Drumheller Springs Park
The light was good all day and I thought it was still good after 4 pm when I left my apartment but the area of my first photos was in shade and the winter light weakened quickly as I ambled around the park.
But I do love the orange sun of evening.
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My objectives were three.
I supposed I was too late for the first Ranunculus glaberrimus. Not so. No blossoms, no buds, even the foliage I saw didn’t seem robust.
I wanted to photograph a bud on Lomatium gormanii for its ‘life history’ page. I found buds but the light was weak and I didn’t get good images.
And I hoped for spears of Olsynium douglasii but I saw none.
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I checked the rock where I saw the first two L. gormanii, January 10th. There were lots more. I did find buds but the rock was in the shade.
I checked the rock were we found the first R. glaberrimus last year in mid January. There was nothing but foliage.
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The two ponds were overflowing last year. They were small lakes. This year they are completely dry.
I suppose the remaining snow is in the shade all day. The pine needles creating melting made interesting patterns in the snow.
I walked over to check the first L. macrocarpum I noticed last year. No sign of life.
I can’t resist trying to capture the image of yellow willows in late winter. There was a nice image of colored branches against subtle cloud colors but I couldn’t capture it.
The silhouette of pines against western light is a reminder to me to photograph them when there are interesting clouds.
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I had to check the internet to remind myself of the technical name for grass widows. I stumbled into this interesting website.
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I need to make a page of wildflower websites that have been particularly useful.
