Portrait of a fine bird

This is an "old" photo of this beautiful Great Gray Owl, taken NW of the city on 25 June 2012, that I hadn't got round to posting. The owl was so completely focused on watching and listening, that I was ignored. Easy to forget that buried deep inside all that amazing plumage is, in fact, a much smaller bird than you imagine.

I did an early post and run this morning, as a handful of us had made plans to return to the Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve to search for rare plants, mosses and lichens, to add to the existing list. You need permission to drive up there and the friends I was with have this permission. However, it was raining when we gathered at the meeting place early this morning - and it has rained all day long : ) So, plans changed, and we ended up driving south to the Longview area, slowing down or stopping at various sloughs along the way. One of the sloughs had 6 (?) Soras in it, feeding in the mud. Unusual to see these birds out in the open like that - usually, they are very secretive. Unfortunately, my lens was rain spotted and the focus must have gone on the spots instead of the birds. We also called in at the Archie & Janet Hogg Park, near Longview, and had a short walk along the edge of the river to look for lichens and wildflowers - and anything else, as usual. Still raining. The drive down to Longview passes through such beautiful rolling hills. On the way back, the highlight was calling in at the Navajo Mug cafe, located on Highway 22 in Longview, for coffee. Country singer, Ian Tyson, was the original owner of the Navajo Mug. So enjoyable to have a coffee and just relax and chat. We got back to Calgary mid-afternoon after a good day, despite the change of plans. Still raining, harder than ever, ha. Only 12C (54F) and windy - and this is August! Thanks so much for driving, Heide - greatly appreciated!

"In 2001, Tyson bought the land and building where The Navajo Mug currently resides. It was previously a saddle shop before being converted into a coffee house, but the little wooden building has a history that dates back much further. Built in the early 1920's, it served as a schoolhouse for children in the Cayley area. In the mid 1940's, the building was moved to Hartel, Alberta, to replace a church that had burned down. Eventually the building was moved to it's current location in Longview, Alberta, where it was used as retail space."

thenavajomug.com/ian-tyson.php

www.iantyson.com/pages/navajomug.asp