I took this picture a few years ago in Itasca State Park, in northern Minnesota.  The flowers were beautiful, and I took a number of pictures, but this is my favorite.
 
 
 
 
 

An Uplifting Flicker Story....
It was a beautiful September day, the sun shone, and there was bit of crispness in the air.  We live in the country, with the house nestled in the woods. This is wonderful for us, but some creatures are not used to having large structures with glass windows tucked in among the natural settings.

I had gotten home from work, and had come down the basement to see if I had any messages on the computer.  We had just gotten Scooter, the little dog, from the humane society, and he was  in the den with me.  As I was sitting there, I heard a loud noise upstairs...not too loud really, but definitely audible a story below and through a wall and a ceiling.  I had the sickening feeling that I had heard that sound before when I was upstairs, and what it was turned out to be a bird flying directly into the living room windows and killing itself. This has happened on a number of occasions since we've lived there.  I think the sun gets in just the right position, and reflects off the glass like a mirror, so the birds don't see it.

I decided I'd better check, so Scooter and I went outside.  Sure enough, laying in a heap, in the long grass, was a beautiful flicker, its head off to one side, and one wing distorted and showing the beautiful coloring.  Scooter indicated an interest in it, but he left it alone when I told him to, and so I picked it up.

Amazingly, it was somehow still alive. When I think how hard it hit the window and the noise it made to have me hear it so far away, it really was incredible.  It was making a terrible rasping sound when it tried to breathe, and its eyes were about three fourths closed, with its head hanging to the side.  But it was still alive, so I was unsure what to do with it.  I KNEW it would not survive, and that I probably should put it out of its misery and suffering, but I just don't have that killer instinct, so I laid in on the grass next to a flower garden....thinking it could die in peace.  I perched it up, so it was kind of sitting upright, and Scooter and I went in the house.
Derek, my son,  came home about an hour later, and said that Scooter had found this bird on the lawn, and I told him the story, and went out and checked the bird.  I had expected it to be dead, but instead, it was sitting up, but with its eyes still half closed and making a slightly less rasping sound when it breathed.  It also tried to hold onto my glove when I picked it up, to help maintain its balance.

Well, we had a tree stump next to the garden, so I thought at least I would get a photo of it because it was so beautiful, so I put it on the side of the stump, and it managed to hold its balance and perch there.  Other than its eyes being partially closed, it looked beautiful and natural.  So I took some pictures, and went back in the house.

About a half hour later, I went and checked, and, low and behold, its eyes were wide open, and it was breathing quietly.  So I took the picture attached.  I picked it up again, which it did object to in the least and held it for a while, and decided that I would see if it would survive, since evening was coming.  I took it to the middle of the yard, aimed it a pine tree, and gently threw it up in the air, and, wonder of wonders, it flew to the pine tree and sat on the branch!  I was truly amazed that it was able to do that, and I approached it.  It let me get quite close and didn't even try to get away.  It was very protected by pines, so I thought it was a good place to leave it for the evening.

I went out after dark with a flashlight, and looked thoroughly in the pine tree where I had perched it.  I wanted to see if it had moved, but it apparently had recovered enough to go elsewhere, maybe to its own home.  There was no sign of it!

What a headache that poor bird must have had, and what an amazing recovery!  I'm glad I didn't try to end its suffering too soon!

The Canadian Rockies are absolutely beautiful.  The area around Lake Louise, and Banff is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.  This was a smaller lake in a bit more hidden area, and it was incredibly beautiful.