Surprise, surprise

Not sure who was more surprised, this young Great Horned Owl who had been sitting in the grass, or myself! I had searched for this family, but eventually gave up. Stopped to photograph a mushroom and when I stood up, found myself staring at this beautiful bird though the trees. It had its eyes closed, but then realized I was there. Thanks to zoom and cropping, it looks as if I was really close. So, feeling on a great natural high, I slowly made my way back towards my vehicle. I noticed a white truck had pulled off the road behind me, on to a grassy pull-off. Two men were out of the truck and clsoe to my car, which made me a little uncomfortable. They drove further on down the road and when I reached my car, I noticed a bright pink "ticket" tucked under my wipers. Fortunately, it was only a warning and I was "told" that they had noted my plate number! Thanks, friend Phil, for telling me to park there, as it was closer to the trees than the new parking lot and so a shorter distance to drag my painful body, ha, ha! Just so thankful my car wasn't towed!

Just had a great day out today, from 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., exploring some wonderful forest belonging to Joanne Susut. She inherited this land, which she has named Spirit Rocks Sanctuary, from her parents and has donated it to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. It was about two and a half hours' drive north of Calgary, to near Rimbey. The day started off with rain and ended with rain, but luckily not a drop fell while we were walking. Four of us went from Calgary and we met up with three delightful and very knowledgable ladies there. Thanks so much, Joanne, for letting us explore your land - we appreciated it greatly and enjoyed spending this time with you and your friends. After about an hour's sleep last night, I feel dead tired tonight, and I still have to get things ready for a day out at the eastern edge of the mountains with friends tomorrow.