Endless land and sky

It's -20C (windchill -28C) this morning, 28 February 2014. The forecast for tonight is -33C (windchill -41C)!! Tomorrow, Saturday, should start off at -32C (windchill -40C), but should soar to a balmy -25C in the afternoon - yeah, right! The next few days will continue cold, but by Tuesday, there should be a little improvement - and then the snow returns, ha. It did snow a little last night. Don't think I'll be going out anywhere for the next few days, which at least will allow the 16 stitches across my lower back to heal more before I have to stretch to remove the snow from my car.

I did post a much closer shot of this scene a short while ago, but decided I'd add this more distant view. On 25 January 2014, I spent an amazing day with friends Cathy and Terry, SE of Calgary. I had found an e-mail on my computer around 12:45 a.m., just as I was about to turn off my computer for the night. Did I want to go birding tomorrow and, if so, to meet at 8:00 a.m.? A full day of excitement and enjoyment left me tired out, but so happy. I had been missing being out and taking photos, feeling lethargic and extremely tired, so this invite was welcomed with open arms. The crazy weather soared to a balmy 11C, though a lot of the day was colder, with a strong wind! Along one of the roads, late in the afternoon sun, we came across this row of grain storage shed and metal silos - such a classic Alberta sight, which I never tire of seeing.

We were lucky enough to see 16 owls that day! SIXTEEN! 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. The closest Snowy Owl was seen when it was early evening and the light had gone, and my photos are all blurry. The other owls were little more than a tiny speck in the far, far distance, but I still managed to get some kind of shot of some of them, using 48x zoom plus cropping. Perhaps I should add that maybe 15 of the owls that were seen would never have been seen by less experienced birders (and I include myself in that category!). My friends have brilliant eyes when it comes to spotting owls! Just left me shaking my head each time they found one! I'm not too bad at finding owls, but not at that distance!