Having problems uploading my photos to Flickr this morning! A few days ago, I posted a photo of this gorgeous Globe Artichoke, in landscape format. I found it so hard to decide what shape to post it in, as cropping to a square would have meant cutting off a lot of the glorious bokeh background. So, today, I'm posting another shot taken the same day, but making it square, for a closer look. Also took a number of photos with the grass behind it, creating a plain green background. However, a plain background really looks very boring compared to this colourful richness.

Tags:   Calgary Alberta Canada Calgary Zoo nature garden flora flower flowers Thistle Globe Artichoke Artichoke Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus Asteraceae Cynareae Cynara edible bud triangular scales involucral bracts introduced bokeh colourful macro close-up beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ200 DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot P1030253 FZ200 annkelliott beautiful_expression #GreatNature

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Enough wind to ruffle the pretty feathers of this male American Kestrel. Seen at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre, near Lethbridge, southern Alberta. I only ever see these birds perched at a great distance in the wild, so I enjoyed seeing them up close on this visit, to see what they really look like. Very attractive, small birds of prey.

Tags:   Alberta Canada Coaldale Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre near Lethbridge nature ornithology avian bird birds fauna captive rehabilitation male feathers details one bird no people image digital square square format portrait close-up perched perching Panasonic DMC-FZ28 FZ28 Lumix P1070477 FZ28 annkelliott falcon bird of prey Birdshare beautiful_expression NaturesFinest SuperShot SpecAnimal Excellence AvianExcellence American Kestrel

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Yesterday, 11 July 2015, I had a wonderful day out with friend Sandy, driving westwards from Calgary and eventually reaching the next province, British Columbia (B.C.). Sandy had two destinations in mind - a stop at the Spiral Tunnels and then to explore the forest around Emerald Lake. I had only been to B.C. a handful of times in 37 years, so this was an absolute treat.

"The lake is enclosed by mountains of the President Range, as well as Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain. This basin traps storms, causing frequent rain in summer and heavy snowfalls in winter. This influx of moisture works with the lake's low elevation to produce a unique selection of flora. Trees found here are more typical of B.C.'s wet interior forests, such as western red cedar, western yew, western hemlock and western white pine. The alluvial fan on the northeast shore produces wildflowers in abundance during late June and early July.

Due to its high altitude, the lake is frozen from November until June. The vivid turquoise color of the water, caused by powdered limestone, is most spectacular in July as the snow melts from the surrounding mountains.

The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers: "For a few moments I sat [on] my horse and enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene." It was Wilson who gave the lake its name because of its remarkable colour, caused by fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water. However, this was not the first time Wilson had dubbed a lake 'Emerald'. Earlier that same year he had discovered another lake which he had given the same moniker, and the name even appeared briefly on the official map. This first lake however, was shortly renamed Lake Louise." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Lake_(British_Columbia)

Our trip started just after 7:00 am, to get a good, early start, especially before the temperature soared. The drive from Calgary to Emerald Lake takes about 2 and a half hours and is a 218.5 km drive via Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W. We took a quieter route home at the end of the day. Rain arrived just in time for this drive home and, by the time I got back to my car in Calgary, the rain was really heavy and a few of the roads were beginning to flood very quickly. It was raining again this morning. I was kind of hoping for a few rainy days, as I suddenly have a build-up of quite a few very major, very urgent things to deal with and I didn't want to be tempted to go out with my camera.

Shortly after we began our walk though the forest along the right hand side of the lake, we heard a commotion coming from the water. When we found a place to see through the trees, we could see two beautiful Common Loons and a female duck with several babies, possibly Common Mergansers. My guess would be that the Merganser mother kept chasing away the Loons, creating a lot of splashing. This distant photo of one of the Loons was taken a bit later - just managed a quick shot when it spread its beautiful wings. This photo also shows why this lake is named Emerald Lake : )

Also, at the beginning and the end of our "hike", we watched a family of Violet-green Swallows that were nesting. Not sure how many young ones there were, but I saw three. Though we do get these birds in Calgary, I've never seen one properly - just when a mass of Swallows swarms over the Bow River and someone calls out "Violet-green!" Though the adult in my next photo is very blurry, it does at least show the beautiful green colour on the back. The adults flew to feed their babies at top speed and barely stayed a second at the nest hole. I was just thrilled to see one of these birds - thanks, Sandy, for your patience, allowing me to try and get a few photos! Thanks, too, for such a great day, as usual!

Tags:   British Columbia B.C. Canada Yoho National Park Emerald Lake nature water lake emerald ornithology avian bird Loon Common Loon wings spread back view reflections pattern beautiful summer 11 July 2015 outdoor FZ200 FZ200#3 annkelliott Explore interestingness#335 explore2015July11 Anne Elliott

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It looks like the sun is shining early this morning, but here's a splash of "sunshine" for those of you who are having an overcast or rainy day today. Taken at the Calgary Zoo on 26 August 2010.

Flickr has still not fixed the problem of Contacts' photos not showing up on the My Contacts page. This is the second day in a row now, so hopefully it will be fixed - and soon! Later: I'm not sure if things have improved or not, but I do appreciate your visits today. Today, though, the total number of views on today's three photos plummeted to 5,400. On average, there are roughly between 15,000 and 25,000 total views in a day, so there has been a drastic drop in total views, not just for myself but others (who have reported in the Help Forum). Ha, I don't think I've had that few views for one day in years!! Hope Flickr can explain the reason for all this. I'm always thankful for every single view, so I'm not complaining at the number. I'm just "complaining" that something is broken on Flickr and needs fixing.

Just found out that today, you can no longer edit tags, description title, etc. by clicking on the three dots. You can only edit the dates. I never edit the dates, but edit the tags every single day, so this is not a good change.

Tags:   Calgary Alberta Canada Calgary Zoo nature flora garden flower flowers yellow sunlight macro close-up bokeh Explore interestingness# explore2014April11 annkelliott Anne Elliott

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I was so thrilled to see this rare fungus (Hydnellum peckii) again, when friend Sandy and I went along the Icefields Parkway to Peyto Lake (and a little further, to Mistaya Canyon), on 29 August 2013. I had seen it maybe three or so times before, but it is such a treat to see. So unusual and beautiful. There were several of these all together along the trail to the lake lookout - and nearby was a blue species, complete with a few blueish-white droplets. While we were looking at them and I was taking photos, a young guy stopped to see what we were looking at. He, too, took photos. A short while later, we bumped into him at the Peyto Lake lookout and he showed us his hands and fingers that had turned orange. I wondered if he had actually touched the fungus. On our walk back through the forest to the parking lot, I stopped to take a few more photos of them, resting my hands on the ground. Sure enough, I ended up with orange hands, too. Would this be from spores? This specimen may have been something like an inch in length, and has "teeth", not gills underneath, which unfortunately you can't see.

"Hydnellum peckii is an inedible fungus, and a member of the genus Hydnellum of the family Bankeraceae. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010). Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.

The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge, although the shape can be highly variable. Young, moist fruit bodies can "bleed" a bright red juice that contains a pigment known to have anticoagulant properties similar to heparin. The unusual appearance of the young fruit bodies has earned the species several descriptive common names, including strawberries and cream, the bleeding Hydnellum, the bleeding tooth fungus, the red-juice tooth, and the Devil's tooth. Although Hydnellum peckii fruit bodies are readily identifiable when young, they become brown and nondescript when they age." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii

The following has been taken from the excellent UBC Botany Photo of the Day website (September 2013), which used this image:

"Hydnellum peckii, of the Bankeraceae, is a species of fungus that is widely distributed in North America. The aboveground growth is typically observed in the late summer or autumn, either growing in clusters or occurring singly. This species forms an ectomycorrhizal relationship with several different species of conifers.

The caps are often pinkish, but can be white to brown to black, as the colour and texture vary depending on age and the environmental conditions. In moist weather, bright red droplets often appear atop the cap, making this mushroom easy to identify. Characteristic to this genus, the spores are produced on pendant tooth-like projections called spines. The spores are brown, round to nearly round, and are prominently warted. The solid or woody stalk is cylindrical and is generally tapered toward the base (see: Arora, D. 1986. Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley California: Ten Speed Press).

This mushroom is considered inedible, at least partly due to its burning-acrid taste and tough corky texture."

www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2013/09/hydnellum-peckii.php

Tags:   Alberta Canada W of Calgary Rocky Mountains Banff National Park Highway 93 Icefields Parkway Peyto Lake trail to lookout nature forest mycology fungus fungi rare Strawberries and cream Bleeding Hydnellum Bleeding tooth fungus Red-juice tooth Devil's tooth Hydnellum peckii Explore interestingness#448 explore2013September02 UBC Botany Photo of the Day, 13 Sept.2013 Bankeraceae #GreatNature

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