Yesterday, 29 November 2022, was such a beautiful day, though very cold. When I left home around 10:15 am, the temperature was -19C (wind chill -27C). However, any snow had melted off my car, but new snow was in the forecast for the next day. I knew I just had to make the most of it and decided to finally drive NE of the city. Of course, I was hoping that I might just find a Snowy Owl somewhere, but no luck. I bumped into three friends out there, all excellent birders, but they, too, were unable to find the owl that we were all hoping for. Though there have been various reports of Snowy Owl sightings recently, I don't think there have been as many as there are some years.
I find the drive to the NE such a long drive, mostly on highways. I only drove a total of 221 km, though, but it felt much longer. The few back roads driven while looking for an owl produced maybe a couple of Black-billed Magpies, that's all.
So, when the birds are all hiding, I resort to finding and photographing barns. None of the barns posted this evening were new to me, but I'm always happy to see them all.
On the way home, I passed the huge Shepard Energy Centre along Glenmore Trail and pulled over to take a quick shot of the billowing clouds of vapour.
“The $1.4-billion plant in east Calgary is capable of generating more than 800 megawatts of electricity for the provincial grid, the city-owned utility company said in a release. 'The facility is the largest of its kind in the province and an important step in Alberta's transition away from aging coal-fired generation facilities,' Enmax said.
Enmax announced the project in 2007 and it became a joint venture with Edmonton-based Capital Power Corporation as a 50 per cent owner in late 2012.
It uses combined-cycle technology that has two combustion turbines to generate electricity while making use of waste heat through a steam turbine for extra power production.
The centre is about 30 per cent more efficient than conventional coal plants and will emit less than half the CO2 per megawatt hour, as well as less carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide gases, Enmax says.
Its cooling towers will also use 14 million litres of reclaimed water per day from the city’s Bonnybrook wastewater treatment plant, the company says.
"With this crucial infrastructure added to Alberta's electricity system, we will bring reliable electricity to Albertans for decades to come,” said Enmax CEO Gianna Manes in a release.”
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/shepard-energy-centre-powe...
Grand opening video
globalnews.ca/video/2019487/grand-opening-of-calgarys-she...
calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-s-largest-natural-gas-fuelled-...
Thanks to cataracts, the glare of the harsh mid-to-late afternoon light is really hard on my eyes, so I have to make sure I'm home quite early. Makes for a short day, which is frustrating, but still thankful that I can get out.
For some reason, I just couldn't get my car warmed up enough inside, despite having it on full heat. Even my feet were cold, wearing a new pair of good quality winter boots that are said to be good down to -40C! Roughly another 5 months of winter (on top of the two months we have already had) and then, it's SPRING!! I can't wait! Stay warm everyone.
