-21C, -36C with windchill

This very uninspiring photo was all I've ended up with from my walk with a friend this afternoon. Bitterly cold, windy with blowing snow. Converted, it equals -36F, windchill -32.8F! We went to the beautiful Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation area south of Calgary. A lovely place - in summer, it is full of wildflowers and butterflies. We saw very little today - a few Ravens, a Hairy Woodpecker (which was nice to see) and a hawk that was "wind-hovering", flapping its wings to maintain a stationary position while facing upwind. Not sure if one of my photos, taken for ID purposes, will be fit to upload. I think it could be a Rough-legged Hawk. After two hours of walking, mainly uphill climbing in quite a few inches of snow, I really felt that I could have gone absolutely no further by the time we had climbed the last hill back to the parking lot : ). How on earth the early Pioneers ever survived, amazes me - of course, not all of them did survive. Thank goodness for central heating!!!