Swainson’s Hawk

Edit to update title! I emailed the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton with these pictures and asked if they could ID this hawk. Holly, the Animal Care and Project Manager, emailed me back to let me know he is a Swainson's Hawk and that they are quite common in our area. They migrate to South American and usually leave in September.

Thank you for the ID, Holly!

There have has been 2 hawks living in the forest behind our house this spring/summer. Haven't seen a nest or babies but we can see them and hear them every day. The other day our boys saw them sitting on a guard rail on the road near our house and were so excited to get within 20 feet of them, before they both flew off.
Today, I saw a commotion outside the front window so went to see what was going on. There were 3 hawks fighting in mid-air, one of them had something in its talons. We thought it was a mouse at first but could soon see it was much bigger than a mouse, a gopher, perhaps?
Anyway, he landed on our neighbours lawn and sat there for 40 minutes, eating away.
Neighbours came and went, he cause quite a scene in small town Devon! People were stopping their cars in the middle of the street to take a look or take pictures. This isn't something you see everyday!
Click on the picture to see a larger image, then click your back button to come back to this post.

One of his buddies landed on the roof of our house, obviously upset that HE didn't get the gopher and that his feathered friend wouldn't share.

The third guy circled overheard quite a bit, squawking like crazy.
 

Edited to add this shot. Our neighbour Mandy sat on her step the entire time watching him. She was no more than 10 feet away! He was not bothered by her in the least. She was giving me a play by play from her spot, where she said she could hear bones crunching!

Gopher? Looks like it! The hawk literally ate him from top to bottom! It was such a cool sight. Gross, but cool.
Seriously, is something wrong with me? I laugh every time I look at this picture. You HAVE to click on the picture for a closer view. You HAVE to!

Looks like a fuzzy pair of pants, doesn't it?

Here is an addition to the post, where the hawk has literally turned the gopher inside out. He's quite efficient!

We watched him eat until the neighbours cat came trotting down the sidewalk. Did he seriously think he could take that bird? Or was he just looking for gopher leftovers?
I was so excited when he took off that I nearly missed the shot. I have such a bad habit of doing that, not a good trait for a photographer! BTW, that red thing that is hanging behind him? That's gopher spine. Ick.

Turns out, the cat wanted the gopher leftovers. He licked the grass for a few minutes then walked away, satisfied with himself...

Fairmont Hot Springs vacay

We just got back from a week in Fairmont Hot Springs, a family favourite vacation spot. I have been going there since I was a baby and have always loved it. Mark and I started taking the boys several years ago and they are loving it just the same. It feels exactly as it did when I was a child. It's like time stands still there. The ambiance is just amazing...

Fairmont Hot Springs Resort


Usually we camp in the RV park but this time we stayed in the lodge. We were upgraded to the Queen Loft with Kitchenette, which had 2 Queen size beds and a kitchenette, then upstairs in the loft there were 2 singles beds for the boys. It overlooked the grounds and the pool and was amazing!

The weather was amazing every single day. And surprising, NO MOSQUITOES!!

We checked in and went straight to the pool, of course. The boys, all 3, spend the majority of their time in the pool, doing cannon ball after cannon ball, dives, jumps, spins and a few belly flops. One of the things I love about Fairmont is how people will line the walls of the diving pool to watch the jumpers, and cheer for them, groan when you smack the water and encourage the scared ones. Exactly like when I was little.

View from my lounger:

Shmoopie!

Gorgeous mountain view from the pool. This pic also gives you a good idea of how the diving board pool is separated from the hot springs pool and the regular pool (reg pool on the right).
The hot tub has a temperature of 39C, the large swimming pool is 32C and the diving pool is 30C.
Reputed health benefits of natural, mineral hot spring water: Health Benefits

Mark is VERY excited!

Here goes Zanz!

Off goes Rayden!

Mark loves the cannon ball:

The valley is so swollen right now, I've never seen it flood like this:

Went for a walk to see the Indian Bathhouse and saw this little beauty:

Hello!

There was a cougar and cub spotted up by the Indian Bathhouse so I didn't go up too far this time. Here are some of my most favourite pictures of the bathhouse. I'm sure I can't get any better pictures than these anyway!

I have this picture enlarged and framed, hanging in our main floor powder room.

Interesting history: 
History of the Hot Springs

Inside, the bathhouse is divided into three rooms, each with it's own bathtub carved out of the stone floor. Hot spring water flows in the front and out the back.

Each room has it's own sky light!

Outside and further up the hill is an outdoor tub. Water flows right in from the springs coming out of the ground.

Natural hot spring coming out of the ground:

On Tuesday night, we drove 45 minutes south to Kimberley, this cute, little Bavarian town to have supper at the ski hill with the Tings. Erika and I have been besties since we were...10? 11? And here we are, just a mere 20 years later ;-p with our babies.

Look at Averie, she is losing it by this point!

On Wednesday morning we took the kids golfing at Creekside, which is just a little Par 3, down at the bottom of the resort hill. This was the first time the kids have played 9 holes without help. We've done Texas scramble with them before, and gone to the driving range. Rayden has had a golf lesson in gym class but other than that, this was the first real game of golf.

Honestly, I don't intend to dress them as twins...

Marky:

This was my best hit of the day.

See the ball? Long and straight! Mark should have taken pictures of me every hole, if it produced shot like this!

Never played on a course with an Inukshuk before!

Very excited!

Last hole of the day:

Thursday afternoon we took the kids to the Hoodoos and let them hike up the side a bit. Those hoodoos are so amazing looking.

On our way home, we stopped in Radium Hot Springs for lunch (the Melting Pot, YUMMY! Best chicken burger ever!) and to visit the Radium Woodcarver's place. Radium Woodcarver We've been to his house/shop twice now and it is always a treat. This is the first piece we bought from him, 2 years ago:

Rolf is a totally eccentric hippy from Switzerland who is an amazing artist. He lives in a pieced together half shack, half treehouse, with his 2 goats. He is self sustaining, with a roof top garden and hot tub! He carves all of his incredible pieces with a chainsaw! His house/workshop is rigged with hoses that shoot water at you when you least expect it. Soon you DO expect it, but you never know where it is coming from!

Here is the east side of the house/workshop.

Look! It's Osama!

The outside has all of these funny signs and one proclaiming his house has been featured on HGTV's "Weird Homes". I believe it!

Hello Sweety, Have a Seaty. See the water spout right behind Zander's head?

Entrance:

Up top is the hot tub and you can also see the goat runs that run the whole perimeter of the property.

This is Rolf and our kids. Yes, he really does wear dresses and crazy hats. Don't be scared of him, he's really nice.

Zander was taking a look at this cool sculpture:

And got blasted!

This guy is about 7 feet tall.

Nice hat:

This is the piece we bought this time:

Right across the street is a beautiful old church. Just wanted a few pictures of it.

The roof is a cobalt blue with green/yellow/brown moss growing all over it.

On our way through Banff we decided to take a little side jaunt over to Banff Springs Hotel and go for a walk inside. So beautiful. The kids thought we were at Hogwarts.