August 2015

This was my first attempt at a monthly photo scavenger hunt, and I failed miserably. Oops! So I've decided to combine some old photos with the few that I did manage to take this month.

Walk

The view of the city on a walk through Nose Hill Park.

Horizontal
The horizontal markings on a Red River Hoglet.

Square

Square/rectangle viewing windows at a nature reserve.

Diversity
Black and white alpacas.

Rough
The rough dry skin of a toad hiding away in an old plant pot.

Bow
A view of the Bow River from the Peace Bridge.

Joy
Nothing makes me happier than how colourful nature can be.

Forgotten
A sinking boat in Ouseburn, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Crowd
A herd of Jacob sheep.

Colourless
Definitely not taken this month, although we did have a bit of snow/sleet one day this month in Calgary, eeek.

Friendly
A friendly lemur at a wildlife park. It was quite happy just to sit and people watch.

Whatever you want
A shot of the river water on a hot, sunny day.

If you want to join in as well, check out Made With Love for September's list.

Back in England I never really paid that much attention to birds, other than when a woodpecker would occasionally visit the garden.

But ever since seeing a hummingbird on the farm in Ontario, birds have started to pique my interest.

Living in a city, I don't get to see much variation, but these are the three I've managed to snap from my balcony this week.

Pigeons

Pigeons are possibly one of, if not, the most underrated birds. Let's face it, nobody likes walking through town and having a pigeon with gammy feet flying at their face.

However, pigeons are considered to be a very intelligent bird, and are one of the few species that have been found to pass the Mirror Test - a test of self-recognition. They can also be trained to recognise different letters of the alphabet, and distinguish between photos presented to them.

Pigeons mate for life and tend to rebuild their nests in close proximity to their old ones, resulting in a lot of pigeon droppings and being labelled as pests in modern society. But pigeon poo was once thought of as the best kind of fertiliser, and an important ingredient of gunpowder.

Swainson's Hawk

After a bit of research, I'm fairly sure this is a female Swainson's Hawk. The Government of Alberta has given the Swainson's Hawk the classification of 'sensitive' on the Wild Species at Risk Status, due to the use of pesticides on their wintering grounds in Argentina.

They usually feed on ground squirrels, mice and occasionally small birds.

Black-capped Chickadee

At last, a visitor to my bird feeder!

I heard a few chirps outside and went to investigate, thankfully he stayed long enough for me to get a few photos as they usually just grab a few seeds to take away and hide in a number of different locations, in order to eat them later.

Apparently, in the autumn Chickadees are able to let their old neurons die and replace them with new ones, wiping out old memories and creating a new storage space. This helps them remember changes within their flock and environment, as well as locations where they've hidden food.

The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary has just reopened after being closed for a couple of years due to flooding in 2013. Hopefully I can get over there soon and add some more birds added to my memory card.

The worst thing about adjusting to city life is swapping your garden for a balcony. At the moment, our balcony is super depressing. We have two camping chairs, a bike, a mini rose bush, and a bird feeder than no birds have ever shown the slightest bit of interest in.
I'd love a balcony full of flowers and plants.

July was the time for something which I'd been looking forward to since deciding on staying in Alberta, The Calgary Stampede.

The Stampede began in 1912 when Guy Weadick came to Calgary with a 6-day event involving roping, bronc riding and a celebration of the Old West. He'd envisioned a world class annual rodeo event, but these hopes were dashed due to an economic depression and the start of the First World War. In 1919, Weadick was invited back to Calgary to organise the Victory Stampede, which celebrated the end of the war. Finally in 1923, the Stampede merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition and became an annual event, now lasting 10 days.

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