What do astronomers do on their night out?

 Vicki and I went out to see the total lunar eclipse totally obscured by clouds, more or less. Does that make it more than 100% total?

Here are some of our impressions:

Slow learners, or what? The missing photos if you look at the number IDs look like the rest,

Then it rained for necessities of life,

WOB

Why did the chicken cross the road - a fowl joke.

 Vicki and I were out for a drive checking some of our favourite watering holes where there is water! And we found some Greater Yellowlegs on their way north. So a degree of accomplishment. So we decided to try our luck where we had seen a Trumpeter pair in other years but nothing there recently.

We stopped the car and saw nothing. A tinge of sadness. When suddenly, and I do mean suddenly, a white Trumpeter was spotted flying directly towards us/car. It landed not 20m from us and continued toward us swimming! We got out of the car and waited to see what would happen next.

The story of K75.

Now Vicki is standing to my left, to the birds right. So it looks like the bird is going to walk between us?

Can you see "K75" on its  yellow wing tag? Vicki is is off to the right.

And so having been greeted, the bird entered the water and swam away!

I have more photos but I think you get the picture. And to all a pleasant Mothers' Day.

WOB

Almost at the same stage as the red Trilliums were the yellow ones

 I found these right where Vicki said they were . she noticed them the past 2 years. They appear when the reds appear - so a couple of days before the more traditional white Trilliums of this area.

The tree in the first photo left side, is the same one in the bottom photo right side. I have moved about a meter to the left between photos.

WOB

This afternoon while "fishing" in the "valley"

 I had a bite almost immediately:

Then I looked to see if the "red" were running:

So were the white this far along? No.

But almost:

And so to "EL's" clump:

It was alone in its greenery. Still quite a complex after our 2 years of observing.

And then the wise old so and so saw a Pileated! Can you see it?

 

 So maybe there is potential in the wise ol' bird?

Here it is cropped and enlarged for the rest of us:

And I followed with my deaf ears!

WOB

This afternoon near Mariposa

See Postscript, too - Thursday's edition. wob

 

 I went over to the Leacock Museum this afternoon to do some bird watching - like

Gold Finch, Mergansers, Grackles - standing stock still. When an elderly gentleman walked up to me and was startled. "I thought you were one of these silly Leacock figures"_

I answered: "You aren't far off, are you!"

WOB

PS In the words of Victor Borge -  " I don't usually do requests - unless I am asked"

There was a request for a selfie. And then there was the fear I might be turned into one of Leacock's characters if he were alive today. And then the comment about my wardrobe. So I include an unpremeditated photo Vicki took of me more than 2 years ago while I was being encouraged to get a haircut. (Wed March 18, 2020)

It looks like Easter/Oster

 

 

 

Happy Easter to all - WOB

Maundy Thursday

 It was actually March 27, 1997 when I took this photo:

The choir was singing in preparation for Easter  on this evening, Grün Donnerstag

Ostern: Warum heißt es Gründonnerstag?

In July 2021, a person standing near this spot looked to the right and saw and photographed this scene:

 

 The foreground is the flooding - there are roads left and right of the central stream. Note the 2 houses in the centre, where the flood bends to the left. A couple of days later they formed this background:

The houses are behind the 2 men on the right. The guard rails are now above water - they were the 2 lines down the middle in the first, flood scene.

And I think of the Ukraine. Now it is not quite obvious. However, these 2 men are not 20km away from

this flood but are separated by many years from this event - they have defused an unexploded bomb from world war II. And there more in the Ukraine, now.

This is remembrance day for many of us. We are all connected until the red button gets pushed.

Remember birds kill more birds than does sustainable energy devices.

WOB