short drive SW of the city. I haven't been taking much in the way of photos the last couple of weeks and have been feeling less and less motivated to go out. However, on this particular day, I wanted to go to the Leighton Art Centre. By mistake, it took me much longer to get there than it should have done, despite following their map, and I arrived there five minutes after they closed. I asked if I could still wander part way down the hill to take a few photos. As the lady said, it was 'magic hour', with a wonderful sunset. The valley below and the distant mountains (zoomed in this photo) almost disappeared in an orange haze. It did, indeed, feel magical. This wasn't my first visit, as I had been decades ago with my youngest daughter's Kindergarten class. In more recent years, I had been a couple of times with botany friends, to list all the plant species that we could find. leightoncentre.org/

This is a road that I often drive when I want to do just a short drive from home. Two days ago, I drove home from Kananaskis via this area, as I wanted to quickly check to see if there was a Great Gray Owl anywhere. It was late afternoon and the light was not the best and the distant view was hazy. The only time I had ever driven to Kananaskis (the mountain area closest to Calgary) was fairly recently, on 10 September 2016, when my daughter came with me. I wasn't too impressed with the photos I took on the first drive, especially of the little Pikas (Rock Rabbits) that we went to see, so I wanted to go and spend a bit more time with them. A drive like this is also helping me get a bit more used to my new car - before the roads are covered in snow and ice! Actually, there was a bit of snow on the ground in places close to the trees when I got to where I see these Pikas. I left home at 8:45 am, later than I had intended, and drove southwards via Millarville and the back way to Highway 40. When I Googled the distance via that route, it gave me 134 km, 1 hr 41 mins from home to the Highwood Pass. Needless to say, I kept stopping to take photos, so it took me longer than that. By the time I got back home around 5:00 pm, I had driven 299 km. This day was a Monday, so not too much traffic anywhere, which makes a huge difference. The weather cooperated very nicely. A little chilly to start with and a sky full of beautiful cloud formation early morning. This time, I only drove as far as the Pikas, just north of the Highwood Pass, especially as I wanted to make sure that I wasn't driving home in the dark. The Highwood Pass, at an elevation of 2,206 m (7,238 ft) is the highest paved pass in Canada. In past years, I have hiked the Ptarmigan Cirque, Pocaterra and Arethusa Cirque trails, but can no longer do hikes like these. The scenery is breathtaking in this whole area (indeed, for the whole drive), some mountain slopes covered in forest and other mountain faces displaying bald, breathtaking folds above the treeline. There was only one scary incident on this trip. I had stopped to take a few scenic shots when I was on the backroad to join Highway 40. I didn't close my car door completely and when I went to open it, I discovered it was locked! Pressing the fob to open all the doors did nothing. I just could not get into my vehicle. Thank goodness, I had read on the Internet that there is a key hidden away inside the fob - otherwise I would never have known and might still be standing there, lol! It kind of reminded me of an incident on our recent trip to Plateau Mt, when we stopped at an outhouse en route - and I could not unlock the door to get out. Thank goodness I was not on my own that day, so I was able to pound on the door and friend, Sandy, came over and unlocked the door from the outside!! Brought back memories of when my kids were little and one of them got locked inside an outhouse and, ever since then, I remember it every single time I have to use one. Feels so good to know that I am now comfortable enough to do this drive on my own, after so many years of wishing I had the courage to do it. Thank you, little Pikas, for being so adorably cute, that I was determined to drive back to see you : )

All three photos posted this morning were taken two days ago, on 6 August 2016. As you can probably guess from this scenic shot, it was a very dull morning with light drizzle and the forecast was for thunderstorms in the afternoon. This is a view from Rod Handfield's acreage, taken nearer the start of our mushroom foray. Shortly after this photo was taken, we entered the forest and spent the rest of the morning in there. I found the whole day physically and mentally exhausting, and I'm still feeling the effects two days later. It was a great day, too, thanks to friend, Sandy! She very kindly picked me up around 8:15 am and we drove SW of the city and SW of Millarville to Rod Handfield's acreage. For a number of years, this has been one of my favourite places to explore, as Rod's forest tends to be full of all sorts of beautiful finds. It is one of the two best places that I know for mushrooms, the other being Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. This year is turning out to be great for fungi, thanks to all the endless, torrential rain we have been getting the last few weeks, apart from the scattering of sunny days. This year has so far had such weird weather - a very mild, dry winter, a spring that was as dry and hot as a summer, and now a wet, thundery summer. We were expecting this year to not be good for mushrooms. We met a group of other interested people, most of whom we didn't know, and we searched the land for fungi. Right at the start, I was telling Sandy that on the last visit there, maybe four years ago, we had seen a beautiful Amanita muscaria mushroom growing just a few feet from the start of the walk. Sure enough, there were several growing in exactly the same spot, which was so exciting. Later in the walk, we saw two other patches of absolute beauties of this poisonous species. The rain was spitting during our walk, and the forest was so dark, but amazingly, some of my photos came out well enough. Thanks so much, Karel, for organizing and leading this trip and for sharing your knowledge with us! Sandy and I left the group around lunchtime, to go looking at vehicles at one of the dealerships. In the last year and a half, I have had to put far too much money into repairs for my poor old 17+ year old car and finally, I knew that I had no choice but to replace it. The muffler and a few other things died several days ago and instead of spending a fortune on repair, I decided I would rather put that money towards a new vehicle. I had been thinking about replacing it the last few years, but now, enough is enough! Just hoping that my car lasts long enough for the drive to the dealership. The noise it makes is just awful, from the faulty muffler and from a dreadful rattling noise, so it will be a most embarrassing ride, lol. I'm down to deciding between two models and it is not an easy choice. However, after doing hours of research again yesterday, into the early hours of this morning, I'm not so sure I am going to be able to get the car that I think would suit me. It has proven to be such a popular car and very few are available. The only ones that the dealership has are not safe colours to drive and not colours that I would buy and they also don't have the particular features that I want. So, now, I am more confused than ever and have no idea what I am going to do - and I have an appointment with the salesman in a few hours' time! I might even have to get my old car repaired (almost $5,000) after all and then wait months to get hold of the car I want/need.

The first words in an article from 3 October 2014, in The Western Producer, are as follows: "High in southern Alberta’s Porcupine Hills, where west winds wrestle the golden leaves of water birch and tickle the limber pines, water trickles from hidden springs into troughs at the Timber Ridge Conservation Site. That’s where the bears bathe." Well, we found out yesterday, 3 August 2015, that the bathing bears was so very true, even if the bathing /swimming was not in the usual place, lol! We had seen no sign of large wildlife all day, so the sighting of a Black Bear at the end of the day was a real treat. This 640 acre site is located approximately 20 km southwest of Nanton. Other wildlife that can be seen include "moose, elk, white-tailed and mule deer, grizzly and black bear, cougar, grouse and a variety of small mammals and songbirds." I had never been to the Porcupine Hills, but had read and heard about this area for a number of years. Lying south of Calgary and roughly SW of Nanton, it is an area of beautiful, rolling hills. This is where Glen and Kelly Hall "have a co-tenancy agreement with the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), the first one ever established between that organization and private landholders. They own 68 percent of the site and the ACA owns the balance." "“We have a ranching operation right smack in the middle of a pretty important watershed. Our cows are our tools in order to look after the grass, which looks after the land, which looks after the watershed.” The drive from Calgary took maybe an hour and a half (?), with rain falling on the way there, and we were greeted with a warm welcome at the lowest level. They suggested we make our way straight up to the highest point and then to take our time coming back down. The first part of that journey was travelling in something new and fun to all of us - in a horse trailer! How DO horses make such a mess over every inch, lol?! After that, we climbed higher and higher, sometimes with the aid of an amazing little vehicle - a Kubota. I was in awe at how this tough little machine was able to travel over the roughest of land - rocks, ruts, uphill, downhill. We had some of the curious cattle follow us in places -several different breeds, and all looking beautiful and so healthy. The rain stopped by the time we first arrived, but the mountains were hidden in haze (from the weather and possibly from forest fires). Far from ideal conditions for taking scenic shots of the surrounding hills and valleys, unfortunately. Wonderful views in every direction. By the afternoon, the temperature had risen to 31°C (about 88°F)! Glen and Kelly, a delightful, enthusiastic couple, plan to conserve the site, but they don’t plan to keep it to themselves. “Ultimately, one day, we want yellow school buses at the gates and we want kids here in numbers and we want them to learn where their water is, where the food is created,” said Kelly. “We want them to learn about the trees and the grass because we have a lot of native species on this land that haven’t been interfered with.” Thank you so much, both of you, for making this day so enjoyable and a great learning experience. We have a great deal of respect for what you are doing and how you are doing it. With all the exciting plans that you have for this amazing area, we know you will do well. Thank you for letting us do a bio-inventory of the living things on the 640 acre Timber Ridge Conservation Site! There is just so much I could write about this special place, but will add several links below for further information in case anyone is interested to learn more. www.producer.com/2014/10/landowners-eager-to-share-piece-... www.albertaefp.com/news/96-ranchers-passion-drives-a-thou... www.albertadiscoverguide.com/site.cfm?grid=F3&number=36 www.westernranchlands.ca/company-overview/advisory-board/... guddling.tumblr.com/post/61370115303/we-were-given-a-tour... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch this afternoon, 4 August 2015: "Conditions are favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms that may be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and damaging hail. A upper level system moving into southern Alberta has the potential to initiate severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening."

On our recent week's trip down to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, we pulled off at a viewpoint and, as the time for the sun to set was approaching, we decided to stay there and witness sunset over the Grand Teton Range. While we were there, we noticed an Elk stag down in the valley in the far, far distance. There was also a photographer hiding in the bushes quite near to him. It was rather disturbing to see how stressed the stag was, taking a few steps in one direction, then turning around and looking back at the photographer, then pacing in the opposite direction, repeating continuously. Not sure that any photo is worth putting wildlife through that kind of stress. Calgary: "It's the dreaded "S" word for many Canadians, but parts of Alberta could be seeing SNOW this week. "A low pressure system that brought snow to the Yukon on Monday will continue to sink south into Alberta," says Brian Dillon, a meteorologist at The Weather Network. "Areas along the foothills will pick up around five centimetres of wet snow through Tuesday and by Wednesday, places like Calgary and Lethbridge may also see some scattered flurries mix in." As the low pressure system tracks over the Rockies, temperatures are set to dip as well. Most places continued to feel the summer-like conditions on Monday, but as the cold front slides through, temperatures across the Prairies will drop to the low single digits." While it may seem too early to see flurries in the forecast, Alberta is no stranger to fall snow storms. On average, Calgary usually sees around five centimetres of snow in September. The city typically picks up close to 10 cm in October as well." From The Weather Netowrk.