First the flower, then the bokeh, then the bee

"In the city of Calgary the air quality health index was off the charts through the overnight hours Tuesday (25 August 2015), peaking at 19 on a scale where 10 is considered "high." The smoke is being blown here from the northwestern United States. It affected the visibility the whole day, so there was no sign of the distant mountains and even the hills and fields closest to us. Most unpleasant, and I don't know how people who live much closer to the wildfires are managing! So many Firefighters bravely battling the flames down in this whole area, as well as all those fighting the fires in British Columbia!

Added on 27 August - apparently, a spider had climbed inside the equipment used to track air quality and this had given the inaccurate ratings! Air quality was really bad, though.

Yesterday morning, 25 August, 10 of us arrived at a friend's house, ready to go north of Calgary to near Sundre, for a few hours of botanizing, This was the second visit to Judy Osborne's for a few of us, me included. The previous trip was on 30 June 2015. By now, of course, a lot of the wildflowers are finished, but I found enough other things to photograph, including a distant, beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, plus a few of the plants in my friends' garden at the beginning and end of the day. When we were looking at their enormous vegetable garden late afternoon, I noticed this small Chives flower. I moved so that the vibrant colour of Chard (?) filled the background - and then a little bee flew in : ) Thanks to Art (Leapfrog) for the ID: Red Belted Bumble Bee / Bombus rufocinctus.

Thanks so much, Judy, for having us out on your beautiful property again. It was a most enjoyable day, despite the dreadful, smoke-filled air. We look forward to being out there again next year! Many thanks, too, to Barry, who drove a few of us out there and back to Calgary. A long, long drive and it was much appreciated!