Sunlit peak

I was on the Canmore (near Banff, Rocky Mountains) Christmas Bird Count yesterday. What a difference for the weather this year compared to last Christmas Count (-30C)! The mountains around Canmore are just spectacular! Seven hours of winter walking was a LOT of walking, LOL! Only 19 species of bird were seen, including an American Dipper and a Belted Kingfisher (which I missed because I was trying to take photos of the Dipper, LOL). I was exhausted by the end of the day.

Light cloud, clearing by noon; tried to snow. Light wind. -04 to 2C.
Total party hours: 8; Party hours on foot - 7; by car - 1
Total party km: 33; Party km on foot - 13, by car - 20
Starting time - 8:45am; Ending time - 3:15pm

This morning, was out driving the roads east of Calgary with a friend, hoping to see some kind of owl, but no sign of a Snowy, Short-eared or even a Great Horned Owl : )
The weather turned nasty, snowing and with very poor visibility along most of the roads. It's kind of a neat effect, though, when the endless flat fields are exactly the same colour (white!) as the sky.