Clark's Nutcracker

Friends invited me to go with them out to the mountains for the day today. It was an extra thrill when I found out that we were not only going to Banff, but a little further to Lake Louise as well. The weather was around 10C - that's PLUS 10C! Sorry all you folks out east, who are having -30C, but we have already had our share of that, LOL. It did get much colder when we reached Lake Louise - cold enough to fluff up this bird and to stop my camera from working for a while. When we first arrived in the parking lot, about five of these lovely Clark's Nutcrackers flew down to us. The lighting was not good with so many high mountains around us, but I was still so happy to finally get a better photo of a bird that I've only seen maybe three times before.