Nesting Red-necked Grebe

Yesterday, I was out on a full-day bus trip to the Red Deer Wetlands Area, NW of Calgary. I think it was about an hour and a half's drive to get there. This was an annual outing arranged through the nature group that I belong to, and each year is to a different place. The Red Deer Wetlands Area is made up of Slack Slough (our first stop), the McKenzie Trails area (our second stop) and lastly the Kerry Woods Nature Center and Gaetz Lake Sanctuary, where we spent the last two hours of the day. The latter was such a beautiful area, wonderfully laid out, with several viewing decks around the lake. At one of the decks, we were able to very quietly look down on this Red-necked Grebe that was on her nest. Couldn't see her through the high fence, so could only take shots from this angle. Some of us chose to walk the whole way round the huge lake (further than I had expected, lol!). A couple of Moose certainly made it more than worth the effort. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away until just the last few minutes of our walk, and then the heavens opened. The forecast had been for thunder showers morning and afternoon, but it just remained overcast till the last moment - hence a lot of photos that came out blurry, ha. A great trip, well-organized - thanks so much for all your hard work, Lynne! - and it was so good to see various friends that I hadn't seen for ages, as well as those whom I see often. It's raining here this morning, but I really, really hope that the forecast for tomorrow turns out to be accurate, as three of us are heading north to Edmonton (roughly a three-hour drive) for an exciting day!

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