Chinook arch over Calgary

This photo was taken two days ago, on Monday, 26 September 2016, and I wasn’t going to post it. However, I noticed an article on the weather network website and saw a few other photos taken of this rather spectacular Chinook arch, so thought I would add it to my photostream after all. I was walking down at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park, near the creek, and this solid band of cloud felt quite strange.

“A 'Chinook arch' was widely photographed across Alberta on Monday as temperatures peaked in the mid to high 20s, even record breaking for some.

The warming Chinook winds that descended over the mountain ranges helped to create a band of stationary stratus clouds. Chinook winds are those down sloping winds and when sinking air goes down to the mountain, that suppresses the cloud and you get this arch and line of beautiful clouds, explains The Weather Network's Chris Murphy. They can look kind of ominous if you're not familiar with Chinook winds, but they rarely produce any rain or snow." From the weather network.

www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/stunning-chinook-...

I had planned to join a group of friends for a birding walk at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. By the time I had had breakfast, I was feeling somewhat queasy and thought I had better not go on the walk after all. Felt a bit better later in the morning and decided to go to the Park after all, getting there about noon. Met a delightful young man standing on the bridge over the creek, pointing out to me a perched bird of prey. My first thought was Merlin, but it seemed to be too big to be a Merlin. It took a while to decide just what it was - helped by excellent birder, Nimali, who happened to come along the path. In the end, we decided it was a Cooper's Hawk ('C' for curved edge of tail tip and 'C' for Cooper's). Looking at my photos later that evening, I was still not sure that we had made the right decision. Several Flickr people let me know that my photo was of a Merlin - much appreciated!

This bird stayed around for ages and gave some nice opportunities for photos, including of it 'mantling' (spreading out its wings to form a cloak) when it captured a large dragonfly and returned to the same branch. When two of us were first standing on the bridge, this bird flew down right over our heads two or three times - maybe because we were attracting insects around us? We noticed a second similar bird, too, and we wondered if they were maybe juveniles, especially as the main one was very comfortable with us standing nearby. Made my day : )

I even spotted several mushrooms, including a colourful Rusty Gilled Polypore earlier in my walk. I had planned on just a short walk, but ended up in the park for about five hours (not all walking)! A very enjoyable walk - glad to have your company, Nimali, and that of the very knowledgeable young man we had just met.