Bird on a wire

Saw this Tree Swallow south west of the city, when I went looking for Mountain Bluebirds a week ago. I always love seeing these Tree Swallows with their gorgeous colour and iridescence.

Shouldn't really be posting this evening, as I am totally, totally exhausted after a long, long day in the heat, botanizing Purple Spring Sand Dunes, down near Taber, southern Alberta. Left home at 5:15 a.m. and arrived back a short while ago, at 8:00 p.m.. A three-hour drive there and three hours back home, plus the driving we did when we were down that way, and of course the walking we did. Much too hot for me! The area doesn't really live up to its beautiful name - basically, it just looks like prairie grassland, but we did see some good plants, including at least one new one. On the way home, we also called in at a park in Lethbridge to see what birds (and plants) we could find. One of our highlights was seeing a Prairie Garter Snake - a new species, certainly for some of us, as we don't get these up in Calgary.