Today, I'm taking a break from posting images taken in Waterton Lakes National Park, and instead adding three photos taken yesterday (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and W of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from the city). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs, some of which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour.
Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property - and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary SW of Millarville Darryl Teskey's property nature landscape scenery hills Foothills mountains forest grassland trees deciduous coniferous outdoor summer 23 July 2015 FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Anne Elliott tree conifer
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Today, I'm taking a break from posting images taken in Waterton Lakes National Park, and instead adding three photos taken yesterday (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and SW of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from the city). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour. Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property - and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!
"Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one species as far west as the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. These plants are classified in the broomrape family, Orobanchaceae (following major rearrangements of the order Lamiales starting around 2001; sources which do not follow these reclassifications may place them in the Scrophulariaceae). They are hemiparasitic on the roots of grasses and forbs. The generic name honors Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary SW of Millarville Darryl Teskey's property nature plant flower flora wildflower Paintbrush Indian Paintbrush Prairie-fire Castilleja Family: Orobanchaceae Genus: Castilleja coral coloured bracts flower is tiny, green native forest outdoor macro close-up bokeh summer 23 July 2015 FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Anne Elliott hemiparasitic Castilleja miniata
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Today, I'm taking a break from posting images taken in Waterton Lakes National Park, and instead adding three photos taken yesterday (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and SW of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from the city). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed several fungi, including this and two other Red-belted polypore / Fomitopsis pinicola (?) and their beautiful guttation droplets. Thanks so much, Karel, for calling me over to look at these. Made my day!
"Some fungi are prone to exhibiting a curious phenomenon—they exude beads of moisture, called guttation. In several polypores, such as Fomitopsis pinicola, the liquid produced can look so much like tears that you'd swear the fungus was weeping. Or maybe sweating. Other species produce pigmented drops that can look like milk, or tar, or even blood."
weirdandwonderfulwildmushrooms.blogspot.ca/2014/08/read-i...
"Guttation, a term used in botany to describe the process by which plants excrete excess water through drops from their leaves. For some mushrooms this is so common that it is a reliable identification feature."
www.fungimag.com/fall-2010-articles/mushroom-weepLR.pdf
Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary (including my community that was in its path) just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour. Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of all our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property - and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary SW of Millarville Darryl Teskey's property nature mycology fungus fungi polypore Red-belted Polypore Fomitopsis pinicola fallen log forest droplets guttation refraction water oozing excess water beauty in nature macro close-up summer 23 July 2015 FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Anne Elliott outdoor
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Today, I'm again leaving my Waterton images and instead adding three more photos taken two days ago (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and SW of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from the city). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. The Grouse are rufous-morph, I believe, and we startled them when we were walking through the forest in their direction. Usually, you don't see Grouse because they are so well-hidden. When you get fairly close (sometimes very close) to them, they suddenly "explode" from the tangle of shrubs and plants of the forest floor, making ones heart beat fast!
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour. Posting this photo just for the record - couldn't get a photogenic angle amongst all the grasses.
We were curious when we saw a small cluster of Striped Coralroot that had gone to seed. The plants in the background are the "normal" colour, but the two plants in front were purple, something that we hadn't seen before.
"Corallorhiza striata is a species of orchid known by the common names striped coralroot and hooded coralroot. This flowering plant is widespread across much of southern Canada, the northern and western United States, and Mexico. It lives in dry, decaying plant matter on the ground in pine and mixed coniferous forests, and it obtains its nutrients from fungi via mycoheterotrophy." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corallorhiza_striata
Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property, and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary SW of Millarville Darryl Teskey's property nature plant flower flora wildflower orchid Striped coralroot Corallorhiza striata Hooded coralroot seedpods obtains its nutrients from fungi mycoheterotrophy forest red purple outdoor summer 23 July 2015 FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Anne Elliott
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Today, I'm again leaving my Waterton images and instead adding three more photos taken two days ago (23 July 2015), closer to home. Five of us spent the day botanizing the land belonging to Darryl Teskey, SW of Calgary and W of Millarville (maybe a 40-minute drive from the city). This was the first time I had been there and I'm so glad I went - I would have missed all sorts of things, including a family of Ruffed Grouse and several fungi. The Grouse are rufous-morph, I believe, and we startled them when we were walking through the forest in their direction. Usually, you don't see Grouse because they are so well-hidden. When you get fairly close (sometimes very close) to them, they suddenly "explode" from the tangle of shrubs and plants of the forest floor, making ones heart beat fast!
The family has four beautiful dogs of various breeds (at least, we only saw four). They were all very friendly, including this huge bundle of love : )
Our walk took us over grassland and through forest, everywhere treacherous with so many fallen logs which were often barely visible. I have never, ever seen so many tiny Skipper butterflies - there must have been hundreds or even thousands of these bright orange beauties that were flying or perched on flowers of every colour.
Fortunately, the rain stayed away until we started driving back to Calgary. Quite a lot of black clouds, reminding me of the tornado that passed through Calgary just the day before (22 July 2015).
Our purpose, as always, was to find and list everything that we saw - wildflowers, trees, grasses, birds, insects, fungi, etc.. Our leader then compiles an extensive list of our finds and this is later sent to the landowner, along with any photos that we might take. Always a win/win situation, as the landowner then has a much better idea of just what is on his property, and we have a most enjoyable day. This summer, with so many botanizing outings like this, plus two 3-day trips to Waterton Lakes National Park, I am so behind with the photos that I need to edit and e-mail!
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary W of Millarville Darryl Teskey's property animal domesticated dog pet whitish large very friendly one of four dogs head shot close-up portrait outdoor summer 23 July 2015 FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Anne Elliott
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