annkelliott's photostream  

Photographed at the Calgary Zoo on 11th September 2011. The enormous flower of the Sacred Lotus is so beautiful.

"The lotus was of great significance to many ancient cultures, and in particular to the Eastern religions. From ancestral times, the lotus regularly appears as a symbol of purity, peace, transcendence, enlightenment, rebirth, beauty, and fertility. In India, the lotus flower is considered to be of divine origin and is viewed as sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. Buddha was said to sleep on a lotus six months of the year, and Shambala (Buddhist heaven) is sometimes represented as a field of flowering sacred lotuses." Taken from the first link below.

www.holisticaroma.co.uk/shp/TheSacredLotus.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera

Horribly blurry, but thought I'd post it anyway, as not everyone gets the chance to witness a tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl coughing up an enormous pellet! Not sure if the owl's movement caused the blurriness - or maybe it was because I was so excited that this was happening, that I didn't keep the camera steady : ) Photographed at Carburn Park on January 26th.

Size: Length 17 to 21.9cm (6.7-8.6") Wingspan 45.9 to 56.3cm (18.1-22.2").
Weight 75-110g (2.6-3.9oz) - Females are slightly larger than males.

"A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth. In falconry, the pellet is called a casting.

The passing of pellets allows a bird to remove indigestible material from its proventriculus, or glandular stomach. In birds of prey, the regurgitation of pellets serves the bird's health in another way, by "scouring" parts of the digestive tract, including the gullet. Pellets are formed within six to ten hours of a meal in the bird's gizzard (muscular stomach)."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_(ornithology)

Sorry to post two blurry photos in a row! I wonder if it's something I am doing wrong when I scan, or maybe old photos do tend to be blurry when scanned. Anyway, this is me when just a few months old, being held by my mother.

Looking into the sun, along the ice at the edge of the Bow River at Carburn Park. Taken on January 28th.

A juvenile House Sparrow seen at the Calgary Zoo on 30th September 2011. The autumn leaf colours in the background gave me a different kind of photo from most of my House Sparrow photos.