Finally spring arrives in Edmonton

[Ann McRae]

I know becuase the mosquitos are back! Ugh!
Some of my favorite shots from the past week, comments certainly welcome:
http://canadian-ann.smugmug.com/photos/22607470-M.jpg

http://canadian-ann.smugmug.com/photos/22607473-M.jpg

There was a pond at the soccer field the other night:
http://canadian-ann.smugmug.com/photos/22607481-M.jpg

http://canadian-ann.smugmug.com/photos/22607482-M.jpg

and I got to be outside with my baby pileated!
http://canadian-ann.smugmug.com/photos/22607489-M.jpg


ann

[jerrydoughnut]

Very cool pix. That woodpecker is awesome.:thumb

[MuskyDude]

:clap :clap for spring and these shots Ann!!!! Love the sharpness and color contrasts of the woody.:thumb


AJ

[Ann McRae]

Thank you.
ann

Very cool pix. That woodpecker is awesome.:thumb

[Ann McRae]

Yay, spring! Boo mosquitos and dandelions!
Officially able to plant the garden now! We are told to wait for the May long to avoid frost, and here we are.

I am going to try to find the woddpeckers nest this weekend....wonder how high off the ground they nest?
Thanks AJ
ann
:clap :clap for spring and these shots Ann!!!! Love the sharpness and color contrasts of the woody.:thumb


AJ

[Harryb]

Excellent series Ann. Outstanding capture of the woodpecker. I wish i could get that close to them. :thumb

[Ann McRae]

Thanks, Harry. I am in total awe - the big male and this little female make daily appearances - they both go for that suet!
I also have a flock of brown headed cow birds in my platform feeder. They are still skiddish and fly away when I approach the window, but I hope to be outside quiety sipping a cool one with camera in hand one day, and get them. They are like '4 and 20 blackbirds'.
ann
Excellent series Ann. Outstanding capture of the woodpecker. I wish i could get that close to them. :thumb

[ginger_55]

Fantastic, Ann. I told my daughter re your backyard photos and wonderful attitude of gratitude, so different from anything they have known from me, their mother.

She wanted to know where you live.............

could you describe a bit. She was really impressed.

I will send her this link.

I know edmonton, but i DON't know edmonton, make sense?

great set, best I have seen yet. Probably the sprung spring as recorded, etc.

ginger

[Ann McRae]

Oh, boy, ginger...

Well, I often think of Edmonton as h*ll on earth. But it is not, really. It's just that it is winter here for more than half the year, and I hate winter! Edmonton is fairly far north, 53 degrees north to be exact. The city is in the midst of a huge economic boom because as the true 'north' develops, we will be the center for all services. We are at 1 million people, approximately. We have, on average, 100 frost free days a year - late May til late August. To the west of us is muskeg/forest and to the east of us is aspen parkland/prairie. We have a magnificent river that runs through the middle of our city and boasts as one of the largest continuous parklands in North America. Of course we have the mall.
The city web site is:
http://www.edmonton.ca

I live on a 1 acre property with in the city limits that we bought about 3 years ago. We paid, at that time, only land value because the house was is awful shape. We renovated (well, still are renovating) the house, and have a lovely lot full of mature trees that we will fill with flower beds over time. We are less than a mile from the river, and have a creek bed running behind our property. It is a major traffic way for wildlife travelling to the river, so we have a wonderful variety of visiters to our yard, ranging from deer and coyotes to a huge variety of birds. For 12 years before we lived here, we lived less than 5 miles away in suburbia. I am a biologist, and honestly had no idea the variety of bird species 'on my doorstep' as it were. To me, this is heaven on earth, and I value their visits and will be planning my gardens to attract more of them.

Have I described it well enough?

ann