Believe me we tried  to get a decent  picture of this little bird but it kept throwing itself in the ice cold water of the Bow River.

I guessed (without having seen one before) that it might be a dipper and when we came home I looked on the net and found a great video from

Kids National Geographic (you have to watch about 30 seconds of animation before the film of the dipper comes on - but it is so great because they filmed the bird underwater and they explain how it can swim in such cold water.

It bobbed like a sandpiper or plover while it was on the ice, then it plunged into the water and stayed submerged for a considerable time, popped back up on the ice and then did the whole thing all over again. I stood transfixed for at least 15 minutes until it flew to another part of the river, Santiago dog was bored but patient. I have to say Charley was the one who spotted the bird on the ice in the first place....so kudos to him. 

The dipper was a bit bigger than a junco, with taller legs of course and had a very short tail and was the grey slate colour of a junco. Try to watch the video if you can. 

try http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals/bird-dipper

Santiago loves the snow - you would think she is part husky.

Santiago, Charley and I went for a walk along the Bow River today. This is for those of you who say I am never in the pictures on the blog

The snow shown here is all gone now but it is still cold.

I don't know if the cold weather has me in the Christmas mood but I will admit I am baking like crazy. Since I am not in retail at this crazy time of year it is the reason I can even consider baking.

I have to hide everything in the freezer away from Charley.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

The whole park is like one giant Christmas tree lot.

We won't have to cut down a tree this year, we can just stand on our balcony and decorate the one that leans in.

A mule deer behind a neighbour's fence.

It doesn't matter what time of day or where you go in the town, there is always a mule deer out somewhere. This one (small) was at the door of a house on the street above ours. When I saw it I crossed over to the other side of the street for when walking with the dog I am never sure how they will react.

The other evening a mother deer started to come towards us across our street - I think she was worried about the dog with her young. So we hightailed it.

Then today a young one looked as if it wanted to play with the dog and came right out onto the street towards us. I took the dog and went between two parked cars and up onto the sidewalk, the deer followed us between the cars and up on the sidewalk. So I turned and quickly wove through a series of parked cars and away as quickly as possible. I was relieved to see that 

the deer was distracted by other people and stayed at the corner. Though I really do think it was curious and playful not aggressive. 

So many pictures of mountains, and now so many pictures of snow in the mountains.

Nothing stops the Magpies from scavenging.

And you can walk inches from them and they won't even move.

Happy Dog.

Santiago cavorting in the snow.

I do wonder if whether in a few months time I will still be as enamoured of winter and snow. 

I did notice this morning that there were a great many people up early with their snow boards and their skis to take advantage of the fresh fallen snow.

I have to say winter is early but beautiful. Because this is a National Park they do not put anything but sand on the roads and - from what people have told us - that makes things a bit tricky in the winter.

The hike to work for Charley will be interesting if it is icy...more interesting or problematic coming down.

This is the Bow River where I saw the bald eagle this morning flying low and following the course of the river.

The ducks that were on the water started making quite a bit of noise when they spotted the eagle.

Great snowfall last night and since we are dog-sitting this weekend we were up early and out walking.

Santiago loved the snow and acted like a puppy.

View from the kitchen looking the other way into the living room.

Starting to post pictures of the condo we are in. This is a view from the Kitchen looking into the living room.

On the counter just near the lamp is the picture of my two dear nephews taken some time ago at their house when we were all beings "chefs". It is one of my all-time favourite pictures so I love having it in the kitchen to see all day, every day.

The Bow Falls on the river below the Banff Centre.

There are paths along the river and these are very popular as dog walks.

The golf course at the Banff Springs.

This  picture is a deliberate attempt to lure my family members who are golf crazy. Hell - even if you didn't golf who wouldn't want to be on this course. Though I understand it is pricey to play these greens - which aren't green now in November.

A turret at the Banff Springs Hotel - wouldn't mind living there with a library and the view of the mountain range out of the window.

More photos from behind the Banff Springs Hotel.

I can't stop myself from trying to capture the infinite scenes of cloud and mountains and beauty.

Yesterday I went for a walk up to the Banff Springs Hotel. I had never been inside the hotel and I have to say - it is wonderful, amazing, ..like a castle.

It was also huge.

Then we went around the back and this is the view from the huge stone balcony.

Unfortunately my camera didn'treally  capture the stripe of brilliant sunshine that ran across the base of the mountains. 

We had snow late yesterday and last night. This morning the clouds were spectacular. 

Very different watching clouds on and around mountains. The sun, when it broke through, was like a spotlight on a cliff face or a belt of trees. Very beautiful.

I do not just look out at the far vistas. This is lichen on the mountain. There is much that is small and hidden and equally as beautiful as the towering mountains and the far views.

I saw a three-toed woodpecker on one of my other walks. First time I had ever seen one.

I did not get a good picture of it even though he stayed at the tree trunk very close to us for ages. But the top picture is the little woodpecker if you can find it.