Black Meadowhawk

The walk I was on yesterday morning, 2 September 2017, was actually a birding walk and the only reason I saw this dragonfly was that our leader, Terry Korolyk, had noticed it flying and then landing ahead of us on the path. Had to fully zoom on this and then crop.

This outing started near the Visitor's Centre at the east end of Fish Creek Park. After checking the area, we then walked eastward to the Bow River and continued walking north as far as Burnsmead. After returning to the Visitor's Centre, we all drove over to Bankside and did a short walk near the river. An exciting sighting there, just as we were walking back to our cars, was a bird that is rarely seen here - a Turkey Vulture! The bird was flying high overhead. Unfortunately, some people had already left for home earlier, so missed this.

At this point, I was planning to go home, too, as we had been walking all morning and it was getting hotter all the time. The temperature reached 32C, and the air quality was not good, thanks to the smoke from wildfires in British Columbia, blowing into Alberta. However, I changed my mind and decided to join the others, driving the short distance to Mallard Point, where we again walked along the Bow River. I had to return to my car a bit before the remaining few, as I could not have walked another step and I was SO hot. The temperature given by my car was 32C, but Terry's account gives a temperature of 37.6C for the temperature at the end of the walk. All I know is that is was HOT! So hot that I just had to pick up a strawberry milkshake on the way home, putting back on all the calories I had walked off during the four hours I was walking!

I will add the final list of bird species seen, in a comment box below. Thanks for a great walk, Terry!