Beetle on Lupine

This very small beetle let me get maybe six inches away from it with my Raynox 250 lens. I was amazed that any of my photos turned out OK, as it was windy and my camera was hand-held. Found yesterday, on a day of botanizing on J. Edworthy's acreage out past Black Diamond, south of Calgary.

Got home around 6:00 p.m. this evening, after being out all day at Elkton bog, near Cremona, north west of Calgary. We first visited this wonderful bog last summer, so it was exciting to be able to make a return visit. For about eight and a half hours, my feet have been soaking in bog water that filled my rubber boots, LOL. Feels so good to finally have my feet exposed to the air so that they can dry out : ) After the bog, we called in at the Mountainview Handicapped and Sports Centre and walked through part of the forest area, until the rain made us decide that we had done enough today. A cup of coffee on the way home sure tasted SO good and it felt wonderful to be on "dry land" and sitting down! I spent a few hours partly submerged in the bog water, trying to photograph a few of the small flowers there. Really hoping at least a handful of my photos will turn out OK after all that : ) When another person walked by, a few feet away, the whole ground shifted - a very strange feeling - how I would imagine it feels to walk on a waterbed. I only had to be "rescued " once, when my left rubber boot (Wellington boot to some of you) partly disappeared into a patch of water-logged soil and I couldn't pull it out along with my foot. The things we people get up to, LOL!

Have to wash my muddy clothes from today and get all my things ready for a long day's botanizing trip tomorrow. This will be my third out-of-town day-trip in a row, so I know I'm going to find it really tough going : )