Colour among the mosses and lichens

It's snowing again today, 26 February 2017, so I grabbed this photo to add a bit of colour. The temperature is -10C (windchill -18C), with -17C (windchill -24C) forecast for tomorrow morning. After that, things should start to warm up again..

On 12 August 2016, friend Dorothy phoned and asked if I'd like to go with them to Kananaskis for the day. A last minute decision - and of course I said yes! What a great day we had in the mountains, with perfect weather and so many mushrooms to keep all three of us happy.

When I think how many endless rainy days we had been having the previous few weeks, we were so lucky that the sun shone, the temperature was pleasant, and a slight breeze kept comfort levels just right.

Our first brief stop was at a pond on the way to Bragg Creek, where a mutual friend had been seeing a Common Loon, but there was no sign of it when we were there. From there, once we eventually reached the mountains, we stopped at a large pond to check for birds and kept our eyes open for any mushrooms. The ground seemed too dry here, for any fungi to be growing. However, we were treated to wonderful views of a beautiful Osprey perched on top of a tall coniferous tree further down the path. It flew to a few different trees and then finally made the plunge for a fish, with success. What a splash it made! Once caught, the Osprey flew out of sight - maybe it had a nest somewhere with young ones to feed.

Our next stop was further into the mountains and we found that the ground was damper and more conducive to the growth of mushrooms. I suspect that after all the rain we had last summer, one could find mushrooms growing almost anywhere. We were certainly lucky at this location, finding various species. One of the highlights of the day for me was seeing one of my favourite fungi, Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii - the one that produces small, ruby red droplets on the surface. The individuals we saw were not hugely photogenic, but wonderful to see, both at this location and our next stop, at Kananaskis Lakes.

Lunch was eaten at a convenient picnic table right by a large creek after this first mushroom walk. While we were sitting there, a cute little Chipmunk (Least Chipmunk?) stopped long enough to take a quick peek at us through the tall grass blades. I suspect it thought it was well hidden.

After our lunch, we drove to Kananaskis Lakes and went for a most enjoyable hike - a very slow one, as there were mushrooms everywhere! We had been along this trail in previous years and had found a good variety of fungi. This photo was taken along this path. There were so many people on the trail! Good to see everyone out enjoying the good weather, fresh mountain air, and beautiful scenery. My friends returned to the same areas two days later and found about two-thirds less the number of mushrooms..

Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, not just for this great day out, but for also helping to make my wait for my new car to arrive, easier! Greatly appreciated.