Added yesterday: off to the mountains for a few hours. The temperature for today is supposed to get up to 30C, but tomorrow 35C and the following day 37C! With no air-conditioning, this is not going to feel good. Will add descriptions, etc. later today.

Finally adding a brief description on 9 August 2018. The area we visited on 7 August was an 80-acre site near Bottrel, NW of Calgary. The site consisted of mostly open, low, hilly, ungrazed land, with a few Aspens and Spruce, and willows around three ponds (two of which were dry). On 25 May 2018, four people had visited this site for the first time - I had been unable to go, as I was spending the day with my daughter.

I believe this recent visit was the result of the owners winning a free bioblitz at a Silent Auction, in connection with the Ghost Valley Community. A great idea and always a win-win situation, with the land owners learning a lot about what is found on their land, and the leader and participants enjoying a visit to a different location.

One male adult Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and two juveniles were spotted in a distant tree. It had been a long time since I had last seen one of these woodpeckers.

"A widespread, medium-sized woodpecker, the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) gains its unusual name from its yellowish to creamy-white belly and its habit of drilling holes in the bark of trees, to feed on their sap." From Arkive.

www.arkive.org/yellow-bellied-sapsucker/sphyrapicus-varius/

Did you know that photographing mushrooms can be dangerous? I believe I knew this already and I was reminded of this on this bioblitz. Towards the end of our hike, I stopped to photograph a not particularly photogenic mushroom that was growing on a very slight incline. I took one step back to focus better and lost my balance - not sure if my foot went down into a shallow hole or if I was tripped up by one of the many very small, short tree stumps. Whatever the cause, I did a most inelegant, slow-motion fall backwards, hitting my head hard on the ground, surrounded by my friends. Because I was wearing a backpack, I think this resulted in some whiplash, with my head falling back. It was not pleasant to drive yesterday, especially each time I had to start off when traffic lights turned green. The muscles all around my neck and my shoulders are painful, but hopefully it will clear up before too long.