Red Squirrel on alert

This morning, I am posting four more photos taken two days ago, on 7 June 2017, when a group of eight of us spent a wonderful day exploring Elbow Falls and Forgetmenot Pond, in Kananaskis. We drove west of the city into the eastern edge of the mountains, stopping at three different places, including a stop along the edge of the main highway, where we found Shooting stars and little brown cup fungi seen in two of the photos posted this morning. This Red Squirrel was hanging around when we stopped for our picnic lunch at Forgetmenot Pond. It was keeping a close eye on a White-crowned Sparrow that came up remarkably close to where we were sitting.

Forgetmenot Pond is actually a man-made pond, left over from the excavation of a gravel pit. The water is crystal clear. It's just a short walk around the pond, but enjoyable to do. The main road this far into Kananaskis only opens in June each year, as a winter gate at Elbow Falls closes in December for the winter months, to protect the wildlife in the area.

Yesterday, I found the following 4-minute video taken by Kenneth Lori using a DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadcopter and taken on 16 June 2016. It travels over the pond and the surrounding river and mountain scenery.

youtu.be/fEamf0nDXt4

What a great day we had yesterday! It was one beautiful find after another, and I think we all must have arrived back home at the end of the day, feeling happy and content. Dorothy and Stephen, as always, you planned a wonderful day for us and you even managed to arrange with the weatherman for beautiful sunshine and warmth, with an occasional welcome slight breeze. I still can't believe how lucky we were, seeing so many interesting things. In fact, I'm finding it difficult to decide what was the highlight for me yesterday. The Harlequin Duck, the distant Common Nighthawk, the dried-up Morel mushrooms, the small cluster of beautiful brown jelly cup fungi?? And so on .... Great to spend a day with such a pleasant group of keen, interested people.

Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for such a great day - my favourite kind of day : ) Thank you, also, for the ride and for the donuts you brought along for everyone to enjoy. Nice to end our day with a stop at the Cinnamon Spoon cafe in Bragg Creek, for a welcome cup of coffee.