Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014July10

I think this particular spot that we stopped at briefly during a mini bus tour of Dinosaur Provincial Park, was my favourite. The eroded hillsides in this spot were a lighter grey than in some other parts. Love the patterns made by rain water. I'm using the description I added to a few previous photos from this trip, to lessen the amount I use my painful shoulders, so just skip if you happen to have read it before. On 22 June 2014, I was up at 4:00 a.m., to get ready for a long day trip east of Calgary, to Dinosaur Provincial Park. I had only ever once been there before, that I can remember, and it must have been 30+ years ago, so yesterday's bus trip was an absolute treat. 46 people went on this annual outing and when we arrived, we split into two groups. One half went on a mini bus tour in the morning to an area of the park that is kept closed to people in order to protect the landscape. The other half took this tour in the afternoon. The rest of the day, we could go on a walk along one of the trails in the park that are open to the public. I was in the group that walked in the morning. We went on the Cottonwoods Trail, that eventually led to the river - a long walk that was much further than I expected! We saw very few birds, the main one being a Yellow Warbler that had its beak full of soft, white "seed fluff" from a Cottonwood tree. When we were almost back at the starting point, a Nighthawk was spotted lying on a very high branch. Well done, Shirley, for spotting this bird that was very difficult to see! A real thrill for me, as I had always wanted to see a perched Nighthawk! I saw three of them flying over the Bow River and over our heads in Bow Valley Provincial Park just a few years ago, but no chance for a photo. Our mini bus tour in one of the Park's buses in the afternoon took us to some spectacular scenery. This photo, taken at one of the stops we made, is an example of the fascinating eroded hills that we saw. As you can see, we had great weather, which was very lucky, as we had had rain for quite a few days before. When wet, the Bentonite clay becomes treacherously slippery, so we did not have to experience that, though in a few places we could feel our feet slipping. I got back home around 6:30 p.m., barely able to move an inch, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks so much, Lynne, for organizing such an enjoyable trip to this fascinating area! A lot of work goes into organizing an event like this and it was much appreciated! Thanks, too, to friends Val and Wendy who took turns to sit by me for the long 2 1/2 hour journey out there and back! Great to catch up with both of you! Video (4.25 minutes in length) about Dinosaur Provincial Park, by Alberta Parks: youtu.be/lww6Y4hlQR4 "Dinosaur Provincial Park is world famous for its dinosaur fossil finds. So much so that UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1979. A mind-boggling number of species have been found here - 40 and counting - but what really puts it over the top is that the bonebeds have yielded more than 300 specimens, which grace museums around the world. The park has also been designated a Natural Preserve to protect the extensive fossil fields and the valley’s fragile environment, an complicated mix of badlands and cottonwood river habitat." travelalberta.com/Places%20to%20Go/Parks/Dinosaur%20Provi... An interesting, and worrying, article about Cochrane, just NW of Calgary. Received it via e-mail this morning, through the David Suzuki Foundation. brokenground.ca/?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRolua7LZKXonjHpfsX5...

I was out all evening on Monday, 7 July 2014, on Don Stiles' annual Bluebird Route trip. Don has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years, so has great experience with Bluebirds - also with Tree Swallows and an occasional Wren that also use the wooden nest boxes! His route is along some of the backroads SW of the city. This time, we didn't see any baby Bluebirds, as all the young ones had already fledged and none of the pairs had a second clutch. We did see nest boxes with tiny Tree Swallow eggs in the nest, and also several nest boxes that had baby Tree Swallows in, around 12 days old. One box had 12 babies in - obviously belonging to two adult females! Can't imagine how they will all cope inside the box when they get bigger. Nice to see a very distant Baltimore Oriole - my first for this year - and various other birds, too. Near the beginning of the trip, this Swainson's Hawk flew and landed at the top of a tree, way down the road from us, but still within camera reach. Another great evening, Don - thanks so much for taking a few of us out with you! "Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, or even run after insects on the ground. In fall, they take off for Argentine wintering grounds—one of the longest migrations of any American raptor—forming flocks of hundreds or thousands as they travel." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/swainsons_hawk/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson's_hawk According to the weather forecast, it looks like we are in for more very hot weather - love the sunshine, but can't cope with the high temperatures.