Utah Honeysuckle / Lonicera utahensis

Not a particularly inspiring photo, but it will remind me that I have seen this plant and that the two berries are joined. I think the only other time I have seen this species was on a trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, 19-21 June 2015.

"Lonicera utahensis is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names Utah honeysuckle, red twinberry, and fly honeysuckle. It is native to western North America from British Columbia, Washington (state), and Oregon, east to Alberta and Montana and south through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and New Mexico.

This honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub growing 1 to 2 meters tall. It has slender, spreading branches and it may take a clumpy form. The leaves are oval or oblong in shape and measure up to 8 centimeters long by 4 wide. The undersides are hairless or have stiff hairs. Pairs of flowers are borne on peduncles up to 15 centimeters long. The flowers are yellow or yellowish white in color and are 1 to 2 centimeters long. The fruit is a red berry almost 1 centimeter wide. The seeds are dispersed by animals that eat the fruit, including birds and bears." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_utahensis

Three days ago, on 11 July 2015, I had a wonderful day out with friend Sandy, driving westwards from Calgary and eventually reaching the next province, British Columbia (B.C.). Sandy had two destinations in mind - a stop at the Spiral Tunnels and then to explore the forest around Emerald Lake. I had only been to B.C. a handful of times in 37 years, so this was an absolute treat. It was such a very hazy day - smoke from wild fires? - so some of my photos needed a little help later : )

Our trip started just after 7:00 am, to get a good, early start, especially before the temperature soared. The drive from Calgary to Emerald Lake takes about 2 and a half hours and is a 218.5 km drive via Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W. We took a quieter route home at the end of the day. Rain arrived just in time for this drive home and, by the time I got back to my car in Calgary, the rain was really heavy and a few of the roads were beginning to flood very quickly. It was raining again the next morning. I was kind of hoping for a few rainy days, as I suddenly have a build-up of quite a few very major, very urgent things to deal with and I didn't want to be tempted to go out with my camera.

Shortly after we began our walk though the forest along the right hand side of the lake, we heard a commotion coming from the water. When we found a place to see through the trees, we could see two beautiful Common Loons and a female duck with several babies, possibly Common Mergansers. My guess would be that the Merganser mother kept chasing away the Loons, creating a lot of splashing.

Also, at the beginning and the end of our "hike", we watched a family of Violet-green Swallows that were nesting. Not sure how many young ones there were, but I saw three. Though we do get these birds in Calgary, I've never seen one properly - just when a mass of Tree Swallows swarms over the Bow River and someone calls out "Violet-green!"

Thanks for such a great day, as usual, Sandy! Such a treat to get out into the mountains - and see some new things, too.