Still standing, and bees are a-buzzing

The light was rather low and flat on Saturday morning, 25 May 2013, when my youngest daughter and I drove some of the backroads SW of Calgary, including to visit this "famous" row of five red granaries. They seemed less red, somehow - maybe they are just showing their age more, losing that layer of old, red paint. Or maybe it was just the light - they look so different when the sun is shining on them. (Ha, couldn't stand looking at the original post, so I've just replaced it with a very slightly brighter copy). The far side of the sheds, there is a pile of colourful beehives and the bees had found them. Rachel had asked if I wanted to go along the backroads for my birthday - and what more enjoyable way to spend the day!!! Despite not being able to find a Great Gray Owl for her to see, certain other birds were right where I'd hope they would be - such as Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Wilson's Snipe, Mountain Bluebirds, Ruddy Ducks, Black Terns, etc., etc.. At one tiny slough, there were maybe just four or so birds on the water, and I suddenly realized that one pair was not "just" a pair of Common Goldeneye, but a pair of Barrow's Goldeneye (seen in the first photo I posted today), which Rachel had never seen. By the end of this great day, I think she had an even better understanding of why I love spending a day (any day!) in this way : ) The weather was good, other than a few raindrops, so we were lucky. Thanks so much, Rachel, for spending the day with me! Hope your photos came out better than mine did - got more blurry photos than I'd have liked, but that's usually the case, anyway, lol. By the way, if it's any comfort (and I'm sure it's not, lol!), we couldn't find any Great Gray Owls yesterday, on the annual May Species Count that covers some of the area you and I went to, plus other roads. Thanks for a super day!