Turtle Rock

Power of suggestion?

The head -

And the tail -

The body is a little more difficult to get in one image:

Note the ferns growing on "Turtle Island":

There are also many kinds of lichen growing on the turtle.

W O B

Schnee von Gestern

This morning there was some snow still on the roof of the gazebo, and on our dock. The snow was gone by this evening. Still, here are 3 impressions from 8AM:

Then we drove over to an alvar to see some snapping turtle egg shells, their nest, and a freshly hatched "hatchling":

The female snapper layed some 30 eggs in several clutches - this one was either the 4th or 5th clutch - in June, near a compost heap some 15m from a stream:

The turtles had been hatching out over the past week and were checked into this stream:

We hope that they will do well.

W O B

It snowed again, again!

And this time I was ready.

The temperature is still above zero and it may be raining - can see Rama, so don't think it is snowing.

W O B

It snowed again!

I tried to capture the snow on camera but it stopped on me. The winds are 24kmh with gusts over 40kmh. The islands between 2.5 and 6km go from view and then return in just a few seconds. Even the whitecaps on the lake rise and disappear like magic.

So back to Sunday's walk and some trees in Tudhope Park.

I was watching the horizon - the Park does have that slippery slope.

Hard to believe the colours, and the range of reds.

Sunburnt at the top?
Leaves powering the return of sugars to the roots?
Green sentries covering the retreat to Winter?

And now we know: they, the snowbirds, don't take it with them:

I hope to see you next Spring,

W O B

It snowed today here on Atherley Road

Ok, I did not see the 45 flakes, and Vicki did not photograph any of them - and neither of us "smoke" the official Canadian national identity crisis.

I am going to take a walk back along the shores of Lake Couchiching on Sunday. First entry is about ring-billed gulls, I think? Maybe someone can correct this?

Very locally the birds go by the name of "Volker's friend" for no apparent reason(?) I think they show interesting stances and behavior - so I took my chance:

The scene opens looking across Moose Bay toward Tudhope Park. On different walks this week I have counted between 36 gulls and more than 70 - so I am showing only a few individuals. (And maybe 20% of all the images.)

Time to leave for another blog:

Any thoughts of migration?

W O B

An August project: 2015 and 2018.

Verse 1
It began a very long time ago - 1991  - when the family went camping in Quetico. After sorting out initial difficulties we reached Russell Lake and camped across a bay from Chatterton Falls. One day, Vicki and I paddled across to stand on the bank of the river just to watch the rapids when down the river toward us flew a bald eagle. We watched as it banked before us and swooped down on the swirls of water where rapids meet lake. It caught a fish in its talons, rose up and majestically flew back up the river out of sight.

Quetico:
Latitude   48.4791 degrees    
Longitude -91.4478 degrees    
Elevation      374 meters

Verse 2
In 2009 Vicki and I visited Thüringen. I was running the 43.5km race and Vicki took the opportunity to visit several factories and museums displaying porcelan figures . beautiful hand-made/hand painted objects including a bald eagle catching a fish.

Verse 3
In July 2015 my Pentax broke. In August I was in Killarney Provincial Park for the Perseid Meteor shower and the loon count, and no camera. So I started an art project on a park's picnic table. It looked like this:

I borrowed Vicki's camera to take the photos.It gives a new meaning to pixels, doesn't it! However, I couldn't take it with me - or could I?

Verse 4
I bagged it!

And while Vicki was away this August, 2018, I brought out the stones to see what I could do, re-create.

I don't think I did as well. Maybe the lighting? Maybe the ladder?

Anyway, that was one of my August projects.

W O B