Farm Implements, a Sculpture

A sculpture on Princes Island.

Snowy Calgary

It has been snowing in Calgary and when it gets to a certain temperature we just don't feel much like getting out.  Last week we were up to 50 deg F, now we are down to -2 deg F.  Even this statue in downtown Calgary looks cold.

Islands in the Clouds

Flying back up the coast from Seattle to Vancouver and then across to Calgary today I was struck by the way the mountains protruded through the clouds.  They looked like islands with fog rolling in.

You Tube Symphony Orchestra

It is too cold to go out and take photographs so here is one I took back in the summer of 2009.  I understand it was published today alongside an article in the Houston Chronicle which you can read here.

Of course the real story isn't my photograph, it is that David made the You Tube Symphony Orchestra and will get a free trip to Australia to play in the Sydney Opera House.  There are 97 members in the orchestra and 4 soloists from 30 countries around the world - pretty tough competition. To get into the orchestra each applicant posted an audition to You Tube which was then judged - you can see David's audition here.  And one more link - here is David's write-up with the San Antonio Symphony (I took that photo too).

Year of the Rabbit ( 兔 )

It is cold outside.  It was down to about -20 deg. C over the weekend.  Anything lower than -15 C is cold in my book.  Especially if it is windy, and last weekend was windy.  Anyway, that is why there were no nature pictures last week.

So what about the picture above?  It is a gift from my good friend Hatta-san in Japan to Megan.  Each year he sends me a small display representing the animal for the Chinese lunar year and each year I give it to Megan.  Clearly this is the year of the rabbit.  Thank you Hatta-san!

Cold Duck

It wasn't that cold today, in fact it was above freezing, but you couldn't tell that from this mallard drake and hen hanging out by the lagoon on Princes Island.

Vermillion Lakes (again)

Vermillion Lakes is mostly frozen except where the springs are.  There were kite skaters out on the lake today.

Back to the Mountains

There was a group of about 10 elk bulls today in the meadow below Cascade Mountain near the road to Two Jack Lake enjoying the sun.  If you look closely you can see them lazing around just in front of the trees below.

The top photo was taken with a 400mm lens and the bottom one with a 24mm lens from roughly the same location.

Brrrr...

It is snowy and a bit colder than Barcelona or Houston in Calgary.  This was the approach to Calgary airport.