Gray Jay pose

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!!

I want to wish my family and each and every one of my "local" friends, my long-time overseas friends, and my Flickr friends a very happy, healthy and safe New Year! It's hard to believe, isn't it, that 14 years have passed since all the fuss about the year 2000? Thank you all for your friendship and encouragement, and for letting me share my photos with you - SO much appreciated! I'm looking forward to another year of seeing where you have been and what beautiful things in nature you have discovered!

On 15 December 2013, friends Cathy and Terry and I drove out to Kananaskis and along the Smith-Dorrien-Spray Trail. They were really hoping to see Moose. For me, seeing anything from scenery to maybe a bird or two, is more than enough to keep me happy : ) The only birds we saw were a couple of Ravens and two (or was it three?) Gray Jays (seen in the photo above) and a beautiful male Spruce Grouse. The latter was down on the road when we first saw it in the distance, eating gravel to help its digestive system. Wouldn't you know it, just at that moment, a vehicle came from the opposite direction around a corner, and the bird flew up into a tree and "hid" behind a tangle of branches. You know how that goes - any birder / photographer will have had many similar experiences. Was able to take photos, but nothing too brilliant. Just thrilled to see the Grouse, especially a male.

There was a lot of snow on the ground out there, though not on the trees. The road itself had been ploughed, which made driving easier. In one spot, the snow plough must have ploughed a little closer to the snowbank along the edge of the road and then drifting snow had been blown on top. Our front wheels started out in snow that was maybe an inch deep, but the deeper snow pulled the car closer and closer to the snowbank - and into the ditch we went!! We were only driving slowly, thank goodness. The snow came well up my side of the car and there was no way I could get out. Within just a matter of minutes, on this quiet mountain road where we had seen little traffic all day, several cars all came at once. Everyone stopped, discussed the situation, and within a very short time, one of them attached a rope and had us pulled out of the ditch. To say we were very thankful and grateful is an understatement! Can't thank all those people enough for rescuing us - it was later in the day and I knew that light would be fading, and I had visions of us having to spend a very cold night in the car! So, it felt wonderful to once again be on solid ground! For years, I have read about how dangerous this gravel road is, especially in bad weather, but I'd never pictured ending up in a snowbank, lol. Both Terry and Cathy are excellent drivers, so I always feel totally safe being driven by them - this was just one moment of bad luck. One that thankfully ended safely, so we were able to laugh about it afterwards. Thanks, guys, for a lovely day in beautiful scenery!

This morning, it's the annual Fish Creek Park New Year's Day Bird Count, so I need to dash and start getting ready to go out. It snowed again last night, so everywhere should look beautiful - except my car, which will once again have to be cleared of snow. Hopefully, it won't be too cold out there.

Reported by CBC News on 21 December 2013:

"December SNOWFALL in Calgary has broken a 112-year record according to the city. The City made the announcement in a tweet Saturday morning after weeks of on-and-off heavy snowfall left many residents complaining about the lack of snow removal in parts of Calgary. "A total of 43.8 cm of snow has fallen in Calgary this month. We haven’t seen this much snow in 112 years!" tweeted the City."

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/11685439545