My best bird photo on Thursday : )

I was about to turn off my computer a short while ago, when I suddenly decided to post my "daily three" photos instead (12:45 am). My alarm clocks will be set for about 4:45 am, as I have a very early, half-day trip outside the city tomorrow. This is to someone's private property, where we have been several times over the last few years.

This photo was taken on 21 May 2015, on a very last-minute, totally unexpected trip out to Bow Valley Provincial Park. By 11:00 pm the previous evening, I still wasn't sure if I was going to be ready in time and also because I had only had about an hour and a half the sleep the night before that, I wasn't sure if I could manage it. The thought of going out there on a beautiful, sunny day was just too tempting and, after less than three hours sleep that night, I was up and ready to go the next morning.

If I hadn't gone, I would have missed a new flower find (not by me) as well as a beautiful Morel mushroom, and I know I would have been so disappointed. The five friends I went with are all specialists in their fields of fungi, lichens, mosses and liverworts, so not only did they enjoy our day, but I did, too. They also know the flowers and birds of Alberta and so many other things, too.

We heard quite a few birds and I was told that they included Yellow-rumped Warblers, Juncos and Chipping Sparrows. They were all flitting around in the trees, but I couldn't see any of them properly. I had been hoping that there would be a Common Loon on Middle Lake, as I had seen them there before in other years. We could only see one there, not a pair. This bright yellow duckie was the only bird I was able to photograph, other than several very distant shots of the beautiful Loon. Always makes me sad to see a child's toy that has been dropped.