HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY today, 10 February 2024, Flickr!!! I joined Flickr in November 2005, posted my first photo in August 2006, and have enjoyed all that time with the Flickr site and community. Wishing you many more years! Thank you for everything you have done.
Our recent weather, with Fog Alerts and a Freezing Drizzle Alert, plus some snow and a few more days of snow in the forecast, has been miserable. So, instead of adding further recent winter photos, I am again diving into my archives for a bit of colour. If I wrote a description under any previously-posted photos that were taken on the same days as these 'new' photos posted this morning, I will add it under today's uploads.
"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. If one travels on Highway 2, Nanton is a 46-minute drive from the southern edge of Calgary, about 72 kms.
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, and 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."
