Hello sun, goodbye moon

A view of the mountains taken in Canmore two days ago, when a few of us took part in the annual Banff/Canmore Christmas Bird Count. The town of Canmore is surrounded by mountain peaks. The early morning sunrise cast a beautiful pink glow, which I'm not usually up in time to see in the mornings. (Location on map is only very approximate, just in case anyone is curious as to where Harvey Heights is).

My small group covered the Harvey Heights area. The meeting place for the various groups was at the home of Colleen Campbell, who so generously opens up her home to us each year, including giving us a lovely warm place to go back to, to eat our lunches and to finalize the lists of birds seen by the end of the day. Colleen is a long-time Wildlife Researcher, who focused exclusively on grizzly bears from 1993 until 2006. She is also known for her incredibly beautiful artwork - photography is another of her keen interests. Recently, she took in two adorable little rescue kittens - they were so soft and gentle! There was room in my backback to have put both kittens in to take home with me - but I thought Colleen might notice that they were missing : ) Colleen, thank you so much from us all, for your generosity and welcome - and that includes the welcome that Jesse always gives everyone. What a sweet, intelligent dog she is!

This annual Banff-Canmore Christmas Bird Count (CBC) organized by the Bow Valley Naturalists took place on Saturday, December 17. This was the 37th consecutive year for this event.

And now, after two long days of walking, I need to hobble my way to various places to get some urgent errands done! I am so behind with everything - maybe next year I will be more organized. Funny, I seem to say the same thing year after year, though.

Arghh .... Hold the Clicks, Flickr has Hiccups (2:15 p.m.)! OK, got to get ready to go out NOW!