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Venus-Moon conjunction in the evening sky

Last Tuesday, April 17th, Venus shone brightly as dusk fell.  It joined a beautiful crescent moon in the northwestern sky.  Stars began to pop out while the night took hold.  I had been out walking my hound and thought the silhouettes of the line of trees above the Elbow River near my home would help frame the conjunction nicely.  When I got back to the house, I quickly gathered my gear and went out to the river – I’m glad I did.

As the moon dropped, I kept moving west, upriver, the descending tree line allowing me to keep the Moon in sight.  Some gauzy clouds came in low and afforded some interesting, hazy halos around the Moon.

Eventually the Moon slipped behind the trees and quickly disappeared leaving Venus glowing in a sky filling up with stars.

Before I packed up, I took one last long exposure facing west where the river winds past Bragg Creek and on to the front range of the mountains in Kananaskis Country.

Posted by  |  April 21, 2018 | Categories: Landscapes, Moon, Night Photography | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Spring flight – a great gray owl in the evening

I saw this owl perched in the middle of a field of bushes at first.  The sun was getting low so I felt lucky to have found her before it became too dark to photograph.

She flew low over the foliage and dropped into them for a moment – disappearing from view.  A blur of motion behind a line of still wintering trees caught my eye and I followed her as she landed on a branch halfway up the last of these trees.

A few minutes later, she flew across the field once again and disappeared into the forest.

All the while, her mate had been perched at the top of an evergreen in the middle of the bushes and I turned my attention to him for a little while.  The light failed quickly and I headed home leaving the lone owl at his viewing tower.

Posted by  |  April 15, 2018 | Categories: Birds, Nature, Owls, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An evening with an old friend

It has been a few months, since the beginning of winter, since I last had a visit with a great gray owl.  On Sunday night, a warm evening near Kananaskis, I found a pair!  Here is one as the light was failing and shortly before I left them to their hunting.  More to come soon.

Posted by  |  April 12, 2018 | Categories: Owls, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments

Snowshoeing on the Elbow River

Last weekend there was a break in the storms where blue sky appeared for an hour or two in the afternoon.  It was cold but the sunshine was inviting so I strapped on snowshoes and headed outside.  The Elbow River is still largely frozen over so a walk along the plain at the north end of Redwood Meadows seemed a good call.  The clouds left with snow trailing just behind their departure.

I ended up playing around more than covering any real distance.  The slope from the berm to the river was a fun distraction as I jumped down into the snow and clambered up again a few times.

I ended with a short trek onto the plain and then back along the forest.  A few photographs of some wintering berries close to the berm coincided with the clouds closing in again.  The snow began to fly and I made my way home.

 

Posted by  |  April 8, 2018 | Categories: Bragg Creek, Landscapes, Outdoors, People | Tags: , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An Easter morning yarn

Again this year the Easter bunny made a web of sweater yarn across our main floor.  The kids each had their own string to follow to find their baskets.  Each ball was 200 meters long so it took them a fair while to track down the other end and their rewards.  The morning was interrupted with a bit of April Fools’ trickery (see the writing on Kezia’s face courtesy of her brother before she woke up!).  A lot of fun which was carried on when the grandparents came to join us for brunch.  A very good day in the middle of the long weekend.

Posted by  |  April 1, 2018 | Categories: Nature | Tags: | 2 Comments

Gulls in motion under the city lights

Last week one of the snowstorms that came through Calgary picked up intensity after dark.  I was staying downtown near the Bow River and watched as the increasing snowfall was illuminated by the city lights above one of the bridges crossing the water.  A silhouette sped in front of a light at one moment and then a dozen more did the same the next.

A colony of gulls threw waves of their silhouettes into the storm circling low over the water and then above the lights for several minutes before they appeared to settle down.

I don’t know if it was the weather, disturbance by a someone or something or members returning to congregate for the night but they were excited for a short while.  I loved the grainy sky created by the snow and the shape of these dark blurs as they flew into and out of the light.

Posted by  |  March 31, 2018 | Categories: Abstract, Birds, Calgary, Night Photography, Weather | Tags: , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A snowy morning downtown

It was a surprise, to me at least, that a snowstorm blew across Calgary this morning.  I thought that weather wasn’t coming until Friday.  I took a few photographs near City Hall as the snow fell.  It cleared off quickly but provided a wintry reminder that spring has not taken hold quite yet.

Snowstorm in downtown Calgary- © Christopher Martin-5262

Posted by  |  March 29, 2018 | Categories: Calgary, Weather, Winter | Tags: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Gulls in flight at Carburn Park

I like photographing birds – no surprise to those who follow this blog.  I’m not a birder with a long list of life birds but I really enjoy watching almost every bird I see, particularly when they are in motion.  Several days ago at Carburn Park the sky was overcast, snow fell and wind out of the north had a bit of a bite to it.  A great day to watch and photograph along the Bow River.

At one bend there was a small colony of California gulls.  A few flew off in the time I watched them.  Although these gulls are common around Calgary’s rivers through the winter, and can be easily found at any time, I had fun watching these ones fly by.

 

Posted by  |  March 26, 2018 | Categories: Birds, Calgary, Nature, Wildlife, Winter | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Kezia’s dance season begins…

Kezia had a blast at her first dance competition of the year this weekend in Jasper.  She was invited to this competition’s nationals in July for four of her dances and had an absolute blast performing, hanging out with her teammates and swimming in the heated outdoor pool!  I’m excited to see her soon but wanted to share my admiration for her dedication, attitude and enjoying every minute of it.

These two photographs are from her musical theatre solo performance, “Sayonara” that she performed at the Springbank Dancers Competitors Spring Showcase on March 11th.  You will continue to open this world up my little, not so little, sweet.

 

Posted by  |  March 25, 2018 | Categories: Events, People | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

Vermilion Lakes – Winter Dawn

Posted by  |  March 24, 2018 | Categories: Banff National Park, Landscapes, Nature | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Welcome to the first day of spring

My children reminded me last night that today is the vernal equinox which marks the first day of spring.  It has been a severe winter here in southern Alberta so it is a little hard to believe spring could be arriving soon.  Last Sunday I was photographing at Carburn Park – one of Calgary’s beautiful parks along the Bow River – photographing ducks, geese and gulls along the water.

Snow fell through the day, wind blew in from the north and clouds slid low over the city.  I enjoyed the inclement weather for its photographic potential but I had no thoughts of spring as I went along for a few hours.

When I spied an American robin among the rocky shoreline, I have to admit I was surprised.  It looked and felt like winter – particularly on this day – but robins are wonderful harbingers of spring and I happily welcomed their presence as a sign of that change.  I dropped down to the ground and soon found that robin and seven others flitting about the rocks.  They know more than I do about season change or else they wouldn’t be here.  I hope you enjoy a beautiful spring!

Posted by  |  March 20, 2018 | Categories: Birds, Calgary | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Chickadees in late afternoon sunshine

Through the winter, there are chickadees that hang out in my backyard.  On Sunday afternoon, I found a few of them pecking seeds out of the fresh snow below the feeder.

I took a few minutes to photograph them when the sun had dropped low enough to backlight them and the speckles of snow their pecking threw into the air.

A boreal chickadee came at the last and flitted about for a few seconds before flying off in a spray of glistening snow.

Posted by  |  March 6, 2018 | Categories: Birds, Wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

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