Seldom have I seen something that suggests its name so obviously as did this bird this afternoon. Enjoy.
We were between 5m and 10m apart.
WOB at Leacock
Seldom have I seen something that suggests its name so obviously as did this bird this afternoon. Enjoy.
We were between 5m and 10m apart.
WOB at Leacock
I have been trying to decide how to balance my safety with water and air temperatures. I am not so concerned about Sea-Doos now that the locks are closed and the only boats out are rowers, the duck hunters, the fishermen, and the crazy kayakers. Today the water temp was 11.8°C but I don't know at what depth - say 1m? The air temp was 10°C on the balcony and 14°C on the weathernet. It was warmer in the sunshine than in the shade. Winds were light, the lake like a mirror usually. With few exceptions I was close to shore.
Here are some impressions from 2hours, 5Km and 56 photos:
There was some wildlife:
Paddling back I had some objects back lit:
The Moon:
The Kayak:
In the other direction, the lawn north of the condo:
How many more days of Thanksgiving and Remembrance?
WOB of the Orange shirt
Verily, verily I say it was not today but rather September 30th.
And Vicki saw it first:
She saw it from research station cabin. However, you can see part of "The Hilton" at the right side of the photo.
I was closer when I saw it some time later:
I recalled then a phone call from a friend that his wife saw a bear up a tree:
This would have been some 300m west of us.
He said that there had been reports of a bear being seen in Tudhope Park, on the east side of us, also perhaps 300m away. He suggested that it might have crossed our property - did I have any reports or sightings?
So I looked, and sure enough on Mon July 4th around 4AM I had a bear in our Willow tree. Here is the sequence:
Do you get it?
Sirius-ly. I actually was after the aurora and did not react to the bear until after Donald asked me.
What is about the MacDonalds that drive bears up trees?
I think I'll skip the other, missing, days of the week. Maybe I'll look at just what I have in July and August in the Ursus maritimus direction - before I go due south or even west.
(The last 2 photos are from Ken via FB.)
WOB
Well, not exactly, but close - actually not because I did not drink any beer on Tuesday. I did however, take my camera around to Leacock's Brewery Bay. It was a rather dull day but still mild and calm and I was curious as to what I might see - like his boathouse:
The first two photos have the boat house on the other side of the peninsula/drumlin. Then just the railing, the part for the whole as it were. The last 2 are "obvious".
In among these photos I had the feeling I was being "watched". And I was:
Kayaks and canoes are great for getting my camera at eye level with my subject - where cracking of joints and aching knees would have frightened every living thing, especially myself!
Still, this was not the only bird watching the wise old - I was so surprised by this sighting:
I thought all the Osprey had flown away. It was not watching the Heron - it had another spot in mind - among deck chairs on docks.
By the end I thought I had made the heron nervous and so I said good bye to it, back off, and returned across the Bay.
And home:
Why would I leave?
WOB
Am I forcing my luck? A second perfect day with a very light warm breeze from the South. I thought I would go for it and paddle toward Mariposa. It appears that parking spots are in short supply:
And I felt I was not alone with this thought:
Mariposa is nestled between moraines and Lake Couchiching:
On my return I passed this Nine-hole golf course:
Yes, Tom, there are homes on either side of the fairway.
It has an elevated tee at the crest of the hill - I don't know where it is relative to the tree. Does one aim for it? Although the distance tea to green is short, like the old 18th at Aurora, one would get a lot of exercise walking between holes - right back up the hill!
You see it is only a 9-hole course with some of the white flag pins visible. I don't know the course rules about being on the rocks or against the fence or out of bounds. I did see one golf ball in a meter of water - yes, that is right, we measure our water usage with meters - about 20m off shore - maybe the golfer looked up?
A little further on I came across this haunting tree:
And then, as at the end of many a game of golf, a visit to Brewery Bay;
The colours have been brilliant and have lasted so long.
When will this Heron fly South?
And before I knew it I was back home:
WOB