I braved the snow, put up the sun umbrella, bungeed it to the old realtor post/bird feeder hanger and sat under it with my folding chair for 20 minutes, it was too cold! I am a wimp! But beautiful! The Tree Sparrows were very lively! I should take a picture of my set up, occasionally if the snow is wet the umbrella collapses on me, covering me and my chair in it, defeating the purpose but hey, you do what you can in this never ending snow!
The Woodpeckers and the Jays are fun to photograph in the snow, they just go about their business puffed up and ready to eat! I love those huge flakes, and we’ve had enough of them! They plowed the road at 2am this morning, saw the headlights, then were back this afternoon with the big tractor to widen the road as it was getting tight, in preparation for this weekends snow, probably Sunday night, yes, more, another 15-30 cm? I like these plow guys, they think ahead and do an amazing job, they too are running out places to put the snow! Thank you Bosman’s All Weather/Mayfour Contracting for the great job you are doing! The birds, hey, keep feeding us lady!
So it hasn’t been all snow, we had a clear break this morning! We could see the sun, I got last night’s snow shoveled off most of the paths, then, yes…a snow squall hit. Ha! No more shoveling until next week I say!
Those colours pop in the sun! The three wise snowmen were buried this morning so I had to rescue them! They keep feeding their feathered friends!
Although buried in snow up to their necks the three wise snowmen still found time to give out peanuts! Much to the Blue Jay’s delight;)
No new comers. Waiting for the Redpolls and Pine Grosbeaks, hopefully they will show up soon! The Evening Grosbeaks stop by once or twice a week. Sometimes a few, sometimes the entire flock! They are so bright and cheerful, and hilarious to watch landing and taking off!
The Red Bellied Woodpeckers have been busy at the suet block. I hung some colourful corn, thinking the birds might like it but all it did was make the Red bellies very wary, some strange thing hanging near their suet block! The faces they made, like when they check to make sure no Mewberries are about! Ha!
The small flocks of Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos appear after the cats have their walk! Short walks, they are tired of the white stuff too! Shovel me a path Hooman!
I usually throw some seed on the ground for the small feathered guys and the mourning doves to clean up.
They all seem to get along, of course there is a “pecking” order…drum roll…badumptadum, maybe we could learn something from them…Ha!
Sometimes I just sit and watch, OK, mostly I do that and take pictures but sometimes it’s just nice to observe!
I love the Black-capped Chickadees, they just stoically go about their business;)
“More snow?” …Sigh…”What did I do weather God?”
I did have a wonderful encounter with a Barred Owl on the road. I went for a morning walk to check for downed branches after one of the many windy nights…I was spreading sand by hand on the hill as it was sheet ice and looked up out of the corner of my eye and there is was. I’d already walked past it several times flinging my sand/salt here and there!
It was more concerned with the flock of crows that flew by behind me squawking at nothing in particular, it stayed motionless, watching. It had something in it’s sights for lunch!
Such a treat to see these beautiful birds! I watch along the road hoping to see others, or simply this beautiful Barred Owl. I felt so lucky it stayed put as I photographed it:) “Go on your way Hooman!” I did:)
I’ll leave you with our Red Bellied friends. There was some spatting going on last week, not sure if it was territorial or they were simply as cranky as I was with the snow! Ha! It looked like the Mrs. chasing off a Mr. someone was having a bad day! We all get those occasionally! Saludos amigos! Fingers crossed we won’t be battling gigantic mounds of snow!
Jan. 14th-It was shiny out there this particular morning…for now…it won’t last! 5cm, 10cm, 20 cm? or more? We’ll see:)
Sometimes it fools you January…thaws, melts, water running, icicles, shiny lake surfaces…then…snow, and cold, real cold, into the -20-30’s Celsius cold, then rain, or freezing rain…sigh, an old fashioned Winter, I was getting used to global warming, what happened? If I hear polar vortex once more I will scream, will anyone hear me? Ha! Did you know snow works as a sound barrier? Basically, snow absorbs sound, so when a fresh blanket of snow covers the landscape, it absorbs many of the sound waves, making it seem quieter outside, so you probably won’t hear me screaming;)
I’ve given up counting the days it has snowed so far, it seems they call for a few centimeters/inches and you go out and there is 20cm/8″ that have fallen…it apparently is not an exact science! How my shoveling muscles have improved!
I couldn’t see the other side of the lake yesterday during the heavier snow, lake effect? It’s well over the top of my boots and of course you fall down in it, oops, ice underneath, at least it’s soft to land on;) I shoveled my path down to the canoe, cleaned off the steps, was hoping to get some aurora shots…not. Clouds moved in when I detected a slight whiff of pink on the Northern horizon.
Had to check on my friend the little red canoe after that very cold start to a morning, coldest this year, so far at -25°. Some four legged creature had been out for an early morning stroll!:)
The few days of sun we have had are glorious! It helps! My bird photography assistants have not been impressed with the white stuff….
Unless it’s shoveled, they won’t leave the alcove! Groot has been employed by the Three Wise Snowmen as security and muscle, he even has his own sleigh to sit on! The Wise Snowmen were mugged by a group of mafia/cartel squirrels, several snowmen were thrown to the ground, thankfully no more chips and scrapes than they already have from their many adventures. Groot will also be checking for extorsion he said! The Chickadees are wary but can’t protect their friends! No squirrels are allowed near!
When the temperatures have reached a survivable level I have walked out the road to check the mail. Between the melts, ice, freezing rain and fresh snow it’s been a bit treacherous. Ice cleats most days, or if you stick to the middle where the tire tracks haven’t compacted it, you’re less likely to go for a spin…er kerthump!
It never ceases to amaze me the quiet…around the house the sound of bird chatter is never ending, out there…nothing…maybe some wind in the trees, or a falling branch, the faraway crunch sound of the plow on Narrows Lock Road…but mostly quiet. I came across a deer feeding along the road, she moved into the forest when she saw me. Stopped, and watched as I walked by. I noticed a birds nest swaying in the breeze, exposed now that the leaves were gone. Intricately woven out of bark. Beautiful!
I have been watching this old maple, it has three trunks left, a 4th is one the ground, iNaturalist came up with a list of possibilities but Oyster Mushroom was at the top?! These are quite recent, the last month. I imagine it will soon cover the entire trunk, the 4th branch, long since downed, I think these are turkey tail, they formed last Summer. The little wonders out there:) Then there are our visitors, freezing rain, snow or shine, someone hire these guys! They can’t help but make you smile:)
♫♪♫ What goes up…♫♪♫ Everyone sing along! Straight up the tree, then time for a quick bath! ♪♫♪…Must come down…♫♪♫♫♪♫ Spinning Wheel got to go ’round…♫♪♫♫♪♫ Talkin’ ’bout your troubles, it’s a cryin’ sin..♪♫♪ “Like really…go on!” ♪♫♪ Ride a painted pony, let the Spinning Wheel spin…♪♫♪ “I’m still hungry!”
Mike disturbed this lovely creature cleaning up the compost as he was spreading sand. When he was done I sat outside and watched the show;) These beautiful raccoons are always welcome here as the clean up crew! If it’s not them it’s the fox, or a flock of crows or ravens, we see them carrying off food to eat. We here the coyotes howl, they stop by as well. The only nuisance animals I recognize regularly are humans;)
Life in the country, it’s about coexisting. Even with the humans..;) Hahahahaha!
It must be completely Canadian to always talk about the weather! It never ceases to amaze me we can go from this: Dec 28th…Freezing rain warning…Sun glorious sun this morning, hoping there isn’t a price to pay the weather Gods;) Generator set, check, gasoline, check, chainsaw, check, wine, check;)…it could be a long day tomorrow! Hopefully the impending ice storm goes easy on us or it will be a long walk out clearing the road as we go! Life is an adventure, and yes Rocket, we have lots of cat food;)
To this: Luckily we dodged the freezing rain bullet, I was having flashbacks to 1998, enough stress in the news out there without those ice storm warnings again! I was happy for it to be mostly rain and warmer temperatures! No trees down on the road!
to this…What canoe? Where? HOW much more snow are you saying?
Ah…January…how many more days to go? Ha! I am in desperate need of a beautiful sunrise where I don’t take my life into my own hands going down the stairs at dawn…Is it too much to ask for? Ha! I’m waiting. Stay tuned for the happy feathery things we call birds, both large! and small! If you want to visit, bring your snow shovel;) I promise not to sneeze on you, we’re getting over a bit of a cold but we’re good now! Saludos amigos!
It was a bit of a chilly start to the morning at -19° but the colour was worth the walk down to the canoe!
What to do, what to do. It’s one of those months, you can make plans, but depending on the weather, temperature or general malaise you feel, things might go sideways, up, or down, or just not happen at all. That’s not even taking into account world affairs and the idiots out there creating anxiety everywhere. Enough…had to find something to occupy my troubled (most of the time actually) mind. Soap bubbles…yup…soap bubbles.
Such cool patterns-ISO 400 F16 1/640 sec at 70mm background removed in Adobe camera RAW
Who knew what you can do with a cup of warm water, two tablespoons of sugar, 2 T of corn syrup and 2 T of dish soap, if only dish soap tasted like creme caramel…or beer, maybe I should try this with beer, thanks for the idea Paul! Cool it all down by setting it outside in the frigid temperatures, get a straw, I found a packet of glass ones at the $ store, and practice blowing bubbles. It took some practice…
I have now officially had my mouth washed out with soap…it was a long time coming and many may have wanted to do this to me in my youth but now it was self inflicted;) Blowing gentle little bubbles that don’t pop when you try to deposit them on a snowy railing is actually harder than it looks! For me anyway! Optimum temperature is -12° a lovely lady at the photo club told me, showing me photos of her beautiful frozen bubbles, amazing Wendy!! I CAN do this! Ha!
The trick is getting that backlighting!
So, WTF you are thinking? What the fart guys, or I’ll get that soap mixture out! You blow the bubble gently out the straw and place it on some soft snow and it freezes! Very quickly I might add. You need to be prepared because the working conditions are Siberian! In the beginning there is only a small bit of pattern but it quickly covers the bubble. Some pop quite quickly, other stay for hours depending on the conditions. Best, no wind, no large snow flakes to land on them and pop them. No chickadees coming to in to check them out either! Sun, you need sun, I tried the LED flashlight with little luck. It all has to come together to make it just right!
Now, to get someone to invent a better tasting soap;) I shall wander back to Dollarama this week and look for a bubble wand to decrease my soapy water intake given the coming forecast temperatures will leave me lots of time to practice this art!
When Mother Nature gives you -12°C days, well, you take them on! Soap ice bubbles ISO 3200 62mm (24-70 zoom) F18 1/1250 sec. Next time tripod, macro tubes and a beautiful assistant to blow bubbles;) Ha!
So, next time, maybe the tripod, although it doesn’t let me get close enough to the railing, I inquired with my beautiful assistant to assist with bubble blowing and got a flat “NO!” OK, we can do this singlehanded, smart man, damn it’s cold out there! I have many more ideas, cookie cutters for different shapes, different branches, soft piles of cat hair? Hey! Not sure they would like the cold either, given they have spent the last few weeks in front of the woodstove with little or no desire to move away from it. Maybe I could learn something here…Hmmmm….Stay tuned, we have birds, snow covered canoes, promises of of Aurora again tonight, last night was a bust here as the clouds moved over…ah, January…how many more days?
Someone has his priorities straight today;) -13.1° C and snowing heavily…He is Rocket, this is the way;)
“Whaddya mean we have to snow blow AGAIN?”…the snow novelty has worn off with everyone;)
First aliens with BO and now more snow? I told him we didn’t know how long it had been since the peaceful dude had a shower!
When one alien meets another….😉
Gamora has the best idea…run Forrest run!
As long as the driveway is cleared and packed we might get some brave cats venturing out…they slink over to the sleigh under the picnic table to watch the birds, out of the snow. They wander out to the RV and in they go, sitting in the window, surveying their kingdom. I’m working on one of them riding the toboggan down the hill with me…unsuccessful so far! Ha! I wonder why!
When the conditions are just right, not too cold, not too windy, paths cleared…let the fun begin!
The games involve a chase, and a race, or both;)
Mike has been noted to invoke “Snowball protocol” if things get rough!
I think I may have dressage cat here? This is an extended trot for sure!
Do I have a dressage cat? This looks like an extended trot to me! Ha! 🙂 Gamora
What fun with these furry beasts!
The older Jedi Groot has to teach his young Padwan Rocket the ways…
The fact these large boys can move as fast as they do is astonishing! Ha! The sprinter Gamora is a different story, the boys don’t stand a chance in the race around the house to the back sliding door, she holds all the speed records! These guys, never a dull moment!
For now, they wait for Spring, for frogs and chipmunks, squirrels and birds to watch and a warm lawn to lie on, everything nice in their cat world. As do we on these cold Winter days:) May every cat be warm and have a full tummy, be safe and healthy, our thoughts with those who are struggling with the sick, or elderly felines, life isn’t always fair damnit!
Happy Cat, I mean, Boxing Day to all from the Mewberries and us!
Having just escaped the holiday madness that sends Perth streets and parking lots into a standstill I can breathe;) Ha! I swear every year not to go into town, sigh, there is always something I have forgotten;) I wasn’t flipping the peace sign much…or at all! It was a reverse peace sign;) It’s OK if you swear in Spanish or German right? OK, be nice Pamela, everyone is in the same boat here:) Ha! We cleared the rest of the snow we didn’t get at late yesterday, plow folks came last night and did an outstanding job, we love this new driver, whoever she/he is:) Now the sun is finally peeking out! Much better!
The road is so quiet now, no bird song, they must all be at the feeders! I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and stopped, a Barred owl flew past silently and into another tree where it continued to look for voles or mice by the swamp. I was ignored:) Happily!
Always a treat to see one of these beautiful owls along the road during my walk. Caught it changing from one tree to another otherwise I never would have seen it:) it ignored me as I walked by, intent on listening for lunch😁 Barred Owl
It’s been so up and down this last few weeks, cold, snow, rain, no snow, welcome to Canada:) I did take the opportunity to go check out our neighbours’ small waterfall behind a fallen tree as I can hear it from the house, it was running after the temperatures hit 10° C. That was glorious! Only rubber boots required!
A chance to play with the Neutral Density filter! Less light, longer exposures, and bubbles! How can anyone resist bubbles and reflections! Not me!
What a difference 5 days makes…Dec 12th and Dec 19th…
We were almost liquid again, until yesterday when it stated to come down, those big huge flakes! So close to almost having those lake reflections again! No prints on the ice for a few days but the road looked like a deer and coyote super highway! They’ll be back to using the lake again soon! Whoever ordered a White Christmas, the pox on you! Ha!
From two mornings ago, deer crossing the lake
We had a hungry visitor to the compost pile, I was ignored as the beautiful little raccoon rummaged through the scraps, the ravens had already been there. The oranges were delicious it claimed.
So much life, we are so fortunate to live with all these creatures.
I was excited to see the Evening Grosbeak flock make a few return visits! From seeds to the sumac bushes, they seem to make the rounds. Such brilliant colour and their call, I can tell exactly when they are here, half mewl, half song ( listen here!) really distinctive!
The woodpeckers have been busy, so much to eat and stash away! They have several holes, usually old knotholes, they use for seed cracking! Yes, there is a pecking order;) Ha! Red Bellied, Hairy, then Downy domination by pure size and attitude!
Sometimes they are just goofy, a yawn, a big gulp…I’m not sure! She is by the knothole used for opening seeds.
I think the Blue Jays are relieved I moved the peaceful alien. So funny their reactions, but he/she/it is living in our wreath to welcome all or any visitors, wherever they might be from:)
The Chickadees could have cared less, “Hey dude, peace to you as well!” but the Jays…oh no…every advance towards the peanuts was special forces!
I was being watched and judged;) Ha!
“What in THE world is that photographer up to now? Who did she invite to out table?”“I need to get a closer look! It’s green!”
They are just TOO much fun! It’s not all jays, we have our LBB’s and LGB’s as well. Little brown birds/little gray birds;) oops, and LYB’s!
The last few mornings have been too cold and windy to really spend much time sitting, maybe tomorrow, a nice Christmas present, sun and no wind please! We’ll catch up with the Mewberries next week, not impressed by the weather I might add! Ha! I’ll leave you with a beautiful sunrise and our resident alien, looking forward to more of these, -3° sunrises, not aliens, just yet anyway! Happiest of holidays to everyone-Joyeux Noël-Feliz Navidad-Frohe Weihnachten-Happy Yule-May the force be with you!
Morning light and ice…December 1stDecember 12th…we’re up to 12″ of snow now!
Well, we went from a bit of snow, to Holy Jeezus mother of Murphy what is this? -1° to -22.9° Celsius! Like a rollercoaster of weather!
We had open water, beautiful moonrises and swans flying by, now the abominable snowman is out there somewhere!
Mother Nature is having a chuckle, it was dry she says, had to make up for that lack of rain! But snow? really? I should bite my tongue as we may be in the rain later this week. Halfway through the month and I feel like we are halfway through Winter…OK, I’m dreaming, sigh, just dreaming!
A balmy -13°C this morning…with sun! Warming up now! Deer prints on the ice and I love that weird concentric hole out in front with circles at different spacings spreading out, maybe an otter will pop up! Ice is starting to sink in places, weight of the snow I’m sure and not much ice!
The sun has come out, a few times…0_0…
We had a spectacular Sunrise the morning of the 9th! When I see colour like this when I wake up I’m pretty quick to jump out of bed, I started moving a bit more slowly when I saw the outside temperature…-20.9°…F***it! No socks, boots, one jacket, the colour fades so quickly you can’t dawdle finding socks! I sat down on the edge of the dock by the rocks, not an angle I usually use but trying to get that cotton candy sky…I warmed up hoofing it back up the steps at record speed;)
It has been so sparkly! That shiny crisp snow, dry and fluffy, thankfully easier to shovel! I’ve tried to keep the steps clear down to the canoe, in case we had another sunrise like this, and a path around the house for the Mewberries!
..and it’s been those big flakes, huge fluffy flakes. I should have been out trying to photograph them…my Jackson Pollock Ice formations were enough! We headed down to the barn one Sunday in the light fluffy stuff…thinking, not much is forecast…sigh…
We didn’t dawdle but I did get Dusty all snow covered along with the donkeys. I was having a hard time focusing the flakes were so big, autofocus wasn’t working, my hands were so cold, they weren’t working either…Winter:)
“Whaddya mean there’s NO TREATS! REALLY??? Nothing? Oh, you were just kidding me, Ha!” The many faces of Dusty:)
Alice felt the same….
..and it’s NOT Winter yet! Sigh…Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll catch up with snow covered birds and cats and aliens…;) Ha! Yes, it’s an Alien, who thought that he was Canadian, but due to his skimpy clothing, probably Bahamian?” Who knew so much rhymed with alien;) Stay tuned!
I guess I shouldn’t have told the little red canoe the comments the Camera Club president made about my photo of it…it was acrimonious! “I am not a prop!” it exclaimed. You didn’t show the photo with my dirty bottom it asked?! Of course not I told it this morning, it is lovely and snow covered now! It is SO sensitive! Ha!
So sensitive these canoes. Sure it says, I hang about the dock a lot, sometimes full of water. I don’t drink or do drugs (can’t vouch for the photographer though! ;)..Ha!) maybe I could work harder but the photographer lady had a hard Summer, damn hip bursitis, getting in and out was a challenge, trust me, I saw her! But hey, I’m not just a pretty face, canoe. You just don’t get to see me working! The photographer always has her big lens, so you don’t get to see me gracefully moving along, slowly following the Loons!
We’ve watched them from birth to grown up, awkward encounters, fish delivery and Loon-ercising…exercise for loons;)…and what about my stealth gliding? I’ve shown the photographer a doe sleeping in the shade on a hot summer afternoon, and eating greens from the lake when all the grass was dry!
What about all the bugs I’ve shown her? Getting up close and personal with the lily pads! They brush my bottom! I do it for her!
What about those big birds?! The ones up in the pines. I have to go into stealth mode and slowly drift over to them so she can get the shot! Not easy work I tell you!
…and all those other things in the lake with me! Yup, I have to take her to them as well! Snakes! Beavers! Muskrats! Thankfully there are no Cthulhu’s in the lake or she’d have me looking for them as well!
So yeah, I work pretty hard, prop my ass! I’ve given her to some award winning shots! The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority chose me, the beautiful Little Red Canoe to grace their cover of their 2026 Calendar and be Mr. July, and I took that photographer lady to get the shot for August! Cottage Life included me in their calendar last year as well! I’m a pro! Not a prop;)
You know, she does take her shorter lens with her sometimes as we paddle around the lake. The islands are my favourite. There used to be an Osprey nest on one of them but not this year. I have to admit I don’t like the feel of lily pads scraping my bottom and the photographer lady always makes sure I don’t hit any rocks!
Did I mention I take her out to see the swans as well? They are pretty impressive, especially in the Fall with those reflections!
Did I mention my least favourite activity? Yes, fishing. They put those fish in me! Ugh! Scales, guts, blood! Worms! The smell! They even take a furry feline along as a fishing guide! He doesn’t even share a tip with me! Cheapo!
So, I’ve said my piece. I hope for a bit more respect in the future, my photographer friend loves me dearly and I get Spring spa treatments. My bottom and sides get a rub down and wax. My wooden trusses get sanded and varnished, I even get new mooring lines! It’s pretty sweet, and for that, I try to do my best poses for her when she can’t take me away from the dock, so call me a poser, not a prop. I love my job at life at the lake! She promises she’ll never trade me in for one of those slim sexy kayaks!
Poser, not prop;)
Did I mention the pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow, yeah, that’s me:)
What can I say? I’m a fabulous Little Red Canoe:) I’ll leave you with my last wet bottom shot of the year, I’m on the dock now, turned over and I’ll get back to you in the Spring for another year of adventures! You can admire my bottom all Winter when it isn’t covered in snow! Sweet! Saludos amigos!
It’s been a wild November…can’t say I’m unhappy to see it go! I just wasn’t expecting Winter, so soon…sigh…tropical girl here. Not that it isn’t amazingly beautiful! It is! “It’s cold!” Gamora is yelling at me! “COLD!” We feel the same:) I have been fighting a nasty cold since the beginning of the month, can’t kick that cough but slowly getting better, puts a damper on things! This snow thing is becoming a regular November happening!
“I ordered sunshine Hüman! Heads will roll!” Ha!
They make me smile any time of day, except maybe at 4 am when Groot arrives, shaking the bed as he jumps up on it! A bit early for treats, damn he’s a big boy, “Oops, did I step on your bladder Hüman? You must now get up!” Ha!
It seems the weather has been on a rollercoaster ride of weird! Frost, fog, more frost, hoar frost, OK that was wild!
Ground frost forms when the air is still and cold, usually on clear winter nights. Water vapour in the air condenses on solid surfaces, and as the surface temperature drops below 0°C, ice crystals form.
Hoar frost requires slightly different conditions. It forms when the water vapour in the air comes into contact with solid surfaces that are already below freezing point. Ice crystals form immediately, and the ice continues to grow as more water vapour is frozen. On a still night, it can grow well on tree branches, where the surface temperature is unlikely to rise above zero for several hours.
Not snow, but heavy hoar frost around the lake this morning…and ICE 0_0
Icy beauty covering everything with spikes and crystals!
Such delicate creations!
Before the fog lifted in the morning….even the canoe had ice crystals on it! Note to self, do not try to kick frozen raccoon poop off the steps, it didn’t budge, duh! I think I might have broken my big toe…Ha! and ouch!! It’s turned an interesting shade of purple that toe…;)
My buddy the otter was out on the ice, and a lone swan swan by, first time seeing just one….I received a gentle honk as it swam away.
We drove into Carleton Place to the Little German Bakery for bread (and other tasty goodies) and the tree tops were covered in crystals! Like an ice fog had settled on everything!
Everywhere you looked, a white misting of ice! We drove back through Smiths Falls so I could pick up my 2026 Calendars and stopped to get a bite to eat at Hanks Fries and BBQ, I wandered off to take photos while Mike ordered. So many delicate patterns!
We had a touch of sun on the treetops as we turned heading home on the Narrows Lock Road.
Something magical when the sun hits that ice!
We haven’t had a lot of sun this month it seems, maybe typical for November but it somehow seems bleaker. Maybe just not ready for Winter and all that ice forming in the bay!
Last weekend I saw the “fish entrails/scales poop perpetrator” swimming towards the dock and sneakily made my way down to the steps halfway to spy on him/her! It’s always such a treat watching it! How quickly an otter can tear apart a fish, head and all, very impressive. They have some serious webbed murder mittens, those claws! They are happy with the new ice shelfs, places to perch and eat!
I watched a pair of Trumpeter swans and their only cygnet swimming around the ice. It is always special seeing these beautiful birds. We also had a small flock of Evening grosbeaks stop by for a quick snack. Only the 2nd time I’ve seen them here!
Such a shock of yellow! A neighbour not far as the crow flies has them every day! He must put out fancier seeds! Ha! It was odd they were already feeding on the sumacs, must not be too much out there this year to eat with the drought all summer:(
…and when mother nature gives you snow what do you do? Put up the shade umbrella, get the deck chair, have a seat and photograph the birds of course! Those Blue jays work for peanuts! It’s all fine and well until the shade umbrella collapses under the weight of the snow showering you with wet slush as it slides off, isn’t life an adventure;) Ha!
Hard to resist these guys! Next years Christmas cards, maybe! Ha!
The chickadees are always ready to pose!
It hasn’t been ALL snow, thankfully! I was happy to see the male Red Bellied Woodpecker show up! He’s been gone awhile! The Hairy and Downy woodpeckers wait for me in the morning to put the suet block out, I can almost touch them they hang around so close to me! Apparently I need supervision;)
When it wasn’t snowing or frosting, one morning we woke up to a thick fog. No sign of the lake on the other side. It was eerie down at the canoe, it looked like it was floating on the clouds, no horizon to be seen anywhere! Mystical!
The cats were not too sure about this “foggy” stuff but upon realizing there was no white stuff involved to step in were happy to wander out!
Wednesday’s foggy morning-Mike and Rocket
The fresh days get Groot going! There are leaves to chase! The perimeter must be checked and sniffed! One must leave their calling card on various bushes to let the raccoon and fox know who is in charge;)
So much fun watching these guys! Groot was under the table today as I watched the chickadees…not a fun day he said after a bit, time to go in until this nonsense snow stops! He’s not the best photographers helper, insisting on checking up on the Blue Jays and Chickadees so they were quite happy to see him go in!
It’s a winter wonderland out there and not as much snow as they’d forecast, halle-f-ing lujah! Praise be to the Winter Snow Gods for sparing us this weekend! Could it be Boreas? The Greek god of the cold north wind and the bringer of winter. His name meant “North Wind” or “Devouring One”. His name gives rise to the adjective “boreal” or Marzanna, Slavic Goddess of Winter, Death, and Rebirth…or Itztlacoliuhqui, deified personification of winter-as-death in Aztecan mythology? I’ll say a prayer to them all!
In the meantime, I’ll try to enjoy the outdoors a bit more…the cats have other ideas….
Stoke up that stove and get it warm again Hüman!! NOW! They were not impressed we were out more than half the day at the barn, then out AGAIN, at a lovely friends 65th Birthday party, that was wonderful Chris! Thank you!
So I didn’t get a chance to visit much with the donkeys, stall cleaning and a quick check of Dusty, tick removal time, before I was out of energy! Did I mention I hate ticks for the millionth time? It warmed up enough for them to come out…0_0…Mike pulled one off my back..arghhhh!!!! Hopefully next week my batteries will be fully charged:) Saludos amigos. Looking forward to the sun tomorrow! Yeah!
“Who’s idea of an f*ing joke was this, this morning???” Asked the cats, they are such potty mouths! Now they want to schedule talks with their Union Rep…not in their contract they said this morning! Not in November!
The cats went out into the alcove, looked out…looked at me, fix it human…I explained it was out of my powers, they asked to go back in! Not having ANY of this in November! Sigh….even the birds looked somewhat aghast! Plus I’ve been fighting the wicked cold going around, these colds seem to like me…argh! Maybe I dodged so many as a child in the tropics I just have to catch up! I’m over fighting the snot demons and the wicked cough but two weeks of little sleep will take more time to recover from! Mike, three days, fine…not fair;) Ha!
When it started snowing again…of course I had to go down to the canoe;) Playing with the F-stop to try to make the snowflakes stand out:) Now I am leaning over the edge of the dock here with camera held even lower to get an interesting angle, my feet and legs are wrapped around the top and between the arms of the swim ladder so I don’t fall in…hopefully I was thinking! The low lake level has made it a wee bit tougher! Long Lake is making me work for it! Ha! I’ll bring the camera strap next time;) I’m always working on different angles. I love the slightly blurred background but the canoe and dock are mostly in focus. Timing, experimenting, having fun. If at first I don’t succeed, or fall into the lake, I will try again;) All part of the learning process:) ISO 2000 F 2.8 24mm 1/5000 sec.
Tomorrow’s mission, if I care to accept it…bail out the canoe;) or would that be deslush it!
There is so much I take into account when taking a picture, for the 1000th time of this red canoe.
Then the aurora! Holy Toledo! As Corporal Klinger would say! We waited for darkness and the clouds to part, we were supposed to get an opening! We did to the West! Damn! I ordered no clouds and red and green streaks to the NE! I need to talk to the Aurora and Cloud Gods!
We had a bit of clearing looking towards Perth, the lights lit up the clouds but the colour was really happening looking West. Those oranges and reds! Subtle at first, then brighter…then more clouds…
It never ceases to take my breath away. The cold and my cough finally chased me in! I love those reflections in the lake!
At least hunting season is done…I can venture out on the road again without fear of getting shot;) Ha! Hopefully! 0_0! Ha! No deer sightings, lots of bangs, only one a-hole so all in all, not too bad! I sat bird watching a bit. Just not up to too much outside shenanigans!
With the snow I thought it might be ornament time…the jays were not impressed as usual with my free collection from the reuse center at the dump! They were too pretty and blue to pass up! Probably the only ornaments I’ll put up this year!
Our usual gang of feathered friends have been about. We had some kind of sparrow one morning, Chipping? Song? I couldn’t get a good look. I try to keep the feeders full when the weather takes a turn for the worst. The Chickadees keep me busy laughing!
We weren’t sure we’d make it out the road after the first snowfall. They were calling for up to 20cm-8″…0_0…yikes, but we only got about 4″ thankfully. NO snow tires yet but the Alfa was fine with all wheel drive! The road was beautiful…only deer and coyote tracks.
The otters had a party on the dock judging by the amount of fish scales and entrails they left for me;) I shoveled the dock off and especially the gangplank (? Ramp, nah, I like gangplank!) due to it’s steep angle right now (with the low water levels) when I heard the aurora might happen so I wouldn’t take a misstep in the dark wrestling the tripod and camera and end up swimming;) Turns out you didn’t even need a flashlight to see your way around the sky was so bright! It’s just something you have to experience, hard to describe those colours and shifting shapes.
In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out with the feathered inhabitants, looking for new arrivals.
We had a flock of Hooded Mergansers swimming about, they flew away when a juvenile eagle made a low pass, just caught a pair of them taking off. This morning, the Common Mergansers have been patrolling the lake! Females yesterday, males today. I’ll sneak down if we get some more sun tomorrow! Hopefully we’ll be back to normal November temperatures to clean up a few projects, and “NO MORE SNOW!” says the cats!
I’ll leave you with the beautiful reflections of the aurora. We’re still at solar maximum so we might get a few more shots of this magic in our direction! Hope so! Fingers crossed I’ll be up to photographing the donkeys and Dusty next trip to the barn cold free! Those fuzzy ears get me every time! Saludos amigos! Stay warm! Keep looking up!
Incoming clouds from the East and the lights of Perth reflected in the clouds to the North (left) ISO 2000 at 24mm 2.5 sec F 2.8
Mike tapped me on the shoulder and said “Look!” The sun had peaked out just before setting and was hitting the treetops! Magical! The late light makes it look like there are so many leaves left, there aren’t! Just the glow of the sun.
But no snow yet! Ha! I should bite my tongue! It’s been cloudy skies and lots of bailing out the canoe. I need to take the swim ladder out…soon! When it warms up, a bit, if it does!
It’s hard getting motivated unless I see some colour! Hats are out, mittens are out, socks are being worn…sigh…time to get the Winter boots out as well! Well, maybe not quite yet!
Watching the the Mewberries is an amusement and adventure of colour in itself! Lot’s of orange and light orange and white and orange, and pink noses! There are still a few chipmunks circling, looking for seed as well as the LBB’s that are fun to stalk and chase! Mostly it’s just sitting, and watching, maybe I learned that from them, or them from me!
The Blue Jays are SO careful! Every time I put out a new dish or something different there is a great deal of studying and speculating as to what my latest invention is for? A bluejay death trap? Never! They don’t believe a word I say and have to always check for themselves! Ha!
When the coast is clear the word goes out! Special Forces have checked it over, all clear! Proceed to Project Clean Out the peanuts and knock over all the dishes! Every time! The chickadees, never! In for a seed, or drink, no hesitation!
I’m trying to get a photo of our one sad lonely grackle with no tail. He may be spending the Winter. He can’t fly far! Lot’s of short jumps! Hopefully the blue jays will teach him the ropes! The Doves are not very much help, poking about on the ground, chasing each other way! The Nuthatches are just busy posing…and eating, the Purple Finches and Goldfinches may not be much help either!
I am glad we have these feathered friends here to keep me busy! Way more fun than cleaning, or vacuuming, or tearing down the old deck that is rotting…Ha!
Now Rocket says he can help out…;) NOT! Ha! They do enjoy the game of chase!
They keep wandering off into the tall grass, finding ticks, and bringing them back. They need better friends I keep telling them! It’s been an awful Fall for the ticks. I’ve lost count of my bites, just casually feeling like something is on you and reaching over your shoulder and pulling off one of these creatures sours ones day, or evening!…and the itch…ARGH!!!! Not to mention what can go with those bites, Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis to name a few….Mike and I can testify that you don’t want to get any of these! Did you know there are around 40 species of ticks in Canada which range in size from a pinhead to a dime. Ticks are present across Canada, living in wooded areas, tall grasses, and under leaf litter. They become active at 4⁰C and above, year-round, and their full life-cycle can last up to three years. NOOOOOO! Here are some of the ticks in Ontario.
It’s not often I await with happiness hard freezes and cold weather…just saying….
Back to colour!
Incoming Earth Shadow….
Now to think of more pleasant things! Flat calm evenings with the incoming earth shadow. Just before sunset, a low, flat, dark blueish purpley pink (that covers it right?) band rises up from the eastern horizon. This is the earth’s shadow and it stretches for nearly 180°. The sky’s strong color and brightness near sunset begin with small particles in the relatively thick lower atmosphere being illuminated by direct sunlight. Very cool!
…and these Fall mornings are so beautiful. You never know how the clouds will be lit, or contrails from planes, if it will fade, or become more intense…you have to go look, and sit and watch the mists move!
I think I found the cover shot for the “Little Red Canoe 2026″…Ha! There was chilly, slippery frost on the steps! So why we may be saying goodbye to our leaf colour and the trees will go gray, we will still have these amazing colours to reflect on as the days grow shorter.
Time get another paddle in before hunting season has everything scrambling with the sound of gunshots. I may resort to the RV airhorn if we see orange too close to the house;) One must do what one has to do;) It’s time to work on Canoe and Bird calendars! Better late than never;)
I’ll catch up after the haute couture season of camouflage and pumpkin orange comes to an end and I can walk our road without being in danger of being mistaken for a deer by 80+ year old hunters who don’t hear well, or see either perhaps? I think I will leave that Halloween antler or turkey feather hat at home;)
Saludos amigos!
A flock of Wild Turkeys wandered through the yard. We don’t see them often! Wait…American Thanksgiving is coming! Run Turkeys RUN!!!! hahahahaha!
I walked down to the canoe to bail it out before it sank yesterday. I was hoping the swans would swim over but not this morning. A single pair with one cygnet. I was admiring the raindrops on the maple leaf. The canoe was 2/3’ds full, it took awhile! Damn it was cold! It’s starting to look bare, the wind and rain shook the leaves off the trees. 2.75″ of rain, 70mm…it came exactly as we needed it, not too torrential, and the ground swallowed it up!
The Mewberries were not impressed. They asked to go out several times. Groot hunched under the picnic table…sad cats! I told them the sun would be back, eventually!
I was hoping the swans would swim a bit closer but no, they left padding up the lake. No sign of the Loon youngsters either. Mother was looking like she’d had enough of them last week! Ha!
She ducked out a few times only to be found later!
The reflections from the remaining leaves were so beautiful on the lake as she popped up, thinking she had evaded the poking one!
He/she found her. If it wasn’t an incoming submersible juvenile Loon it was a poke, or a pull on her feathers! I always love to watch this interaction:) She will be gone soon leaving the two juveniles to fend for themselves.
A tender moment, or a poke for fish, ha, with one of her juveniles. She’ll be leaving them to fend for themselves soon. Last of the bright Fall colour reflections!
The locals are enjoying the feeders and having fun with the pretty props! Even Groot had to examine them! I did a Backyard Bird Photography talk for the Lanark County Camera Club last week, I hope the participants enjoyed it as much as I did! The talk was mostly about using the colour you have in the background, and using branches, sticks, berries and dishes to create different atmospheres. They are such nice people! I hope I gave them some ideas to help pass the Winter! I will work again for Northern Nuggets Linda! Ha! Thank you:) The Chickadees were most cooperative at the Drummond Center, a lone Blue Jay felt we couldn’t be trusted..at all! Ha!
The Goldfinches are out in full force as well as the Purple Finches. The White Throated sparrows have moved on, no chipping sparrows here yet! The Blue Jays wait for their peanut delivery each morning! When the sun is out those yellows pop!
I’m back to sitting and waiting for the Red Bellied Woodpecker to appear! I hear her before I see her! Still only the female around, the juveniles and male are gone. The Woodpeckers always provide such colour. Harder with the cloudy skies but we did a have a bit of sun to lighten things up!
I looked up from the table and caught a flash of white, large bird! The Bald Eagle! I ran outside hoping it would circle around but it kept going towards the East. Such amazing birds!
That rain though, so needed, so welcome! I caught a few puddles before it all sank in! So many colours and reflections!
I spotted a very sad Shaggy mane mushroom as I was walking up the hill, a bit past it’s prime but nice to see some fungi! There are a few spots with turkey tail and I saw some Birch Polypore as well. The earth tones in the fallen leaves were so beautiful!
There are still a few leaves on the oaks and birches. The patches of colour are still there in spots! Yellows and oranges among the bare trunks, the paper and silver birches are so beautiful!
Mike talked me into going out to photograph the Comet Lemmon last week. I did my best. It was hard trying to focus on it. Mike was looking through the binoculars to see it, a smudge in the sky without them but I was impressed with the colour! Green! I tried focusing on the moon to the left and that helped but I was probably zoomed in too far at 600mm, tripod was wiggling a bit in the wind maybe as well. 4 secounds and the stars were trailing but it turned out OK. I was cold, and maybe a bit cranky! Ha!
The wonders that surround us:)
We are still getting a few morning mists but as the lake water cools it will slow down. Groot was quite incensed the other morning when I popped down quickly, no longer bathrobe photography, we are onto hat and mittens! Ha!
That look! WHAT! No treatos before you go down?? He’ll be contacting his Cat Union rep soon!
I made sure I had a charged battery this morning before I went down;) Ha! It was a beauty! I loved the contrail being lit up and reflected!
I’ll catch up with the Mewberries later and more mists and storms and some Fall vistas as the sun hits the top of the yellow and orange treetops across the lake. It’s spectacular! Time to go sit in front of the woodstove! We might reach 5° C today…It will be two weeks of no walking the road as deer hunting season starts Monday…:( May it rain, may it pour! Ha! Saludos amigos! I’ll leave you with my flower ruffed tiger cub;)
Some lions have ruffs of fur, this tiger cub has a flower ruff;) Ha!
When we first stopped at this lovely farm along the Narrows Lock Road before Crosby for eggs one Sunday morning, we were so happy to meet not only a very cool couple, Jen and Daniel (fans of Star Wars, Star Trek, X Files…how could you ever go wrong with this combination?! Ha!) but a farm full of wonderfully kept animals that produce the best eggs ever, and don’t tell the hens…very tasty chickens! We’ll get to that but because Halloween is closing in on us…this! Ha! I couldn’t resist!
It’s a delight every time we pull up. A visit with Josh, the handsome barn cat, and his lovely companion Lavender! I’d forgotten the fresh catnip so Mike shared some of Alice’s fish! “Wowza!” said Josh! 🙂 Lavender gave me her best Halloween Vampire look! Perfect!
These chickens are so happy, they come trotting over to the electric fence to visit, no touching! There is something so wonderful about seeing hens and their rooster friends getting to run and play, not just in a tiny enclosed area but in a pasture! Green grass, bugs, places to roll, shrubs for shade and mobile chicken homes! Jen and Daniel explain it way better than my mind which is like an overloaded hard drive with no space left!;)
Happiest Chickens ever:)
…then there are these amazing black chickens. The Ayam Cemani is a rare breed of chicken from Indonesia. They have a dominant gene that causes hyperpigmentation (fibromelanosis), making the chicken mostly black, including feathers, beak, and internal organs. Ayam means “chicken” in Indonesian, while cemani (originally a Javanese word) means “thoroughly black” (down to the bones). As a pure Indonesian breed, the breed originated from the island of Java, Indonesia, and has probably been used since the 12th century for religious and mystical purposes. Thank you Wikipedia! They are stunning!
Not just chickens and adorable cats either…The pigs! Oh my! Momma, Auntie, Baby, Batman and Buddy:) are adorable! You can sit in the field with them and give them scratches:) The Kunekune (Māori pronunciation: [kʉnɛkʉnɛ]) is a small breed of domestic pig from New Zealand. Kunekune are hairy with a rotund build, and may bear wattles hanging from their lower jaws. Their colour ranges from black and white, to ginger, cream, gold-tip, black, brown, and tricoloured. They have a docile, friendly nature and the Kunekune can sustain itself by feeding in summer on nothing other than grass!
There will be pasture raised pork in the future!
It is always a delight to visit this lovely couple, their extended family and their wonderfully cared for animals. They have their pasture raised Chicken for sale frozen, give them a call at 613-377-1609- or for eggs…did I tell you how beautiful they were?
How beautiful are these, they make you smile and taste as good as they look!
…and they taste as good as they look! Visit and support these young farmers and buy some of their wonderful pasture raised chickens as well! You will not be disappointed! The watch goose will hear you coming as well;)
Had to drag my sorry carcass out of bed this morning when I looked out the window and saw that colour! 1.7° C this morning but no frost yet!
The only wonderful thing about the colder mornings are those mists! Magical! They form and cover the lake, floating off, up, blown to the sides, always different! I bundled up and sat drinking my coffee watching them wander about after photographing the view! Of course the canoe has to get in on the shots as well! Duh!
…and it kept getting better!
Hellooo October! Love these early morning mists!
I am dreading Winter, honestly, I am a tropical whimp! But this, is worth staying for:) Everytime the temperatures are going to dip into the low 1’s and 2’s or below…yikes, please not yet, we get these amazing fogs and mists. Groot is getting very excited when I get up this early…snacks! Yeah! Often it takes awhile for the fog to burn off, slowly lifting, the other day in wild vertical shafts, all to do with wind and temperature I’m sure…ask a weather man!
Then that blue sky and clouds! Sigh…
The remaining wisps once the sun got higher…
You can see the trees are bare in front, sad face:( I went for a walk to see the colours I could still find. The oaks are just turning and where there has been water more leaves are still hanging on! Looking up, backlit by the sun, wow!
I wanted to lie down on the ground and get a shot straight up the trunk, but after venturing in a few feet to see what it might look like, I looked down at my pants legs and then proceeded to pull three ticks off…so no to lying down right now! Don’t get me started on how fond I am of ticks..0_0…
Every turn in the road was a new surprise, milk weed seeds, fire red oak leaves. The spots of the road near rock on the hills, the trees are almost all bare, less water, less resilience. The evergreens look well though so hopefully they have fared better.
Heading out the straight stretch and then looking back:) Sweet! Down at the remains of the swamp the milkweed seeds are starting to pop! Off they go in the breeze! Floating along, may need a a beautiful assistant to hold them up and give them a shake, I can photograph the seeds as they float away! Ha! Mike? Where are you?
Next walk;)
Not sure where the first half of October went. I was thinking of my sister today, it’s her, was her, birthday. She passed a while ago, cancer. Makes me think hard and appreciate the little things she was not able to.
When you can go from sunrise, to moonrise…wow…what a treat! I am grateful, but still a termagant;)
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. Lord Byron”
The little Red canoe has some exciting news! It needs it’s own press agent;) It’s going to be the cover shot of the Rideau Valley Conservations 2026 calendar. Also Mr. July! Whoa! What’s cool is the land to the right of the pines/island IS Rideau Valley Conservation land! It, the canoe, wants new bumpers, a wax job and more…Ha! We get a free calendar and a parking pass to all their recreation areas I told it so button up, callarse la boca, whatever! Woohoo!
That view out the window makes my morning, sometimes earlier than others. Colour, get the hell up to watch a bit, drag myself out of a warm bed, bathrobe, shoes, especially if there is frost…Then…Hello! Pink and fog…trot off for the camera…down to the dock, two shots…”Change the battery” light…sigh…You idiot Stimpy! Check these things first!…back to house, 65 steps up and down and up again, who needs to exercise? (Price of a beautiful view!)…That colour can fade very very quickly!
By the time I’d gotten back to the house, changed the battery and hot footed it back to the water it was fading, but still beautiful! That colour…I’ll take what I can get;)
We may be looking at a real frost tonight…it’s barely touched us so far. The basil is still flowering! It was 1.9°C this morning. Closer to the lake it’s colder, the stairs had some frost last week, but not up higher. Time to get the mitts and hats out…and socks. I hate socks…sigh.
I’ll leave you with the moonrise from the 6th. Harvest moon, pink moon, whatever the media has come up with to call it, it’s a full moon folks, don’t get too jargony on me! Ha! It was later than I thought but well worth standing there:) Saludos amigos. Time to start watching for Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon). Maybe I’ll just call it Comet October if I can see it and photograph it! Ha! No offense Mr. Lemmon:) or is that Mount Lemmon. I’ll ask a astronomer;)
I just heard the swans honking so time to go out and have a look! Hasta pronto! Maybe some milkweed seeds blowing in the wind next week! Or furry donkeys…both, absolutely wonderful!
We had a few moments of calm this afternoon on the water and I spotted a muskrat swimming about.
Those windless moments are always a treat, the reflections, the calm, the colours! While many trees are bare some are just changing, what a wild year! I wandered down the road yesterday, it’s quiet again, sigh…lovely:) No dodging drivers or small talk, I am a curmudgeon;) Ha! Do you know the word for a female curmudgeon is termagant? Learn something new every day;) It’s hard to believe we are halfway through October, where do the days and nights go? Now, that muskrat knew how to pick some background colours!
The insects are winding down but they are still out there! Quite a few Small Milkweed bugs, ensconced in the milkweed, where else? Ha! Small milkweed bugs’ primary sources of nutrients are flower nectar and milkweed seeds. If these food sources are limited, they may feed on other insects. The bumblebees have been curling up at night in the yellow mums, sometimes wresting another bee over who gets that flower! Not any other colour, just the yellow ones, everyone has their favourite colour apparently! Even got a Green Sweat bee (?) on them as well as a very very green Katydid! Also a wild looking wasp with a curly tail! Who knew? A Pelecinid Wasp!
Groot was very excited at finding a few frogs when it warmed up this week! Way easier to follow than those pesky birds! Fun to stalk in the tall grass! I kept an eye on them so no frogs were actually hurt! Rocket sits under the bird feeder and occasionally makes a leap into the deep leaves after a Junco, unsuccessfully I might add!
I was excited to hear the pair of Trumpeter swans come back, hard to mistake that honking! So nice to see this pair! They usually show up on the same day or close every year! Such a beautiful couple! Never any cygnets so they must be retired;)
They ran off a few geese and took over our neighbours swim platform. They paddled over for a quick visit when I went down to the dock and sat. I had some oats they ate out of my hand, damn they are big, before they swam off in search of greens!
Such beautiful birds, they take my breath away being that close to them! Check out that red lipstick line, or is billstick? Ha!
A Sharp shinned hawk came by one afternoon, everything suddenly became very very quiet, little birds scattered only the blue jays were yelling at it, then a crow joined in. It buzzed the crow and sent it scurrying before it moved on down the lake! Always something!
It’s LLB time…little brown birds, and fancy little tuxedo birds. The White Throated Sparrows and the Dark-eyed Juncos are back! Taking turns with the Chickadees for food. I love the yellow eyebrows on the White Throated sparrows.
A very bright visitor made an appearance, no need for Fall background leaves! A juvenile male Northern Cardinal! His crest isn’t quite there yet and he has that baby fluffiness to him! We had a male last Winter and I spied him at the end of our road and Long Lake road this Spring so looks like he found a mate! Hopefully this youngster will stick around! Very shy! Had to push the screen aside and sneakily take his picture through the window! Ya do what ya gotta do;)
I’ve been trying to work on some props for my upcoming “Backyard Birding” talk for the camera club. Merle at the dump brought forth a lovely elaborate Fall table decoration/container of some sort, a fancy seed holder he proclaimed when he heard what I was looking for! So right! Now to collect some nice white paper birch branches and winterberry holly for backdrops! So far the Chickadees and the Purple Finches are cooperating wonderfully!
The Red Bellied female woodpecker has been around a bit and of course the blue jays! Very very vocal! The suet block belongs to the Red Bellied Woodpecker…she says so anyway!
The Downy’s and the Hairy’s wait their turn;)
and the goldfinches…like little flying bits of sunshine!
I miss the mushrooms this year! Down at the barn I came across some type of oyster mushroom growing on a cut Manitoba maple, and in among the squash on the manure pile some others were growing. Not much here at all except for the amazing display of Chicken of the woods that have hardened on an old maple! The trumpet lichen and mosses reappeared after some rain as well, a welcome sight, now for more rain. The swamp has dropped to below the level of the culvert, something I have not seen before.
We are hoping for more rain this weekend! Make it so! I’ll sign off here, stay tuned for those morning mists and walking down the road! I’ll leave you with a blast of colours, so many still hanging on, many trees bare, what a year! Saludos amigos!
Sometimes it pays to look up! I wanted to get on the ground and look straight up the trunk but after picking a few ticks off my pants after going off the road I decided it might not be the best idea;)
A moment of calm…it didn’t last long, those colours! Leaves are falling fast! So much beauty!
Those colours, the vivid hues, the dancing leaves in the breeze, letting go and fluttering down. A reminder to me that life is short, too short for the good it seems, too long for the evil. I started my day yesterday, like every morning, walking the cats, they were hunkered down in the leaves, blending into the yellows, browns and oranges, scanning for chipmunks when a large brown dog came running over the hill, and it started to chase after Rocket. Groot froze, his cloak of invisibility was obviously working he said as the dog ran past him a few feet away as he lunged after Rocket who would have given flash Gordon a run for his money. In a split secound I thought if I catch this dog I will kill it, no remorse, no regrets, it is threatening me and my cats. I made a run towards it and I must have scared the shit out of it as I yelled “Get your fucking dog off my property!”( In case the owner was in hearing distance..0_0…) and it ran like hell away from me. We heard chuckling later, “Oh, that’s where my dog went…” It is a good thing I don’t possess any superpowers….whole civilizations would be gone…:) We did find Rocket, luckily not 45′ up a maple like last time when it took us two hours to get him down, he ran around the house as I was panicked looking for him and Mike got him inside as he was crying frantically at the door. I love dogs, our Basenji Asha traveled with across North America multiple times…we never let her run loose anywhere.
Imagine the outrage of a parent if a 100 lb dog started chasing their child…yeah…Different priorities, “So sorry” the text said. Not the best way way to start your day. We had an ashes scattering ceremony to attend later so we were sad already, add mad. I’m not too fond of humans today, except the one we were saying goodbye to, he was too good to have gone when he did. Atilla would have found some Monty Python humour in me chasing away the dog arms flailing and I tried to keep that in mind as I fantasied of different ways of torturing irresponsible dog owners;)
We drove past the brilliant hued countryside, saddened by the drying swamps, marveling at the beauty of Fall. It was a beautiful ceremony at the Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve that Ingrid put on for the man she loved and I was deeply touched by her devotion. He wanted his ashes scattered there. There were kind talks and memories from friends and acquaintances, and a song…♫♪♫ Always Look on the bright side of life♪♫♪ that many sung and whistled along to. That was so Atilla. We drove home quietly, remembering a wonderful man and how many lives he touched in so many places. Loss and grief, everyone experiences it in different ways. No way is right, or correct, there is only how you do it. We need to remember that, especially those that love to pass judgement on people. Zip it…Ha! Me included;) Just don’t get me started on dogs today, but maybe it’s not the dogs but the humans who own them. Ha!
I did promise a ray of sunshine-sunflowers! They just make your heart sing when you see them! I was hoping for more birds, a few finches fluttered away but I did see some butterflies!
We did get a bit of rain, not enough, but it’s a start! Some droop came out of the sumac leaves! They are so red! I put a bird feeder down by a very red sumac, we had orange and yellow maples in the background as well. To photograph the birds with so much colour was a delight!
Sometimes you have to use your imagination! Been trying to lure the Blue Jay down there but no success so far! Right now the variety of colours of just the maples is mind boggling, maybe I’m easily amused;) Let it be so!
I had a walk out before the weekend wedding next door madness descended upon us to admire the colours and quiet along the road. It’s been the noisiest Summer ever.
Not many bugs, mostly Common Bumblebees on the asters and a few Western honey bees. Did find a wonderfully camouflaged brown beetle and a bright green fly as well!
I am thankful for the beauty that surrounds us, it reminds me every day that we have so much, so very very much.
Back at the house we’ve had all kinds of very furry caterpillars wandering about over the leaves. So pretty when the raindrops were covering them!
I need to get my macro tubes out and try for some close ups of the raindrops on the leaves. They magnify the veins underneath! The leaves won’t be blowing too far anytime soon! I should be careful what I say! Ha!
After the rain we had a beautiful visitor slithering along through the grass! I called to Mike to come out and look! A beautiful Eastern Milk Snake! Amazing patterns and colours! Just goes to show how much can wander by unobserved unless you are out there watching!
Isn’t this a beauty! The milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), is a species of kingsnake! These snakes tend to be secretive and remain hidden. When threatened, a milk snake will usually first try to escape. If cornered or harassed, it may vibrate its tail and strike energetically, though they are non-venomous, have only tiny teeth and their tails lack a rattle. Unless frightened, milk snakes move slowly. They are often fairly docile. Milk snakes are mostly nocturnal, especially during summer months. They are primarily terrestrial and attempt to blend in with ground litter. However, they are able to climb and swim.
Milk snakes are opportunistic eaters. Although the diet of adult milk snakes primarily consists of rodents (such as voles, mice, and rats), they also have been known to consume a variety of other animals: birds and their eggs, other reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.
What a wonderful world! I’ll leave it at that! Be thankful for everything you have, loved ones, a full stomach, a place to rest safely, our world can be a treacherous place, it is changing so quickly, full of fear, anger, but there are so many kind humans out there. Sadly we had to say goodbye to one of the better ones yesterday, but maybe we can strive to try to be just a bit nicer, kinder, OK Atilla, I’ll work on it! Monty Python rules! Ha! Saludos amigos-Hasta pronto.
Wandering down the road, out to check the mail, the leaves are already fluttering down! Too soon! my head is screaming, too soon! Our last hummingbird checked in and out as I was having my coffee the morning of the 15th. Didn’t even wave goodbye! Ha! We’ve had singles, and a few chonks who were definitely ready to head South! Talk about some nectar bellies! Whoa!
The last few explored the fading flowers, even where the flowers had been! Looking, poking, searching for the last bit of flower nectar out there. They always give me so much joy. I’m going to miss them! It was a never ending comedy:)
There a few honking geese, the Loons are wailing, it’s time to wait to see if our swan pair return! I check every morning:) The road seems so quiet. It’s only when you stop, wait, things appear, wings here, a rustle there…always worth slowing down for! The reptiles are all looking for sun, I know how they feel:)
I had to remove a feisty Northern Water snake off the road to get past! Looks like it just had a good meal! I picked it up with a long stick and set it off to the side! It refused to budge, my road it proclaimed. I came across the smallest garter snake I had ever seen, wasn’t actually sure what it was as it’s markings were vertical, not horizontal. This one was hissing and spitting and said it would eat me alive if I came any closer…I was 6′ away! It wasn’t much bigger than the acorn behind it! a wee 4-5″ long! I read that the warmer the temperature of a garter snake, the more likely the snake is to flee a predator; a snake with a cooler body temperature is more likely to remain stationary or attack. Male garter snakes are also more likely to flee…Ha! The decision of a juvenile garter snake to attack a predator can be affected by whether the snake has just eaten or not. Snakes that have just eaten are more likely to strike a predator or stimulus than snakes that do not have a full stomach. Snakes that have just eaten a large animal are less mobile…I’m TOO full! Ha! Go away! it was saying!
It’s disheartening to see the swamp drying out, so much life there! My rain dances for a week or two of rain are not working! I’ll keep at it! The beavers have made paths but it must be hard on them, the frogs, water snakes, everyone and thing that lives or feeds off what lives there.
I have seen the mother Wood duck and her remaining juveniles, five of them in the two swamps at different times. Occasionally she has a few mallard juveniles with her as well!
The Nodding Beggarticks are starting to fade, the bumblebees were enjoying them to no end! I love seeing the tricoloured Bumblebees, my favourites! That rusty band is beautiful! I was surprised by the number of dragonflies still out and about and in the process of making a few more! Ha!
I nearly stepped on Common Green Darner in the leaves and it fluttered off! They are so large! The White-faced Meadowhawks and Spotted Spreadwings were busy! I thought it was a bit late for that kind of reproductive business but I guess not!
Flowers are few and far between, all busy with bees and wasps. Not a grape to be seen and very few berries but they are there. I wonder what that will mean for Winter food for the birds here.
I’m enjoying watching the caterpillars, some I had no idea what they were! I love iNaturalist to try to figure them out, and insect experts on the Ontario Facebook page! So many helpful knowledgeable people!
Love to see what these guys all turn into! So much life, you only have to slow down and watch for it:)
Fall brings the mists to the lake. Warm lake water, cool air, our first frost warning last night, it was 3° this morning but no frost! I love to watch the progression from sometimes a colourless dawn, and I wait to see what happens….
and then the last blast! Such beauty and wonder. I shouldn’t feel melancholic this time of year with all this beauty but I do…saying goodbye to so many things…
It took awhile for the fog to burn off, but it was worth the wait:)
I’ll leave it here with our last rain and rainbow. I have birds and sunflower fields and other delightful sights to share. I am going to rejoice in the beauty around me, the good human souls that cross our paths and of course the Mewberries! Everyone needs a purring 23 lb. cat sitting on their chest at 5 a.m. Ha! Saludos amigos!
I always hate to see them go, first the adult males, then the ladies, followed by the juveniles. The boys have already headed out, South. Hope they don’t get any grief at the border;) Ha! More migrants! Are there poutine or taco flavoured flowers I wonder? I’d try them! It’s amazing how the youngsters can navigate their way South, like the juvenile Loons!
I finally have a gladiola blooming! Hummingbird flower number 2 now! This youngster was looking but not brave enough to land or figure out to poke this one! By later today hopefully he’s figured it out!
It’s always amusing watching the juveniles figure out the different flowers! Lot’s of exploration…timid tries, looking at every angle, grabbing a petal to hang on! I wish I’d had more flowers but the heat did a number on so many plants, blooms withered and fell off…I’ll see what I can do next year! I was happy for the blooms I did have!
This one Canna Lily bloom was very very popular! Fingers crossed there might still be more!
Hours of fun watching them learn just where that beak/bill needs to go!
One is really fun, but when another one shows up! Even better!
The really young juveniles don’t fight among themselves until they get a bit older, then the chasing and crabbiness begins!
Alright, enough of these canna lily guys! Ha! Sometimes just watching their behavior is the thing…or what on earth are they wearing…cobwebs? I’m so out of style! Ha! Steer clear of those big spiderwebs guys!
I do move the feeder around for different backgrounds, making it easier to focus. If the background is busy the camera will hunt and peck to get the bird in focus…keep it simple:) F6.3-7.1…(unless the light is spectacular) ISO 3200 is my standard and then hopefully 1/4000-6400 of a secound shutter speed. Topaz denoise is my go-to program. I don’t use the sharpening much, it sometimes makes things look cartoony, so I just try to capture as clear an image as I can! Lot’s of sitting, sometimes with the tripod, but mostly handheld as they move around so much! They do sometimes just sit! Ha!
I do love the dark backgrounds. I shoot into the shade, or towards the alcove of our house in the late afternoon.
..and sometimes I battle the busier backgrounds:)
I am counting down the days! Earliest they have left is Sept 5th…latest is Sept 16th in the last five years here. Hopefully I’ll get a bit more sun later today to sit and watch them. I miss them so when they go:(
I set my small fuchsia plant on top of the BBQ with the feeder beside it to see who might find it! 🙂 Curious little flying beastlings:)
I knew it, all I had to do was walk out the road yesterday with my camera and of course it would rain! It worked, and yes, I had my white tall can plastic bag to cover the camera, high tech it’s not;) The heatwave has broken, finally, the ground has been crispy with each step so this is a much welcome relief! Hopefully it will keep up all night! We’ve been tempted by storms, as the above photos show back mid month, but this is finally a good soaking! It will be canoe bailing time! Never been happier to do that!
The deer flies have mostly disappeared so I truly enjoyed my first walk out the road for the mail in what feels like months! I was on a rock removal mission after our neighbours’ nephew dragged the entire road with a small garden tractor and some kind of rear scraping bucket attachment over and over again…0_0.. It was wonderful that he was filling the potholes on the hills, where he should have stopped, but he dragged where there was no material to drag and kicked up all the 2-3″ under layer of rock. Bitch to walk on, but hey who walks anymore? Hard on low profile tires and they get stuck between dual back wheels of larger trucks/RV’s/trailers as well, Baja roads taught us that:). My mission, kick rocks off the road, lift and chuck the ones too big to kick;) Hopefully he learned something, the nephew;) Age and experience…sigh;) The road elf went to work, it is considering striking in the future;) I maybe becoming a class A curmudgeon, wait, maybe I am already! Ungrateful wench that I am;) Don’t get me started;)
The leaves are turning in so many places, just seems too soon! Drought will do that. My red maple is now bare:(
Along the road there are still wildflowers blooming. Unlike where we are, up on rock, the soil is so thin even the milkweed have wilted away. It was not a great flower summer, watering didn’t seem to help, it was just too damn hot! The remaining milkweed in the shadier spots have been home to several Tussock Caterpillar species, no monarchs sadly:(
There have been a few beetles on the milkweed as well as an occasional Katydid, they are just so green!…and the hordes of flying grasshoppers! The cats don’t know which one to go after! And a beautiful green stink bug! The Goldenrod has been covered in wasps, bees and other flies as soon as the sun pops out!
The dragonflies left are mostly the Autumn meadowhawks with their yellow legs, an occasional very red White Faced Meadowhawk and I got a Darner! He/she has been evading me for weeks! So fast, so well camouflaged I couldn’t even see where it was landing! They are gorgeous! A Canada Darner! Blue and green and black! I have seen an occasional Tuxedo Dragonfly as well, I call the black and white winged ones that, Widow Skimmers;)
It was the wonderful feel of walking, and not running from bugs I enjoyed the most, photographers speed (turtle) taking in all the flowers and bugs and a few birds, but it was mostly quiet, a rare event here recently;) I had to dodge the Amazon delivery girl, she looked startled, but I waved and she slowed down and waved back smiling…I can imagine the residents are not friendly in some places;) Ha!
I was surprised by the bumblebees! So many! I was expecting more dragonflies but just the small Autumn meadowhawks along the road and in the swamp. The tri-coloured Bumblebees were a nice surprise!
I stopped to check the mail and as I walked back a Monarch was landing on the swamp milkweed at the edge of the road. An older couple stopped while I was photographing the monarch and asked about the swans…they missed them, I told them I did as well…hope they made it the youngsters:)
I’ve never seen the swamps so low, dry in some places along the road. Hopefully this rain will help, it’s a start! The leaves are already turning on many bushes and small trees. It will be a thin offering of Fall colour this year I think!
I noticed a few berries on my way back, no black raspberries, all dried up, and or eaten! The spikenard berries were beautiful, They had a perching friend:) I swear the White Baneberry have alien eyes! Ha!) and so many of the tomato like, but toxic fruits of the Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). I’ll be keeping an eye on them as their leaves turn bright purple later in the year!
We’ll wait and see if any mushrooms appear after the rain, hoping it goes all night! The hummingbirds have slowed down, only a few juveniles about, the adults are gone, as have many of the regulars at the feeder, only a few grackles and the ever present Hairy woodpeckers left, but I’ll catch up on them this weekend! I’ll leave today with the little orphaned barn raccoon, Riley. She is quite the delight/pest ha! Hopefully she will move into the barn with her own kin this Fall, we’ll see! Alice says NONE of her fish is to be shared!!
OK, sitting, not flying! I don’t blame them! No fear, this youngster was on the side of our small dirt road and casually flew up to a branch as we stopped and I got out to take a picture…fear is learned…So nice to see raptors! It’s been quiet this Summer, no bald eagles visiting Dick’s pine tree across the lake, a few ospreys have shown up and this guy. I think it is a juvenile Broad Winged Hawk. We had three in the Spring here!
As for the swans and their two babies…:( I haven’t seen them in over a week. The township did some work on the culvert by the swamp, maybe spooked them, or they have moved on to better feeding grounds. Everything is drying up as well. Several swamps look like pasture now. I hope the two cygnets make it, I checked the far swamp but haven’t seen any sign of them. It would be a long walk to Long Lake? I hope they are still close by!
So I’m not the only cranky one around! Mother Red bellied had had it with the juvenile Grackles…they scattered after she yelled at them! Ha!
that’s better…😉
Junior is pretty demanding. Sitting on the tree trunk squawking away for something to eat…mothers have a lot of patience:)
A lot of the flying creatures are starting their Summer molt and have the fuglies right now! The lady Rose Breasted Grosbeaks have moved on but we still have a few males. The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are looking a but ragged as well! …and these guys…no morning is complete without a raucous single from the Red Winged Blackbirds with Grackles singing back up!
I looked out the window a few days ago late in the day and spotted a lone Cedar Waxwing. We don’t often get them here so I slunk out with the camera to watch it! Such amazing colours! It was feeding on what’s left of the shriveled black raspberries in the shade before flying up to a higher branch. Down the hatch the berries went!
That yellow tail stripe and red dots are something else! Unmistakable! We also had a visit from a Belted Kingfisher. I’ve seen them back in the swamps earlier in the year and I often hear their distinctive call but they are SO shy! I saw her, or a juvenile male (that brown on the chest) from the bedroom window. I pulled the screen back slowly (shooting through the glass never works!) and took a few shots, it was lakeside so not too close. When I did try to sneak outside for a closer look it flew off!
The regulars are still about, “North” American Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Eastern Phoebes and the Eastern Kingbirds snatching flying bugs out of mid air! Go team flycatcher! A few White Breasted Nuthatches are starting to come back as well and yes…we still have the dreaded deerflies…0_0
Not as many of them, but enough to irritate you walking! So, I don’t walk! Chauffeur! Ferry me! Ha!
When we are watching the cats on their morning and afternoon outings it’s an excellent time to look for bugs! I’ve been checking the milkweed for Monarch caterpillars but nothing yet! The Milkweed Tussock Moths are beautiful! But don’t touch! A few dragonflies are still about, I need to venture down to the swamp soon to see who is left!
I found a shed skin/carcass of a cicada…so cool! We hear them every day but would love to come across a live one again! The only thing blooming on our rocky patch wildflower wise now is the Goldenrod and we have seen a few wasps and the dreaded Japanese beetles!
Mike came out onto the deck and asked what in earth was I doing…lying down on the deck, flat…0_0…”I’m not dead yet!” I told him! Just stalking a very beautiful Katydid! So friggin’ green! I love his camo cape! Oblong-winged Katydid!
Oblong-winged Katydid (Amblycorypha oblongifolia
I had a Snowberry Clearwing landed on my sleeve and was crawling around as I was picking tomatoes…I moved it to a plant:) Haven’t seen many this year. Speaking of flying bugs, I had to take my jam feeder down for the orioles. We were attracting an unsavory crowd there! Each night I had to dump out a few different hornet species so only matter of time until I really pissed one off! Bald-faced and European Hornets, the European guys are BIG! This species stings in response to being stepped on or grabbed, but generally avoids conflict. It is also defensive of its nest and can be aggressive around food sources, European hornets are largely carnivorous and hunt large insects such as beetles, wasps, large moths, dragonflies, and mantises but they also feed on fallen fruit and other sources of sugary food so best to put the jam away for now! Did you know: The bald-faced hornet has a unique defense in that it can squirt or spray venom from the stinger into the eyes of vertebrate nest intruders. The venom causes immediate watering of the eyes and temporary blindness. Bad ass if you are a bug going after their nests!
and then there are the grasshoppers! Dios mio! Swarms of them! You walk out the driveway and a wave of them flutter away! Mostly Carolina Grasshoppers and some Two Striped ones as well!
Now these tasty flying snacks have the Mewberries all aquiver! They spend a great deal of time planning capture strategy, how and when to eat, no catch and release for these guys unless by accident! Rocket, Gamora and Groot are on code name-“Grasshopper” a reconnaissance mission” 🙂
Groot and Rocket like to show off their impressive Kung Fu maneuvers as they bring down the enemy! Gamora says she can sit and they should bring them to her! Ha! Princessa!
They celebrated Feliz dia internacional del gato, Happy International day of the cat! Bonne journée internationale du chat, doing what they love, eating! Ha! Rocket really never misses a meal! Never;) Himbs big boy!
I’ll leave you here for the week. We need to visit the barn Thursday to make a path for Jennifer and her painful deteriorating hip so the horses can move in and out on their own steam! No leading required! We’ll see what we can do with jump standards and electric fencing, and visit with the lovely Alice, donkeys and the equines, as well as a small but mighty raccoon! Ha! Photos to follow. It’s supposed to be cool, only 28°! Wish us luck and rain!
Ok, it can rain anytime now! Like today would be great! 34° right now in the shade, the grackles are panting outside, I put a pan of water down for them in front, and back:)
It’s not just the grackles, it’s watching the leaves wilt and fall off the trees that is heartbreaking:( We are a long way from Fall but the trees in some areas look like October! Then there is the fire risk…This is a bit disturbing…let’s hope we actually get some thunderstorms Wednesday as predicted. Forecast is for another week of hot temperatures.
…and humans…don’t get me started on the abject stupidity out there…We had morons here at the Lake setting off fireworks last week…are they idiots? Everything is tinder dry…what is wrong with people?? Jesus f’ing Christ. Some idiots set some trees on fire at Otty Lake. Is it such a a tall order getting people to actually think…??? Yes, I yelled at them and called them f’ing morons… sorry, not sorry…after all those years in Baja, a tinder dry spot, now we have them here…0_0…I guess they’ve always been here but it’s the lack of acuity…the inability to look around and go wow…dry…no giant bonfire would be smart, but when they are drunk, well, we all know the great decisions we make when that happens said NO ONE! I posted this awhile back, not many folks liked it, that’s fine…
If Earth’s history were condensed into 24 hours, life would have appeared at around 4am, land plants at 10:24pm, dinosaur extinction at 11:41pm, and human history would’ve began at 11:58:43pm…it’s past our bedtime no? Ha! OK, enough ranting about stupidity and how humans find themselves and their religions so important;)
I wandered down to the dock a few mornings ago before sunrise, I’ve been dodging the smoke, hard on me but finally it looked like we had a clearer morning! Those pinks were so lovely…
Finally a sunrise with minimal smoke in the sky! 🙂
I was wondering when I got to the top of stairs on my way back why I was huffing. Checked the humidity when I came back in…96%…ugh! It was worth it;)
Do I like the heat? the humidity? Let me think about that-No…after spending my youth in the tropical belt surrounding this round planet ( yes it’s round;)..! Ha! I really have no desire to return to that kind of climate! Hours spent sweating in the forepeak, can’t sleep, no wind, only a 12 volt fan for air movement ( well, while the battery bank lasted anyway). No AC, just water, swimming, sweating…sitting in the shade, doing everything you have to do…sweating. My mother never got it, she didn’t sweat. I swear I only saw a bead of perspiration, remember ladies don’t sweat, they perspire, on her forehead once…She kept buying me antiperspirants as a teenager…they didn’t help…what was wrong with her child? Apparently inherited my father genes in that department:) Thanks Dad….Ha! So, while I was driving the other day I pulled in behind this beautifully restored 60’s Ford truck, I do love Chrome. It was his license plate…had me grinning and laughing. Maybe I know him? Maybe his name is Dun Sailn! Maybe he sailed in the tropics as a child as well? Ha!…why do I live inland, because…I’m dunsailn;) Why is the heat following me now??? Wait…there is AC now as well!
I’m dunsailn;)
Ok, the heat has me a bit cranky;) That and humans:) I had Mike stop on the Narrows Lock Road where there is a patch in the ditches, full of wildflowers, all kinds of different varieties and species. Some native, some invasive. I knew they would be wilted pretty soon with the heat and I was pondering why in this spot are they still left?
Mike and I were married on his family farm 31 years ago, last day of July. We decided to spend the money my mother gifted us for the wedding on the food, tent and bar! (OK, I did sell a horse as well to get power up to the tent on the hilltop!) So early in the morning we went and picked wildflowers along the road to decorate an arch. The entire road, on both sides was blooming, up and down as far as you could see. It’s 1.2 km walk from our house down to the farm. (solar panels sadly now, green, but it destroyed so much forest and green to be that that it’s a joke, a bad joke and don’t get me started on what the current house owners just did massacring the yard..)Like I said I’m cranky;) Ha! So what happened to all those wildflowers? Why only a few patches? Is spraying to blame? When will we learn that the herbicides and pesticides our townships and governments tote as so safe are killing us as quickly as the kilometers and kilometers of wildflowers now mostly gone…and the insects that feed on them as well:( Yes, there is wild turnip…then stay out of the f’ing ditch! Why do we destroy an ecosystem because a few people are allergic? Will we be getting rid of bees next? It has been a cranky week!
On a positive note…yup, we need a few of those. I have a calla lily blooming! Yes, just one. I’m happy to report it is being guarded by a very cranky, like me, molting male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I did initially promise not to take his picture because he looked like he’d been on a week long bender but still, I told him he was beautiful! We all need a bit of love!
I’ll work harder next Spring on flowers I told him! Today he had a juvenile guarding it! Pretty sure it’s a juvenile boy as the females don’t normally claim a spot like this guy, chasing even the bees away! Ha! BBOC..big bird on campus;)
This is about it for flowers right now
Ok, enough cranky! I’ll catch up later with the Traveling Mewberries latest escapade, code name-EATGrasshopper- a reconnaissance mission…and the latest birds and bugs that have stopped by. Maybe I’ll go down to the dock and do a wild naked rain dance, cottage renters might all disappear! “Inside kids! Quickly, there’s a lunatic on the dock!” I can dance…sort of! Ha! …manaña amigos! I’m really not cranky now;) I’ve stopped swearing like the sailor I am;)
Be one with the floor and sun…raised by a Burmese cat of course😁it’s 30+° and he is lying in the sun!
It was so warm I just went down to the dock, stuck my feet in the water and decided to wait to see what came along…not much of an afternoon plan but hey, it was stinking hot! Off in the part shadows a Loon was napping, slowly drifting towards me with what little breeze there was. Unfazed, but looking….
Loons are so aware of their surroundings even at rest. I love to watch them. Humans could learn something from them;) Awareness seems to be a causality of walking, looking at a phone while crossing the street and not looking in either direction…mandroids;) Ha!
After a bit he/she stretched, one foot then the other, then it was time for a look around, up, sideways, behind…then it was bath time! Ready for his photo shoot;) with a few dragonflies as well!
I am astounded what swims by our small home! It is fascinating watching the comings and goings on the water, and back on the land! The juvenile hummingbirds have flown the coop! Big Daddy is busy trying to keep them all in line but not being very successful!
I love the challenge of photographing these beautiful birds. It is what got me back into photography when we moved to Baja, we had SO many! Here, I have to be content with my Ruby-throated friends until global warming has us in a tropical zone;) I usually sit mid-morning, or late afternoon. I like the light best then. More shadows depth than noon day sun. Sometimes too many shadows! Ha!
I move my feeders around to best catch the light, they find them pretty quickly and know where I hang them! I start out with a set setting. F6.3 (unless there is a lot of light! Then it can inch higher) ISO 3200, that’s high, but I use Topaz DeNoise to help out with that. 1/4000 to 1/6400 sec. are the shutter speeds I rotate up and down, depending on the situation, light, shadow, etc and usually I’m about 8-10′ from the feeder so I sit at 600mm with my trusty old Tamron 150-600G2. Lower your feeders to your seated eye height as well! Really helps out!
Now, backgrounds…the busier they are, the harder it is to keep focusing on the hummingbirds. I usually set the telephoto to 2.2-10 meters so it’s not picking up too much detail behind. Sometimes the “eye focus” works, sometimes even these guys are too busy for it! The less background distraction certainly makes it easier but sometimes you want some colour in the background! Better light makes it easier. I often don’t try too hard on a cloudy day, filtered light can be OK but you need LIGHT for these guys. Or Flash which I don’t have but maybe would try one day. It would fix the “cloudy” days!
The dark background is me shooting into the alcove of our house, shadows. I hang the feeder from the rain gutter and yes, I have been known to put white clover blossoms in the feeder hole right in front of me…why? I get tired of but shots! Ha! It also allows me to get the light where I want it. I do shoot handheld, they move so fast!
My flowers are just starting to bud, I didn’t get going soon enough this Spring so will endeavor next year to plant a few earlier bloomers! Once the calla lilies, gladiolas and other Hummingbird favourite bulbs I have started bloom, it will be a field day! Zinnias next year! Remember! Zinnias! Ha!
Look at that proud chest! Ha! I did have one juvenile that had very odd looking claws but I think she just needed to grow into her feet! Ah, being a teenager…:) Speaking of juveniles and teenagers, were you a speak your mind kind of kid? I have to admit I wasn’t shy or one to mince words, ask some of the boat crew or my mother’s boyfriends;) We had a young Oriole who has the same problem yesterday;) Ha! Go kid, tell ’em like it is!
He was picking a fight with a much bigger bird! Quite pleased with himself he was…
Until he couldn’t figure out how to land on the jam jar…Hopefully Dad will come along and show him the ropes…again!
He wasn’t the only too big for his britches lad. Last week Rocket the largest of our orange cats somehow managed to tip over our metal turkey vulture, Zophia the zopilote, I think he got a claw stuck on her neck when he jumped her, yes, jumped her…0_0…sigh…that boy, and they all went tumbling down. I missed getting a shot of the great kerfuffle…Rocket decided, the mouse was going to be his, he circled, and circled…as I changed directions to get a shot he leapt onto the back of poor Zophia, they both went tumbling to the ground below and we saw a mouse go flying through the air a few feet off the ground…only to scramble back into the rocks when it landed…quite the sight! Not sure the mouse will move back in now…but it did….
He said he smelled Moussey in there!
He circled and circled, sniffed her butt, under her wings…rude boy! Then….so glad I was sitting with the camera…he turned into a marmot! The Greater Orange Bellied Marmot to be exact! Ha!
Mike and I were laughing so hard, while trying to make sure he didn’t send her tumbling again! Mousey had moved back in!”Piss off cat! You already sent me flying once! Now I have to rebuild!! Scramola!!”
Never a dull moment with this one!
Smoke has moved back in, the temperatures are forcast to drop which would be delightful! Some rain please! I hate that crispy feel of dead grass under my feet! I still need to get out and check on the Loonlets, just needs to be a bit cooler, yes, I’m a complete whimp! I’ll leave you with the baby raccoon down at Jennifer’s. This little girl, we think, (didn’t see any equipment;) Ha!) got left in the barn by her young mother, first time mother Jennifer said. She was completely dehydrated and fading away. Jennifer is trying to get them to take her back but she says she’d like to live with the cats please in the house! Nope…! Another piece of mandarin please! Too cute, but she’ll be moving back to the barn soon hopefully with her kin! Alice, the white and gray tabby, is adamant…no long nosed bandits at the house! Ha!
Life is precious! Sometimes things need a hand along to survive:)
I almost got up for the sunrise this morning at 5:32, I need a landscape fix, there was some colour, unfortunately there were parts of my body that disagreed with the photography union side, the legs, feet, hips, those the mobility parts, well, they told the photo parts, hands, brain, arms, to piss off and go back to sleep, talk to their representatives later;) Saludos amigos:) From earlier this month:)
I had to, walk that is, explore, watch…I decided to brave the km+long road, long sleeves, heavier pants, hat, bug net over my head, gloves in my pocket in case it got REALLY bad! Ha! Besides, the sticks, branches and twigs in the road were driving me nuts, I’m always afraid one is a snake! So the house/road elf was off to clean up as well! The day started well…I opened the shade umbrella on our small front deck to see a beautiful little chihuahua face staring back at me…they really do look like chihuahuas! A Large Brown bat was squinting at me and a grey tree frog fell out as well! I need to build a bat house! We can’t keep meeting like this! I gently closed it:)
If I kept moving on the road, not too quickly, but not stationary I discovered it wasn’t too bad! Not that I like the bug veils, you miss things with all that in front of your eyes! At the top of the hill I spotted some ghost pipe fungi! I was pretty happy as with it being so dry, we haven’t seen much here at all in the yard. The ground is crispy!
Northern Leopard frogs were jumping out of the grass as I tossed branch after branch, stick after stick into the bush. I finally picked a larger stick and used it to flick stuff off the road! 🙂 In the swamp I just missed a swallowtail on the buttonbush, the Loosestrife, invasive as it is was beautiful with the sun behind it, and a female Hooded Merganser glided out and made her way further into the swamp!
Further along a millipede was helped across the road. I went to pick up a stick only to find I had a small garter snake in my hand, you too, off the road kid! I stopped to look at the white flowers in the larger swamp, another invasive, European Frog-Bit. The battle against so many of these invasives is lost, and when humans try to intervene, they usually mess it up more;) Look at the gypsy moth spraying…:(
As I reached the mailbox swamp, (yes, we have a lot of swamps here!) I thought these were the Wood Ducks for a moment, but no, a Mallard hen and her brood scooted along as I walked up. The guy bringing up the back was having fun! At the far end I could see the Trumpeter swan family.
On the really warm days you can often find them on the small island snoozing away, oblivious to all. Using each other for foot rests! They are growing so quickly! Then the Wood Duck mother gave her rallying cry and called the troupes together as I walked closer!
“Line up! Chop! Chop! No dillydallying! Let’s go!” She is a drill sergeant for sure! This is a busy swamp this year! Such beautiful ducks!
No mail…sigh…all that way, all those bugs, well, not too bad! Ha! I didn’t really go for the mail:)
I caught a few dragonflies on the way back as I meandered along…dawdling;) There is no such thing as straight path! Ha! That red one! Wow!
I found a few ragged butterflies as well. The swallowtails and monarchs seem to be passing through, looking for better feeding areas, or egg laying spots perhaps! A beautiful Clouded Sulphur posed for awhile by the swamp and there were many skippers along the road. The Queen Anne’s Lace is spectacular!
..and I survived the walk with only a few bites! I was sad to see so few mushrooms, here’s hoping more rain might help out! Around the house we have none, yet. Down at the lakeside I stopped to see what was flying about! More dragonflies, of course! I never tire of watching these guys!
Ok, enough dragonflies! Bring on the butterflies, or birds! We have birds! We have two juvenile Red Bellied Woodpecker babies! At first I thought I saw a female, then it looked like it was a male, then yesterday, I saw them both on the suet tree begging from mother! Yeah! Always pleased to have them about! Will try to get a shot of both of them together!
As I sit to photograph the hummingbirds you see so much more! Our regulars, the Goldfinches and Purple finches, Downy and Hairy woodpeckers. The Pileated paid us a brief visit but flew off before I could get the camera! The Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Kingbirds and Scarlet Tanagers are busy reining in the deerflies! Go team flycatcher! Hopefully the robins eat them too! Something, someone, eat the deerflies! PLEASE! Ha!
The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and Baltimore Orioles are looking a bit rough right now, molting, please ma’am, no close ups;) Pretty sure I have spotted a juvenile as well!
Mike and I heard an odd song outside the front one afternoon…Eastern Towhee I joked, we always say Towhee when we don’t know what it is;) It was;) It was a single note…that dropped at the end…check out their calls here: Eastern Towhee sounds. I think they are gorgeous! Those red eyes and browns and blacks!
So many wonderful bird sounds! The juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are invading the feeders, keeping Pa busy chasing off the hooligans! They will try any flower, rope, feeder…just to see!
Love watching the juveniles, they are ready to try anything to eat! Ha! The adults pass these by!
So much fun to watch! I’ll catch up with soon before we have a novel here, also what works for me photographing these fast moving little birds, more Loons and a very bossy baby oriole! Ha! And Rocket…he’s had an adventurous week! Saludos amigos!
When you wake up at an unmentionable hour and see this…well…
Yes, you have to get up…5:35…”Not a problem!” says Groot! Crunchy time! But it’s got to be pretty spectacular, man am I spoiled or what!? Then it’s the “Do I go down to the canoe, or just enjoy it from up here?”…of course, must go down before the colours fade!
It’s been one of the few windless mornings in a long time! It creates those beautiful reflections, that calm. We got hammered with thunderstorms a short while later so I enjoyed it while it lasted!
No sign of the Loons that morning but one foggy misty one I had wandered down to find the three out there, fishing, visiting, Looning! We’ve never had more than the one pair of Loons on the lake this early in the year so interesting to watch them interact. Larry, Moe and Curly:)
Lot’s of diving, splashing and a few good shakes!
They are always fairly close to each other…bachelors that have hooked up? They all seem to fish together. I haven’t witnessed any fighting since they have been here. They were quite a ways out as I sat on the dock watching them.
The fog was so thick earlier I couldn’t see the far shore, then it finally started to creep back, everything coming back into view. It was still muggy, not a cool day at all! When I made my way back up to the house the the Loons were swimming off as well.
I walked back up to the house and the three Loons went on their way…🙂
The best way to start the day with nature. The birds have gotten quite quiet, the heat perhaps. Only a few Grackle families with screaming youngsters and a very very loud crow baby that is the worst alarm clock EVER!
The Swan cygnets are busy eating their greens and growing. Mother and father are still keeping a very close eye on both of them! Such amazing birds to watch, just the sheer size of them!
They are often by the road but when it’s hot they must be looking for shade somewhere. I haven’t seen them the last few days.
I do miss my walks down the road. As we drove in today there were hundreds of deer flies following us! Yikes! I’d be stripped to the bone in no time! I need this suit…air-conditoned though;) Ha! I have been watching the bugs around the house, not much in the way of fungi yet, some more rain will have to fall for that!
..and the dragonflies, are you tired of them yet!? Not me! I’m thinking of getting one of those clip on ones for my straw hat to ward the flies away! I was buzzed by a fly earlier today and in swooped a blue dasher, I could feel his wings on my face…then no fly! Yeah Dragonflies! Check out the Blue Dasher noshing on a passing Crane fly!
Not just dragonflies but Sprites and Bluets as well! They are so delicate and such beautiful colours!
..and finally a Swallowtail landed! They have been flitting around the yard, the bush, the woods…never stopping, just flying until now! Yeah! A Midsummer Tiger Swallowtail!
We have had quite a few Skippers as well, no Gillagans, just skippers;) Ha! Even a grasshopper and the coolest caterpillar ever! A White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma) Four white toothbrush-like tufts stand out from the back, and a gray-brown hair pencil is at the hind end. The four white tufts on the larva’s back may mimic the cocoons of parasitic wasps. Touching the hairs sets off an allergic reaction in many humans. I just looked! 🙂
The Japanese Beetles (invasive) finished off the last rose flower…be gone now! Glad to see the grasshoppers coming out, so will Rocket, very tasty fun to chase crunchy snacks he says!
After one heavy downpour stopped, Mike called me out, a visitor from House Slytherin, a Gray Rat snake was making it’s way across the driveway. He had to grab Gamora, she was intent on making contact (either a quick sniff or feel of the tail she said!) for her CAT united nations job…she’s dedicated;) It was a good 4′ long, not the big one from earlier this year but still a fair size! They have such amazing colours and patterns!
Our little Bandit has become a regular, either pole dancing on the feeder, or cleaning up the compost. No signs of babies yet, not like down at the barn. Jennifer is raising one left by it’s mother…pictures in a later blog, need a flash inside the house…it is very small and ridiculously cute!
Hoping the temperatures break this week. Looks hopeful for a paddle to find the Loonlets! Just can’t do 35°…that what it’s saying today! We’ll see. In the meantime, we stay in the shade, are thankful for that and everything else in life! We are so lucky where we live…so very very fortunate. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not mindful of the fresh water we have to drink, the food on our table, and the freedom we have to move. Don’t ever take that for granted!
Rocket on the other hand, would simply be happy eating chipmunks;) The last few left that have escaped detection of the cats and owls…are very very wary! Doesn’t stop them from tracking them in their rocky hideouts…lately, the drain pipe from the roof gutters has been a chipmunk highway! 🙂 The Mewberries are watching…;)
If it does cool down and we get a few more blooms I can go back to stalking the Hummingbirds. While it’s cool early in the morning there is too much shade so not many shots but I keep trying! They are such amazing flyers but I did have a good chuckle as the male has a favourite perch on a dead branch in front of the house…he got chased off by a big bad dragonfly;) Dude…really?
That wraps up the last week and a half. We did manage to get to a car show last Sunday in Smiths Falls in the scorching heat…damn, I didn’t last long but it was fun to reminisce about hot rods, good times and why did I sell mine? It wasn’t going to be a 4×4 car to get into our road in Baja! C’est la vie…you make choices and changes, just hope Brut Go is still out there with it’s flares and wonderful old aluminum wheels;) I’ll leave you with a few beauties we saw…and my passion for that red flared horsepower, in a galaxy, a long, long time ago:)
Saludos amigos! Lets hope we find Loonlets! and yes, I still buy lottery tickets…maybe, just maybe…;) Ha!
I was looking for Loonlets! I got sidetracked in the bay watching the dragonflies. Dozens of Halloween Pennants breeding and laying their eggs in the water. Widow Skimmers chasing mosquitos, and those Blue Dashers…they know how to pose these guys! They kept landing on the beautiful white water lilies, and then the yellow ones…I just sat in the canoe, there was no wind, and watched them dance from flower to flower.
I called it my antidote to humanity…too much news reading and just overall disdain for the human race…I had to get out and paddle. There were Slaty Skimmers as well as a bright red meadowhawk, Cherry faced maybe? These names…:) The Bluets were doing the wild thing as well! Dragonfly orgies everywhere! I want what they are smoking;) Ha!
I finally pulled myself away, I was sweating, and decided to head to the shady side and meander, lollygaggle, dillydally, add a dash of dawdling (you know Cathy!) as I paddled along. Checking out the underwater rocks, will I hit, will I miss…I missed…)
Out in the middle I spotted one Loon. Must go!
Then another Loon joined the photo session as I got out there! They were eyeing each other up, so maybe not our breeding pair. It was an interesting encounter. Not hostile, but not a breeding pair! They were both dribbling water, not sure if this has any significance?
They both dove and swam off in opposite directions, by now I was really getting warm and abandoned going any further. The cell phone was so hot it said it wasn’t functioning and to get it to a cooler location…on my way! As I approached the far shady shore I came upon another Loon, maybe part of our Larry, Moe and Curly crew?
It then proceeded to only what I can call…walk on water…
I didn’t have the camera set to a fast enough speed so not crystal clear but such a cool sequence…first the semi-lift off…Then the feet get going! paddling on the surface of the water! Then walking on water baby!
It went about 300′ and then settled back down to swimming…no calling, just walking! So beautiful to watch! So much water getting flung everywhere! I kept paddling…I spied some deer on the far shore and made my way over to them…going home is never, ever in a straight line! Didn’t you know?! Ha!
I wasn’t the only one who was warm! These two deer were cooling off in the water…Shade and leaves to eat! “Hey lady, whatcha want?” they seemed to be asking! Alright, heading home!
Chasing dragonflies! 🙂
All that heat and humidity brought in some serious thunderstorms later in the day, it always cools it off a bit, as long as the sun doesn’t come back out and steam you!
I love watching these storm clouds form, updrafts and downdrafts, shape shifters of the weather world…it did get very steamy later…whew! The deer flies were ecstatic…0_0..their kind of weather!
It’s ever changing.
The deer flies have been so bad poor Rocket the cat refuses to go out! They bite his large ears and he comes scampering back at full speed with a compliment of deer fly Tie fighters following him. They do look like that! Mike saw a toddler tent for sale and decided it might help…I wasn’t sure who wanted to actually be IN the tent at first;)
It was a hit, until the flies went into the tent! Ha!
“Hooman! There is a FLY in here! Remove it!”
Yes, the Traveling Mewberries are spoiled rotten:) Gamora has a flyswatter fetish, yes, she loves to be tapped with the flyswatter. All you have to do is hold it up, and she comes running…who said only hoomans were weird! Maybe we all do get reborn…she has had a few spicy past lives apparently!
They’ve slowed down in the heat, hiding under the car to avoid the the ever present deer flies. I can’t imagine how horrendous it is for the deer and other creatures out there! The Trumpeter Swan family are doing well with the two remaining cygnets, getting larger every day! They are sometimes right beside the road on the tiny island so I have to jump out of the car and get a few snaps of them! Even the babies looked hot! Stretching their feet out to cool off!
I’ll catch up more with them later this week and our trio of Loons, first time we’ve had singles so early, calling them Larry, Moe and Curly! I’ll leave you with some cool haze and light, sunrises have been beautiful but man, 5:32…really!? Ha! Stay tuned amigos for light, smoke, birds and more bugs!
“Müther! Zophia the Zopilote (turkey vulture, she’s Mexican) is making strange nosies! The noises are coming from her bottom!”..well, inquiring minds want to know! (Zophie is a metal bird made by an amazing artist in Ensenada, Baja, Mexico out of all kinds of bits of steel, including rebar and recycled material!)
I fetched the flashlight and removed Zophia’s head, it is attached at the top and it wobbles in the wind, creating the look and movement of a wild bird, many a person has been fooled from afar! Look what we have here! A delightful little deer mouse was busy building a nest! Rocket said he’d stay and keep an eye on it all, until he lost interest a few moments later, a bird flew by…sigh…short attention span theater.
They do check every morning now, just a listen to hear any rustling! Gamora continues to wage her war with the black squirrels…they have no mercy! Mama squirrel has nothing to worry about but Gamora kept three youngsters from coming down a tree yesterday as they all trash talked her from above!
Another regular late afternoon, evening visitor has been showing up…no youngsters in tow yet but she’s cleaning up the compost and it may be that Mike has put a few goodies in there for her as well. I saw an apricot getting tossed her way last night! Out of thin air! 0_0…hahahaha! It explains the disappearing oriole orange halves as well.
She is so adept at climbing the bird feeder pole, baffle and all, nothing gets in her way!
She did a pole dancing routine as Rocket watched with me…his girlfriend…A girl has to do what she has to do to support her family! 🙂 Hope to see the young ones soon!
With the deer flies holding me hostage my daily walks out to check the mail have been suspended until they can no longer carry me away…I’ve been exploring the flowers around the house. It’s amazing how many are invasive and/or introduced. Too late to pull everything out, maybe this is part of evolution in one way…
It is also impressive how many are edible! The Orange Daylily flowers, leaves, and tubers are edible. The leaves and shoots can be eaten raw or cooked when very young, lest they become too fibrous. The flower petals and young tubers can also be eaten raw in salads, stir-fried, or otherwise cooked. The petals seem to taste better when cooked, but can also be fried for storing, or dried and used as a thickener in soups or sauces. The cooked flower buds, served with butter, taste like green beans or wax beans. The tubers are a good potato substitute, with a reportedly “nutty” flavor…who knew?! Bladder Campion, the young shoots and the tender leaves are sometimes used as food in some countries of the Mediterranean region. These are considered edible raw before the plant flowers and can be used in salads. The older leaves are usually eaten boiled or fried, sauteed with garlic or in omelettes. Let’s get picking, wait, I have lettuce already! Ha!
I’ve had fun photographing the salsify seed heads after a few rain showers! Water can make things magical! There are still a few Swallowtails around but they seem to be flying almost frantically, not landing…odd. The Northern Crescents are abundant! They love the white clover.
I’ve been chasing the Wood satyrs and a few others…unsuccessfully, will keep at it!
I wasn’t sure if I was seeing a scene unfold from Alien one afternoon or do Ichneumonid Wasps-Family Ichneumonidae-do weird things with their abdomens?! It was an odd one! A friend Bruce said it looks like its laying eggs, although not clear what in. It also may have just been clearing out the ovipositor – routine maintenance, like grooming. Learn something new every day!
The treefrogs have been busy on the windows and I stopped on the road for a lovely, what I thought was a bullfrog, but turned out to be a “Green frog”…brilliant original name there! Ha! At least it looks like it sounds! Ha!
No snakes this week slithering across my path! I’ve sat with our yard birds…mothers and fathers are bringing their practically grown babies to the feeders! Impressive how fast they grow! The Hairy and Downy woodpeckers are busy cracking seeds for their young. I was interested to see they break the sunflower seed out of the shell, then into pieces before feeding it! “Chew yer seed kid!”
No sign of Red-Bellied babies yet but the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are also feeding there larger than adult sized babies as well!
The yard birds are not forgotten:) The cheerful little goldfinches are a welcome sight, the squallering (Is that a word?) Grackles are getting a bit out of hand! Oh my they are loud! Like, I could start to feed grackles to the owls loud! The Red Bellied takes great pleasure in chasing them off “her” feeder! You go girl!
And there are the Ruby-throated hummingbirds! I caught a glimpse of a female and noticed the male chasing away a rival but very quiet so far, no youngsters, but finally a few more flowers for them!
..and bugs, some unnamed bugs, some new ones. Will figure some of them out eventually! It is such a torrent of new life in June and July, flowers, insects, birds! A new Vireo showed up! A warbling one! Don’t they all? Ha!
The Orioles go about their business not paying much attention to anyone else…other than a rival!
Who knew they had such different preferences for jam! I’d run out of strawberry (Dollorama special!) and used some raspberry we bought at a Farmers Market, OK, it wasn’t the best, too much sugar, not enough fruit but they certainly let me know it was NOT up to snuff! What do I have the Gordon Ramseys of the bird world living with me? Picky picky eaters! Sheesh!
We checked in on the Osprey nest at Beveridge Locks! It is nice as you can see it from eye level standing on the bridge but hold onto your hat, no one slows down along here…0_0! I didn’t see any young but got the evil eye anyway! Maybe they are just late and very small! I will check back!
Time for a drive to see almost full grown blue herons chicks as well! First a trip to the barn to check on the senior horses! Donkeys are loosing their fluff as well so I can SEE them now! Maybe a stop at the Big Waters Bakery! Yum! I feel another food blog coming on maybe! Ha!
Saludos amigos! This Rocket cat knows how to live life, I should take notes! 😉
Including the deer flies. I thought I had it bad trying to walk down the road…imagine having no other place to go…but the swamp, on an island…sort of island.
This poor Trumpeter swan was covered in them, her bill, her neck, her head…she was picking away at them as I swatted and jumped to get a look over the grasses…the pitfalls of being the shortest person in your family;)
On a sad note, we are down to two cygnets. The one littlest guy is gone. June 25th was the last time I saw all three and Mother blowing bubbles:( by June 28th, just the two larger babies.
They have so many predators out here in the wild. From the time the egg is hatched until baby is swimming is probably the most crucial, who doesn’t like a nice egg! There are a variety of predators out there…hawks, eagles, owls, great blue herons, larger snapping turtles when the cygnets are very young. Racoons, coyotes and bobcats as well. It’s tough being a baby!
Mother and father and certainly keeping a very very close eye on these two remaining siblings! A turkey vulture flew over and Father got very very tall and large!
I startled a Wood duck female and her nine babies as I was trying to see over the grasses. She gave a rallying cry and got all the kids into line! It took a bit but she swam off with the family to a safer, less human jumping spot! All nine little ducklings! 🙂
At least the temperature has broken for a bit, man it was brutal! I do feel like I am being held hostage by the deerflies, they are particularly brutal this year! I have many welts to show for their hunger! Around the house has been manageable, walk a few feet down the road and you are fair game! I did notice when I had a few dragonflies flying about it WAS better! Go team Dragonfly! I remember a guy inventing a hat with a dragonfly on a spring to keep them at bay, I need one of those!
So many of these beautiful insects around right now! Lot’s to eat apparently!
It is always amazing how different the males and females can be in the same Dragonfly species! Keeps you on your toes trying to figure it out for me! 🙂 Check out the red parasitic mites. They attach themselves shortly after the ode emerges from the larval shell, feed until engorged then fall off into the water again to start the cycle new. Not uncommon in many I have seen so far!
It’s not quite so bad down at the dock! There was one dragonfly, the Green darner I think, keeping a Loon company a few afternoons back! I am always amazed at how long the Loons can stay down without coning up for a breath!
Father Loon was fishing near the dock yesterday. Dragonfly patrol;)
We have seen a glimpse of the two little Loonlets from afar, they dive pretty quickly. It was a Loon yelling fest last night with five different ones calling and screaming, running across the water. Different behaviour than I have seen before. I’ve never seen five here. We had a group of three show up last week, maybe it was the new parents chasing the newcomers off, not sure…or the neighbours dogs barking from the dock. ..0_0…I’ll go looking for the youngsters again soon!
The Ospreys have been putting on quite the show as well. I couldn’t resist this sequence of an Osprey landing. One afternoon we had four different birds flying around on the lake, calling. I thought it might be some juveniles but their eyes are all adult colour, yellow.
It was scorching hot and one Osprey was exhibiting some strange leg dangling behaviour I hadn’t seen before! Maybe it was hot and cranky! It’s how I felt;)
We did get a few thunderstorms to cool us down. Drown those deer flies!
I did say I had a hankering for a landscape day. After the thunderstorm blew through and dropped some torrential rain for a bit the wind died down. We had a lovely double rainbow for a few moments and those reflections!
I went down to the dock…the deerflies also decided it was safe to come out…I didn’t last long! RUN AWAY! ♫♪♫ Summertime….♫♪♪ Every season has it’s pluses and minuses, yeah! No snow shoveling, yeah! Wait…there is mowing;) Sigh…I shall sign off for now. There are still frogs and flowers and bugs and of course the Mewberries;) Stay tunes amigos, saludos!
When this restaurant opened at the end of Summer in 2023 we jumped at the chance to try it. We have been so very pleased every time we have gone since then, weekly sometimes, at least twice a month. How could we NOT go? How could you NOT bring friends?! It is heaven with every bite! How wonderful is it to share this deliciously prepared food served with such courtesy and smiling faces! Yukihana translated from Japanese means Snow Flower…a perfect name for a Canadian Sushi restaurant!
Just watching Chef Ryan preparing the rolls and sushi/sashimi plates is a wonder of precision and talent! His wife Chef Julie as well! When she brings you a plate of Bang Bang Chicken or Crispy Shrimp Tempura you know you are getting the best! Their staff and family, son John, have been so kind and helpful, Rebecca and Megan are such good front of the store ambassadors! They are more than waitresses!
We get cranky with mediocre food, but never here! Every dish has been outstanding, every roll, every bit of sushi, sashimi or seared scallop. It truly is one of our very favourite place to go sit and eat. We never thought we would be so lucky to have this so close to home. Every dish is an explosion of flavour, it reflects the care and passion, as well as the dedication that goes into crafting food like this! The artistry of each piece shines through! Thank you Chefs!
Every time we go our goal is to try something new, today it was the Futo Maki roll, three types of sashimi with avocado, cucumber and pickled radish…it was delicious! The Yukihana, Crispy Crunch Dragon and Aburi Scallop Dragon rolls are some of our favourites.
The hardest part is getting a picture before someone dives in and starts to eat! Ha!
The appetizers are wonderful. The tempura is light and crunchy. The shrimp is always ordered. The vegetables are seasonal, what a wonderful surprise the asparagus tempura was…so exquisite! The Spicy Kara-age chicken will make you wish you ordered two servings! The Sunomono salmon salad with the salmon lightly torched with avocado, in wasabi/mayo dressing over shredded radish is another favourite! The Miso soup is a delight as well! The sashimi, tuna, eel!…sigh….We will eventually try everything!
It might be Korean, it might be part Japanese. All we know is that it is delicious! We’ve had the opportunity to eat at everything from taco stands to fine dining establishments across Canada, the US, Mexico and Europe and we know what we are getting here is first class fare! I may have been born in Canada but I was lucky to be raised all over the world as a child and teenager and I know we are SO lucky to have this restaurant here! Thank you Chefs Julie and Ryan and all your family and staff for providing us with such a wonderful assortment of delicious foods for the last two years! We are so grateful you are here in Smiths Falls! 매우 감사합니다!
Did I mention the home made tiramisu, the amazing teas and selection of sakes as well? 🙂 Go and try this wonderful food! You won’t be disappointed! Saludos amigos! Eat well!
♫♪♫ Summertime, and the living is easy…♫♪♫…If you have an air conditioner should be put in this song somewhere! After Sunday mornings 1 a.m. tornado warnings going off (could they not have warned us at 11?) and the sky filled with enough lightning you could walk around the dark house a few folks still don’t have power and are cleaning up the debris. We got off easy this time. A few sticks along the road, no larger trees down on the road. The road stick cleaning house elf called Pamela will have to wait until Thursday when the cooler temperatures prevail to clean up the mess. I like to know if it’s a branch, or a snake I’m looking at on the road so best to remove the sticks and branches.
Some animals don’t mind the heat…I saw Groot staring out the window very very intently, then he followed something to the next window, I looked out to see our very large Gray Rat Snake slithering, isn’t that a great word, across the lawn. This very large beauty puts in an appearance a few times in the early Summer.
It went towards the rock garden after sniffing down several chipmunk holes…The gray ratsnake is one of about ten species within the American ratsnake genus Pantherophis. Instead of nostrils, snakes smell with a special organ, called the Jacobson’s organ, on the roof of their mouths. Snakes use their tongues to grab chemicals (which smells are made of) from the environment. I wonder what I smell like to her? Ha! Go bathe lady!
It wasn’t sure if I was friend or foe…watching me, before deciding I was mostly harmless and it could move along. We see this large one frequently. Hunting, nesting? Not sure, she/he was here last year same exact day…how weird is that?
“A medium to large serpent, the gray ratsnake typically reaches an adult size of 99–183 cm (3.25–6.00 ft) total length (including tail); however, the record is 213.9 cm (7.02 ft). An agile climber, the gray ratsnake is at home from the ground to the tree tops in many types of hardwood forest and cypress stands, along tree-lined streams and fields, and even around barns and sheds in close proximity to people. Within its range, almost any environment rich in rodents, and vertical escape options, proves a suitable habitat for the gray ratsnake.” Thanks iNaturalist!
“When startled, the gray ratsnake, like other ratsnakes, stops and remains motionless with its body held in a series of wave-like kinks. The snake will also rattle its tail against whatever it is lying on, making an audible buzzing sound; this is intended to fool a potential threat into thinking that they’ve encountered a rattlesnake. The gray ratsnake will defend itself by raising its head and bluffing a strike. If handled, it will musk a victim by releasing the foul-smelling contents of its cloaca, and will bite if necessary.“
I won’t be picking one up…I was peed on this week already, a massive amount of pee, from a very small Painted Turtle I rescued out of the middle of Long Lake Road! Who knew…it had been holding it! Ha!
Tasting the air;)
The gray ratsnake is listed federally in Canada as “endangered” (Carolinean population) and “threatened” (Great Lakes – St. Lawrence population). Habitat destruction and road mortality are leading causes of decline. I pulled two carcasses off the road last week when I was checking on the swan family 🙁
And speaking of swans, still three cygnets as of yesterday! Makes my heart sing! I caught them in the swamp beside the road last week. Such a fabulous sight where I could see over the grass! Had to jump up to see! Ha! Has it ever grown quickly in the last few days! Maybe I’m shrinking, must be the heat;)
I heard the Loon carrying on so headed down to the dock late yesterday, dodging the deer flies. A lone Loon was swimming about, diving, just being beautiful:) Maybe Father Loon taking a break from the kids!
While I was concentrating on the Loon this Osprey made a big splash-He was a bit far away and I had to scramble to focus on him/her, but cool to watch how they carry their fish catches in both talons, to streamline the wind/fish resistance!
Fish for dinner
I’ll keep an eye out later today, seems to be their favourite time after 5 for fishing, the wind was dying down, perhaps making it easier to see what was below the water’s surface. Then I went back to the Loon. They are so watchful, scanning the sky, checking every little sound and splash out.
I think this is the resident male. Two friends borrowed the canoe for a paddle yeaterday morning (brave heat ladies!). They saw the female with two chicks from a distance, who are already diving! Best protection there is! We’ll see them soon down at this end for sure! If it’s cooler tomorrow or Wednesday I might make an early morning venture out! Not right now…37.5° it says…0_0…I just saw a grackle panting! Time to go sit in front of the fan!
Walking out the road most days it’s not just birds and bugs I look at! Ok, I do like photographing them a lot! Sigh…I could do with a nice landscape soon! Ha! But flowers, something new is always popping up this time of year, and the mushrooms are starting soon as well! With this heat and early morning Sundays 1″ plus of rain, things are going to start to sprout! and bugs…yes, there will be more “Bothersome Deer Flies” how perfectly named are they?!
When you start to read about some of the common wildflowers you realize how many are introduced from far away. The Deptford pink or grass pink is a species of Dianthus (“pink”) native to most of Europe, from Portugal north to southern Scotland and southern Finland, and east to Ukraine and the Caucasus. The oxeye daisy or marguerite (French: Marguerite commune, “common marguerite”) is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, and an introduced plant to North America, Australia and New Zealand. Tragopogon dubius, commonly known as yellow salsify, is a species of salsify with yellow flower heads. It is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to North America. But does it ever have cool seed heads! Add some rain and it’s pretty magical!
Pilosella aurantiaca-fox-and-cubs…or as I know it by: orange hawkweed, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe, where it is protected in several regions. At least Philadelphia Fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus is native to North America as is Northern Blue Flag Iris versicolor, a species of Iris native to North America, in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States as well as the Rubus odoratus, the purple-flowered raspberry. The Echium and Birds foot clover are introduced as well. So many natives, so many immigrants:)
On Thursday, it was cooler and drizzling slightly. Mike had seen some pictures from our friend Valerie that she took at Purdon Conservation Area not too far from here and said…”Let’s go! Now!” so we did, it about about 30 minutes North West of Perth. It was absolutely amazing! The day before they had said 95% of the orchids were blooming…yes orchids! The Purdon Conservation Area supports Canada’s largest native colony of showy lady slipper orchids, some 16,000 plants. In the 1930s, a man named Joe Pardon discovered a small group of native orchards in the region. He cultivated and cared for the colony for over 50 years, growing it to over 16,000 blooms. He recognized the unique nature of the wetland, which is a fen, and understood the specific needs of the Showy Lady’s Slipper orchids. He meticulously cared for the orchids, thinning brush, maintaining water levels, and hand-pollinating the flowers. How amazing is that!
This gorgeous orchid has vanished from much of its historical range due to threats such as habitat loss, wetland drainage, and over-zealous horticultural collectors. It grows in wetlands such as “fens” and also open wooded swamps. A fen is: “A peatland characterized by surface layers of poorly-to-moderately composted peat, with often well-decomposed peat near the base.”
The Showy Lady’s Slipper grows mainly in mossy hummocks within this fen.
Not just Orchids either! “Check out the Pitcher Plants!” a lady seated on one of the benches exclaimed, I come every year to see them-the red ones! Sarracenia purpurea, the purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant, turtle socks, or side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Watch out bugs! Like other species of Sarracenia, S. purpurea obtains most of its nutrients through prey capture.
There were Ferns and the beautiful Iris, and a new kind of loosestrife I have never seen as well.
One very green leaf looked like it had two jelly beans stuck on it, nope, berries! Lonicera canadensis (American fly honeysuckle or Canada fly honeysuckle) is a flowering deciduous, perennial, phanerophytic shrub which is monoclinous and grows 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall. It typically flowers from the last week of April until the third or fourth week of May. Fruit appears approximately the first week of June until the first week of August. The fruit is fed upon by a variety of avian frugivores including the American robin and northern cardinal. There were also some Red-berried Elders with berries!
It looked like someone had stuck jelly beans to this plant but NO! Lonicera canadensis (American fly honeysuckle or Canada fly honeysuckle)
A magical spot. I heard few birds and saw few bugs, except the ever present mosquito, maybe because it was cool and drizzling. Not now. I don’t even want to look at the thermometer today…0_0! 36.5°…The cats came running in last night, our buddies the “Bothersome Deer Flies” were after them as well! Maybe only morning outings for awhile to torment the young chipmunks!
Gamora is very very sad…we took her Mewberry-Mobile into a shop to have the suspension checked over, see about the bushings, steering, before we go off into the wilds of Ontario! Ha! She walks out to the gravel pad sadly and looks around. I keep telling her it’s coming back!
There will be more adventures…for now the trick is simply to stay cool! Groot does say a bit of rolling around in the sun isn’t a bad thing! Ha! Saludos amigos. Stay tuned for Loons and Ospreys and Swans and Gray Rat Snake visitors and let’s hope our power stays on! 🙂
Our girl is back, year five, always within a day or so each year. How’s that for turtle on timeness!
I pulled up a chair and sat and watched her quietly….love how they walk! I think her eggs have been laid somewhere and she was heading back to the lake. Those swinging back legs! She heard our neighbours dog bark, then they got in their car and drove away. She hunkered down for a bit…
She looked at me a few minutes later, quizzically, like, I think it’s safe now…the coast is clear!
She passed over the herbs, pausing to look out towards the lake. It wasn’t until I walked around the front for a shot and to wish her luck that I noticed her right eye was missing:( Looking back at older photos of her she seemed fine until 2023 where you can see some damage to her eye. In a few minutes she was into the tall grass and headed to the lake…See you next year Mrs. Snapping Turtle!
Gamora came across this beautiful Painted Turtle making it’s way past the Mewberry mobile. It took awhile before he would stick his head out after she sniffed it, I went to get my camera. Those beautiful eyes! Then she/he went along his way…love that turtle snoot! We had another one trying to lay it’s eggs in a very rocky spot, it did give up and move on.
So far, just a few frogs. Our Gray tree fog is living in the cushion box on the deck and has a very small friend living nearby as well. They are so cool looking! From bright green to gray, and those legs!
Groot found a small leopard frog and patted it on the head with his paw…it was not impressed. What IS this slimy thing asked Groot? Who is that belligerent cat the frog wanted to know! “Ewww…cat germs!”
I’ve coaxed a few garter snakes off the road and the Water snakes skedaddle pretty quickly when you are walking! Those sunny days they do love the road.
The forest is alive with sound, bullfrogs calling, Vireo’s calling. One finally flew down to a lower branch in front of me, belted out a Pavarotti chorus smugly before flying off. There human…now you now who I am!
An Eastern Wood Peewee but in a stellar performance as well…
The Scarlett Tanager said yeah, you can hear them, but me, well Honey…You can’t miss ME! I had the honour of not just Mr. Scarlett Tanager but his lovely yellow wife hung about for some photos as well. First time I have seen them together so closely!
He did moon me as well;) Not to be outdone the Red Bellied Woodpeckers both came by for a visit to the oranges. NOT just Oriole food they said:) Keep putting that suet up as well they chimed!
It’s wonderful to have these regulars all year long. The Hairys and Downys are quiet quiet right now, nesting. Except one female who chatters at me early in the morning telling me to hurry up and get that suet feeder up! One day I feel she may land on my hand as I carry it out! Like the Orioles, they have a very particular voice! One might say chastising at times!
The Grosbeaks and Purple finches are bringing their young to the feeders. They are very naive and trusting, it’s sweet to watch them. We had an Eastern Kingbird visiting at the front. The tree they nest in, an old cedar along the shore is dying with no branches for cover so not sure where they are nesting this year.
One morning a lone female Merganser passed by the front of the house on the calm lake. The smokey skies lent a eerie colour to the water. So much life. I wondered if it was a female taking a break from nesting.
Then I have my ever patient little buddy Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The female has been very quiet, hope to see more of her soon! I move the feeders around for the best light and he just follows along. A patient soul for a photographer! Light is so important in bringing out the colour in these amazing little birds! It’s a quest!
I sunk to new lows last week and placed small flowers in the feeder holes I didn’t want him to go to, his back at me, in the shadow…he caught on pretty quickly what I needed from him! Ha!
When there isn’t enough light I like the blur in the wings as well, it adds a sense of motion to these beautiful little birds.
Now to talk him into getting nearer the flowers!
Alright-it’s turned into a turtle and bird novel. Stay tuned for flowers and The Mewberries! Coming to a tree near you! I’ll leave you with my bird feeder examiner…top notch job she does;)
When only sunflower seeds will satisfy that craving…it’s as if it’s saying “Lordy, lordy, lordy…give me seed!” My home made baffle works for squirrels…not raccoons;)
We’ll start with the big…Eagles, Bald Eagles. I know when they are here as the Loon starts it’s warning howl, the seagulls as well, time to get off my duff, grab the camera and watch what is going down! In fact one seagull has become quite ballsy and has chased this eagle off several times, right on it’s tail, maybe they have nine seagull lives like cats! Ha! The Bald Eagle did finally give up after a circular route around of this end of the lake that didn’t get him any closer to the Osprey and the free fish meal.
We know when the eagle is around, the Loons sound the alarm call!
I’m sure an eagle has quite the bite, did you know dragonflies bite too? An expert in the field assured me they do, especially the Eastern Pondhawks, the “Green Death” my friend wrote-one of the fiercest dragonflies. He said they can’t really hurt you more than a slight pinch. He used to catch them, checking for parasitic mites: when he released it, it would loop back, grab his finger and bite it before flying off. A dragonfly with a chip on it’s…wing, I guess;) Cranky are they! Thanks Bruce for all the amazing information you pass our way!
You have to love a dragonfly with racing stripes! The Blue Dasher is my kind of bug;) Ha! These guys above just showed up yesterday morning. I stood in the shade, melting into a pool of my own sweat as I watched them. I have two new ones as well that I have never seen before! It’s wild what you notice if you take the time to sit and watch or maybe it’s just being in the right place at the right time!
A Harlequin Darner and a Stream Cruiser…sounds like a wild pair;) I knew as soon as I saw the patterns on their bodies they were something different! There are currently only 14 records in Lanark on iNaturalist for the Harlequin Darner! These guys are moving North with the ticks! I’d rather have them than the ticks thank you!
I am always amazed how the different species come and go with the changes in heat and humidity it seems. It’s been dominated here by the Chalkfronted Corporals, so many dragonflies change from the time they are born and morph into other colours, the females are often completely different than the males so it’s a tough job to know who is who!
Then there are the Rackettails and Whitefaces. I get some of those, especially the dot tailed whiteface…easypeasy!
Then what I call the tuxedo dragonflies;) Ha! Common Whitetails and Twelve Spotted Skimmers…
Then there are the Baskettails and Four Spotted Skimmers…0_0…the list goes on! I’m doing my best at remembering all these guys!
I’m still working at getting a picture of the giant Green and Blue Darners flying over the swamp! Wait for the Calico Pennants and Widow skimmers as well! Who knew there were SO many dragonflies! I love the tiny Bluets and Sprites. And you thought those were only in fantasy books Sprites? Or a fizzy drink 😉 or a small Austin Healy car? Ha!
I spent one morning just walking around the blooming Wild Rugosa Rose bush, which thankfully the deer hadn’t eaten all the buds off, like last year! I was watching Rocket chase frogs. The array of bugs was wild! That was in an hour!
Our world:) The Butterflies have been quieter than in past years. As I walk out to check the swans I am running into more and Eastern Giant Swallowtails.
When these guys are flying by quickly I often have a hard time telling them apart until they land and open their wings. On the left, the darker coloured one is an Eastern Giant Swallowtail and the one on the right is a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail:)
Such amazing creatures! They are enjoying the last of the honeysuckle blooms and hanging baskets.
They are not the only ones! We’ve had some either Red Spotted or White Admirals…sounds so nautical;) Consensus is still out on what exactly they are. The Little Wood Satyrs and Eastern Commas are easier to identify! And we had a Viceroy fly by as well.
Walking out on the road gives you different vegetation that what is around the house. We do have a lot of wildflowers but not like along the road. I dread when they come and mow the sides all down…poor bugs! Much less to eat. “Human safety” comes first…well crap on that, slow down morons! 😉 We are legislating the human race into stupidity. I read an article when someone complained there was no “sign” telling them that ticks were present…Darwin’s theory works well, if let to work;) OK, the road butterflies now!
It’s not all butterflies. I’ve been watching the bees, so far just the Common Eastern Bumblebee and maybe a Two Spotted Bumblebee and an array of other cool bugs!
Where’s the spiders you ask? Arachnophobes look away! Ha! A very cute Whitman’s Jumping Spider and a nest of Baby Cross Orbweavers I think! The shadows killed me!
Have I bugged you enough? Ha! I seem to be infested with bugs;) Wasp the problem? Living a beetleful life? Ok, enough…sigh:) Bee all that you can bee;) I’ll save the reptiles and the birds for tomorrow;) I was hoping to get out to see the Loon babies, there are two I’ve been told but the wind is howling today, maybe tomorrow. We’ve had some nice sunrises, thank you Groot for getting me up to look! Thankfully the smoke has cleared off but it made for some beautiful light!
We live in a magical world:) I’ll stop bugging you now…hasta mañana for turtles and more birds!
We went from watching the lovely Trumpeter swan on her nest to them suddenly them disappearing the first week of June! I looked all up and down the swamp, saddened, thinking they might have lost the eggs, or babies (called Cygnets). Did you know a female swan is called a Pen. The term “pen” is derived from the way the female swan holds her wings back, which resembles a penned enclosure. Male swans are called cobs due to the knob on his beak. This comes from the old German term “Knopf” meaning knob. The term “cob” is also associated with the Middle English word “cobbe,” meaning leader of a group, which could relate to the cob’s role in defending the nest and young. 🙂…and then….:)
I caught a glimpse of white on the far swamp! Our swans and three baby swan nuggets! I bushwhacked through the tall grass and over rocks for a few hundred feet in an adjacent field to get a closer look, it was drizzling and I was soaked! I was so happy! As I walked back towards the Long Lake road, they were rolling the newly spread gravel, the driver was taking a smoke break as the huge gravel trucks rolled by me I caught a flash of yellow. I have a white plastic garbage bag I use as my waterproofing, I thought for sure as I pulled it off the camera, that spot of yellow was going to fly away…
but no! Even the gravel trucks didn’t bother him!
A ray of sunshine on a rainy day! A Beautiful Yellow Warbler. Some days are just perfect!
So the ritual is check the swamp every day and fingers crossed there are still three babies out there! Last year they started with three or four and only one survived. Eagles? Raccoons? Who knows! Killer fawns;) Just kidding…
I went looking for the Trumpeter Swan family but only found this fawn and it’s mother at the end of the swamp:)
Walking out the road each day gives you a glimpse into natures ever changing world. As I was walking I ran into the two lovely gentlemen staying in the cottage next door. They told me a fawn had just walked out in front of their car and had laid down in the grass beside the road! I kept walking, looking each way and eventually in the tall grass, a few feet from the road, I spied a spotted brown circle. It was so tiny, still had the blue eyes, so very young. I could have picked it up with one hand it was so small. It didn’t move and I kept my distance as I admired this gorgeous little creature.
Just a heads up to everyone traveling on small gravel and cottage roads…slow the F*CK down! This baby was two feet off the road….I can’t tell you how many arseholes blow past me on the Long Lake road way over the 50 km an hour. In a hurry, to get to your cottage to …relax? Get off your f…ing phone as well! I took two beautiful gray rat snakes off the road yesterday, run over….It was such a wee baby, so well hidden! We had to go back out later and I was happy to see it gone, hopefully reunited with mother!
I might have leapt out of the car before it actually stopped moving when I spied these three swan nuggets right beside the road on Monday. They have been hovering in the far end all last week! Mother and Father were busy feeding right in the corner by the mailboxes! I said hello and welcome back to the family as soon as I reached the swamp edge. They were not bothered by my presence at all, yeah, camera lady…;) Mother and father were paddling with their feet to bring up edibles from the bottom of the swamp, really fascinating to watch those big paddles go!
So I’ll keep checking every time I walk out or we drive by! Such a wonderful opportunity to watch the family grow! How lucky are we?! I’ll leave you with the doe and her two fawns…wandering round the edge of the swamp as well, eating! I’ll catch up tomorrow on the amazing dragonflies and other birds and bees and…yes, there will be a canoe shot or two;) Ha! Saludos amigos, hasta mañana!
Ok, Ok…enough birds, bugs and scenery…how about something you can sink your teeth into! TACOS! Yes, Perth has it’s own taco truck and we couldn’t be happier! Chef Pablo and his wonderful wife Amy and her lovely mother Elaine are here and ready to serve you something delicious! Ethel is the friendly lady in the back doing prep and Amy’s niece Penelope and Garrett are on hand to help you when needed!
They opened in May and have seen a steady stream of taco lovers from young to old! We visited this week again, taking our wonderful friend Heidi! We would love to try the burgers and poutine but the tacos are soooo good! How could we NOT eat tacos! Ha! OK I but did, poutine with barbacoa…sigh…chiplote salsa…sigh…a guy walked away with a Mexican Hot Dog and I nearly followed him into his car…hahahaha! It was bacon wrapped…GO! Eat! try!
Heidi chose the chipotle mushroom with sour cream and avocado. I had my favorite, the barbacoa (steamed beef with cilantro and onion), and Mike, tacos de pescado….fish…of course with pico de gallo! I’m getting hungry just writing this! These are real corn tortillas folks, not the crappy store ones!
There are picnic tables with umbrellas to sit at…it’s a lovely spot to get a quick bite, lunch or snack! They are open Tuesday through Saturday10:30 to 3:00 pm so get on down there…1851 Rogers Rd, Perth, ON and feast away!
You may encounter a line up to order but fear not, your tacos will be ready in no time! They are so worth any wait! The salsas are a nice addition with a squeeze of lime and the best, those smiles! Thank you Pablo, Amy and Elaine for such a delightful place to eat! See you soon!
Chef Pablo and his wonderful suegra, mother in Law Elaine
Dot-tailed Whiteface-Leucorrhinia intacta-couldn’t resist the light!
I know, I know, without the mosquitos we wouldn’t have the amazing array of bugs and birds we do have…sigh…as I scratch away….I know I’m like a big walking rib-eye to them but I hate that mosquito/blackfly hat! I can’t see a thing! Just wait until my friends the deerflies appear…0_0! So every new species I see of dragonfly makes me give a little cheer and yahoo! We had a massive hatch yesterday of Chalk-fronted Corporals ( who names these guys?) and Dot tailed Whiteface, OK, I get that one, they have a white face and a dot on their tail! These creatures vary by sex, age…and who knows what else!
It was a wild dragonfly sex kind of day yesterday! I saw one Whitetail as well and that big blue and green guy flying around in the swamp, a Common Green Darner I think, that never lands or stops! I’ll get a picture of you yet!
The swamps along the road are so full of life. I walk to get rid of the fallen sticks, clean out the grates on the culverts and recently an enterprising young beaver has made a new dam…always something to do, oh yes, and photograph everything that moves, and lots that don’t 🙂 I have been surprised by how few butterflies I’ve seen. I know we’re running a bit behind but still…all that spraying for Gypsy moths may have taken it’s toll:(
Lot’s of Pearl Crescents and Juvenal’s Duskywings. Our First Canadian Tiger Swallowtail stopped for a brief rest and I got it’s picture but otherwise very, very quiet. There are a few bugs you can’t miss. The tent caterpillar cocoons in the trees as I walk out the road, blue jay food! Those amazing fluorescent bright green Six-spotted Tiger Beetles, as well as the Giant Millipedes ambling along on those hundreds of legs, how can you miss them! The bumblebees, both the Common Eastern and two spotted, and lot’s of bugs and moths I don’t know, always learning! 🙂
The Trilliums are slowly dying away and other flowers and bushes are starting to take their place. The grasses grow so quickly and cover everything up that is small! Along the road it’s easier to see what is peeking out! Wild Sarsaparilla? I can see Sam Elliot’s face in the “The Dude“, OK, the Big Lebowski, every time I hear that word…:)
I stopped dead in my tracks a few days ago with a “What the F…art…is that!” Ha! It looked like some alien flower dropped here from outer space! I was memorized! The wind was blowing it’s top flap open, otherwise it sits slightly over the flower, like a hat! Arisaema triphyllum, the Jack-in-the-pulpit! How cool is that! I check on it every day I walk and makes me grin ear to ear!
There are always cool things in the swamp itself! A Calla lily of sorts and something called Big Bur-Reed?! I always stop to listen to the female Red Winged Blackbird singing there as well, so far no sign of the Swamp Sparrow.
Along the Long Lake road there are hundreds of blooming Red Columbines in the rocks flowering! I wandered past them when I checked our lady swan.
Now I can’t leave the Mewberries out can I?! Ha! They are so enjoying the sunny days. The chipmunks are out…dangerous thieving rodents Rocket says, stealing bird food and peanuts! While Sheriff Groot keeps an eye on things, this is hard work he says, his deputy is hard at work trying to round up the criminals! Gamora, The CAT FUN (Feline United Nations) negotiator is keeping an eye on the felon hunt!
To be honest, most mornings, Gamora makes a beeline for her happy place…the Mewberry Mobile! We are taking our time getting to know the A-class. It’s all different yet much the same as Myrtle the trailer only 8′ shorter! It has many of the same age issues but nothing that can’t be dealt with:) Mike made an appointment to get the suspension/shocks looked at next month with some guys that specialize in that and we’ll go from there. As it’s 2011, it’s not new but it has been well looked after! Before we take it on the road with the furry Mewberries we want to know everything is ticketyboo:) I promised some inside shots! a floorplan as well! Woohoo!
It is Mewberries approved! Even Rocket is warming up to it! We don’t have any fixed plans yet but a few trial runs to some Provincial Parks and maybe a tour of the East coast of Canada could be in order! Stay tuned. More bugs, birds and blooms…and did you know Perth has a taco truck?! We’ll cover that soon! In the meantime…it’s time for some R&R:) Gamora style!
It starts with that lime green! The light reflected on the lighter coloured birds makes them appear green! As the weeks of May move on, through the seemingly never ending rain this month the greens are slowly changing.
After a few days of drizzle rain there is only one word that comes to mind…green, everything is SO green!
To that deep green background! And yes, it depends upon the light..sun..what’s that the Mewberries want to know? Ha!
We have had enough rain now, thanks! Today Mike started the fireplace…yup, feeling like early Spring and not the last day of May! How does it go? It may rain, it may snow, it may be sun? Ha! Whine, whine, whine! Just remove the “h” and it makes everything better;) Ha! It’s made photographing the hummingbirds a bit harder, need that bright light for those quick speeds! Lot’s of other feathered friends to look at as well as the forest has come alive with song! They are hard as f*@~ (Insert your favourite letters here…) to find in the leaves but we have caught a few! Ha! Why are there not any green birds here? It would be perfect camouflage!
This must be the year of the Ovenbird! I counted three separate birds on my walk out, one foraging on the ground and two in the trees. Sadly foraging they do pick up ticks, this one has one over it’s eye. I can tell a Red-eyed Vireo song from a few hundred yards away now. I’m honestly not really a birder, I just like to take their pictures so many of the songs escape me! Now if they are bright red…that certainly helps me find them! Ha!
The singing Scarlett Tanager made my walk in the rain worthwhile! He doesn’t seem shy at all, watched me as he carried on singing and poking around the bark for snacks. The Cardinal surprised me at the end of the road where there are pines, I heard him singing as well before he appeared! The Grosbeaks, they are all over!
We still have a few Blue jays hanging about, they come in for their peanuts in the morning! A lone Eastern Towhee has been poking about under the feeders as well. The LBB’s and LYB’s, little brown birds and little yellow birds have headed for the woods except for an occasional visit! An American, wait, Canadian Crow has been spending some time hanging around, that’s a first!
The Baltimore Orioles have taken over the orange half and jam jar. We have at least three different males of various ages and colouration. The female has a fair bit of dark on her head so maybe one of last years kids as well? Hard to tell. Last years was completely yellow on her head!
I’ve had to take down the small metal suet feeder as the squirrels and Grackles have been raiding it. The Red Bellied Woodpeckers aren’t pleased but have learned to use the squirrel proof one, I think I need to invest in a new one, it didn’t quite survive last years bear mauling!..0_0..
I see more of the male now than the female, opposite of early Spring! She is busy nesting I believe.
It’s not ALL birds here, well, there are a lot! I’ve been keeping an eye on the Trumpeter Swan down the road! Still sitting! Almost a month now! Babies should be hatched out soon!
We drove up to see the Great Blue Heron Rookery as well yesterday, wanted to see how the one nest that was left was doing! They have been rebuilding! Four nests in total. One fairly large baby in one close to the water and I could have sworn I saw some fuzzy heads in one of the others! I’ll check back next week!
On the way home we came across a large, what I thought at first glance was a Painted Turtle but no, an endangered Blanding’s Turtle. I helped him/her across the road…not taking any chances there! Beautiful yellow throat!
Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)
We had a record number of Painted Turtles sitting on the log a few days ago. I think as we’ve had so little sun this was a great day or it was the Long Lake Swamp council meeting! Perhaps discussing swamp severances with the Bullfrog;) I could make out 20 Painted turtles, plus there is the guy to the right just in the shot and then on the stump to the left front with his lovely bullfrog buddy is another guy! 22 in total!
A log record! Love the Bullfrog and the guy at the far right!
I’ll catch up on the dragonflies, butterflies and wildflowers tomorrow before this becomes a novel! The Mewberries have been busy as well! Exploring their new Mewberry Mobile! Ha! More pictures to come! Saludos amigos. I’ll leave you with this little ray of sunshine called a Ruby-throated Hummingbird:)
There is something immensely satisfying about watching cats. Groot is a serious guy, he takes his job of Alpha cat incredibly seriously. It’s usually all business, especially outside where danger lurks…but sometimes…he gets deliciously silly!
A moment can turn to bappity-baps (cat smacks) very quickly when someone…i.e. Rocket, doesn’t follow the rules!
“There is a NO SNIFF protocol in place for all outside activities! WHAT is he thinking! He MUST obey the rules! Admittingly, I do have a lot of them!” exclaimed Groot “He will be bappity-bapped for this!”
I’m not entirely sure if Rocket can even comprehend the rule book Groot keeps but he keeps on trying to teach his young padwan! These guys get to go out escorted by us, never alone. Too many bigger furry critters that eat smaller ones out here:) We’re back to “cat retrieval devices” (harness and leashes) now that Spring is here:)
There mornings are spent sniffing, exploring and getting into trouble!
Never a dull moment with the Mewberries;) Occasionally there is burst of speed and up the trees they go…or down the road. Mike ran after Gamora all the way to the neighbours a few days ago, and then she evaded him and ran all the way back…she’s a wildling…Mike was exercised anyway! Ha! Angry…but exercised;)
Now Rocket…well, lets just say the life of a man of leisure would best suit him;) Or if you’ve ever watched the British TV series “Keeping up Appearances” Rocket may have been Onslow in a former life, just a redhead:) He prefers to hunt in the rocks with his long arms and lay around, upside down mostly…He could earn extra catnip funds being a yoga teacher if all the poses were reclined;)
I think my horse Dusty might be on the same wavelength, though at 32 years old, he deserves a bit of repose!
He was enjoying the sun the other day as I stalked a Killdeer in his field…it even pretends to have a broken wing to the horses! Ha! The nest is out there! We’ll find it!
I miss my girl Maya. It’s hard sometimes but the old guy has had a good life too so he can’t complain, he does though! But with almost no teeth left he has been happy to see those tender shoots of grass and I’ve noticed his eyesight is not what it was…getting old…argh! I sympathize with him:)
Anything for a carrot! Dusty and Phoenix ran off after their brushing, no lingering at the gate so I took these lovely, somewhat furry, shedding models instead! Hillary, the redhead, would not put his ears up! Even shaking the carrot bag had NO effect! Ha! They are shaggy little creatures as their winter coats fall off! AS we pulled in I saw Jennifer’s crab apple tree had shed a load of petals in the rain last night, I was going to get Alice to do a photoshoot with me, and Mike, holding the fish container. She and the black cat Sophie get Sunday snacks! I think Groot would fall head over heels with Alice in a secound! She is a sensible, no nonsense kind of girl that has rules as well!
There was to be NO laying down, no tummy shots, this was a glamour shot she said, not a girly pin up…much to Groot’s dismay when I showed him this afternoon;)
I am pleased to say the black flies are done, well, 99% anyway…but the mosquitos, holy toledo batman! Even the cats bat them away! There are swarms of newly hatched dragonflies in front of the house this past weekend! A glorious sight to see! So far Spiny Baskettails to go with the American Emeralds, Chalk-fronted Corporals and even a Dot-tailed Whiteface. They can be so confusing as the female at times looks completely different than the male! I’m learning…slowly, for everything else there is iNaturalist and friends who know!
If it’s windy the bugs are not so bad, mail walk check then goes more pleasantly:) I did shoo a small Common garter Snake off the road, it wasn’t having any of it, I will strike you lady. I stopped to explain it would be a flat snake if it stayed out where it was for any length of time…people drive a bit too quickly out here;)
What I’d really walked out to photograph were the Large White Trilliums turning pink and mauve! Pink and white trilliums are not different species, but one and the same…The flower’s white petals turning pink as they age. The pinkish colour plants develop as they make these pigments may be just a side effect, with their real purpose being to help protect tissues as the plants “work to recover the nutrients in the petals that they are ‘throwing away,’ Very cool!
It’s amazing how the wildflowers come and go, replaced by something new the next week. So far no morels yet but I’m still sticking to the road, so many ticks this year I’m playing it safe!
I have two little buddies in the cushion box already…Gray tree frogs! They are singing from the trees as well! A beautiful sound! I swear this guy, the smaller of the two was smiling at me:) I had to remove him to take the cushions out and then gently place him back in the box when I was done…talk about a good taxi service!
A couple of nights ago, well early mornings, I was going to go down to the canoe for the sunrise but the hundreds of mosquitos on the window screen deterred me…”Nah, next time!” Ha! Discretion is the better part of valor no?” Ha! So early last Saturday morning I looked out, krickey, yes I HAVE to go down! Mosquitos or not. Not bathrobe but winter jacket over pyjamas photography! 🙂 It was wild the colour!
I had to motivate myself down to the canoe for this colour early this morning! Mosquitos and all it was stunning!
I sat on the dock and just listened and watched. The brilliant orange was amazing. Across the lake I could see our resident muskrat swimming towards me. They live under the floating dock. He came right towards me and dove under:) My reward for hoofing it down there! and only a few bites!
Now the rain has moved in…We might get a break by Sunday, maybe some sun Monday? Who knows. The plants are loving it, the Mewberries not so much but they have a brand new diversion…We jumped in feet first and purchased a new (to us!) Mewberrymobile! a 2011 (in our price range!) 30′ gas powered Monaco A-class that we drove to Markham to pick up from the sellers who kindly drove it all way from Sarnia to meet us! Thank you Randy and Terry! After a two hour wait at the MTO with a delightful group of other folks waiting, and waiting and waiting who had a fabulous sense of humour, they cheered when someone’s number finally came up! Ha! (boy are we spoiled in Perth) we walked away with all the paperwork intact and new plates, I will get that socket and wrench handle back to you Randy, I promise! We were hoping to beat the wind and rain and hadn’t counted on the two hour MTO wait but hey, trial by fire Mike! He’s looking at suspension upgrades already! I drove home behind him, it was a long day. Our laneway was a piece of cake Mike said, compared to the Dodge Ram 3500 pulling a 38′ 5th wheel! That was my one worry, some of those curvy hills, but he breezed in! Whew!
The best part after pulling in was the look of wonder and joy on Gamora and Groot’s face when they went outside and saw it! They made a beeline for it! Up the stairs, exploring, sniffing, checking out the large luxurious dash. They were playing on the bed like kittens again! Who said animals didn’t have memories! This was like they were reliving their childhood! I knew Gamora would be excited, but Groot, he was wild with delight! Rocket is still convinced it’s the devils spaceship! Ha! Today he finally spent a few minutes, with the help of some tasty treats exploring it! Hopefully we’ll get some sun for better shots later but right now, well, it’s been a long week, but rewarding!
The Mewberrymobile
We were going to call her Gassy Myrtle (she’s gas powered) but I think the Mewberry Mobile or Myrtle Mobile are the contenders! Inside pictures to come later! Right now, it’s rest time!
I did excitedly text my brother that I had an Onan Generator in my life again…I wasn’t sure if he sent a laugh…or groan emoji;) It’s only been 40 or so years since I’ve had to hand someone tools to work on one! Ha! Saludos amigos. We haven’t decided if we’ll go East first, or West, Groot says there are fresh shrimp on both coasts so he doesn’t care which!
Baby Groot-Once you’ve had your first fresh shrimp…you can’t go back;)
It comes so quickly, a bit of heat, a lot of heat, no leaves, a few buds, then the forest is full, of leaves, and mosquitos! Ha!! How does that happen SO quickly! It does boggle the mind!
Everything moves so quickly! From the arrival of the Hummingbirds the first of May, then the Orioles, a wild visit from a bright blue Indigo Bunting! That was a first! I was sitting, waiting for the hummingbirds when a flash of blue flies across in front of you. I rubbed my eyes, thinking, what the F*** was that, did someone lose a blue canary? Is this some lost tropical bird, but no…meet the male Indigo Bunting!
“Indigo Buntings migrate at night, using the stars for guidance. Researchers demonstrated this process in the late 1960s by studying captive Indigo Buntings in a planetarium and then under the natural night sky. The birds possess an internal clock that enables them to continually adjust their angle of orientation to a star—even as that star moves through the night sky. Astronomer birds, apropos here;) Like all other blue birds, Indigo Buntings lack blue pigment. Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in the feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue.” How cool is that!
It’s seems late April early May is squirrel time! The red squuirrels are out, yelling, trash talking the Mewberries, the black squirrels have their own Mafia/Cartel…don’t mess with Mama…as Gamora has learned! Nobody messes with Mama! The Mewberries have decided instead of chasing her, she is their pet squirrel…yup…and she has big teeth, claws and thumbs…Then there is Braniel…the Brad Pitt/Daniel Craig cross gray squirrel. That tail, it could only be Hollywood hair and this guy, he’s smart…Just see…
If this Grey Squirrel had a human counterpart, it would be cross between Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig;)Just LOOK at that tail! It screams Hollywood!I watched him winch up this empty hook, hand over hand, it previously had held the treasured glass jar of sunflower seed…But NO! It wasn’t there!Not only is he gorgeous, he knows it, he is smart…and did you know they have thumbs? He thought things over and moved over to the next fishing line!He shimmied, as one can only do with fishing line…down to the jar! This is TALENT!He was so pleased with himself but then he slipped….”Damn!” you could see going through his head…Oh he said…this was awkward…I just flashed the lady photographer! I’m going get a handful for the road!You are still taking my picture? “You didn’t even get my best side!” he swooned….to be continued;)
I couldn’t resist this guy! Now, back to Gamora and her traumatizing encounter with Mama Mafia.
Gamora was like WTFudge? It is just standing there…eating, it doesn’t give a hoot that I am an apex predator…OK, well, it’s nearly as big as me..wait…is this the black-gray squirrel mother that has chased every other squirrel off her lot? “Do you feel lucky today Gamora?”…she was not. This lactating mother squirrel got fed up with being so rudely watched as she ate that she took a leap straight at poor Gamora, who freaked out and jumped down! Then she went back to eating! It is interesting just how “Yeah, you think you can?”…works…Gamora has met her squirrel match;) I was trying to back up to get Rocket into the picture as he was below the table when the attack squirrel launched;) I think I may name her “Trinity” you Matrix fans;)
Gamora insists she works for the Cat United Nations, also known as F.U.N, Feline United Nations…This was a negotiation that went bad according to her! In the future she will continue to work with the Reptile, Rodent and Amphibian population where she has had great success and leave the squirrels to the boss, Groot:)
You have to have fun right?! ha! Check out “Cats With Jobs” on Facebook if you need a chuckle:)
Seriously, these squirrels are something else!
So yeah, I’ve been sidetracked by squirrels today:) Maybe I am part cat;)
I did promise furry creatures…Ha! It hasn’t been all frolicking, or running from the bugs! Thankfully the black flies have slowed down, a few swarms of harmless gnats now and then and the evil, evil mosquitos! The swarms of dragonflies have finally arrived to take care of them so going down to the dock isn’t quite like running the gauntlet as it was! And those Spring skies, storms, then rainbows!
I have never seen mists like this before and the very odd airplane contails being blown about! We’re sticking with the Buddhist tradition, the swastika, often referred to as the “Yungdrung” or “Manji,” is a profound symbol of eternity, auspiciousness, and stability. Whew…much better and yes, weird ass clouds!
May is for mists, as the air warms and the water is still cool.
It such a magical experience to sit and listen to the quiet world go by. Barred Owls hooting to each other across the lake, geese honking as they fly by, nature in all her glory.
Ok, it’s become a novel. I’ll sign off for now and catch up next week on some more new bugs, those dragonflies are amazing and a couple more spectacular sunrises. There are furry donkeys and Dusty as well. Saludos amigos. The Traveling Mewberries have some new great news as well to share! (No, not a new kitten, but I keep trying!)
We came across this cute little snake sunbathing in the lane by the culvert. I tried to shoo him/her off as we had to drive past and it was NOT happy! I’m warm here!! The northern ribbonsnake is semi-aquatic and is almost always found close to water, such as wetlands and the shorelines of lakes and rivers. The northern ribbonsnake is very similar to the eastern gartersnake but they lack the white crescent in front of the eye. I knew it looked different!
Half the fun of walking out to check the mail isn’t for the mail…who gets mail now? Ha! It’s to sneak up on the Painted Turtles sunning themselves and trying to get a shot before the little ones bail! Apparently I am quite threatenning?!…no jokes Mike! Ha! The water snakes are quite active as well and scurry off the bank when they here the crunch of my feet on the gravel.
We spend a fair bit of time on the road, not just walking. Two weeks ago a windstorm created quite the mess along the road. One old dying tree decided to part with it’s top half, and another dead tree near the swamp decided we needed something to do that day…clean it up. We were headed into town but that had to wait! Couldn’t get past the trees. Chainsaw time. But we did get to see this lovely muskrat:)
Muskrat Susie? or Sam;)
You have to stop, listen, look at what’s rustling! A Ribbonsnake was thrashing around in the reeds, I never did see it’s head but I could make out it’s body thrashing around! A small garter snake was parked in a sunny spot in the road. I shooed him off, didn’t want to see him flattened. I’d picked up a few that were run over and put them to the side. They will get eaten. I try to take all the branches and sticks off the road as I walk out so we can differentiate between them, and our reptile friends:)
It’s not all animals. I so enjoy watching the emergence of all the different wildflowers! It’s been a Trillium year, never seen so many along the road! Perfect combination of precipitation and heat perhaps? The Brown Trout Lilies with their spotted leaves, the fiddleheads slowly unrolling into ferns, I love in Quebec they are called violin heads, têtes de violon:)
The Tiny Hepaticas are glorious as they change colour, from bright when they first open and then they fade to softer shades.
I have been waiting for the dragonflies! My goal today is to endure the blackflies, hat and bug screen on, and wander down the road! I photographed several a few days ago! American Emeralds and a really wild looking bug, a Greater Bee Fly! iNaturalist is such a wonderful source of information!
“The Bombylius major (commonly named the large bee-fly, the dark-edged bee-fly or the greater bee fly) is a parasitic bee mimic fly. B. major is the most common type of fly within the Bombylius genus. The fly derives its name from its close resemblance to bumblebees and is often mistaken for them. The fly does not bite, sting, or spread disease. However, the fly uses this mimicry of bumblebees to its own advantage, allowing close access to host solitary bee and wasp nests in order to deposit its eggs. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to parasitically feed on the grubs.”
It’ll be a bug walk today! Well, I look at everything, I love it all:)
We have seen a few beautiful Snapping turtles as well. One on the drive home, it had such amazing cinnamon colouration, and it was BIG! Someone mentioned it could be in the 75+ years range:) We’ll call her grandma! She was a beauty, over 30″ long. She was ambling across the road to the river on the other side:) Looking for a nesting area, or leaving one! Check out those claws and alligator tail!
We haven’t had any large visitors in the yard but the Mewberries wanted to keep this little one:) A pet they said! Ha!
I thought it had wandered off later in the day but no, there it was, the next morning!
It hasn’t been just snapping turtles the Mewberries have uncovered…I saw Rocket leap straight up in the air the other morning as if something had struck at him…something had. A beautiful Gray Rat Snake. Rocket was escorted away and reminded that these guys do bite! This one was about 4.5 ‘ long, not the really big one we ususally have in the yard but big enough! Such amazing colours on these snakes!
I hope it nests in our compost like one did the first Spring we were here! Mike decided to get a shovelful of compost later in the Summer but came up with an egg, hatching! It was magical!
There is so much beauty here! I’ll be off soon to see what I can see! Check on the swans we had three fly in at dusk last night, maybe they are still out there. Need to put the swim ladder in…always something, and yes, I might just be putting off mowing;) It can wait! Have to leave some of that green food for our friends! Have you ever been mooned by a White Tailed deer? It’s lovely! Boy can they jump! Stay tuned for more furry creatures, of course the Mewberries have been up to all kinds of mischief! and there are early morning mists, and rainbows and so many other things to share! Saludos amigos:)
Hopefully I won’t need a five part series! Spring is here. There are leaves! Dragonflies…and of course…hummingbirds! I did run out and buy a couple of hanging baskets as soon as they arrived! Feeders were full and waiting! I couldn’t resist:) Two males and I spotted a female last week briefly!
The other snow birds have been trickling back…I can’t help but feel that the guys that stuck it out all Winter aren’t going to be THAT accommodating…they’re coming back with tans, speaking with an twangy accent;) The Red Bellied Woodpecker has NOT been happy with the newcomers and has made her point!
The Red Winged blackbirds and Grackles have been informed of the pecking order by Señora Red Bellied.
Don’t mess with a redhead;) Everyone seems a bit testy! Even the cheerful little Goldfinches are at each other!
Then the female Purple Finch steps in to set things straight…like a stern headmistress carrying a paddle;) Ha!
A few other newcomers have arrived, not so quietly either! The Yellow Bellied Sapsucker loves to drum on a dead maple branch outside our window…I call him the morse code bird, that is what their drumming sounds like, calling to the ladies, I’m here, this is my turf! There was quite the squabble going on at the maple involving three Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers, two looked like they were juveniles. The adult male was telling the juvenile guy where to go I imagine…No room on the block for the two of them;)
The Hairy’s were having a mating display, or an argument. I couldn’t make out if both were male, or girl and boy:)
The Bluejays always get quiet this time of year. The Red Winged Blackbirds and Grackles certainly make up for it! I love the colours on the female Red Winged Blackbird, all those tones of brown!
Walking out to get the mail has been pretty quiet. I did chance upon the female Grouse! While I’m walking I usually don’t stand a chance on getting close to these beautiful Ruffed Grouse. They fly off in a heartbeat, but driving in the lane yesterday I had Mike stop and I got a shot. These colours are just so beautiful! She/he can be found off and on in the same spot most of the year:)
Ruffed Grouse
I did come upon a Hermit Thrush! I had to stop, as I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye, and wait, for it to move again! Aha! There you are! The Brown Creepers are busy out in the bush as well!
Look at those beautiful spots! Such large eyes! Hermit thrushes forage on the forest floor, as well as in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects and berries. While most hermit thrushes migrate to wintering grounds in the southern United States and south to Central America, some remain in northern coastal US states and southern Ontario. I have heard their song is ethereal…but it was quiet this day so I will have to go back:)
I never get tired of watching the Red Bellied woodpeckers! The male has become quite bold, probably as it’s territorial time. He usually lurks but has been quite available dancing about the trees, they make a squawk/screech, almost a trill, a noise that is very unmistakable! Hopefully we’ll see babies later!
and these guys…The herald of Spring along with the hummingbirds! 🙂 Just boys so far. They are very jittery for a few days then don’t mind me sitting and photographing them. The first week you can’t even lift the camera and lens without them shooting off in panic…they do settle down, now it’s like, “Hey, OK, it’s you!” 🙂
They are not the only colour on the block! The Rose Breasted grosbeaks are back as well! The males showed up first and this week a few shy ladies! They sing so beautifully! So far four males and quite a few out in the woods as I walked to check the mail!
So many familiar faces. The Eastern Phoebes are catching bugs down by the lake. A shy Eastern Towhee was singing in the honeysuckle one morning, I know where they nest later so will visit them! The Mourning Doves are busy cooing away and hordes of Purple Finches are cheerfully going about eating at the feeders:)
I was surprised by a chatter up in the maple and looked up to see a pair of Yellow Shafted Northern Flickers! Hope they stick around!
Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker
The ravens somehow have sonar/radar/web cam, ha, that tells them exactly when we walk out to the compost pile to empty the container. They are usually quite shy but sometimes I manage a photo or two. I had no idea they liked yoghurt…0_0…wiping it off ones beak requires some dexterity! These magnificent birds never cease to amaze me.
It’s been quiet Bald Eagle wise but while I was waiting for the orioles I heard several piercing calls, quite a commotion of “Kikiki-ing” and I looked up to see two hawks frolicking together! It was an amazing display of flight and turns, dives and twists! I was getting dizzy trying to follow it all!
I wasn’t sure what they were at first, maybe light morph Red Tails but it turns out it was an adult and juvenile Red Shouldered hawk! The Red Shoulders are quite apparent on the adult! Stunning watching them!
At the waterfront, the Ring Billed Gulls are back. An adult and juvenile have been around, and of course…the Loons, a pair, but they have become very very quiet except for last night when there was quite a ruckus while landing, maybe a visiting pair (?) so maybe time for a paddle into the swamp!
We have heard a few Warblers…a Yellow one was hanging out with the Goldfinches, sneaky guy. Caught a glimpse of one with a white ring around it’s eye on the road, but then it vanished into the trees, those leaves are starting to block what I can see! Not complaining;) Keeping an eye out for the Scarlet Tanager, it’s time they put in an appearance as well! A Single Brown-headed Cowbird showed up today, then left. They are late! The White Breasted Nuthatches are busy as ever, no Red Breasted ones yet! Soon!
Spring has sprung. I’ve been trying to get my mojo going, April kinda kicked me in the gut but what we do, is get back at it. We can continue to question and explore life, the universe and the new taco truck in Perth…Ha! Yes, more to come but I’ll finish up this chapter on Spring birds first…the Trumpeter Swans…! They had been bouncing around from swamp to swamp, I was wondering if they were going to return to the mailbox swamp but the lady has settled on a new spot, where she wants to be! Sitting on eggs hopefully! We’ll keep checking! 33-37 days until incubation is complete! Do you know the nestlings leave the nest in 24 hours and can swim and feed!? That is wild!
So happy to see her and her mate! Hopefully we’ll be treated to their mini-me’s! Not far away a beautiful pair of Canada Geese were being followed by their five young goslings, swimming along, and behind them, a Pied-Billed Grebe! So cool. Their bill turns a pale blue and the strip is prominent during breeding season! A first for me here!
Canada Geese and goslings and a single Pied-Billed Grebe
..and I’ll leave you with my new buddy. He flew past my ear this morning…”What’s up lady? Keep buying those flower baskets!” I’ll do my best! Chance of frost tonight…ah, Canada. Buckets and blankets to cover the plants ready! We’ll put a warm sugar water out at dawn…yeah, I spoil these guys!
Saludos amigos, I’ll tackle scales and insect wings, frogs and other furry creatures next week:) Ever been mooned by a deer? Crap, just had a tick fall off my arm onto the keyboard…ARGGHHH!!! How do they do that! Stay tuned. Abrazos amigos.
I used to have to do this as a kid, or we followed in the dinghy where dinner was tossed in before the barracudas and sharks got a smell of it. I don’t have to do that anymore;) One can say I actually have had my fill of fish for a lifetime! Ha! OK, I still eat some fish;) This Osprey will happily eat fish it’s entire life.
It wasn’t the best light but this Osprey did a fly by…I was sitting on the upper deck, I thought I’d seen a bald eagle in the distance earlier. It flew right past me, looking, searching, it had it’s eye on something! And then down it went into a dive, dropping like jet fighter! There was quite the splash!
I wasn’t sure if it had caught anything, there was so much spray and wing flapping. Droplets flying everywhere! But yup…dinner was ready!
Off it went after a midflight shake, heading to the other side of the lake where it landed in a tree…
Such a delight to watch. It does help being up fairly high to catch these moments, or to even see them!
I do like the waters edge view as well. I sat and was waiting for the loons to come just a bit closer, looks like a pair. I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and caught a pair of wood ducks flying over, so fast, it was just a blur. I wasn’t sure what they were until I saw the picture.
We are so fortunate to live in a wild area. My childhood spoiled me for natural places. I enjoyed the city when I was younger but truthfully, this makes my heart sing. The sound of the Spring peepers, I snuck the window open a crack last night, don’t tell Mike, ha!…pure joy.
It’s time to get the gangplank (such a great word) to the dock hooked up, it floats free all Winter because the ice movement would rip it off it’s hinges. Put the little red canoe in the water, and go see what is coming back at the lake! In the swamp on our small gravel road a pair of Trumpeter swans has been hanging out. Sometimes with a pair of Canada Geese, an odd Hooded Merganser, and some ring necked ducks as well this week! They were getting photobombed by a male Hooded Merganser. It shows just how large these Trumpeter swans are!
I’ll catch up on our yard birds later, some new arrivals and our first wildflowers! I’m dusting off the hummingbird feeders…:) Soon!
I’ll leave you with a part of my fishing childhood in the Pacific;) Sometimes I just took the camera, not the speargun:) In fact, we spent more time in the water than out, maybe we are part fish, and yes, hairbrushes were optional and if it fit, clothing wise, you wore it:) Ha! I’m still thinking about life, how incredibly fast it goes by and how we really need to seize every moment, live it and savour it! Saludos amigos!
It’s been a little over a week since I had an extraordinary conversation with a boy/man I hadn’t seen, or spoken to in 50 years. His name is Lindsay Smith, I met him as a child on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. I had been building a sand castle.
It was a good way to meet tourists and tell them about my plight with poor allowances and a stingy parent. I was 11. Tourists stopped to take my picture. I sold a few shells (once to a tourist for $3! Sometimes they are dumb I wrote) and I made a few dollars rowing customers out to a small charter boat and on the beach, I met Lindsay, a seventeen-year-old from Fergus, Ontario, Canada vacationing with his parents.
We took Lindsay and his parents for a sail and it was settled, he was going to come with us as far as Panama, or maybe Tahiti. His parents had told Randy, my mother, that he was having drug problems (little did they know the den of iniquity they had sent him to!) and struggling in school and they just didn’t know what to do with him. I’m not sure they knew who they were leaving him with but he was very quiet and kind.
He became family after spending over a year with us from Cayman, to Panama, to the Galapagos and finally Tahiti. Always looking out for us, OK, getting into trouble with us as well;)
He called a bit more than a week ago and left a voicemail on my brother Shea’s phone. He found Shea’s number by looking up my mothers’ name. My brother forwarded it to me asking me if I thought this could be THE Lindsay we knew! I was sure it was. I texted my brother some photos and he sent them to the Alberta number that had called. On the voicemail his voice sounded rough, he didn’t sound well. I had looked for any sign of him but found nothing after his mother stopped writing me as a kid. I had to call the number…I had to know. So I did…
I learned his mother had passed away from Emphysema. He is also dying of it as well. In fact, told me he was making a decision with his family about medically assisted death. He was in British Columbia with his daughter. He was awaiting family to come Sunday he said.
He told me he wished he had never gotten off the boat…I told him I wish he had stayed as well, and that we had loved him as our brother. I was a bit floored. I have grappled with those words. Were these the amazing times of his life? Did he wish it had kept going? I don’t know, but he sounded so wistful. They were amazing times. It was a grand adventure with a wonderful group of people.
I sent him by text all the photos I could find of his adventures with us as kids, he was as well, still a kid at 17.
As I sat on the dock Sunday morning watching the sun come up I felt waves of sadness wash over me. I wish I’d been able to keep in touch after he left in Tahiti. But I was so happy to hear about his life, his loves, his kids, what he had done, until he was out of breath and was speaking in a hushed whisper. He asked me to call him the next day. I promised I would. I did. He was too tired and out of breath to talk, his wife Donna said when she answered the phone but said he’d seen the pictures I’d sent.
My mother didn’t take many pictures of people, mostly her boyfriend Dave, but I did take a few with my tiny instamatic Kodak camera. Usually Dave, my mother’s boyfriend was in them as well. He was like a big brother to Lindsay. Shea has spoken with Dave, a few years back when Dave’s son was Shea’s age. He’d reached out. Lindsay said Dave sent him a pound of pot in the mail once! Ha…always in trouble these guys! I was so glad he had had contact with Dave.
Life is fleeting, so short, so many things to do. I am so happy to have heard his voice, and know his time with us, was as wonderful as the time we had with him. Dave and he rode out in the Zigeuner’s zodiac to say goodbye to us as we left Papeete. They stayed, we moved on…it was very very sad for me. So many good times, it felt like I was leaving so much family behind, and the security of that family. The new crew that came on board knew nothing, it was hard starting all over again. They were good people but I don’t think it ever felt the same as my brothers three, Dave, Tim and Lindsay.
On Monday I got the text from Lindsay’s wife Donna that he had passed. I felt I knew it deep down. He said it was the day, Monday, that he’d decided to choose medically assisted dying. He asked me what I thought of that as we spoke earlier and I said only he could make that decision. I told him I loved him:) I always did. Below is a song I wrote when I was 13, it pretty much sums up how I felt, and still do, about this wonderful boy/man. I don’t know if he was a good husband, or father, but he looked after my brother and I with such love and compassion. It feels like it has been a very long sad week. Fly high my friend, fly high…
I can just see Groot, appalled that that, creature, thing with the tail, is eating HIS fish! and not sharing! The window for watching these guys on the ice is short. It has to be melting enough to form holes in the ice that they can climb in and out of, but not so warm all the ice is melting away. A week at the most…and there he was! I saw him from the kitchen table, well, it’s our only table! The table! Out the window, up he popped from the lake, with a blue gill, also known as sunfish firmly clamped in his jaws. Action time! I grabbed the camera, did a quick battery check, threw on a coat and shoes and crept out onto the deck, it stopped, looked at me, “Sh*t!” I thought “I’m going to scare it away!”…I froze. It went back to eating.
After consuming his first fish he dove back into his hole in the ice…and I grabbed this opportunity to sneak my way down closer to the lake, trying for a better shot. I had been standing up by the house, I made it part way down to the lower deck before he/she came back up with a large crawfish!
I froze there and watched it consume the crawfish with great delight, even cleaning up the leg on the ice! Then there were chops to be licked before it once again disappeared into the hole in the ice! I moved further down the stairs…Every time the otter dove into the lake…I moved a bit closer…
Until I was down at the waters edge and sat beside the canoe to wait for it to reappear! Sitting on the dock beside the canoe gave me a wonderful view of this busy otter!
It did notice me but didn’t seem to mind me watching as it dove in and came back out with fish after fish. What a delight to watch!
This amazing creature only came up empty handed once! Pretty good catch ratio. I was wondering if he/she cleans out one area and moves onto another. We see these beautiful otters in the Fall, then usually again just before the ice goes out! I rarely get to see them this closely!
It did come out once, no fish, shook like dog, first the body, then the head, then the head again, sticking it’s tongue out and licking it’s lips, then giving me a glare…”What? I’m just taking your picture?!” The it went back for more!
Otter tail or do we have a Loch Ness monster sighting?;) That tip and the way it flips it about…priceless! It was a lovely way to pass an hour watching this spectacular creature. I don’t mind sweeping the fish scale poos off the dock if I get to sit and watch it eat! Did you know North American river otters, like most predators, prey upon the most readily accessible species. Fish is a favored food, but they also consume various amphibians (such as salamanders and frogs), freshwater clams, mussels, snails, crayfish and small turtles. Occasional reports also show the river otter eating other small animals, such as mice, squirrels and birds.
Then the ice changed and I saw it way across the lake, sliding on it’s belly on the ice as a way to travel, or maybe Otters just want to have fun!
I could almost here it saying “Weeeheeeeee!!!!!” hahahahaha! Otters just want to have fun…and eat fish;)
Our Lanark County photo club meeting this month was via Zoom, because of the impending weather, we had a speaker called Henry Fernando who touted contemplative photography. I think lots of photographers do this, sit, contemplate, oops, was that a leaf blowing by? Yup. I was waiting to see if the otters came up but this lonely leaf kept me company until it blew on down the lake!
It pays to sit and take life in when you can:) So glad I had that one chance to see our friend this Spring. It’s popped up a few more times but much much farther away, out of my lense’s capabilities! Life is returning to the water! It’s water, not ice, OK, a tiny bit of ice! A frog startled me as I walked back to the house…it was huge, over 3″ long and so copper coloured. A Northern Leopard frog, twice as large as our regulars. The Godfather of frogs;) The Muskrats are also busy in the swamp, as I walked out to get the mail one startled me by coming right up beside me as I walked, then went back to fishing. There are hundreds of minnows around the large culvert! They are omnivores! During winter, when aquatic vegetation is scarce, muskrats may rely more heavily on animal matter, such as mussels, and they may also dig for roots and tubers beneath the ice! They tend to prefer vegetation like cattails, waterlilies, roots and pondweed. They also eat snails, mussels, salamanders, crustaceans, fish and young birds. Not picky eaters!
Yesterday I spotted the lake beaver meandering around as it does, and we had an Osprey fly by at dusk! As much as it still feels like Winter, Spring is here! I’ll leave you the Bald Eagle who was also taking advantage of the what’s left of the ice. In one talon he held a fish down as some Ravens had swooped down to bother him, then he went back to eating. One of these days soon we are going to have to get the rod and reel out and get Groot his own sunfish! Saludos amigo:) Sun, not snow! My new motto! Stay tuned for ducks and more ducks and swans…if they come closer!
Bald Eagle holding onto his meal
First Otters and now eagles are eating my fish, and you say you saw an Osprey too???!!!! Don’t worry Grump face, we’ll go fishing soon, as it stops, snowing! Ha!
I woke early yesterday, looked outside, sighed a sigh of relief…just a dusting of snow, I was expecting a whack of it overnight…I sighed too soon. It started with a vengeance as I was making my coffee. What did we do Mother Nature to incur your wrath? This is Canada, not the US…;) Ha!
I shouldn’t joke, everyone this Spring has had their disasters it seems, some worse than others but really, snowing this hard? Even the birds were in a panic. I have not seen so many around the house, ever. I lost count of the robins on the sumac bushes, picking at the last seed heads. A Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker caught my eye as well! So Beautiful!
The robin’s strategy was to leap all over the seed head in a comical way, then go down to the ground and gobble them up, before starting the process all over again!
It was nonstop action at the sumacs…I was more like this:
A whole new version of “Angry Birds” 😉
Of course I had to go down to the canoe…We had just gotten rid of all the snow and 95% of the ice…now to start over again! Let it melt!
No sitting on the dock today…
No sitting on the dock today
I want this back!
Ok, I’ll stop whining. I forget how lucky we are to live in this paradise. Roof over our head, food in our stomachs, cats purring by the fire:) I’ll go back to contemplative photography. Had to get this off today, there, I feel better! Raindrops on the lake surface Sunday morning and snowflakes on my walk yesterday. There is beauty everywhere.
I had a blog planned about watching the otter fishing off the ice, stay tuned, tomorrow. Saludos amigos!
Melting, wait, melting more, wait, snow and freezing rain? This is NOT Spring! Ha! I thought we were done with all this Winter stuff! Part 4? Yup…
Look we have more snow!???
We can’t get rid of the lake ice this year it seems! And then just when you thought you dodged a freezing rain bullet, another gets fired your way! April Fools was yesterday! C’mon Mother nature, cut us some slack! Ha! Ok, she did grant us a bit of Aurora the night of the 22nd. OK, thanks for the light gift but can we work on the weather!
A friend on Facebook a lake over posted about the aurora so I popped outside, then came back in and bundled up! It never ceases to take my breath away! Those colours. The camera certainly picks up more than our eye can see but the red pillars were really visible but it faded quickly!
Now, back to the weather. We are lucky we didn’t experience what friends further South and West of us did with the freezing rain. Their power is STILL out! We had the generator set up, gas, check, lots of food, check, cat food, check, and wine, of course;) It can be so pretty, but so destructive! We are fortunate only to have had a light coating and by mid morning most had melted away, but the SNOW! Why 6″ of snow? Ha! We declined a plow as the road is so soft a plow would scrape whatever gravel is there to the sides, didn’t want that so Sunday we stayed home, accessed the damage, waited for it to melt!
We waited Monday as well. Friday I’d canceled a Doctors appointment for Monday, glad I did. It was 4″ of slush on the road, with ice on top in the morning. Not nice, now who took the snow tires off early? Hmm…I wonder;) By late morning most of the ice was gone. I sat outside and watched the birds dance about on the icy branches!
We had our first male Purple finches show up as well as a female Red Winged Blackbird! Nobody was impressed by the snow and wind!
This guy‘s face says it all…howling winds, snow, end of March? “Ya have to be kidding me lady! More peanuts!”
The Mewberries went out after Mike blew a path down the driveway…spoiled they are! Groot said it was OK until some Turkey Vultures started to circle, he hissed and growled and decided it was best to go back in…”I’m NOT dead yet!”
I walked down to the canoe after some of the ice had melted. Admiring the artwork it had created. The sumac seeds were covered on the windward side, already melting.
The ice was falling from the trees and landing in yesterdays footprints filling them! It was pelting the roof and piling up on the ground. A steady tinkle of falling branch cubes! There were a few loud cracks as some dead branches gave way under the weight of the ice as the wind picked up. Then an odd low level fog started to envelope us, it had a strange tinge of green to it and the temperature began to rapidly rise.
The fog came and went, we even had a brief bit of sun, then back to clouds!
Happily we only had one power flicker just before supper. No need for the prepped generator. It was Mike’s birthday on the 30th. I baked his cake the day before, in anticipation of losing our power with the freezing rain, he enjoyed it a day early, sharing with his boys:)
Just how long our third Winter will last remains to be seen. Here I sit, anticipating another night of possible snow, freezing rain, and or torrential rain…may the gravel Gods protect our road;)
The Robin took it all in stride, hey, it’s just Spring, ups and downs…it will eventually all go, that white stuff…eventually. Sigh….
In the mean time, we will sit tight. Our Lanark County Camera Club meeting has been moved online tonight, just as well. I think I might have inherited Mike’s scratchy throat…Spring cold time as well. Ugh! I’ll leave you with these two Spring lovebirds…a Hooded Merganser pair we passed down at the Narrows Lock in the small bit of open water they had. Such cool looking birds with their punk do’s. Time for a tea, and a rest. I may have spent too much time outside this morning watching the otter eat fish on the ice…I couldn’t resist…stay tuned:)
This Hooded Merganser pair were enjoying the sun down at the Narrows Lock
Yesterdays wind was howling, so much that even Rocket the cat felt there might be some malevolent force at work out there and maybe he could just go back inside! The Red Bellied Woodpecker looked like a Marilyn Monroe poster bird! If fending off the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds wasn’t enough!
I often wonder what they think of the newly returned snowbirds after having endured the Winter here…most likely…”Piss off and find your own feeder!” Ha! There are swarms of Grackles and the Red Winged Blackbirds busy showing off their wares to the ladies and establishing territories.
I left the screen door open the last warm day and just sat and listened to them. They herald Spring:)
There is a lot of bickering right now, territorial woodpeckers chasing off last years young and pushy newcomers trying to move in. The cats love to watch the kerfuffles, just in case they get close to the ground!
This female Hairy Woodpecker is the Queen of the evil eye! The Downy’s are pretty rambunctious as well!
We are not too far removed from the animal kingdom most days;) I enjoyed an encounter of the Red Bellied female chasing a very thick Red Winged Blackbird off HER suet feeder! She had her work cut out!
Yes, both the squirrels and birds here dabble in Shakespearean insults;) They’re well read:)
And we thought the blue jays were rowdy! They pick and choose when they come to get their peanuts now, all that competition!
I found this wonderful branch beside the road, covered in fungi, and thought it would make a photogenic perch. They were none too happy with it at first, such cautious birds! The weird stuff this lady comes up with! Their expressions! Ha!
The flocks of Tree Sparrows and Junco’s have been replaced by the Goldfinches, already changing into their breeding colours! The White Breasted Nuthatches are busy squabbling as well! It’s noisy out there!
I ran into a flock of Robins as I walked out the road. The always elicit a smile! Poking about in the grass, they can now. The snow isn’t completely gone but we’re getting there!
One morning every bird took a dive into the bushes and all sound and activity ceased. The woodpeckers froze in place on the trees, the Blue Jays vanished as if they’d been “beamed out” and the little birds mysteriously did the same…what the?? Then the large body flew over…a juvenile Bald Eagle. I’d heard the “KiKiKi” noise they make but thought it was one of the blue jays as they often mimic them when the grackles and blackbirds are getting too boisterous! Yup, then they come in, smiling as much as a bird can smile, maybe smug looking is a better word…yup, we did that! Ha!
Juvenile Bald Eagle flew over the house. It was about 40′ up, man are they big!
There wasn’t a squirrel to be seen for hours after as well! They are impressive!
Now many folks don’t like the Grackles as they are greedy and rude and bossy but are they ever beautiful! Those iridescent colours when the light hits them right and how they turn into “Count Gracula” as they squawk! I do enjoy watching them.
I set up my sun umbrella in the light rain one morning as the colours change in the lower light. The rain drops on the branches made beautiful bokeh, circles of light, around the birds. The magic that is light!
At the beginning of March we had another blast of snow flurries and two nights of -24°C plus, it was too much, always somewhat depressing this time of year! Enough! Even the birds looked a bit shocked! Ha!
I do love to photograph the birds and snow. Maybe it’s just the challenge of it but it is such a beautiful sight! Hoping we don’t see too much more, maybe I just jinxed us! Ha! Rain, OK, snow, NO! Just not TOO much rain please!
My last little bit of bird fun was with a seed bell Mike’s lovely Godmother Ute gave us! It was fascinating watching the birds figure out just HOW to use it!
The Chickadees figured it out first, then the female Downy, then a juvenile Hairy! Too dangerous looking said the Goldfinches! This Downy was pretty comical!
Sorry for the bird novel but I think I’m caught up except for a visit we made to the Blue Heron rookery (nesting area) yesterday. Sadly to see only one nest left standing. Last Spring there had been 8 in total but it looks like over the Summer/Fall and Winter the other trees with nests in the swamp have all come down. Not sure if they will rebuild or find a new spots! We’ll go back and see. I caught this pair flirting away just before the rain started to come down. Let it wash away the the leftover snow and give something for the grass to grow…I’m ready:) Saludos amigos, Spring is in the air;)
The squirrels, we had a few, then apparently one of them shared it as a hotspot on Squirrel TikTok and we are overrun! Some damn squirrel influencer probably;) It might just be the buffet table though;)
The buffet table
These are actually Eastern Gray squirrels, that are black. I think it’s some kind of bad ass clan! Ha!16 last count. Minus one, I found tufts of black tail hair and a few small owl feathers by the feeder this week. We do actually have the gray squirrels as well:) Just lot’s of variations on the colour.
They vary in weight as well, from slender…to supersized…depending on how much time they spend at the buffet!
They are an endless source of amusement for the Mewberries. A bit big to take on these guys, they’ll give chase but not really with the intention of bringing one home. Groot watches them from the picnic table, I mean buffet table, blocking their noonday munchies.
They are pretty bold, sneaking up behind him even to grab a peanut and run! The real chases are saved for the impertinent trash talking red squirrels! They, are fair game!
The hours spent watching them, jump from tree to tree, chase after them as they scamper to the feeder base searching for sunflower seeds and then chasing them back up a tree, only to lose them in the tree tops and to start again! This year Groot realized they make tunnels! In the snow! He’d stake out the entrances!
It’s called cat exercise:) It can get somewhat acrobatic at times! Involving great leaps and possibly a small amount of tree climbing, less than in their junior years…the boys are out of shape!
Is it just me or has this little red squirrel seen “Dirty Harry” one too many times;) “Go ahead, make my day cat! You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?” Ha!
…and, the Chipmunks are out. Surely a sign of Spring!! They are the ultimate prize! So far Rocket has caught two, and lost two, much to his amazement “Where’d they go Müther? I just left it there!”…I like that. Run chippy run!!!
They are so ready to go out every morning…the snow is gone, they can flop and roll on the driveway, they have Spring Fever! Meowing at the door every morning, then again in the afternoon. They don’t get to go out alone, we always accompany them, such joy in this new found warmth! Groot loves to simply sit on the table and take it all in. A bit of bird watching, guarding against squirrels, and the strutting his stuff as he makes his rounds to the dead catnips plants…all his! If this cat had an entrance song it would be…♫♪♫ Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown♪♫♪ except, he ain’t so bad;) maybe Booker T and the MG’s Green Onions would be more apropos;) I own ALL this;) says Groot.
Spring…I’m not ruling out a few more snow flurries and cold nights and days but I hope the worst is past, then I remember the 12″ of snow we once got on April Fools Day…Please not again! Ha! No more plowing bills! We’re caught up!
Stay tuned for a few more birds and things as we play catch up to Spring! So far no foxes or bears but hey, it’s still early!
I’ve been reduced to squirrels and icicles, happy they were dripping yesterday but I’m ready for a different subject matter;)
This year’s first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere occured precisely at 5:01 a.m. EST on March 20, according to NASA. That’s today…hard to believe but I went out and photographed the canoe and the sunrise this morning! I am sure it is the Spring of deception! 12.6° degrees C when I wandered down, slippers, pyjamas…I did opt for my coat this morning. The ice is still there though…we’ll see by later today! I could use Spring. It’s been a tough month in so many ways. Let’s not even talk about our Southerly neighbours and other stressful crap.
Going, going, gone? Not yet!Three days this week!
We did lose a fair chunk of road going down the hill Sunday night into Monday morning after the snow started to quickly melt. We had at it with a couple of shovels but gave up after an hour. Too much damage, the ruts ran all the way down the hill, branching out in places. They were over 18″ deep and wide, a few sink holes had started as well. All that snow melting out of the forest and then 45 minutes of torrential thunderstorm and rain Sunday afternoon had the creek beside the road running, but the snow banks funneled it down the hill. Arnott’s was great, Mike called them Monday afternoon and they came out to look and had a load of gravel on it by 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The creek was roaring all night and Monday! You could hear it from the house. It is always a bit of a celebration watching the snow go but this was too quickly! Maybe without the thunderstorm on Sunday we would have fared better but asi es la vida!
Monday night it froze again and Mother Nature was busy with her ice art! I was celebrating a bit. I do love to photograph birds but at this point in the Winter, lordy, lordy give me something different PLEASE! Ha!
Don’t worry, lot’s of bird shots to come;) I have a bit of catching up to do;)
We did have a beautiful lunar eclipse and it was clear! I was astounded! Usually it would be 100% overcast, maybe it was an apology for the long Winter! Ha! I got up at midnight, then again for totality at three a.m. Beautiful colour and not -25°! Ha! un milagro, miracle indeed!
I didn’t stay up for the whole shebang;) but caught the beginning. I tried to convince Mike to get the big guns out but the deck is still covered in snow! Stayed about 45 minutes…
…and went back out for the show later at 3 am. Not sure if the moon, the yipping coyotes or the barred owls were putting on a better show hooting from across the lake to one another;)
I had been getting a bit desperate and started to photograph birch bark and leftover fungi on the trees on my walk out to get check the mail. I say check, not get, as there are very few pieces of post that come to us nowadays!
It was something different! 🙂 I spotted the Barred owl again. Hunting, looked at me, not a threat, went back to hunting:) Always makes me feel better about nature if I’m not imposing myself upon it:)
Now, back to this morning’s sunrise! I went out at first with no coat, just down to the first deck for a shot, such pretty colours, it was 12.6° degrees!
First Pyjama sunrise of 2025
Then back to the house. I sat on the edge of the bed and went, nah, I have to go down to the canoe! I can’t resist the temptation! Have to! Warm, dry, strong Southerly wind. The colours had faded a bit but so pretty!
Ice is looking fragile!
Groot was NOT amused as I left before giving him his pinch of 6 kibbles. He was pacing back and forth as I climbed back up the stairs. He got his kibble:) as did the starving Rocket pressed up against his heater. So we’ll see what today brings, clouds, rain, snow, sun…whatever, we have passed a threshold…it is Spring, well, according to NASA anyway;)
Saludos amigos, stay tuned for birds and critters;)
It’s so hard. The goodbye, making that life and death decision. Do I even have the right, am I doing what’s right…it never, ever get’s easier. But suffering makes that choice for you sometimes. By the time we got to the barn Maya could barely walk, one back leg was swollen to twice it’s size, the entire leg, from top to bottom, very odd, very strange and she was hurting. It was time. I’d called the vet out to check her as Jennifer said she had been running a fever from the night before. Something was very wrong. The idea of making her stand in a stall for weeks possibly and experiment with more antibiotics was something I was not willing to do. Was it complications from Lyme and Anaplasmosis and age and possibly other issues? I don’t know. She was nearly 25 years old. She had a good life from the time she was born in front of us on a busy lesson morning in 2000.
We had a shot at showing in dressage and she made me so proud. She was lovely, headstrong, feisty as a youngster, very independent and oh what a mover. Her first walk/trot class she came away with the top score for the show 79%. I beamed like a proud parent. We were. As a filly she would lay in the field opposite Mike’s observatory and he would go and sit with her cross legged, her head in his lap. She was so trusting.
She came to Mexico with Mike, Dusty and I and the cats. It suited her fine, the dry air, she’d had breathing/asthma problems as a foal and later as well. She and Dusty didn’t always see eye to eye, but I don’t with my siblings either;) Maybe it was a bad marriage, arranged. I couldn’t leave either of them behind, they were my family. She’d chase coyotes out of her field in Mexico but let the bobcats walk right past, hunting the gophers. She knew cats from the barn. She was always alert to things. When they did finally move back to Ontario it was an arduous journey. I sat fretting in Ensenada until they were safety delivered to Jennifer and her barn of retirees, several from our farm, Ranyhyn, all good old friends…
If they only lived longer. I’ve had a hard time, it’s letting go of a part of my life, realizing, it’s almost over, maybe it’s attachments to memories and friends, equine and human, good times, laughs, so yes, hard to think a part of it is over. My other boy, Dusty, could be 32…he gave me a scare this last week too with his teeth, what few he has left!
Dusty in the field of wildflowers
I’m so glad a few other lovely people got to ride my girl! Some here, some gone…they were always smiling:)
She will be in my thoughts every horse I see. Her big ears and soft eyes. She taught me so much. I am so grateful to have had her in my life and to have had so many other friends who helped us out along our journey together. My heart is still aching, it will, for a long long time. Fly high little one, you will always be my 16.2 hh little one.
So more than 40 cm of snow (16″) in the last few days…we have been doing a lot of clearing! The wind has been howling, the drifts have been substantial, thanks Mother Nature, you can knock it off now! Ha!
Ah Canada…:) It will all eventually melt! They had to bring in the big tractor with the blade yesterday to even clear the road, yeah! We didn’t even hear him come in the wind was howling so hard! I am sure we can get out, although it did snow a few more inches after they cleared. I imagine town is a mess, stay off the roads has been the general consensus, so that is what we are doing! At least there is sun!…and that damn wind! Go away wind! Even the birds look pissed off!
I made sure there was plenty of seed and peanuts to go around! The squirrels didn’t look exactly pleased either, like “Lady! WTF???” at least the cats are enjoying their close company on the back deck. Yes, I shoveled it for them and the squirrels! It’s that fall down in the snow because you can’t walk and then you can’t get back up because it’s too deep kind of snow and shit, there is nothing for you to grab onto to pull yourself up kind of Fall! Trust me, I came in looking like a Storm trooper.
It’s CTV…cat TV;) No one was keen to go out this morning but they did have a quick look after we cleared! Yesterday…forget it, they ran from the door! Ha! We do NOT do blizzards Müther!
It was all nice and sparkly with the little bit of snow we had last week, melting, beautiful icicles and bokeh through the trees! That magical bit of Winter…not the “Where is my old farmers suit we have to shovel” part! Cabin fever with no photography;) Ha!
I do love to photograph birds but sometimes I just need a landscape, or something, other than birds! I have no bugs right now, except my computer spider who has been in hibernation I think! Smart spider, no frogs or snakes…cats and birds and those sneaky little squirrels!:)
As the storm warnings were going out I glanced up out over the lake and couldn’t believe I was seeing the fullish moon rising in a narrow gap between the horizon and the clouds…♫♪♫ Bad Moon Rising ♫♪♫ A nice surprise, followed by four days of snow! Ha! I’ve been trying to capture the frost patterns on the glass panels on our small deck, geez, another place I might have to shovel! Ha! They looked like spider webs one morning! They don’t form every day, only when they have the perfect mix of cold and humidity! Once the sun hits them later in the morning, they are gone, melted away.
Winter glorious Winter…just depends on the day doesn’t it? I feel sorry for the deer right now, having to trudge through all the deep snow. I imagine they will be using the road!
I was trying to be “wery, wery” quiet as this doe was slowly walking up the hill from the lake with this years fawn…as quiet as you can be sitting under a sun umbrella flapping in the wind to keep the snow flakes off…I wanted her picture with no branches in the way…hmm…I’ll keep trying! No snow umbrella the last few days, it would have been a Mary Poppin’s maneuver and I would have been sailing over the lake with the howling winds! Ha!
The cardinal has been quiet, or maybe I haven’t been in the right place at the right time! The small birds have been pretty quiet as well, I can’t imagine flying in blizzards!
Somehow I think it must be easier for the larger guys, but then again, maybe not!
So yeah, a lot of birds! Ha! Our Brown Creeper has been showing up pretty regularly, puts a smile on my face!
OK, enough birds! Ha! Thank goodness for cats! I bought a string of LED lights at Candian Tire and decided to give the cats their own Tinder shots;) Boudoir for Gamora, Rocket, well, he just wanted to eat the lights until I could convince him to sit still and Groot wanted NOTHING to do with it…we’re working on it…still;) ha! You have to find things to do on those blizzard like days!
Part of the fun of photography is trying new things! I have really enjoyed our Lanark County Camera Club meetings. Wonderful people, new ideas and great photos. My trying to get a snowflake shot didn’t pan out, first you need those really big snow flakes, then a dark background, then a macro lens…OK, two outta three wasn’t bad but maybe we’ll invest in new lens this month! And blowing bubbles that freeze, was all set, only to realize, we don’t have a single straw in our house, either I go to McDonalds, nah, or maybe I can buy one…back to Canadian Tire! Trying to stay out of trouble folks! I was hoping for some snowflake shots with the horses and donkeys but either the weather, or my energy levels have not panned out…will keep trying! I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Winter… yet…at least the back sliding glass door in now unfrozen! Woohoo! Saludos amigos! Stay warm and do some Hurkle-durkling! “Yup, the Scots know how to deal with this kind of weather: While it has fallen out of use, to hurkle-durkle is “to lie in bed or lounge about when one should be up and about” It is closely tied with the word hurkle, which means to hunker, or sit huddled, in a crouched position for warmth, which makes hurkle-durkle the perfect word for the cold winter months“…sounds good to me!
If you have ever heard a Barred Owl carrying on in the forest, or beside your bedroom window, you will know what I mean!:) Yes, it sounds exactly like “Who cooks for you!” take a listen: Barred Owl vocalization
♫♪♫ Clowns to the left of me…jokers to the right…here I am, stuck in the middle with you;) ♫♪♫ I was starting to hymn that as I watched this beautiful bird, scanning about, looking for lunch no doubt. not a care that I was there. We don’t get to see them, hear them yes, but see them, hardly ever so a real treat!
I had what I thought was a cold a few weeks ago, it was, just a really nasty viral cold that I am just starting to recover from now. It was a doozy. Ten days sleeping in the recliner as I couldn’t lay down without coughing my guts out. I swear my stomach/chest coughing muscles would rival Arnie’s about right now;) Tried all the cold medications, nothing would touch it, but time…halle-f-ing-lujah!
I was bummed as I’d spotted some Snowy Owls the afternoon I got sick and wanted to go back and take a look, two females fighting. They were a ways away but obviously Snowys! My first here! We’ll go look again this week! Fingers crossed they are still there!
We’ve had our cold snap now, -22° C is cold enough thank you. It started to warm up today, a few flurries but we haven’t had but one plow this month, I could have just jinxed us there;) Cats are NOT impressed, other than Groot who is on his squirrel desensitization training. It’s fascinating watching him let the black squirrels come right up to him, a foot away as he stares them down. Gamora chased them all off this morning! “We’ll have NONE of that brother Groot!” then she sat on the wagon wheel out of the snow, disgusted, that white stuff…who ordered all this she wants to know?
Today is the first day I could sit outside, not coughing. Fresh air…birds:) Groot sits under the picnic table and I watch who comes and goes. Our regulars. So far no Northern migrants but it’s still early.
The Red Bellies are busy and the Hairy and Downys are already vying for who is top dog, lot’s of heated conversations going on:)
The LBB’s are always fun to watch. The flocks come in waves, there are none at the feeders, then a tweet starts and they all come flocking in. As if the coast is clear somehow! The ravens tend to scatter them as they are small birdie numnums to them! We had a raven pick a goldfinch right off the feeder last year..0_0…Little brown birds beware!
The Narrows Lock was brimming with Trumpeter swans last time I drove past. I stopped and counted over fifty of them! The adult families were squabbling with the youngsters on the ice! Fun to watch. Putting the young ones in their place no doubt getting too big for their britches, or wings;)
Other than that I haven’t exactly had many outings in the last few weeks:) Bedridden, covered by cats, I was a good heat source there for awhile! I am working on the blue jays again. My beautiful Winter berries are done:( I did enjoy them while they hung onto their branches, so pretty in the snow!
Now the Blue Jays had to endure peanut retrieval with the remains of the Christmas wreath. They were initially NOT impressed at my new trap to someone enslave them. I assured them, as I do, no harm would come to them if they landed on the pretty wreath, be NICE to the photographer or there will be NO PEANUTS! They complied;)
Groot gets very excited when they land to get their snacks and he at times comes out from under the table to marvel at their tail feathers:) It’s almost time to find some Valentines day props! Look out Jays! Time for a trip to the dump and the reuse it store!
I did walk down to check on the #littleredcanoe when it warmed up to only -13°. I decided to move these bones and wander down to check out the tracks and see who else had been visiting:) A few deer prints across the lake and I could finally perform a miracle and walk on water, well, OK, technically ice but hey, it could be a superpower;) I didn’t last long. A quick walk along the edge to check out the cat tails and that was about it for my energy levels…there were stairs to go back up! Ha!
Now to get back to walking. On the plus side spending ten days in a recliner has done wonders for my hip bursitis! No marathons in the future but that mailbox needs checking every now and then, who knows what will arrive;) Spring? I am overly hopeful me thinks! The squirrels were acting like it was, fighting and carrying on among themselves the first warmer day.
We all could use some warmer temperatures please! Other than California and Baja, rain for them por favor! I’m trying not to look at the news much, it’s just too f*cked up. The voters who are taking their country down the drain will realize it later, too late but we can always hope for an “act of God” Ha! In America that might be a automatic firearm. One day at a time my friends South of the border…one day at a time. Saludos amigos, I’ll leave you with our bright red cardinal friend, not the episcopal kind 😉 He’s been shy, but a regular:)
It’s been quite the up and down! I do prefer the up, no wind, hovering at freezing would be grand! That was not the last few days where howling North winds made for -24° C windchill and I was longing for something a tad warmer! I am a tropical girl at heart! At least we haven’t had a excess of snow plows, I should bite my tongue…;)
Even the cats have been reluctant to wander outside much, except Groot the snow cat! I think he is training the black squirrels, desensitizing then to his presence under the picnic table so one day, he will pounce! They walk up to within a foot or two of him, or maybe, just maybe, they are a tad large with great big teeth. The jury is still out!
Not the best bird watching/photography companion but I have to keep an eye on him! We have an agreement, he can’t have the bright red cardinal! I topped tormenting the jays with the snowmen and had a go with a seed ball Mike’s lovely Godmother Ute gave us! The chickadees were delighted and even the Downy woodpeckers had a go!
These chickadees, a smile a secound! Walking out to check the mail has been fine on the non windy days, the road isn’t too slippery but pretty quiet out there except for footprints in the snow!
There were some massive coyote prints! I can make out the fox as they are much smaller and footsteps are closer together, the deer are obvious and how quickly they are moving by how deep the indent is, or if they are casually dragging their back feet along as they mosey down the road:) Always something to see, if you look! I caught our local Ruffed Grouse crossing the road in front of me, such beautiful tones of brown and gray! I heard a pecking out at the mailboxes and thought must be a Hairy excavating a dead tree but after I checked the mail, nothing, and then stopped to look up, a beautiful female Pileated Woodpecker stared back down at me!
The wood chips were a flying!
Hard at work! The wood chips were flying!
I love the yellow on her forehead:) Most days it’s just Turkey tail fungus and removing branches from the road as I walk along! Someone has to do it! Ha! The dried out turkey tail are winter flowers!:)
It has been the nice the male Cardinal has stuck around. He doesn’t go to the feeders but pokes about on the ground with the Dark eyed juncos and American Tree Sparrows. Such a bright flash of colour, even in the falling snow!
Photographing in the snow can be a bit of a challenge. I’ve tried from inside the car, it’s awkward being on an angle. I slipped and skidded down to the basement and pulled out the old sun umbrella, home to bats, and the heavy base and hauled them up. Set them up, put my fabric fold up chair under and decided this would work! Now if it’s windy, it is a no go, but for gentle falling snow, it keeps me somewhat warmer and drier! 🙂
It wouldn’t be fun without a session with the blue jays who eyed the large umbrella with some hesitation!
The training continues;)
We’ve had a lovely little Brown Creeper about, so fast and quick. I noticed it was picking up the crumbs the woodpeckers had dropped out of the suet! At least it held still while it wolfed them down!
I do love the colours of the American Trees Sparrows, the grays and browns are so striking. So far no redpolls or grosbeaks…we’ll wait and see!
The Red Bellied woodpecker was giving the doves a once over one sunny morning! Pretty funny, they kinda look like me…but…
Always something. I guess Groot and the Traveling Mewberries will go back to squirrel training tomorrow. It is supposed to warm up a tad, yeah! It will be welcome!
I’ll leave you with them, looking thrilled in the snow! Ha!
That one of all three of them in the falling snow has to be my new favourite! Ha! Maybe we’ll get a few more reflections this month, unlikely, it was a nice surprise for the first week of January but alas, did not last. It did stop the “Darwin award recipients” from snowmobiling on the very thin ice…there were still holes open the otters were using…“The criterion for the Darwin awards states: “In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives.”
“About as smart as a sack of wet mice!” as foghorn leghorn used to say…
Saludos amigos, Happy New year!
What a difference a day makes…from snow and fog back to reflections!
Only a wind chill of -18° C 🙂 Some four pawed creature had a nice walk down the road! Welcome to Winter!
Not that a bit of sun would be a bad thing! That soft layer that snow leaves can be magical! Looks like we are in for a warm spell at the end of the week…in January? Right…just weird. Rain isn’t something I associate with January. Ice, freezing rain maybe, but not rain. The skiers and snow mobilers will be crying…boohoo;) Ha! We could be back to reflections and moonlight!
I hummed that song all the way down to the dock slipping about in the frost! What a magical sight! Did you know King Harvest was a 1970s French-American rock band who was formed initially in Ithaca, New York, U.S., but broke up and reformed in Paris where they began recording their first songs. They are known for their 1972 hit single “Dancing in the Moonlight” It is stuck in my head now…sigh…not a bad ear worm!
I’ve already had enough of the cold…-18° Celsius…WTF? Only 83 days left until Spring…give me strength! The cats agree. That look when they go out, at the snow, at us…sigh…do I have to? If looks could kill;) They all claim to be part Mexican! I’m with them;)
It all happens to quickly, the ice, then snow, then ice! Repeat over and over until Summer;) OK, maybe late Spring! ha!
A week ago the lake was open water at the far end…we may have to bestow a “Darwin Award” to the individual who placed their ice fishing hut out there this week…I wouldn’t be walking on the ice out there…the same afternoon a family was out on the ice in front of a cottage, skating on very thin ice someone added. Guess they didn’t like their dog or kid much;) Two nights of -18° c does not equal safe ice…sigh.
I had thought the otters had taken off but they had a left a myriad of prints in the new snow the other morning, you can tell as it’s their whole body! No parties on the dock though! There was a small hole in the ice by the dock, quick entrance and exit! Maybe we’ll see them again! A lone deer slowly walked across the lake yesterday…tail up…on alert the entire way. It was walking very slowly! We also had a visit from the rest of our neighbours, cruising the hood;) It is fun to see the tracks and visualize what passed this way!
I was excited to look out the window a few mornings ago and spy a large flash of red! A male Cardinal! The first one ever we have seen here. We had a young female a few years back one Fall. Hopefully he stays! Lot’s to eat!
No newcomers from the North yet, we did have a drop by from a Northern Shrike, all the small birds disappeared quickly! The Red Bellied pair have been regulars along with all the other woodpeckers waiting for their morning suet. The Hairy Woodpeckers are so impatient for breakfast I can almost reach out and touch them as I put the feeder up!
I’m still taking the feeders in at night but suppose the bears and raccoons will be in semi-hibernation, until it warms up! 0_0! Ha!
…and yes, I am tormenting the Blue Jays with new props;) Someone has to keep them on their toes!
These snowmen looked particularly menacing…to the Blue Jays;) Chickadees were…meh…We’re good!
I shall sign off for now and wish everyone a Happy Boxing Day. Lucky Canadians get an extra day off! Looking forward to no more holidays from the bah humbug in me! Ha! But damn those shortbread cookies are a fine Christmas treat! We are lucky to have such wonderful friends to help us survive this time of year with delicious food and thoughtful gifts and even better company! We’re glad Maya, our 24 year old mare pulled through from either complications from her Lyme/Anaplasmosis or something, horses, if they can hurt themselves they will, it was touch and go for a bit, so much worrying. It’s been a long month, we’re not done yet! See you next year! Maybe sooner, so many birds and squirrels and we still need donkeys with snow flakes!! NOT rain! Saludos amigos from the Mewberries and us!
Ask Groot, those black, aka grey squirrels, they don’t look so big, from a distance…but when you creep up close, and they sit up…and look you in the eye…well, you have other things to do, you were hunting tweety birds right?. Who knew watching cats could be so much fun;)
I tawt I taw a puddy tat a creeping up on me I DID I taw a puddy tat as plain as he could be!
I am that great big bad old cat Groot is my name, I only have one aim in life and that is very plain I want to catch that little bird and eat him right away But every time that I get close to him this is what he’ll say!
That puddy tat is very bad he sneaks up from behind I don’t think I would like it if I knew what’s on his mind
I have a strong suspicion that his plans for me aren’t good I am inclined to think that he would eat me if he could
You bet I’d eat that little bird if I could just get near But everytime that I approach this is all I hear I tawt I taw a puddy tat a treeping up on me I did I taw a puddy tat as plain as he could be!
Thanks Mel Blanc for that wonderful song!
No animals were harmed in the making of these photos;) Groot decided that the squirrel looked much bigger close up and casually sauntered off to sit on the table and bird watch again:) Now the red squirrels…they are different. Not only are they trash talking little gremlins with little respect for anything, they are tough! Watch them chase the black and grey squirrels around, and the reds are back in town!
Even Gamora has run in’s with them, she is slyer, but unsuccessful as well;) These reds study Shakespeare I might add!
Sometimes you just have to let go, be silly, and chase leaves…it works wonders for your kitty soul!
When you are BMOC…big man on campus, or big mudge on campus, you get to patrol with the hoomans…checking out where those otters have been! Outrageous infiltration of Groot’s dock!
Then came the snow….
..and then there is Rocket…the touk.
They all went out in the alcove and stared out, at the snow, then at us…then at the snow….”It hasn’t been snow blown hooman?! Get to work!” Yes sir!! “When it is cleared, let my agent know!” We live but to serve….and no, black squirrel is NOT on the menu;)
Not even peanut stuffed black squirrel….but you can always dream….it’s icy out there this morning, be careful amigos, time to look for the ice skates;)
“Maximum fluff for heat retention! I will talk to our union guys!”
It happens so quickly, one day the ground is soft, covered with leaves, a week later it’s frozen solid…NOOO! It’s not even Winter yet a huddled up dove seemed to be implying it was. I’m with you there! We’ve had two plows, actually three, the first driver did such a bad job the company owner came out to apologize and replowed it, new driver it seems…good customer service though…I don’t think I have to pay for the replow? We’ll see:)
It is, this white stuff, when there isn’t a breath of wind…pretty. Ask me again in March?! Ha!
I feel that my paddling days are over for the year, barring a total thaw…you never know. More snow happening right now, then freezing rain…oh joy…not. It’s been a long week. Our 24 year old mare Maya had a slip, or a fall or something neurological to do with her Lyme/anaplasmosis happened. It was touch and go this week, vet visited, wasn’t overly optimistic but today she was crabby, good sign for an old mare, eating carrots and I even managed to get one hoof cleaned out. We will give her some time to see if we can get her walking in a straight line soon, if not, she can’t spend the entire Winter in a stall. One day at a time. I was pleased with her demeanor this morning, I may sleep better tonight! I’m trying to not let it consume me, this is my girl. We’ve been to Mexico and back, 24 years together. This aging thing sucks!
On a happier noter, the otters had a frat party on Wednesday night while it was snowing! Fish scales and heads, fish poop and blood, man it looked like they had a good time! Ha! One even sat on the red bench! So much for pristine snow and the little red canoe, there went my photo op! I was up early Thursday to get a shot…of their chaos;) ha! I don’t mind. I shoveled off their poop and fish remains! I wandered down to the dock last night to watch them fishing on the ice’s edge, then later they had a visitor! A Bald eagle came swooping in, trying to steal their fish! That was quite the sight!
I counted three otters in total, coming up, going down, sitting and eating their supper…then they had their visitor!
I’d come back up to the house as it had started to snow when I turned and looked out the door half an hour later to the flash of large wings and white head and tail. I grabbed the camera a got the Bald Eagle after he had dive bombed the otter. He/she circled around and did another pass before landing on the large white pine across the lake. It was only when I looked at the photo I saw a juvenile eagle maybe, in the top right! Too big to be a red tailed hawk! Someone was showing baby how to steal from otters! The otters dove and did not reappear…can’t blame them!
My normal speed is tormenting the blue jays with different props. I found a plastic martini, or maybe margarita glass at the dump for free, better than the actual glass ones the squirrels broke! I was having trouble keeping it upright…until the snow:) Problem solved! Ha! Meet “Blue Jay Bond”:)
Those tail feathers get me every time!
Even the chickadee’s are getting in on the martini action!
A smile a secound these guys! I’ve needed it this week:) The Common Mergansers have left now that the ice is forming in the bay as well as the flocks of ducks. Time to head South guys!
Our yard is like a local pub. There is a group of regulars, the locals. The Blue Jays, Nuthatches, American Goldfinches, Chickadees and Hairy, Downy and Red Bellied woodpeckers, then during the Summer and Winter, we get a few tourists;) The Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows have arrived now! Flocks of Snow Buntings are congregating in the corn fields, will try for a photo this week. Still waiting for the Northern Redpolls and Pine Grosbeaks! I surprised a Great Blue Heron in the swamp as I walked out, to not check the mail…Ha!
Hard to believe a week ago we had no snow…it could still go with both freezing rain and rain in the forecast for tomorrow. Our salt/sand buckets are filled, we are ready! I can hear the wind howling!
I ambled down to the dock late yesterday, the snow, ice and slush had melted, mostly, in the canoe, so I got it bailed out and hauled up on the dock, took a picture before I did…sigh…maybe, just maybe I can get back in for a quick trip across the bay to snow covered pine trees and reflections…maybe. Not going to hold my breath though! Stay tuned tomorrow for the Mewberries antics now that the red squirrels are back in the hood, and the snow, apparently they thought they were going South this year, the cats, not the squirrels…surprise! Ha! The look on their faces at that first snow…priceless!:) Saludos amigos! Please send some positive vibes!
A subtle misty morning, as the sun is moving further South the light changes, and there was frost all the way down on the steps:) No more bathrobe photography, just a hoodie and slippers! Soon the slippers will be retired for snow boots! Ha! The lake water is still fairly warm, with no rain, the levels are down about 8″ from where they normally cover the rocks…we’ll see if that changes in the next few days with rain on the way.
I always do a few different angles when I photograph the canoe and sunrise, I take less photos now, stop, look. I hate going through dozens of the same shots, waste of time and energy! Less is more!
As the mists clear sometimes you can see the frost on the tops of the trees across the lake. That nip is in the air, but so warm so far this Fall. No waterfalls or running streams, that quiet is a bit unnerving, the harbinger of change.
Sometimes Rocket comes and sits on my chest before dawn…twenty three pounds of solid orange cat is hard on your bladder but oh the starting light outside the window! I thanked him and promised him some treatos, as soon as I came back! The traitor that I was, running off before crunchie snacks were served! Ha! Sometimes the light changes so quickly you only have a few moments to capture it!
I guess this is my favourite view…I have to lie down on the small dock that juts out with the ladder, hang over the edge, try to get the horizon straight without dipping the camera into the water…hold my breath…and presto! I wiggle the dock as I lie there like a contortionist, so have to wait for the ripples to subside sometimes!
Sometimes the colours get better, sometimes they fade away, you never know! I use a vertical panorama to catch the whole lake end, this was 6 shots. I stitch them together in Image Composite Editor, a free Microsoft program. I’ve had better luck with that than photoshop stitch. Both Groot and Rocket were rewarded when I came back inside. Groot waits on the other side of the sliding glass door, meowing loudly at times, I can hear him outside…just to be sure he gets his snacks;) Gamora and Mike were still asleep:)
We’ve had a bevy of beautiful full moons this last bit. I avoid the cheesy names like Harvest and Beaver…it’s a full moon folks;) Ha! Please don’t get me going about super moons…0_0…Neil deGrasse Tyson said it best 16″ pizza, versus a 17″ pizza folks…:)
So while I get some beautiful light at sunrise, we have a our share of beautiful sunsets and moonrises as well!
These photos were a challenge as apparently one of the cats had sneezed on my Tamron 150-600 lens that lives on my camera, and yes, I’m a bad photographer, I hardly ever use the lens cap so I can grab the camera quickly and go, otherwise I am like “Hey, why is it so dark! Why I can’t see anything!”…lens cap on…duh!!! So yes, there were a myriad of cat snot marks all over these…thank goodness for photoshop;) My camera lives on the dinner table next to my computer:)
Moonrise
…and sometimes, the sun hits the clouds in the east as it is going down and gives us a beautiful surprise!
A sunset!
Well isn’t that special…said in the best Church lady voice;)..or could it be Satan? Hahahahaha!
Right now, well, I have a choice of birds, fungi clinging to trees, sunrises, the canoe and the occasional visitor to the yard:) I did raindrops on milkweed seeds this morning when we had a short break in the drizzle, it’s time to get creative;) Waiting for our first good frost now!
There is always something! This evening late an otter popped up in front of the dock, too dark to photograph, maybe he’ll be back! The mergansers have started to gather and fish in a pack, I’ll keep my eye out for them, and a swan pair with one cygnet was on the far side of the lake, could it be our baby? Maybe. I’ll keep my eyes open! In the meantime I’ll keep training the blue jays and look for some Winter props to keep their seed gathering interesting…do you think they hate me? Ha!
I think maybe I’ll make like Rocket and simply wedge myself between the kitchen wall, and the heater when things get snowy and cold! Saludos amigos! Anyone have any really weird garden gnomes out there for rent? You can have them back in the Spring! Asking for the blue jays and Winter training;)
We are lucky to have a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers about. I see the male quite often, the female is more of a recluse this time of year, or just prefers grubs and bugs over dollar store suet, not this guy;) As soon as the feeder goes out, he pushes past the Hairy and Downy woodpeckers for first dibs. I have been bringing the feeders in at night or the raccoons party, pulling them down, as well as rearranging anything I have on the table top. My Winter berry branches were stripped of their berries along with my few American Bittersweet berries, rats! I’ll need to keep my photographic props under lock and key overnight it seems….”Who me?”
I do put everything away in case a bear decides to rip everything apart as well:) Brome Bird Feeders has always been kind, sending spare parts but I do try to avoid these bird feeder bashing scenarios!
It is awfully quiet out there though, the hummingbird whirs are gone, no more yelling orioles, just the locals. Tuxedo birds;) The White Breasted Nuthatches and the Black Capped Chickadees, all smartly dressed. The only colour and noise come from the gangs of Blue Jays extracting payment from the various props I have on the table. They are quick learners, Pavlo’s dog could learn a thing or two from them;)
…and it continues…part two…
They could lean something from the black squirrel;) but they kept at it!
Show ’em how it’s done Mr. Squirrel!
Could this constitute cruelty to Blue Jays? Their lawyer, the red squirrel may be in contact with me soon, especially after the day of the dead spread;) “I WILL get that peanut!” is their motto! Compliments to Galeria Mexicana in Ensenada for this fabulous rocking raven. They make amazing metal animals and birds! I try to add to our menagerie each visit!
The Blue Jays were not impressed with my Día del Muertos offerings either;)
The things we do to keep out of trouble;) The locals are always photogenic as well! The Mourning doves hang about on the rocks, with the bit of sun we had earlier this week they were warming their wings as the Dark-Eyed Juncos poked about in the leaves looking for dropped seeds and suet.
The Woodpeckers are all back from the forest. I have even caught a glimpse of the Pileated, such huge birds! They are still working on a stand of dead basswood, they have quite the holes and chambers pecked out of huge old trees! Their is also a pecking “order” at the suet…Red Bellied, Hairy’s, Downy’s and of course the White Breasted Nuthatches slink in when they see a opening!
Not many newcomers…I spied an American Tree Sparrow perfectly camouflaged in the leaves as I walked along the road. The American Goldfinches are sporting their Winter colours and a sole female Purple Finch has been about. I’m glad hunting season is over…sigh…one big doe made it, I saw her walk across the hill late yesterday. A lone Autumn Meadowhawk was slowly crawling across a leaf as well, now that is LATE!
The only bug I have seen other than moth! Most of the insect eaters have moved South by now! There are still ticks…sigh…I guess we need a bout of -10° to get them to go dormant! Maya, our mare, is doing well since the antibiotics but has had an occasional sore day, I completely understand!
So, no leaves now, other than a few dried up oaks that refuse to let go…I like that, stubborn! It is so very still along the road, no mail to check, ah, Holiday strikes. We’ll see if my calendars ever arrive! Asi es la vida amigos:)
Fall…and yet…still no snow;) I may have just jinxed us! Ha! Winter tires go on today. Oh Canada. I spent a week trying to absorb and understand what the crack house below us was doing the first week of November but I still feel a sense of loss, and sadness and at times disgust. We’ll be planning future trips accordingly if we go South. Perhaps across Canada and down the West coast might be our new MO. We’ll see. I’ll leave you with some more fall mists and beauty, my antidote to the hate and craziness we encounter in this crazy world called Earth…stay tuned for more of this beauty!
I am thoroughly tired of ticks. Picking them off the cats, picking them off myself and Mike. Finding ones feeding on us, the cats, and now the horses seem to be going through a very ticky Fall! Yikes! Now, I know what it’s like to get bitten, they itch for weeks those bites, form scabs like craters and this Summer I also discovered they left me a little surprise, anaplasmosis.
Anaplasmosis is a disease caused by the bacteria A. phagocytophilum. These bacteria are spread to people by tick bites primarily from:
The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis)
The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus)
People with anaplasmosis will often have fever, headache, chills, and muscle aches. Doxycycline is the drug of choice for adults and children of all ages with anaplasmosis. I endured two weeks of it, the antibiotic which didn’t sit well with my stomach, food or not! I went to the doctor wondering why my hips joints decided to crap out on me…sigh…it also can trigger rheumatoid arthritis…oh joy. The Lyme came back negative, the anaplasmosis test took three weeks to come back, it was positive…0_0…I have another few weeks to get in to see the rheumatologist to find out more but hey, that’s life.
So when I got the call from Jennifer at the barn that Maya, our 24 year old Hanoverian mare was not eating and had a temperature, she called the vet right away. I’d picked five engorged ticks off her the day before, and counted another ten or so scabs from bites…what the heck??!!! I felt bad I had not brought her in the Sunday before to groom her, she was so happy grazing with her young friend Snaxx I didn’t want to disturb her beautiful Fall grazing time.
Maya and her friend Snaxx
When I got down to the barn she was lethargic and a bit wobbly, not eating, her temperature wasn’t bad, it had been elevated in the morning. Gus, the vet ruled out teeth and colic and I asked if we could test for lyme and anaplasmosis. We decided that antibiotics would be a good start. Gus put a catheter in her neck vein and started her on 30cc of tetracycline, she didn’t have a great reaction to it, got very wobbly but recovered. It was decided to administer 15cc. wait 10 minutes, then administer the next 15cc for the next three days and stall rest. So that is what I have been doing this week.
Baby Maya, just standing for the first time
The next morning she hadn’t eaten…very bad when horses don’t eat or drink, so Gus stopped by again and gave her some pain killer, that seemed to do the trick and she started to nibble on her food! Yeah! He called Jennifer this morning as he received the test results and she has BOTH Lyme and Anaplasmosis! If you’re gonna do it…go all in!
She’s had her course of antibiotics so now we will wait and see if that got it…I spent the first night fretting on how we were going to drag her dead body out of the stall the next morning, she looked that bad…so hard with animals when they can’t tell you what is wrong.
This mare was born in front of us, on a busy Saturday morning with riding lessons going on. Those kids got to see the magic of birth. Her mother Valentine was an old hand, she was foal five. Also the most independent foal, poor Valentine! Her first day out she took off down the driveway towards the road with her mother screaming after her! I’d been waiting for a filly, she was a keeper:)
Here we are 24 years later, learning something new that horses, and people and get and suffer from. I’m writing this in hopes that it might help someone else with a sick horse. In retrospect, Maya has been somewhat sluggish all Summer, I put it down to aging and the heat, but now I wonder if she contracted Lyme earlier, then Anaplasmosis recently, or vis a versa. It pays to be informed. If I hadn’t asked to be tested myself, for anaplasmosis, I never would have known what was ailing me, it wasn’t something they were going to do. Now we just need those darn possums to move in and start eating those ticks! We’ll work on a strategy for Spring. A few more hard freezes and hopefully we can rest a bit easier. Saludos amigos! We’ll be back to Fall birds and more misty mornings soon-stay tuned!
Rising Moon with incoming earth shadow. Credence sang it best… I see the bad moon a-risin’
I see Winter on it’s way…sigh…happens so quickly, that burst of amazing colour and in a few weeks only the the oaks are valiantly trying to hang onto their leaves. When the sun hits the tree tops across the lake it is gray now. We did enjoy the full moon, harvest moon, whatever, it’s a full moon rising and a few reflections on the lake. That orange colour is wild!
The road is quiet, save for the gunshots from the swamps, duck hunting began and tomorrow, oh joy, deer hunting…that was sarcasm. The end of my walks down the road for two weeks as the mostly deaf, partially blind old assholes get ready to shoot the deer they have been feeding all Summer and Fall. Great sport that…they must be cunning hunters. I’ll leave it at that.
I miss the swan family, the swamp did have a few Hooded Merganser pairs swimming at the far end, but too far away to photograph. The swan family made it over to the Lake for a few days but kept their distance on the far side. I’m glad babies’ flight wings came so easily!
I hope the pair come back to nest in the Spring. This morning I counted 14 swans at the far end of the bay! One family has six cygnets, the other two each have one. One lone juvenile was chased off, geez, even geese can’t get along! Poor youngster, lost his family along the way, hope he finds some company.
Large Trumpeter Swan family
I’d petition for a name change if I was them;)
There are little blocks of life along the road still, always fascinating what you can see if you walk quietly:) I ambled past the most beautiful spider I have ever seen. She was dangling from her web, at my head height , in the middle of the road. I think it was an Arabesque Orb Weaver. Not confirmed but I read that Arabesque orb-weavers are, like any other orb-weaver, non-aggressive spiders. Only in rare cases, where the spider feels threatened, bites to humans or pets occur. The bite of an arabesque orb-weaver is not medically significant and the pain is mostly short-lived and comparable to a bee sting. I watched her with wonder! Spinning her way through life:)
I have been surprised by several late butterflies. The Gary Comma and Clouded Sulphur. As the mornings heat up a few Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies are still about, they blend in so well with the fallen leaves they can be difficult to spot until they move! I watched a small wolf spider cross the road in front of me…and I feel daunted at times, imagine them! It is invasion of the Ladybugs right now as well, looking for a place to spend the Winter. They were swarming a poplar tree, do they drink the sap? Beautiful but invasive these catarinas, their name in Spanish. These are an invasive species here this variety.
Did you know these wooly white things eat them?! With the leaves gone I am seeing these all over…Woolly Alder Aphid (Prociphilus tessellatus). White fluff on trees! Just wild!
“They are usually seen on leaves, twigs or bark. Although infested leaves shrivel and drop early, the pests cause little permanent damage. They are an important resource for natural biological controls such as lacewings, lady beetles, hover flies, and parasitic wasps. Prociphilus tessellatus, known generally as the woolly alder aphid or maple blight aphid It requires alder and silver maple to complete its life cycle. Occasionally, it is found on red maple. The aphids on the trees are wingless. They feed on sap from the time of bud-break until late June. Then winged adults, some with abdomens covered in white fluffy wax, are produced in the colonies. These winged migrants readily fly when disturbed.” from iNaturalist. Here’s some more info from BugGuide.net
The Fall birds are starting to arrive, and a few are simply passing through, lucky bastards! It is a long flight South to Mexico though! A Hermit Thrush was poking about in the leaves and shrubs, unbothered as I walked past. I had to sit and watch the Swamp Sparrow for a awhile. They are busy little birds, flitting among the reeds! Swamp sparrows generally forage on the ground near the water’s edge, in shallow water or in marsh vegetation. In winter, their diet is principally fruit and seeds, while during the breeding season their diet is mainly arthropods.
I have heard another small little bird for the last week on our road, singing away quite brightly, it finally held still long enough for a photo-a Golden-crowned Kinglet-new bird for me here. It is a is a very small songbird in the family Regulidae that lives throughout much of North America. This is one of the smallest passerines in North America. The Dark eyed Juncos have also arrived back:) I caught a shot of one, with a tick on it! Ye gads! Is no one safe!
I will miss the leaves. The bright red and greens of the maples are done, the incredible purple tones of the Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) are dazzling but they have faded as well. Earth tones reign supreme for the time being before everything fades. There is beauty and life there, just harder to see.
I do love the milkweed seeds, slowly taking off in the gusts of wind. It’s almost about light and shadows now. The Virgin’s-Bower (Clematis virginiana) seed heads hang on the vine like white Christmas tree lights. Beautiful. Along the road on the fence in the swamp a vine of Virginia Creeper berries covers the barbed wire, they can’t be that tasty, maybe left for last by the passing birds! These berries contain toxic amounts of oxalic acid and have been known to cause kidney damage and death to humans. The berries are not toxic to birds and provide an important winter food source for many bird species according to iNaturalist.
The red squirrels are providing a great deal of excitement in the bush. It is astounding to see this small squirrel, chasing a gray/black squirrel three times it’s size out of IT’S territory! The black squirrels run as if their lives depended upon fleeing these red headed terrors! They haven’t moved into the yard yet, that will come. A large female gray squirrel still rules the roost here! That tail!
The chipmunks avoid everyone! They are getting ready to go underground with their stash of bird seed and acorns!
It’s time I put my wildlife camera up. The raccoon family has been raiding my table top decorative pumpkins. They bore a small hole in each one and scoop out the seeds! So smart! I’ll try to catch them on camera. The bird feeders all have to come down at night now or they swing from them, and we don’t need the bears destroying them either! Always something. It’s been a wild week, but I’ll catch up tomorrow! Did you horses can get Lyme and Anaplasmosis as well? Yup…stay tuned! Frigging copy cat!
I’ll leave you with some morning mists. There was frost on the far side this morning. Saludos amigos!
That sudden quiet always gets me…other than an occasional Blue Jay squawking with an acorn in it’s beak or the far away chorus of honking geese it is as if everything has gone to sleep…but there are still a few wiggling things there! We had to stop to let a Northern Water snake cross the road, he was lapping up that last bit of sun before the clouds moved in!
The side of the road terrain destroyer has worked it’s way up and down our small 50km per hour county gravel road. This machine goes along decimating bushes, shrubs, pushing over entire trees, cleaning away swathes of wildflowers. It leaves a horror of destruction behind, just so that YOU, the idiot, who has decided to drive down said road at 100km per hour is safe, and can see around the bends, may you miss the deer that just jumped out at you. I had to jump back off the edge of the road the other day as a woman flew past and then jammed on her breaks by the stop sign. She stopped to check her phone before driving off, I hope she saw my outstretched middle finger jabbed in her direction. ARGHHHH!!!
I was surprised as I walked back from my mail box checking ritual by a butterfly, shocked actually! I stood very still and waited for it to land. Either an Eastern, or Gray Coma butterfly! The few remaining bumblebees are slow, very very slow, clinging to the last few clover blossoms. I found a fly, a variety of Greenbottle Flies (Genus Lucilia) sitting on a yellow flower and a Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) calmly was making it’s way alongside the road over the fallen maple leaves.
There are still a few mushrooms poking their way up through the leaves as well. Many of the swampy areas dry up in the Fall and I found a beautiful selection of Robust Clitocybe (?) I think! So hard to ID so many of the mushrooms. The bracket fungus are no longer soft but hard and drying out. I found a Shaggy Legged Ringless Amanita (Amanita rhacopus) Can I get a job naming mushrooms please? Ha! It must be fun!
I just don’t have the heart to pull the mushrooms out, turn them over, to photograph the stem and underside for ID at times, they are just too beautiful to destroy! Or maybe they could be Funeral Bells?! (Galerina marginata) cheerful name that..😳…Galerina marginata, known colloquially as funeral bell, deadly skullcap, autumn skullcap or deadly galerina, is a species of extremely poisonous mushroom-forming fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae of the order Agaricales. It contains the same deadly amatoxins found in the death cap (Amanita phalloides). Ingestion in toxic amounts causes severe liver damage with vomiting, diarrhea, hypothermia, and eventual death if not treated rapidly. So, don’t touch then lick your fingers..0_0!
Sometimes I just love seeing the milkweed seeds blowing out of their casings, drifting with the wind. Makes you want to grab a handful and blow, making a wish! Ha! The reds in the Fall leaves have been few this year along the road. Mostly in the swampy bits. I love seeing the different patterns and colours combinations, maples and oaks, not many flowers but lots of variety in the fallen leaves!
I had a project going on this year, to capture a slice of life on the road in all four seasons. I had to go back to last Fall for the colour as it’s been just golds, yellows and greens in the spot on the road I chose to photograph. I did like how it turned out!
It amazes me how much the Fall colours vary from year to year. It seems we are just getting colour in the maples now, but half the trees along the road are already bare. Was it all the rain early, and the drought later? The quantity and quality of the colour vary depending on weather, sunlight and soil moisture as well as daylength and tree species are key factors that determine the colour of autumn leaves, according to experts. We’ll see what next year brings!
I’ll leave you with another bit of dazzling display from the night sky. Not aurora but Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). You can find it in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 73,712,369.0 kilometers from Earth. Catch it now or wait 80,000 years for it to come by again! Neanderthals’ saw it last;) It’s finally visible to the naked eye! How cool is that?! Saludos amigos!
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
and where you can see it, compliments of Sky and Telescope!
This juvenile female Pileated Woodpecker has been about. The shorter beak denotes she is young as well as her choice of hilarious landing spots that are quite awkward…she is learning! She is working on several dead basswood trees that her forebears have made huge holes in! We seem to be getting a flush of young juveniles trying out their skills these past few weeks!
A young Northern Flicker, Yellow Shafted, decided I wasn’t a threat and that he might have a career in modeling, front view please! Back view please! He landed several meters (yards) away on the bird bath as I sat watching him. “Just so you know…I’m just here for a drink!” he seemed to indicate after checking out the water, his reflection, blowing a few bubbles, dribbling, and thoroughly enjoying himself;)
These youngsters are not fearful, funny how that is learned in so many species.
The juvenile Red-Bellied had to take a clue from the chickadees on how exactly to get those seed thingies out of that cylinder thing full of them! It also has made some dubious landings at the suet feeder…a bit more practice and he’ll be right;)
The Blue Jays are both obnoxious, amusing and sly! Even with a cat under the table they judge for themselves the level of danger before picking a peanut off the tabletop! They are so quick, Groot doesn’t stand a chance for a blue jay stew!
He can always dream…those pumpkins smell of Blue Jay!
The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are putting in more appearances. The old dead basswoods have more holes and cavities than ever this Fall, all the pointed beaked guys have been busy there! Must be some good grubs in that soft rotting wood!
Been keeping an eye on junior up in the swamp. They were cowering in the far corner all weekend, sigh…it would have been a quiet walk out the road, a few bugs, a few birds, a few……gunshots, all the way out, and all the way back. Apparently duck hunting season has begun. If you don’t get them with the first shot, the 2nd, third and fourth…maybe? How about target practice elsewhere… Hopefully they will come back to the close corner now that the “Holidays” are over…Halle-F-ing-lujah!
It has been a joy watching this young Trumpeter swan grow up! I just hope there is enough room for a take-off once the time comes!
It’s been a chilly Thanksgiving but it looks like we may get some more warmer weather next week! Yeah! Maybe a few more bugs and blooms and shrooms, it’s been slim pickings on the walks this week, colourful, but quiet! We’ll showcase the few butterflies and caterpillars we have seen then! Saludos amigos!
“Holy crapola Batman, what the heck?” Looking out the window where I was sitting at our dining table that doubles as my desk, waiting for dark, didn’t even need to wait for that, even with a quarter moon you could see the streaks of red! Grabbed camera, tripod and headed to below the house, then down to the canoe. It’s been a fantasy to get an aurora shot with reflections, with the little red canoe for years! Mission accomplished!
Late on Tuesday night, a powerful explosion went off on the surface of the Sun — an X1.8-class solar flare, originating from sunspot AR3848. The arrival of this fast-moving CME sparked a G4-G5 geomagnetic storm (extreme)!
Calendar cover shot! Woohoo!
Times like this I wish I had a wide angle lens! I was taking panoramic shots at 24 mm. Experimenting with ISO and shutter speeds of 3 to 10 secounds. Always worried about focus, hard in the dark. I use the pines as a point to zoom in on! All while marveling at the spectacle. We’d been advised it could be a doozy! But those reds! What causes all these different colours you might ask? Wait, what causes all this spectacle for that matter?
This display, which was captured on cameras across the Northern Hemisphere and as far South as Baja according to friends who saw it, was triggered by a powerful geomagnetic storm. An ejection of the sun’s material, known as coronal mass ejections (CME), was observed on Tuesday night. The ejected material reached Earth on Thursday, resulting in “major geomagnetic activity”. The Northern Lights have been intense lately because of where the sun is in its 11-year solar cycle. It’s at its solar maximum, and with it, there was an unexpected boost in magnetic activity.
All sky colour
Auroras are caused by energized particles from the sun slamming into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph). Earth’s magnetic field then redirects the particles toward the north and south poles. The electrically charged particles then enter Earth’s atmosphere, exciting gas atoms and molecules and generating auroras. The process is similar to how neon lights work: When the molecules and atoms get “excited” by electrons, they must return to their original energy (ground state) and do so by releasing the energy as photons (light). The color of the neon light depends on the gas mixture inside the tube, just like the color of auroras depends on the gas mixture in the atmosphere.
After 30 minutes the reds faded to purple and greens…
What causes those different colours? The most common aurora color is green. Green auroras are typically produced when charged particles collide with high concentrations of oxygen molecules in Earth’s atmosphere at altitudes of around 60 to 190 miles (100 to 300 kilometers), according to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). We also see green auroras better than any other color, as the human eye is most sensitive to the green color spectrum.
Red auroras are comparatively less frequent and are usually associated with intense solar activity. Reds appear in the Aurora when solar particles react with Oxygen at higher altitudes, generally above 180 to 250 miles. At this height the Oxygen is less concentrated and is “excited” at a higher frequency or wavelength than the denser Oxygen lower down making reds visible.
Yellow and pink can be seen very occasionally, you can see yellow and pink in an Auroral display which are associated with only high solar activity as they are simply a mixture of red with green or blue. Blue and purple are seen less frequently and they tend to appear when solar activity is high. In this case, the colours are caused by particles colliding with our atmosphere at an altitude of 60 miles or less. At these heights, it is a reaction with Nitrogen that causes the Aurora to be tinged with purple or blue and most commonly, you will see these colours towards the lower parts of the display.
After thirty minutes the reds had faded to greens and blues. We decided to go back in and rescue our dinner that we had abandoned at the first sight of the aurora. The broccoli was a soggy mess but hey, well worth the show;) When we went back out after dinner the colours had faded but the green streaks across the sky were beautiful, it was moving in all directions, pulsating. We headed back in to warm up.
The green streaks
Then a friend posting on Facebook, Pierre said GO BACK OUT! Ha! Thanks Pierre! Around 10:30 it had started all over again, all sky, everywhere you looked! Streaks and waves of colour everywhere you looked! Yikes! Where do I point the camera!?
Colour everywhere!
Tired of the canoe yet? Ha!
The majority of auroral displays are predominantly green for two reasons, the first of which is that the human eye detects green more readily than other colours. This is why photographic images of the Northern Lights will often show colours that were not visible at the time to the naked eye. However, the main factor in determining the colours of any given display is the altitude at which the solar particles collide with our atmosphere. Different gases prevail at different altitudes and in varying concentrations and it is the collision which “excites” these gases that determines the colour of the Aurora.
Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.93% argon and 0.04% carbon dioxide. Our air also contains trace amounts of neon, helium, methane, krypton, ozone and hydrogen, as well as water vapor. Thanks Space Weather Canada for all the information!
After climbing up and down the steps what felt like a trillion times, OK, maybe 6 times, going back and forth, new battery, flashlight, dinner…It was time to head in for the night. I stopped one last time below the house to get a bigger all sky/lake shot before calling it a night…it’s a night! What a beautiful night it was!
The colours and rays of light were moving and changing so quickly…Jupiter was rising and the moon had finally set. The Pleiades constellation was covered in aurora:) Something that will stick in our memories for many years to come! I think I have the cover shot for my 2025 Little Red Canoe Calendar, it might make a great December 2025 as well, like Christmas lights all over the sky!
Saludos amigos, marvel at the beauty of our amazing natural world and universe.
This time of year creates a melancholy in me that is hard to shake. Maybe it’s always with me but I’m too busy to notice. The quiet, the death of the year, not quickly, but slowly, as each leaf falls onto the ground and goes from green to red, or yellow, then tan, then brown and black.
Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
I have a hard time shaking my aloneness this time of year. Some years I might be busy, planning a southerly trip, an escape from the cold, an adventure. Not in the cards this year, responsibilities of elderly horses as well as no truck, no trailer, the escape vehicles are sold and gone, it’s a huge empty spot for me out there in the driveway now. Even the cats keep going out to look for the trailer! Gamora was very fond of going into the trailer, her first home, when it went, she’d meow and beg to go sit in the truck. Funny that. We’ll start looking in the Spring for a “new to us” adventure mobile, something self propelled, maybe we can tow the car behind:)
I have always had the aloneness, as far back as I can remember as a child. I would take off on my quarter horse mare Lady and ride for hours, exploring every field and forest unfenced near our small home for a few years in Pinetop, Arizona. My diaries reflected it later, I think it’s always been there, maybe I was born with it. I can be surrounded by people, and be completely and utterly alone. Blessing or curse? Some days no amount of natural beauty or wine can make it go away…maybe more wine;) Ha!
Could it be melancholy?
“Melancholy is beyond sad: as a noun or an adjective, it’s a word for the gloomiest of spirits.
Being melancholy means that you’re overcome in sorrow, wrapped up in sorrowful thoughts. The word started off as a noun for deep sadness, from a rather disgusting source. Back in medieval times, people thought that secretions of the body called “humors” determined their feelings, so a depressed person was thought to have too much of the humor known as melancholy — literally “black bile” secreted from the spleen. Fortunately, we no longer think we’re ruled by our spleens, and that black bile has been replaced by another color of sorrow: the “blues.” Guess I have too much black bile this week;)
Maybe it was a defense mechanism from traveling constantly, from never having the same friends to grow up with, from constant change and moving, one country after the next, one culture after the next, you never feel at home anywhere, for any length of time, yet you crave that, home. Yet it is an illusion for me. Many do have that option, home. I am fortunate to have many wonderful and caring friends spread across the globe, but home? Just not here or there, where we hang our hat? Isn’t that how the saying goes;) What does happiness stem from, the answer to the life, happiness and universe? Could the answer be 42? 🙂 Douglas Adams fans will get it.
Nothing gold can stay
So, I’m not very good company the last few days. I’ll get over it, well, sort of, it never quite goes away, it’s a lifelong affliction I believe. Maybe it’s the whole aging bit, I’m worried I won’t get to see some of earth’s treasures before I no longer can. That need to move, explore…while I can. I’m gimping around already. I guess Angel’s Landing is out of the question;) Ha! Maybe as hunter/gatherers we were never meant to stay in one place for too long?
Maybe I simply suffer from: Fernweh– German. Meaning: Being homesick for a place you have never been or a longing for far-off places. This word means an ache to get away and travel to a distant place, a feeling even stronger than wanderlust. Fern “far”, Weh “ pain”. The English language could use a few words like this:)
Maybe I just need to get into contact with the mist fairies to do a tour, Tuatha Dé Danann, an elvish supernatural race from Irish mythology. They travel hidden in the mists…anyone have their cell or email?:)
It happens so quickly, the quiet. The road has gone nearly silent with the exception of a screeching blue jay flying off with an acorn or the gentle tweet of the chickadees. I did flush a grouse out of the underbrush as I walked by, the crunch of gravel and leaves under my feet. The flowers are done with a few asters and clover blooms holding out, loaded with bees or wasps, but they seem quiet as well. Summer has faded away.
Along the road the leaves are starting to change as well. The wild clematis seeds fill the bushes like pom pom decorations, the milkweed seeds are starting to escape as well! I tried to capture a few being blown by the wind, unsuccessfully, but it was beautiful to watch as they were backlit by the sun, just too slow! Ha! The Sumacs are bright red as well as the Virginia Creeper. Such colour, but it’s that quiet.
A few mushrooms still dot the dead and downed trees along the road. One of the mushroom groups looked like marshmallows, it was soft and fresh, some kind of bracket fungi. One I had to walk over and touch, it didn’t look real. A golden coloured chalice on the side of a tree! A lone Shaggy Mane, aka Ink Cap, popped up in the lawn as well. They are quite edible but need to be picked young and eaten quickly. The gills beneath the cap are white, then pink, then turn black and deliquesce (‘melt’) into a black liquid filled with spores (hence the “ink cap” name).This mushroom is unusual because it will turn black and dissolve itself in a matter of hours after being picked or depositing spores. It keeps very badly because of the autodigestion of its gills and cap!
The insects are very interested in the fungi, especially the new soft pillowy ones, I saw ants and spiders and all kinds of unidentified bugs! On one branch I stopped and looked to what the heck it even was…it looked like silver white threads dangling in the breeze, a piece of Gandolf the wizard’s flowing cloak…ha! Nope…Woolly Aphids Genus Prociphilus, they cause the plants they attack to produce galls. The aphids reside and feed within the gall…0_0!
Woolly Alder Aphid-(Prociphilus tessellatus)
No loons calling on the lake now, have they all headed South? The geese are starting to call as they fly over and a small flock of Sandhill Cranes surprised me, those long legs dangling out behind!
I heard them long before I saw them-Sandhill Cranes heading South…
…and of course I have to check on our young swan each walk. Sometimes they are on their little island, sometimes further off in the swamp. Junior was trying out his wings!
Dad put on a display, showing him how it was to be done! Ha!
They pretty much ignore me as I stop and chat to them, and take their picture! It is so amazing we have two sets of Trumpeter swans in walking distance! The other pair came over to say hi after resting on the neighbour’s swim platform all night. I brought them down some corn, which they apparently really liked by the way they were chomping on my hand! I set the cracked corn on the dock before I pulled back a stump! Yum!! Then a preen, and off they went to forage. I wonder when they will move along?
It’s the time of mists now. The warmer lake water, cooler air temperatures. It was 8° the other morning, no frosts yet! I love the mists, the other morning we were socked in, by the afternoon, the colours on the far side of the swamp were bathed in late day light. What a contrast!
Mike and I were up early on the morning of the 30th. We hoped to catch Comet tsuchinshan-atlas rising with moon. I don’t think it was high enough to see above the horizon, and later, too much light. Not sure if those are satellites to the upper right of the moon or meteors? Three of them, most likely satellites! Argh! More light pollution! Either way, it was a stunning morning!
…and that quiet…not a peep from a bullfrog, wait, I think they have all moved out! Ha! We came home after dark the other night and our lawn and alcove were hopping with these giant frogs! Two American Bullfrogs were frolicking in our alcove with a couple of it’s buddies after the rain! They are maybe moving in the general direction of the wintering sites? We have never had that many out of the water up here! The lawn was alive!
Back to the morning mists, I got side tracked there! Ha! This morning’s view…
A panorama of 4 horizontal shots of the mists this morning. How is it they move with no wind? Maybe they are the mist fairies, Tuatha Dé Danann are an elvish supernatural race from Irish mythology. Féth fíada, this word is used to describe a kind of mist that ensures that the Tuatha Dé Danann are invisible to the human race. I knew it! Ha!
I’ll leave with a sunburst…there is something so cool about them, those rays. You can do them in computer programs but I find it fun to do when you take the picture:) High Fstop is the way to go: F22 1/250 sec ISO 100 at 24mm. Saludos amigos, I am enjoying the quiet, time to reflect on the Summer, plan for the Winter, and enjoy the Fall! Stay tuned for some Fall colours and more birds! They are coming!!!
The western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide.
There isn’t much blooming for these bees! Thankfully the asters are providing something to snack on as most of the goldenrod has gone to seed.! The bumblebees are mostly the Common Eastern and I nabbed a shot of a Brown Belted one as well! The tri-coloured ones were here earlier in the year. So many different types!
The wasps are out as well. I had to remove the hummingbird feeder once this year as a Bald Faced Hornet had decided it was his! Ha, said the hummingbird, she fixed you! And who knew baby green stink bugs aren’t green! Both adults and nymphs have large stink glands on the underside of the thorax extending more than half-way to the edge of the metapleuron (An exoskeletal plate on each side of the metathorax of an insect.) They discharge large amounts of this foul-smelling liquid when disturbed…I didn’t stop to ask or poke them;)
The other great cat toys out there other than chipmunks and frogs are the grasshoppers. Apparently they are very very tasty…chomp, chomp, chomp and down the hatch! I will wait until I can find a chocolate covered one to try them, thanks! Such beautiful colours, from the red-legged to the cinnamon or tan Carolina to the bright yellow Two-striped Grasshopper! I tried to catch one hovering, still working on that, must be showing off for the ladies! They look like leaping Mourning cloak Butterflies!
I keep waiting for the big Green Darner dragonflies but have only seen a few flying fairly high, not landing. The Autumn Meadowhawks are still plentiful, and reproducing! The gold spots on their wings are beautiful, especially if you catch them back lit!
The butterflies have been few and far between this late Summer. A few Monarchs in passing and some Cabbage Whites. It seems too quiet. Hopefully with no “Spongy Moth” spraying everything else will have a chance to survive. Humans are so stupid, we think we can control nature, she will have the last laugh if there is anything left of us after we fight over our imaginary Gods and resources. Yeah, I’m not going to hold my breath for the human race:) Misanthrope am I;) I do like SOME humans, just not many;) Ha!
…and the baby swan:) He/she is as big as it’s parents! Those flippers! Oh my! So far I haven’t seen any wing flapping, still wondering if Mom and Dad will take off to try to get it airborn, or will it be slow flying lessons. Must be daunting!
Those are some sizable flippers young one!
It is hard to believe it was such a wee little cygnet back on June 25th.
Fingers crossed all goes well! Baby Loon is still about with one of the parents, the mother I am guessing.
“At 10-11 weeks chicks continue to practice flight. They can capture much (roughly 90-100%) of their own food, but will still beg for and accept food from parents. At this point in the season, one parent may leave for the ocean, but the other typically stays with the chicks until they reach fledging age.
By 12 weeks of age, loon chicks reach fledgling age and become independent. They may take their first flight, and they eat fish of similar size to adults. At this stage, the first parent may migrate to the ocean, leaving chicks entirely alone on their natal lakes. Chicks typically leave their lakes 1-3 weeks after their parents, though some remain into the early winter.” from the Loon Preservation Committee.
According to my photos Baby Loon should be around 14-15 weeks old…first baby shots were June 25th. He and baby swan cygnet are pretty close in age!
Baby Loon, one month ago
It’s time for a calm day to paddle around and look for him/her. He/she is just starting to cry, it’s a sad loon warbling cry, but getting better every day! Such a privilege to watch these guys grow up!
That’s about it for bugs and babies growing up for now! We’ll keep you posted as the Fall birds settle in, the Blue Jays are already back for their peanuts each morning! I’ll be needing some new props, time for a trip to 2ndhand shops for some thing interesting! Ha! We’re waiting for rain so maybe we’ll have another flush of fungi to explore as well. Saludos amigos, time to go find some new slippers as well!
♫♪♫ Because I’m still in love with you I want to see you dance again Because I’m still in love with you On this harvest moon ♪♫♪
After one of the wettest Summers on record…September is making amends;)
Flat calm mornings and afternoons, plus 25° temperatures…lulling us into a false sense of a Summer forever! Ha! The leaves have started to come off the trees, cascades of green falling leaves, weird. I generally judge Fall by the exit of the juvenile hummingbirds, they didn’t hang around this year at all. The Trumpeter Swan pair arrived two weeks early…could it be a sign? Of what? Hey, our wood is in, we’re ready for Winter, sort of, I mean I’m never really ready, except to leave to go South. Maybe I was a migratory bird in a former life…screw this Winter crap! I’m outta here! Not this year…Just went to the GT Boutique and replaced my very sad, full of holes Winter jacket…now for the boots!
Now the cats…they say these days will never end…lolling, lying in the grass, watching the bugs fly by…it doesn’t get any better than this they say! Well, maybe the woodstove…Groot is enjoying his Fall camouflage! I blend in perfectly he says!
How is it they know, this pair of Trumpeter Swans, friend or foe? I called out to them when I went down the stairs to the dock, they quickly hopped off our neighbour’s swim platform and swam right over, male first. I held out my hand and he gently nibbled the sunflower seeds off it. I could barely feel his beak, so gentle. Then it was the Mrs. turn, she ate more. I promised the two of them cracked corn tomorrow. I explained that I wasn’t expecting them for another two weeks, they are early this year! Welcome back beautiful swans!
You have neighbours up on Long Lake road now with a kid! Ha! Never ceases to take my breath away:) I wonder just how old this pair is and for how long they have been making this lake a stopover point on their way South. Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do switch mates over their lifetimes. Some males that lost their mates did not mate again.
Walking out to check the mail has become very quiet, with just an occasional chickadee peep, or the raucous squawk of a passing blue jay, an oak acorn in it’s beak, bellotas in Spanish, it always comes to mind:) This week I had a surprise, caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and stopped and watched for a bit. A Yellow-Billed Cuckoo! When I came back and told Mike after my walk, he didn’t believe me, cuckoo? Here? Yup, he knew who was cuckoo;) Ha! Unlike their European counterparts they don’t sound like the well known cuckoo clock…mostly just the “koo” with out the “cuck”! Ha! Listen here: Cuckoo sound.
I actually convinced Mike to stop at the Carleton Place Drainage ponds on our way to Ottawa last week. He was bribed by a trip to the “Little German Bakery” there in Carleton Place…yum!..and why the drainage ponds you might ask, it’s where all the cool birds hang out dude! There was a rare visitor from down South, a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) took a wrong turn at Albuquerque ( said in a Bugs Bunny voice;) ha!) They are more of a Forida coastal bird, moving up the East coast during breeding season but rarely deciding a drainage pond is a place to call home. I came a day too late, it was gone, but I did see a beautiful Green Heron and some comedic Greater Yellow-Legs so well worth the trip around the pond and SO many grasshoppers and butterflies! Besides, those cream filled Berliners are delicious and working off a few calories with the stiff hips isn’t a bad thing!
I feel my life to be rather dominated by birds at times but hey, there is whole lot more on my daily, mostly, mail walks. The mosquitos no longer threaten to carry me away, while quiet from bird song the humming of European Honey and bumblebees and wasps on the late blooming asters and golden rod are a treat to watch. The number of furry and naked caterpillars we have seen is starting to increase, don’t tell the Yellow-billed Cuckoo! Some I know, a few new ones as well.
I had to gently coerce a Northern Water snake off the road, twice, as I walked out. Tried to convince him it was a dangerous place with crazy citiots roaring by at 100 km an hour, in rushing, to get to their cottage…to relax…WTF? One asshat ran over the Loon family this week in their Jetski…had a few locals fuming…where’s the gatling gun? Piano wire? Take out your earbuds jerkoff! You can blare your music anywhere, why is it you need to make noise wherever you go…as I said, giving me superpowers would result in too many human deaths…;) Anyway, back to the snake, I tried to usher him/her off the road with my foot, he latched on, with it’s mouth and I hopped to the side of the road to where the grass started before it let go, novel and comedic rescue effort… good thing I walk alone;)
There is a new slew of mushrooms popping up beside the road and on the dead stumps. We’ve had a record absence of rain this month so always surprised to see the fungi popping up where it can. The lichens are always a treat, those little cups, like a tea party for fairies on the rocks:) Best to see the magic there.
I get so excited when I find the Indigo Milk Cap (Lactarius indigo). The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken (a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius) is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. In Mexico, individuals harvest the wild mushrooms for sale at farmers’ markets, typically from June to November; they are considered a “second class” species for consumption…0_0..I’ll pass!
The Indigo Milk Cap (Lactarius indigo) sprout/grow in the same place every year! I even came across a few edibles! Oyster Mushrooms and Chicken of the Woods!
I have a hard time keeping all the mushrooms names in my head! Ha! Yellow and spotted, probably amanita of some kind…do not eat Karen! Such a variety of living organisms in the forest! I find something new every time I set out! Bird, bug or plant life!
With so few blooming plants they tend to catch your eye, what is that? Off to iNaturalist to check it out:) Great resource, also, geez, how many of these guys are REALLY toxic…live and learn, no munching on that. My mother had a habit of popping berries into her mouth, unknown ones, freaked me out as a kid…she had nine lives, part cat no doubt!
The Traveling Mewberries have enjoyed their games of “Where’s that frog” or the “Chipmunk staredown” which involves staring at the last known location of a chipmunk, even if it left by the back door of the tree, or the other side of the kindling box…it just MIGHT come back out into their waiting jaws. The Chipmunks that have survived this long into the Summer are the Einstein’s of their genetic group. It’s tough world full of chipmunk eating creatures out there! So many predators, that walk, and fly and slither!
The small Gray tree frogs entertain the cats at night on the windows, chasing bugs bigger than them. They have such amazing camouflage I nearly smooshed one guy with my hand as I walked up from the lake. He was blended into the gray wood on the railing! Gamora found a beautiful Wood Frog and I steered her in the opposite direction! One of my favourites! Frogaphobes LOOK AWAY! You know who you are;) Ranidaphobia is the medical term for a phobia of frogs and toads:) Great big killer frogs with enormous teeth…hahahahaha! I barely survived my walk today without being eaten by one;)
With all this wonderful warm weather paddling is easy, but why is it every time I paddle down the lake, the wind is behind me, and when I turn around to come back, it’s against me? I did find a new flower to me off one of the small islands! The leaves are just starting to turn in the swamps, the reds and oranges among the green. Wondering what full colour will look like this year? If it’s on the swans timeline, it will be sooner than later. Even the morning sky has turned to Fall colours:) I’ll leave you with a glimpse. I’ll catch up on the dragonflies and bugs later this week! It’s turning into a novel!
Saludos amigos-I will try to embrace the incoming Fall season, the change, not always easy that change thing:)
The males left two weeks ago, I wish debonair Don a safe flight to Mexico…I’m jealous! Ha! We had a single female hanging about but the juveniles were getting pretty obnoxious and she packed up and left as well, must be like Spring Break in Florida, the locals hide;)
Every flower is a new adventure. “Can I hang on, can I sit on it, where do I poke, how far do I have to stick my beak in?” over and over, then there are the fights;) Like petulant kids on a playground wanting to be the biggest bully!
“Mine!”…”No, mine!”
I am going to miss their daily antics, feeling a bit blue, time to look at what else is out there:) It seems the leaves are turning early but probably not, I’m just feeling like I’m not ready for the changes coming….
We have other migrants starting to go through, a beautiful wood duck sat perched on her log before deciding to swim off…On Golden Pond:)
A young Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker showed up in the locust tree. He chatted away with a juvenile Yellow Bellied Sapsucker beside him, such beautiful colours! The geese have started to move…
LBB’s abound, I had to look up one recent fledgling hopping away from me as I tried to take it’s picture! I think it was a Red-eyed Vireo. Sure sign of Fall coming, the Brown Creepers are back! NO! The Sparrows are at the feeders as well. I spied a few warblers this morning as well. Now to sit and wait during morning coffee. They are so fast!
While it might appear I live on a diet of Hummingbird and Loon photography..;)…they will soon be moving on and I will get to reexplore our Fall and Winter friends. The American Goldfinches are turning colour as well! Maybe it’s just the juveniles, no longer bright yellow but a military “You can’t see me as well” hue.
We have had our first Lanark County Camera Club meeting. Mike chauffeured me and ran into a trio of astronomy guys so maybe he’ll be a regular! Ha! I joined him up! I did have a lot of questions on hummingbird photography so thought I’d share them, for next year anyway, or for those that live in more Southerly climes! Lucky bas*ards;)
I use natural light, my camera does not have a flash but I would like to explore that one day as well! Light is the key to everything! I prefer the late morning as the sun hits the flowers from a higher angle and I don’t get as many shadows.
I have a few pots of flowers I plant each year. The Canna lilies are always a big hit as well as crocosmia lucifer, another bulb. Some folks can over winter them in the ground but I haven’t had much luck and pull them in the Fall for replanting. Spider Dahlias are also popular with the hummingbirds. I sit in a chair, hand held camera about 6-8′ away and wait! I also hang a feeder a foot or two away from the potted plants to help bring these little flying jewels in!
Half the shots get deleted, either out of focus or the light isn’t right. I shoot manual with the focus set on “animal eye detection” (what an amazing feature on the Canon R5) on my older Canon 6D I used single spot focus and that worked as well. I have a 9 year old Tamron 150-600 G2 Telephoto lens. I use the 2.2-10.0 m setting so the focus doesn’t hunt and peck as much. My f stop is usually set a 6.3, I can move it up to F8 if there is lot of light! For speed it varies from 1/4000 sec to 1/8000 sec and the ISO pretty much lives at 3200. Some shots can get noisy if the light isn’t the best so I rely on Topaz Denoise in photoshop. I can play with the shadows and highlights there in RAW which can help a bit but you do need good light for these guys! Hope that helps anyone starting out! Damn they are fast!
I’ll leave you with a juvenile trying out the crocosmia lucifer flowers…safe journeys little flying jewels, I look forward to your return in the Spring.
On a sad note, I found out my uncle, Harry Crosby passed away last night. He may not have been the perfect husband, or father, they rarely exist anywhere, but he was my perfect uncle and he had a long and prosperous run at life. He encouraged me to write and photograph, he offered critiques and suggestions and was always very supportive. The last of my family of my mother’s generation. They saw so much of the world change. I had a straggler hummingbird stop by quickly this morning, fly high Harry, may your adventures continue wherever your spirit goes…Que la paz y el amor te guíen…
Maybe not in date, but the hummingbirds are gone:( It signals the oncoming changes to our wildlife, the light, temperatures and leaves. It always seems too soon, for me anyway. Where did the rest of August go? Chasing Loons and swans and hummingbirds:)
We had a windless calm morning and the Loon family was out in the bay fishing. I had to paddle out, quietly. This guy came up right beside the canoe, almost too close to shoot. I think they know a threat when they see one, he eyed me up, and had his flap… friend, not foe he said and went about his business. They don’t call or fret. I’m pretty calm. I’ve seen them have a fit when paddleboarders go by, one had a dog on the board so yeah, they were not happy. They are not quite as protective as earlier this Summer when a heron flying over would elicit a warning call, just stupid cottagers and cityots getting too close, need that cell phone shot, “Look, me with a Loon!” No, you’re the loser asshat! Don’t get me started;)
It’s constant fishing to feed junior right now, one fish after another, after another. When they can find him, he’s off, diving, exploring, blowing bubbles, doing what youngsters do!
Little fish, lot’s and lots of little fish, first Ma brings one, then Pa, and then more fish. The far shallow end here must provide a great hunting ground for them.
The story writes itself! Ha!
“Go look for yourself kid! Ma needs a break!”
As I floated around in the canoe, paddling every now and then to align myself with the light and back off when they came in closely Ma caught a BIG fish! Junior was impressed! Right down the hatch in a single gulp!
It’s always a treat to spend time with these spectacular birds. Ma and Pa are taking off occasionally now, leaving junior alone for a bit. I hear him call nervously, then he/she goes back to fishing!
The swan cygnet is getting big as well! I’m still not sure how it’s going to take off on the smaller swamp area but I am sure it will figure it out. No wing flapping yet!
The mother and father have become a bit less protective, still very very aware of sights and sounds from all directions but the little one is going off on it’s own a bit to feed…it’s nonstop eating right now!
They have taken to sitting on a small island just a stones throw from the road. I walked up to check the mail and and they just stared at me for an instance, then resumed, one looking left, one looking right until a woman stopped to check her mail and came over to take a few shots as well and they stared at her. Vigilant, but no longer crazed swan parents…unless you want to date their daughter I was thinking! hahahaha!
These guys give me a chuckle every time I see them! I’ll leave you with one more Loon sequence…stay tuned tomorrow for the last of the hummingbirds and all those LBB’s passing through (Little Brown birds!) Playing catch-up as always:) Saludos amigos!
The whole shebang:) from side to side top to bottom, 9 images stitched together! I couldn’t fit it in one single shot, too wide, too high, just TOO big!! One of the brightest longest lasting rainbows I have ever seen, after thirty minutes it was still the same! I love the circle reflections in the water. I HAD to go down to the dock, it was still raining lightly so I tucked my camera under my shirt and trotted down the steps! Those colours, and a double to boot! It was wild. People saw this rainbow all over the county, spectacular Summertime! So would that have been 4 pots of gold? One on each end! Ha!
I was surprised a few mornings ago to catch a flash of orange out of the corner of my eye (no, not a floater or blood spec! Ha!) as I sat drinking my morning coffee, watching our molting male Ruby-throated defending his feeder from the young dashing upstart. Orange? Argh? Could it be! I popped inside, filled up the strawberry jam jar and set it out bedside the suet feeder and sure enough, a beautiful male Baltimore Oriole showed up. Must be family, he knew exactly where to go for that jam! I take it down as soon as they leave (July 5th this year) to keep the bees and wasps from perishing in the jam. This fellow found a buffet later as he went straight for the insects the next day that were trapped there!
They are always a delight to see and hear! Hopefully he’ll stick around for awhile before heading South!
Junior Ruby-throated is getting bigger pants every day. Captain Cranky Pants, my affectionate name for the resident male is getting a workout! I could have sworn I saw two juveniles today! He’ll really be exhausted now!
My flower selection has been limited, just wasn’t my Spring with getting sick so I’ve made do with the bulbs that survived our too warm basement! The Cannas are finally blooming along with a single crocosmia lucifer bulb and a few gladiolas are finally opening! They are all in several pots being held up and together to keep them from falling over with bits of string, old broom handles and baler twine! I keep the pots together so the hummingbirds tend to hover around them! Making a photographers job easier! Ha! and that morning light…perfect!
With the molts starting to slow down, everyone is looking a bit less ragged. The Blue Jays haven’t shown their faces yet, too vain;) but the Goldfinches are back along with the Grosbeaks, feeding their juvenile. The Pa Grosbeak seems to have the bulk of the seed delivery as his responsibility! A motley Red-Bellied shows up from time to time as well.
On my walk out to the mailbox I caught a flash of yellow, A common Yellowthroat sat in the tree by the swamp with a Song Sparrow, maybe a juvie. Beautiful! The Scarlet Tanager have teased me staying just out of reach or just outwitting my slow reactions as I get Mike to stop and roll down the window and aim…and they are gone…mostly! Ha!
The flowers along the road are changing, the Purple Loosestrife is taking over the swamps, the buttonbush is nearly done blooming. The Queen Ann’s Lace reigns supreme this time of year. Did you know the function of the central dark floret of the flower has been subject to debate since Charles Darwin speculated that they are a vestigial trait. It has been suggested that they have the adaptive function of mimicking insects, thus either discouraging herbivory, or attracting pollinators by indicating the presence of food or opportunities for mating…I first thought it was a bug! Look closely! The wild clematis, Virgin’s-Bower, is climbing all over the bushes. I read that Common Jewelweed, that the hummingbirds love, along with other species of jewelweed, the juice of the leaves and stems is a traditional Native American remedy for skin rashes, including poison ivy! Good to know! So much life if you look!
We were doing road work, filling in pot holes and run off areas, cutting back bushes and limbs along the road. I was looking for bugs and butterflies as well:) There was a Jagged Ambush Bug on a thistle. I thought it was a bit of dried leaf as I took the picture! The county cut the road edges so sadly many of the wildflowers went with it:( A Hickory Tussock Moth was moseying about on a leaf, never know if they are coming, or going! Ha! Don’t touch these guys! Those hairs are their protection and can give you a nasty dermatitis! I may have learned that the hard way already;) The grasshoppers are plentiful and I found a Two-striped Grasshopper clinging to the glass like Spiderman! How DO they do that?
The cats are having a grand time chasing the tiny Northern Leopard frogs, they, the cats, are often confused as to which way to jump as several young frogs are going in different directions at the same time! Ha! Yesterday morning there was a mad dash of the Mewberries to the base of several small oaks…the intense concentration made me go inside and get my camera…out of a limb, literally, was a savvy chipmunk. If they have lived this long, got through Spring and half of Summer they have learned true survival skills! The Mewberries were very disappointed this savvy individual was not going to come trotting down into their waiting choppers!
These guys! Never a dull moment!
The reason we were trimming along the road, well, was to say goodbye to Myrtle, our beloved DRV 5th wheel. Didn’t want to scratch her up as we delivered her to her new home in Kemptville, where a lovely older Lithuanian man is going to use her as a home until his family can build a tiny home for him, she is a tiny home! It was a bit hairy getting across the new culvert but a few feet at a time we made a perfect exit, and headed off East, and finally Mike backed her into her new spot to be loved and used! Sad though. So many memories, but we won’t stop making them. Time to downsize, we’ll be looking this Winter and into Spring for something new to us to continue our travels! Be safe Myrtle and I know your new owners are going to cherish you as much as we did! That gravel pad does look awfully empty now though:(
I’ll leave you with a cranky Gray Rat snake! Ha! A visit with House Slytherin. He/she was in the middle of the driveway as we were leaving, about 4′ long. I gently tugged on it’s beautiful tail to try to get it to move along…I tried to convince the Gray Rat snake that he needed to move out of the middle of the road…”F*ck you!” it said, “I’m not going anywhere! Come a bit closer and I will show you my cobra impression!” Alrighty! Mike managed to drive around it barely;) Cheeky creature! Ha! I love the nature that surrounds us! Saludos amigos!
No more dashing, debonair Don, it’s shambling shaggy sad Sam now! It’s molting time for our Ruby throated male. He even sounds differently with his missing feathers. The loss of old feathers and the growth of new is especially noticeable around the beak. Molting occurs in mid-to-late summer before hummingbirds migrate south. In adult males the last week of July seems to be when it starts, and in adult females the first week of August. During the time they molt, all their body feathers are involved but not their wing or tail feathers. He’ll look brand new soon!
Did you know hummingbirds have relatively few feathers; for example, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird has only 940 feathers! Their feathers are proportionately large, and missing feathers tend to be more obvious than on other birds. Missing feathers produce an obvious hole or gap in the plumage that is exaggerated by the gray bases of exposed adjacent feathers. Incoming sheathed feathers also tend to be somewhat more conspicuous on hummingbirds than on other birds, especially on the head and underparts.
She will start molting soon as well, you can see a few feathers around her neck starting! They are not the only ones resembling ugly ducklings right now! Our little cygnet trumpeter swan has lost it’s white fuzz and now is a dish water gray! That gray beak/snozz! Beautiful!
I’m guessing baby is in the 6-8 week old age bracket now! I check every time we drive by, sometimes they are snoozing, but mostly baby is eating! It may be a few more weeks until baby starts to learn to fly, 90-120 days is when they should be able to! I wonder if they need the 100 meter (yards) runway their parents do? Hopefully we can see him/her practicing in the next few weeks…
The colourful Milkweed Tussock caterpillars are voraciously devouring the leaves around them, so beautiful! Dogbanes and milkweeds produce a sticky latex that can impede larval feeding so they skeletonize the leaves of young milkweed as older larvae sever the veins that supply the latex, which reduces latex flow to the area on which they feed! Smart little guys! Like most species in this family, it has chemical defenses it acquires from its host plants. These are retained in adults and deter bats, and presumably other predators, from feeding on them! (Most insects that feed on milkweeds pick up toxic compounds known as cardiac glycosides from feeding on the poisonous milkweed and become poisonous themselves.) The caterpillars can be irritating to handle so no touching!
The tussock moth does warn its main enemy, night-flying bats, of its toxicity. It does so by actually giving off a warning click that apparently says, “You may not be able to see that I am orange and black, but I certainly taste orange and black!
If the monarch butterfly has to hurry along rapidly in the fall to make it to Mexico before winter, the milkweed tussock caterpillars is in no hurry. It doesn’t migrate. In fact, it feeds right through September. Then it pupates underground for the winter. In the spring, with the return of warm weather and renewed milkweed growth, it emerges as a butterfly, ready to lay eggs for the new season of caterpillars. There is only one generation per year in the North, two in the South.
I have been looking for any new dragonflies, thought I’d found one, turns out to be either a female or juvenile, that looks nothing like it’s parent! Sigh, one day I will learn all these differences!
The Blue Dashers-Pachydiplax longipennis– seem to have the bulk of the parasitic mites! These dragonflies are carnivorous, and are capable of eating hundreds of insects every day, including mosquito and mayfly larvae. The adult dragonfly will eat nearly any flying insect, such as a moth or fly. Nymphs have a diet that includes other aquatic larvae, small fish, and tadpoles. They are not fussy eaters! They are are known to be voracious predators, consuming up to 10% of their body weight each day in food! I am glad I am not a bug! Longipennis means long wings, just in case you were wondering;) Ha!
Our juvenile, well, it’s a boy! His little red feathers are starting to show on his throat! He’s getting a bit braver with Captain Cranky Pants who is still molting…poor guy, he will take another week to start to look his debonair self again. In the meantime, this little brat is giving him the gears! It’s just a constant chase from point A to pint B and back again…thirsty work!
Cranky Pants! He went thatta way!
I’ll leave it for now, stay tuned for more glamour shots of our dashing young Ruby-throated and some welcome return visitors! Mr. Oriole! We’ve had warmth, and rain and now it looks like we are headed back to some temperate climes. I had to get out of bed quickly and catch this colour last week, but reminded me Summer doesn’t last forever! 12° C barefoot and pyjamas. I need new slippers! Ha! It faded so quickly! Just like Summer:) Saludos amigos! Rainbows and more to come!
12° barefoot and pyjamas. I need new slippers! Ha! It faded so quickly!
I finally got a chance to try the extension tubes I ordered! I had to get really close, like an 1″ away, so I am sure there is a learning curve! I’ll be out practicing! This is some kind of Spotted Orb weaver living on the front of the trailer-beautiful! using a 24mm and a 12mm extension tube on my 24-70 lens and a Scudder’s Bush Katydids (Genus Scudderia), is he ever green! The red dragonfly is a White-faced Meadowhawk, I think, I can’t believe he/she let me stick the lens right up to it, an 1″ away! The others would not! I think I need to practice on non-moving objects or very slow bugs until I get the hang of this! I went back out with just the short lens later to get the guys I couldn’t with the macro! Wind is NOT your friend!
Such an amazing world of bugs! I decided to wander down to the dock to bail out the little red canoe and was very excited to see a pair of mating Halloween Pennants! Doing the wild thang! It’s called a mating wheel: male left, female right. The female lays eggs in the morning on open water with the male still attached at the head. This method is known as exophytic egg laying. We don’t often see the Halloween Pennants here in the yard so will keep looking closer to the water. Lots of Blue dashers and a male widow skimmer kept me company. I’m not sure if the Halloween Pennants chose the one sad sapling that was turning a red colour on purpose, it was great camouflage!
I continued back up at the house to hang around near the milkweed and rocks, looking for bugs when a beautiful little Garter Snake crossed my path. Most common garter snakes have a pattern of yellow stripes on a black, brown or green background, and their average total length (including tail) is about 55 cm (22 in), with a maximum total length of about 137 cm (54 in). There are 12 subspecies of this beautiful little snake-this is T. s. sirtalis (Linnaeus, 1758) Eastern Garter Snake. Did you know that Garter snakes have a mild venom in their saliva, which may be toxic to the amphibians and other small animals that they prey upon. Common garter snakes are resistant to naturally-occurring poisons in their prey, such as that of the American toad and rough-skinned newt, the latter of which can kill a human if ingested. Garter snakes (in addition to their own mildly venomous saliva) have the ability to retain poisons from their consumed amphibian prey, thus making them poisonous and deterring any would-be predators. Wow!
The habitat of the common garter snake ranges from forests, fields, and prairies to streams, wetlands, meadows, marshes, and ponds, and it is often found near water. Their diet consists mainly of amphibians and earthworms, but also leeches, slugs, snails, insects, crayfish, fish, lizards, other snakes, small birds, and rodents. Common garter snakes are effective at catching fast-moving creatures such as fish and tadpoles.
I found a tiny little Gray Tree Frog no larger than my thumb in the shed doorframe and thought he might be a good candidate for the extension macro tubes so I went back to get them! Gray treefrogs have been observed to congregate around windows and porch lights to eat insects that are attracted to the light. Insect larvae, mites, spiders, plant lice, harvestmen, and snails also contribute towards the diet of the gray treefrog. Love to listen to these guys at night!
Most mornings I sit out on the front deck and watch the hummingbirds with my coffee. I opened the umbrella again, this time, very slowly and carefully thinking my large Brown Bat friend might be there, and it fluttered to the ground near the garden. I went down to check on him, “Lady, why? I was asleep!” I got a bit too close and he/she hissed like a cat at me so I backed off to get his photo:) he flew off after a few minutes, I must have woken him up…cranky!
Not angry birds but angry bat. I went back to search for the Katydids. I found a Scudder’s Bush Katydids (Genus Scudderia) on my lily plant, they are herbivores but it didn’t stop him taking a nibble on me after I put my hand out to see if he would sit, for a photo…Ha! That was weird! Feeling him chomp away! Models demand a price now! Piece of flesh please!
I decided to stick with the telephoto after that for awhile! A huge Dark Fishing spider was on the screen outside and I didn’t really want to get too close to it, almost 6″ across, large one! The Dragonflies are definitely easier, not many want to let you get that close with the macro tubes! The numbers have gone down except in the evenings when I am seeing a large amount of Canadian Darners! Must be after those nighttime bugs! They have such cool segmented bodies!
Fingers crossed that this heat will break Monday, enough! It was 26° in the house with 89% humidity this morning, argggggg….for the heat and humidity haters…0_0 Even the cats have been grumpy, maybe I should just take to hissing at everything when I get that way. I also forgot from last week I do actually have a flying cat! Rocket! Ha!
These are Rocket’s favourite little fellows, he says they are VERY tasty! I won’t try thanks! He is well camouflaged on the rock this lucky grasshopper! Those eyes! May be a Carolina Grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina) I think! May try to get one flying, their wings are so colourful!
After a bout of grasshopper leaping and chasing Rocket headed to the shade panting, 31° Celsius…good thing there is a breeze! He is not quite as svelte as when the leaping picture was taken, his “flabdomen” has filled out! Ha! I missed getting his athletic flying and leaping poses this morning! There is always tomorrow morning! I’ll leave you with the sunrise a few mornings ago. Smoke, mists and haze early in the morning. Groot said it was time to get up at 5:30…😉 Good cat!We still had some leftover smoke from the West coast drifting around…so much beauty, and so much destruction. My heart aches for the forests out West and up and down the North American coast. Check out the smoke map here…crazy!
Stay tuned for more caterpillars and our poor raggedy hummingbirds, the male is molting, no more dashing and debonair Don, it’s shambling shaggy sad Sam now! Saludos amigos!
Smoke, mists and haze early this morning. Groot said it was time to get up at 5:30…😉 Good cat!
It could have been us Wednesday night! Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more?! The tornado warning went off on the phone, something we are all too familiar with from Oklahoma. The cats necks stretched a few inches higher than normal, I think they have kitty PTSD when they hear those warnings! It was a twenty minutes of torrential rain and howling wind, the water was blowing horizontally across the lake, I kept waiting for the sound of a freight train, wondering what cat I would grab first, to the basement, or just the bathtub?! Ha! Maybe it’s time we put a trap door to the basement in. If these weather systems keep up, it might not be a bad idea! Anyway, the power flickered a few times, up and down, watching the lights dim and then get brighter but it stayed on! The day after a helicopter was flying very low, sideways, looking at all the power lines trying to find where there were problems, trees down, or maybe doing drone shots for the tornado? I dunno!
We took a drive to check out the road, chainsaw in hand but we seem to have had enough bad weather to get rid of the problems already, down the Narrow Lock not so lucky. Mike’s family home’s barn had part of it’s roof torn off, trees had been snapped off like twigs, looks like it just missed us. The county guys were cleaning up along the road, a tree was down blocking part of Long lake Road at the mailboxes as well. They’ll have a few long days! Always something isn’t it?! Link to the tornado
At least we were not the flying things! I went out for my morning coffee last week, it was sunny and warm and wonderful. I decided to put the umbrella up before I sat down to watch the world go by. I spotted a dark spot on the inside of the umbrella after I sat down, is it mould? Mildew? Ripped? No, it had eyes! In fact it looked like a miniature Scottish Highland cow, wide little brown nose and furry as can be! A Large Brown Bat was hanging there, staring at me!
According to iNaturalist: Big brown bats are insectivorous, consuming a diverse array of insects, particularly night-flying insects, but especially beetles. Some of the beetles it consumes are serious agricultural pests, including cucumber beetles. They are nocturnal, foraging for prey at night and roosting in sheltered areas during the day such as caves, tunnels, tree cavities, and human structures (i.e. umbrellas! Ha!) Their breeding season is in the fall, shortly before their annual hibernation. After hibernation ends in the spring, females form maternity colonies for giving birth to young. Oftentimes only one offspring is produced per litter, though twins are common in the Eastern US. Lifespans of 6.5 years are considered average.
While I sat staring at my new found friend, I’m pretty sure he/she’s the one leaving droppings in the alcove every night hunting bugs, hanging from the wooden beam! As I watched I was whacked in the head by something else flying around…bat food! This large flying dinosaur hit me in the head as I was drinking my coffee…coffee saved, startled human moved it off her onto the pillow top to watch! It was a Rough Hermit Beetle (Osmoderma scabra). BIG!
Rough Hermit Beetle (Osmoderma scabra)
Never a dull moment here..0_0 The Hummingbird was buzzing about the feeder and a beautiful hummingbird clearwing, which is in the moth family Sphingidae (hawkmoths) was visiting the hanging flower baskets. Something I hadn’t been able to convince my Ruby-throated friend to do! “Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish-brown border. The combination of its appearance and its behavior commonly leads to it being confused with a hummingbird or bumblebee. With a range extending from Alaska to Oregon in the west and from Newfoundland to Florida in the east. It is a migratory species and is most common in southern Ontario and the eastern United States. H. thysbe has two broods a year in the southern portion of its range, but only one in the north. As a caterpillar, it feeds on honeysuckle, dogbane, and several types of fruit trees” Thanks iNaturlist:)
It had me thinking as our neighbour of times past, (we were all in the same Stanleyville neighbourhood!) Jim, had asked if I wanted to go to the Lanark County Camera Club’s Macro photo workshop at a members house on Otty Lake, great for bugs I thought so yes I said! Turns out, we had run into the hosts, Kit and Bruce as we were driving our belongings in a U-Haul truck across the border in where they had been stored after arriving from California way back when. A common meeting spot at Customs! They were doing the same having moved from NY, they’d mentioned they were moving to Otty Lake! Small world, as that was where we had been staying before we found our spot here! We both remarked how nice they had been, Welcome back to Canada🙂 The Customs asked them if they were with us! Ha! Say No!!!
I should have listened more to the talks but chatting with Bruce, Kit and some other members AND watching the dragonflies and hummingbirds had me completely sidetracked! Their yard was amazing, right on the water and so beautiful. Natural plants and trees. So much life, a real treat to get to see it! And surrounded by a moat…not something you see every day! Jim was right, it would be a squeeze to get the truck in there across that bridge! Glad he drove me!
One look at the Halloween Pennant-Celithemis eponina and I was transfixed! We rarely ever see these guys out where we are. Not sure why, they are SO beautiful! This particular individual had seen better days, missing part of his wing his flying was a bit erratic! There were Widow, Twelve Spotted and Slaty Skimmers as well as Blue Dashers, and that was just in front of his porch!
They had what looked like a juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird poking around as well at their evening primrose and cardinal flowers! Beautiful! Just say Hummingbird and I’m gone;) Ha!
Back at Long Lake I’d been fascinated by a beautiful copper coloured beetle, shiny trinkets get me in nature;). I followed it around and then went and got the camera. It had settled on the rose bush and was making a pass at another one…rebuffed, he looked dejected.” “Was it something I said?” I’ve learned since these pretty copper and green coloured scarab beetles are in fact quite invasive…0_0…and they eat everything, including cannabis! Do they get high I wonder? “Dude, check out the colour on those roses, man, they taste good!” Cheech and Chong Beetles…who knew?
“The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a species of scarab beetle. Due to the presence of natural predators, the Japanese beetle is not considered a pest in its native Japan, but in North America and some regions of Europe, it is a noted pest to roughly 300 species of plants. Some of these plants include rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees, and others. The adult beetles damage plants by skeletonizing the foliage (i.e., consuming only the material between a leaf’s veins) as well as, at times, feeding on a plant’s fruit. The subterranean larvae feed on the roots of grasses. The first Japanese beetle found in Canada was inadvertently brought by tourists to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, by ferry from Maine in 1939. During the same year, three additional adults were captured at Yarmouth and three at Lacolle in southern Quebec. Throughout the majority of the Japanese beetle’s range, its life cycle takes one full year; however, in the extreme northern parts of its range, as well as high-altitude zones as found in its native Japan, development may take two years.”
No, I don’t have flying cats, but I have a ladder climbing one! Rocket has been doing this since he was young, up the ladder, down the ladder, in the house, outside, he is a ladder boy! Balance helped by those huge paws and long toes!
Up we go!
I was cleaning the water run off spouts on the trailer, they get clogged with debris when he decided he would help, and wanted to know why the window was not open, it would be handy to go in the trailer, lie on the bed and watch me work…
I’m the king of the castle!
The ease in which he goes up and down…he is way better at this than me! Cats with jobs!
Groot looks on with distrust and disgust! What is he doing making a fool of himself up there? One should be chasing frogs and dragonflies, or better yet! Grasshoppers! No decorum whatsoever!
“What a fool!” Thinks Groot
These guys! Never a dull moment! I think the wind is dying down and the sun coming out, time to get out and try the extension tubes that arrived for macro on some more of our bug and flower friends! Put my new found knowledge to use! Stay tuned for bugs, close up, really really close up! Saludos amigos!
Mother and the getting big baby Loon, just one left now:(
Where does the Summer go? Lost in a cloud of mosquitos and deer flies! Ha! When did the baby Loon get so big? I haven’t had as much canoe time this year as I’ve wanted, circumstances do that so I have been watching the Loons from the dock and up higher. There was a lot of Loon yelling and screeching this last weekend, hard on them, boats, jets skis, people fishing getting too close and it appeared her/his mate disappeared for two days, but then came back. Only one chick now as well 🙁 At least quieter during the week for them. Hoping this little tyke makes it! It’s the most vocal pair of parents I’ve heard in the last four years! Heron flies over…yodel, seagull flies over, yodel, Osprey flies over, yodel…a lot of yodeling!
The Red-Bellies have moved the juveniles back into the bush, time to teach them about bugs and grubs and poking at trees, enough free suet and oranges I think! The Hairy’s and Downy’s are the same. Time for some real life learning! I do miss them. I see them from time to time but not waiting on me for the orange to arrive nattering. It was exciting to see not just one, but later two juvenile Red-Bellied Woodpeckers! Yeah! Successful year! Big brother was showing his sibling the ropes last week! You sit here…eat here…Now to get a photo of both juveniles together!
So far, no baby hummingbirds. I am wondering if the nesting didn’t go well. The male was doing a mating fly dance to a female yesterday. They fly up and down as if on a swing. It seems quiet here without all the youngsters. We’ll wait and see. Down at the barn the Robin is on her 2nd set of babies, almost ready to fledge, she will be relieved when they do! So many mouths to feed!
On our the lawn here a Robin was “anting”. Anting is a maintenance behavior during which birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. The bird may pick up the insects in its bill and rub them on the body (active anting), or the bird may lie in an area of high density of the insects and perform dust bathing-like movements (passive anting). The insects secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, which can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide. Alternatively, anting could make the insects edible by removing the distasteful acid, or possibly supplement the bird’s own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use millipedes. More than 200 species of bird are known to ant!
The bird may lie in an area of high density of the insects and perform dust bathing-like movements (passive anting). Learn something new every day!
I got to see my first ever Ovenbird down at the barn. Spied him in a pile of brush as we sat and had coffee! The Ovenbird gets its name from its covered nest. The dome and side entrance make it resemble a Dutch oven. Will look in the pile of brush next week for a nest! Very cool! Also saw a black and white warbler and some pale yellow warbler type as well! I need to sit awhile on Jennifer’s porch by the lilac bush! There are always the Grackles…I know some folks don’t like them much but I don’t mind them. They are loud and somewhat comical! Still making them work for peanuts! Ha!
Grackles at work!
On our way down to barn a family of Wild Turkeys were making there way across the Narrows Lock Road. We stopped and let them pass. The juveniles were trying out their wings, Ma and Pa just sauntered along…:)
So much to see if you stop, look and listen, or actually with birds it’s often listen…then look! What is that song I asked myself as I stood checking the mailbox one afternoon. It looked like a Northern Mockingbird from afar and was singing up a song but no, A Gray cat bird! What a voice!
Further down the road…a Juvenile Red-Eyed Vireo was being fed y a parent, and a Scarlett Tanager belted out a few notes before disappearing into the leaves above…so bright!
We rarely see the Jays at the house except when they stop by for a few sunflower seeds. They are also back in the woods yelling at me as I walk by, I don’t deliver I told them! The juvenile Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are as big as the parents and hard to tell apart! The Orioles have gone quiet as well, back in the woods I guess, teaching the kids the ropes:) “Where to find grubs and other tasty treats 101” a necessary course for young birds;)
I have put the jam away as the young Gray squirrels really don’t need their teeth rotted out;) A Eastern Kingbird posed on the tree out by the lake, scratching and preening. Sometimes you see yellow on their undersides, sometimes not, beautiful birds! Go get those deer flies guys!
Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time. Driving past the mailboxes this week past I asked Mike to stop! Quick, turn off the truck, I jumped out:) This Great Blue Heron had secured his lunch by not biting the catfish, but actually spearing it, right through the upper body! He then flew away with it:) That was quite the spear job! I told him I was not interested in the fish but hey, better safe than sorry he said.
I check the swan Cygnet every time we drive by. Sometimes they are on top of their muskrat den nest, sometimes swimming further away, out of sight at the larger back swamp. He was still there this morning. Always makes me smile. Hoping they will be wandering/eating/swimming closer so I can get a few more shots before he/she learns to fly!
That little stretching foot!
I was surprised to see a Cedar waxwing pair in front. I wandered out, was losing the light but managed a few shots. They are so beautiful! That mask and crest. They were still here this morning but I was looking into the light.
I had a great macro workshop with members of the Lanark County Camera Club this week. Bruce and Kit opened their beautiful house to us on Otty Lake and showed us some macro equipment, let us practice with it and demonstrated editing techniques as well. A lovely group of people. I was mesmerized by their garden full of dragonflies and hummingbirds and a Downy mother going to the suet to feed her son, who was as big as she was! Quite the treat to see!
I wish I had planted more flowers, sigh, next year! My bulbs didn’t Winter well, too warm in the basement so I will have to store them down at the barn this coming Winter! I’ll have some flowers, in September if I’m lucky! A juvenile hummingbird (I think) was feeding at their cardinal and evening primrose flowers! I loved their wild and natural yard! Beautiful!
The female here at the Lake has been very wary. The male Ruby-throated goes about protecting his territory flying from the front to the back of the house. Hard to watch both feeders…I do that on purpose. Give the passers by a chance at a sip! I’ll leave you for now with him! Stay tuned for cats, bats and other flying bugs to go with the beautiful dragonflies from our macro meeting! Saludos amigos!
♪♫♪ Don’t go into the woods today…♫♪♫ should have been playing…What WAS I thinking? It was too hot, way too humid and did I mention the bugs? If I’d fallen I would have looked like this fungi: Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) then the mosquitos would have drained the blood from me and the deer flies eaten the flesh…why they only find bones in the forest…but I wouldn’t have seen this cool fungi! They really do like like fingers reaching up to pull you dowwwwnnnn….hahahaha! What a wonderful weird world we live in!
Less than the size of my thumb! Collared Parachute (Marasmius rotula)are so cool. I went back as my first photos were not in focus, had a hard time finding them! So many things popping out of the damp ground! These guys are new one for me! Marasmius rotula grows in deciduous forests and fruits in groups or clusters on dead wood (especially beech), woody debris such as twigs or sticks, and occasionally on rotting leaves. They need lots and lots of moisture..wait, cue a thunderstorm please! Marasmius rotula is generally considered inedible, but is not poisonous. We’ll find something else for soup!
Four days later, they were completely dried out little parasols!
Collared Parachute (Marasmius rotula) but they had progressed to the dried mushroom stage:(
I just had to keep wandering;) The variety in the hour and half I was out there fighting off the voracious deerflies and mosquitos was wild!
Golden Spindles and Yellow Unicorn Entoloma (?) (Entoloma murrayi) Tell him unicorns don’t exist! Ha!
So many Amanitas and Brittlegills-Russula is a very large genus composed of around 750 worldwide species of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored – making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors.
I was halfway running a few times, mosquitos got under my fly mask! Makes focusing a bitch! In several places I could see where someone/thing had been digging around the mushrooms and had uprooted them…Pamela looks around…what was that large crash?…feeling jumpy, just a branch! No large bear footprints to be seen;) Raccoons or skunks poking around most likely!
I am slowly learning who and what they are. They change in the space of the day from one shape to another so unless I am walking the same exact path, it’s hard to tell what is what, wait a minute? Were you not a cone shape yesterday and an umbrella today?
Eastern North American Destroying Angel (Amanita bisporigera) closed, then three days later: opened up. I did try to walk the same way but it was getting late in the day, I could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance so I hurried along. I wanted to check on the beautiful blue Indigo Milkcap as it usually is in the same place year after year, nothing yet, so I hurried on home with a swarm of deerflies following me! Bastards!
I have to admit I find the molds a bit creepy. Like flesh eating disease for mushrooms. I found not only the Amanita mold but also a Bolete mushroom mold as well according to iNaturalist, my go to ID spot, not always correct but it can give you an idea! “Hypomyces chrysospermus, the bolete eater, is a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on bolete mushrooms, turning the afflicted host a whitish, golden yellow, or tan color, and Hypomyces hyalinus is a species of parasiticfungi that attacks fungi of the genus Amanita. The parasitic effects of H. hyalinus thoroughly disfigures its host and in the absence of a nearby healthy specimen it can be impossible to determine the identity of the host in the field. Infection often covers the host mushroom preventing the expansion of the pileus (cap) and causing the pileus to deform and fuse to the stipe (stalk). As a consequence of this, the gills of the mushroom are also destroyed and the fruiting body dies without dispersing spores.” Mushroom flesh eating disease! Yikes!
I did promise you baby birds, well, soon. I was distracted by mushrooms;) I’ll leave you with a teaser, our resident juvenile Red-Bellied woodpecker has a sibling! woohoo! 😉 I’m just sitting here scratching my bug bites;) Hasta pronto!
Where do we live exactly? Well, not at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but at times we do have some wild creatures flying and slithering about, definitely a subsect of House Slytherin! 😉 We also have a few dragon…flies;) Now only if I owned a Nimbus 2000, I could fly faster than the biting bugs following me about! Ha!
Who names these guys? I get it, they change as they grow up and males and females can be completely different colours, thank goodness for iNaturalist or I wouldn’t be able to keep these flying marvels apart! One of my favorites, the widow skimmer has been scarce this year. Just one male living on the side of the hill going up the road. I see it occasionally, such striking markings and today a female showed up as well! None of the giant green and blue guys yet but the brilliant green Eastern Meadowhawks and the Twelve Spotted Skimmers are a sight to see!
These dragonflies just blow me away! The colours and hey, they have the same problems I do at times, bugs! Thankfully not parasites for me but check out the parasitic mites on the Blue Dasher…0_0! Surely, that parasitic load of hitchhikers must be a pain in the…thorax? These bright red mites, from the tick family, are hitchhikers that feed on body fluids. They jump off when the host drops down over a new pond or wetland. Take them away from me if they are in the tick family PLEASE! 0_0!
I sat and watched this bright Green Eastern Pondhawk attack a moth, it struggled with it, maybe it bit off more than it could chew before it flew away to a close by branch. Maybe it was going to go back later to finish it off! Dragons indeed! One evening this week we watched at sunset as dozens of dragonflies emerged, a new hatch maybe, feeding on the smaller flying insects, mosquitos! Go team Dragonfly! They are my heroes! Maybe they are playing dragonfly quidditch! Ha!
As for house Slytherin, well, we don’t see snakes every day. Sometimes sunning on the road when I walk out to check the mail, OK, I walk out to check the swan, I never get any mail other than an occasional bill! But the other day, right smack behind the truck in the laneway was a very large, plump in places, well fed Gray Rat Snake, not really going anywhere, anytime soon. I love the low angle sometimes, it’s just with all the ticks I’m certainly hesitant to lie down on the forest floor much anymore, but in the driveway! Why not and it makes for a great angle to photograph it! Have a bit of a lie down with the snake, talk about the weather, why not! We are both Canadian;)
It did look like it had swallowed both Chip and Dale, I will need to check to see how many resident chipmunks we do have around still! Perhaps a few voles and mice went as well judging by the bulges in the belly! It slithered off after a bit and I got up and went on my walk:) Magical creatures!
Snakes are not everyone’s cup of tea but look at this cool moth! I just fell in love with the shadow! I believe this is a Lobed Plume Moth, ID again from iNaturalist. The swallowtails are everywhere, I have learned they maybe a Canadian Tiger/Giant Eastern cross of Swallowtails as the Canadian Tigers should be done by now or looking very old and battered, but there they are, brand new, studies are being done! A Midsummer Tiger!
I found a bevy of beauties clustered on what appeared to be coyote or bear scat in the road…getting nutrients where they can! Depending on the time of day of my walks I see so many butterflies. Mostly Northern Crescents and little Wood Satyr’s. I’ve chased a few Admirals but they are just flitting through! The camouflage with the bark for the Northern Pearly Eye was fabulous. If he hadn’t have moved, I would not have seen it! So much we don’t see:) I belong to an Ontario Insect group on Facebook and I am blown away by just the moths! We even heard our first cicada last night! It’s an amazing sound! I’ll be looking for the shell they leave behind when they emerge!
The Northern Leopard frogs are out, from tiny ones to giants! Look away frog fearing fans! Their colours range from green to brown and everything in-between! The northern leopard frog is a fairly large species of frog, reaching about 11 cm (4.3 in) in snout-to-vent length. I love the wood frogs. They have garnered attention from biologists because of its freeze tolerance, relatively great degree of terrestrialism (for a ranid), interesting habitat associations (peat bogs, vernal pools, uplands), and relatively long-range movements! And who can resist the tree frogs! The gray treefrog (Dryophytes versicolor) (which can be bright green as well!) is a species of small arboreal frog native to much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. As the scientific name implies, gray treefrogs are variable in color. This ability to vary their color provides them with the ability to camouflage themselves from gray to green or brown, depending on the environment around them! Their yellow hind legs can make them stand out! We have a family in our cushion box on our deck again…:) I move them to the side when I have to put the cushions in, or take them out! Living with nature every day!
Stinking hot again so I’m waiting for it too cool off before I walk out to check the…swan baby! ha! and the mail. There’s a severe thunderstorm watch so we’ll see what materializes. It will most likely rain hard as I watered the vegetable garden today:) Murphy’s Law. I’ll leave you with a shot of some beautiful thunderheads from a few years back, I may be out there later today! Stay tuned, I have discovered we have not one, but TWO baby Red-Bellied Woodpeckers! I feel like a proud aunt! Ha! Saludos amigos!
I am a humidity/heat whimp. After spending my youth in the tropics, I have this never ending fear of being made to live in small cramped focsle (Forecastle…Ha! Castle my ass…front cramped pointy end of the boat downstairs, where I slept) with a single 12 volt fan, with dying batteries to keep me cool…or worst…Florida;) Just kidding Florida friends…maybe…how would life be without your air conditionner?
This is the perfect weather for Fungi Galore-it sounds like a new James Bond girl name;) Ha!
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly these beautiful plants, no, mushrooms aren’t really plants, they are types of fungi that have a “plantlike” form, with a stem and cap (they have cell walls as well). This is really just the “flower or fruit” of the mushroom, the reproductive part which disperses the spores. Hey, I think I even came upon several Eastern North American Destroying Angel (Amanita bisporigera), another of the many amanitas…0_0….Amanita bisporigera is a deadly poisonous species of fungus. The first symptoms of poisoning appear 6 to 24 hours after consumption, followed by a period of apparent improvement, then by symptoms of liver and kidney failure, and death after four days or more. Nope, not on the eating list!
As I walked to check the mail, why, I just needed air, what WAS I thinking…the sweat was running into my eyes as the breeze dropped and the clouds moved in, when you can feel the air…ugh…were the mushrooms complaining? Nah…they have been busy sprouting away, and I learned, and saw, a mushroom fungus that devours amanitas! Yikes! Like a flesh eating disease for mushrooms! Ah nature! Just wild!
It was a rapid, exercise inducing kind of photography walk, the deerflies and mosquitos were really bad, I had my bug mask on, probably scared the guys driving into the cottage next door…they were probably…”What was that? The creature from the black lagoon?” I concentrated on quick auto focus, not too many ground level shots and then run away from the bugs! All these mushrooms in less than an hour! I love seeing the red chanterelles and the ghost or Indian pipes are some of my favourites. Did you know because it has no chlorophyll and doesn’t depend on photosynthesis, this ghostly white plant is able to grow in the darkest of forests. Many people refer to this strange plant as Indian pipe fungus, but it is not a fungus at all – it just looks like one. It is actually a flowering plant, and believe it or not, it is a member of the blueberry family. Who knew?! Ha! Also, I think I might have found the perfect road walking antibug suit! Ha!
I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the swans but being smart, they were tucked away out of the sun. I could learn something from nature I thought! Swans you ask? YES! We have a pair of Trumpeter swans in the swamp with ONE little cygnet that they are watching like a hawk!
Mom and Dad are keeping a very tight rein on this little guy, hiding him/her behind them. They usually lay 5-7 eggs so either other critters got to them, or the other babies were predated upon. Raccoons, coyotes, hawks, eagles and snapping turtles all eat eggs and little fluffy baby birds:(
It will be nice to watch it grow. They won’t be going anywhere for quite a while. Did you know they’re our biggest native waterfowl, stretching to 6 feet in length and weighing more than 25 pounds – almost twice as massive as a Tundra Swan.
For the swans getting airborne requires a lumbering takeoff along a 100-yard runway. They breed on muskrat dams and dens. I can make one out at the far end of the swamp. Baby was sleeping there. Cygnets leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching and have the ability to swim and feed. They are able to fly at 90 – 122 days after hatching so we will be watching little one’s flight school hopefully!
It is baby time. For the first time we have been here a Red Bellied Woodpecker baby has been brought out! Yeah! It’s nearly as big as Mother and Father but without any of the red colouration yet! They have been feeding him bits of orange and suet! The male and female are regulars at the feeders. They chatter at me in the morning when I am putting them out! “Hurry up lady! Get a move on, we’re hungry!”
Baby came on his own for the first time a few days ago! All grown up, sort of;) Both parents continue to feed him, but mostly Dad:)
The orioles are looking a bit rough, not sure if it’s because they are molting, or that is what kids do to you;) Ha!
So far no young hummingbirds. Our resident male Ruby Throated was getting chased off his favourite sitting spot by a dragonfly this morning…c’mon buddy! Fight back ! Ha!
The female Ruby Throated Hummingbird-she has spiderwebs all over her beak. Either making a new nest or doing some home restoration perhaps, we shall see. She is not a frequent visitor. It has been very quiet hummingbird wise, hope that is not a permanent thing! Looking forward to seeing some juveniles learning the ropes I hope!
I did promise you a fabulous sunrise didn’t I! I have to admit I have been struggling with the antibiotic Doxycycline I have been taking for a tick bite. Not Lyme disease, but anaplasmosis they discovered with a blood test. Anaplasmosis is an illness caused by bacteria that’s spread by ticks. The bacteria are called Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The illness causes fever, muscle aches, joint soreness and other symptoms. It’s an uncommon illness that can affect people of all ages, becoming more common it seems, lucky me! Ha! Worse then the anaplasmosis has been the antibiotic:( Nausea, acid reflux, no appetite, tired…I have finally finished my course of it so mending slowly and not really wanting to get up, before 5 a.m. I missed one amazing sunrise, just too tired to do it so couldn’t pass when I saw the colour out the window.
How it started, I had to drag myself out! I couldn’t resist:)
Even the cats didn’t get up! Ha! I wriggled into my slippers, yes, pajama photography and wandered out down to the lakeside. Wow. I sat for awhile watching the colours change and as it started to fade I made my way back up the stairs. Stunning.
I can’t tell you how privileged I feel to be able to see mother nature painting the sky! Along with the anaplasmosis came a tear in my retina last week to go along with all the nausea from the antibiotic…still hoping these things don’t come in threes! Ha! Aging is a bitch! Saw blood spots as I was looking out of my eye one morning, is that a bird? A bug? Oh crap! None of the above! Luckily we have a great Optometrist who arranged to send me to the Ottawa General Hospital and a retinologist lasered it to fix the tear. Ouch, but hey, versus losing sight, a bit of pain was nothing! Thank you health Canada as well! So, yes, I got to watch this amazing sunrise, and I was thankful. Thankful to be able to see, thankful for food to eat, and a roof over my head. Thankful for all the little things we take for granted at times. Thankful for so very much. Did I mention I’m not supposed to vacuum, or mow the lawn, or pick up anything heavy for several weeks…awww…”Mike? Are you busy?” hahahahahahahaha! “I have a job for you dear! Where did he go?”
Saludos amigos, if you enjoy the hot humid weather, I salute you! Stay tuned for the some of the other flying creatures and maybe a few wriggling ones as well;) I’ll leave you with a teaser…our resident Gray Rat snake:)
Although called eastern grey squirrels, these mammals come in a few colour phases. The typical phases are black, grey and brindle…brindle? A brownish or tawny color of animal fur, with streaks of other color if you didn’t know:) I call her Brey, brownish grey! This rather ample mama squirrel is not shy. She has figured out the mewberries think she might be a bit large to take on and it looks like she has lots of sharp pointy teeth! She is a ham, shaped like one anyway!
The rest of these large rodents in the yard are all black! The average lifespan of eastern grey squirrels is around 6 years of age, less when there are owls involved 0_0! They can bury hundreds of nuts and seeds. Although great at burying food, they aren’t so great at remembering where they buried it! When cached food is not found, it will germinate. That explains the bunches of sunflower sprouts coming up in my vegetable garden!
“You talking to me?”
The other small rodent we have running about is the adorable Eastern Chipmunk-did you know the name “chipmunk” probably comes from the Ojibwe word ᐊᒋᑕᒨ ajidamoo (or possibly ajidamoonh, the same word in the Ottawa dialect of Ojibwe), which translates literally as “one who descends trees headlong.” It should have been, “small one, not very bright that gets chased by cats”…we try to keep the Mewberries away from them but some of them are just not, very, smart. Do not descend the tree straight into the waiting jaws of a large orange cat…Chipmunk with a death wish.
I am a raven! Not a chipmunk!
The eastern chipmunk can climb trees well, but constructs underground nests with extensive tunnel systems, often with several entrances. Chipmunks are quite vocal. When walking in the woods people do not always realize that they are hearing chipmunks, for some of the cries that chipmunks make are like birds chirping! The vocal repertoire of the chipmunk consists of five more or less stereotyped sounds: the chip, the chuck, the trills, the whistle or squeal, and chatter! That’s more than some people I know;)
Are they part cat? Lots of bathing going on!
They seem to eat, bathe and chirp…;)
Emphasis on eating, those cheeks! Wow!
The cheeky red squirrels have all run off into the forest for the summer they will have to wait until Fall! Now, speaking of furry creatures, we had a wonderful outing to the barn with the Lanark County Photo Club to visit the miniature donkeys, price of admission, one bag of carrots. I didn’t realize they were Sicilian…”Bring the carrots…or else!” Jennifer was kind enough to let us visit and pamper them in the field. I think a few folks there wanted to take one home! Yes Linda, you do have room! Ha!
They are a treat to visit, something so gentle about them, they nudge you, but don’t get aggressive! More pets please! Sicilian donkeys arrived in Sicily via their native North Africa. Throughout the world, these hardy little equids carry people and goods and pull carts. Remains of domestic donkeys have been found dating to around 4000 BCE in Egypt. The ancestors of the Sicilian donkey originated in North Africa, eventually shipped to the Italian island. Once in Sicily, they carried water from local wells to homes and were used as pack animals. Sicilian peasants also used them for turning grinding stones for grain. Now, they just get to be pampered pets here! Lucky little carrot stuffed donkeys!
Stay tuned next for a fabulous sunrise, I’ll leave you with a peak, and the rain and heat have brought out the mushrooms! Fungi galore, sounds like a James Bond girl name;)Ha! Saludos amigos! Summer is here!
“Off I say you swag bellied flap-dragon! This feeder is mine!”
“Take a hint you droning fat-kidneyed canker blossom! You don’t think I have insulted you enough?”
“My turn you yellow bellied bullock!”
“I stand in your presence you lumpish flea-bitten fustilarian! I can eat at from this jam dish when I please you surly spur-galled maggot pie!”
“Oh yeah! I’m gonna call my wife you milk livered pigeon egg! She will set you straight!
“Hmmfff….think he believed me? Best to eat up and skedaddle! You don’t think he’ll come back with a rogue Oriole gang do you?”
Oriole #2 returns…”Where did that surly spur galled maggot pie go?”
“You missed the show Mrs. Oriole! I just sat here out of the way and watched the fight!” said Mr. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
“What did I miss? I am a bit busy eating!”
“Zip it buddy! She doesn’t know!!!”
“A fight you say? Hmm…he never mentioned anything to me! I must inquire at home what happened! ha!”
You should never let orioles study Shakespearean insults! And for those that ask what is in the jar, it’s strawberry jam. It’s a canning jar, lid removed and I punched three holes in the ring that holds the lid on, an inexpensive Oriole feeder! I hang it with fishing line as it seems to help deter the ants! Not raccoons though;)
I haven’t had a lot of luck photographing the little Ruby-throated male hummingbird at my flowering hanging baskets. This little fellow prefers this oriole feeder which is much larger than his hummingbird feeder and the resting spot are obviously too big for him so he stands on it, thus the feet out on approach! The orioles say is not to their liking and I have never seen them use it…jam is better than sugar water!
Hummingbird photography is time consuming. Patience is the key, and lots of good natural light. I like the morning light when it hits them from the front and side. Noontime creates a lot of shadows. I generally shoot at a a pretty high ISO 6400 here, F8 at 600mm at 1/8000 sec. The eye focus setting is also amazing! The less light, the slower the shutter speed goes! Topaz DeNoise does an amazing job if it gets too noisy! I do get a fair bit of reflection from the feeder onto his tum but that’s OK! The background here makes it a bit tougher to focus so having no plants or flowers too close in the background helps out. I also shoot at 2.2-10M setting on my Tamron 150-600 G2 lens so it doesn’t try to focus on the far background.
When it all comes together
It’s always a treat when it all comes together and you get that look! Hummingbirds are what got me back into photography in Baja where we had so many! IT was easy! They were everywhere, a bit tougher here! I’ve bought a few hummingbird specific plants (trumpet vine and columbines) and that hopefully will tempt a few more, until then, we’ll wait for the babies and migration when they all start to head South! Remember, we are always learning! I still have 400 pages on my camera manual to read! Hahahahaha! Stay tuned for a donkey outing with our wonderful Lanark County Camera Club! Their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/375517142647627
I had the sprinkler going but couldn’t convince this guy to fly in front of it! My hummingbird training skills are crap today;) ha!
She has learned to come earlier and earlier as I put everything away for the night, don’t want any bear reruns! She was holding it like Gollum and his ring…”My preccciooosssss!” and she hissed at me as she licked it clean…MINE! OK, OK…you finish that up, Orioles don’t want any raccoon spit in their jam I’m sure!
She hung around a bit after climbing out of the tree and sat and stared at me…
..and licked the jam off her paws, before she sauntered off into the forest…Our little forest world:) At least the Dollar store has strawberry jam and marmalade back in stock as she is cleaning me out! The hummingbirds are much cheaper to feed!
I have caught a glimpse of a single female Ruby Throated but it has been pretty quiet. Hopefully she will be successful nesting. It seems quiet, too quiet. The dragonflies are making up for it though! Talk about being a buzz! Don’t ask me why they are all facing the same way..0_0…Ha! Love the green and blue guys!
There was a hatch of the Blue Dashers down at the lakeside, dozens of them flying about, very small, only 2″ long and I found all these cast-off nymph skins on the sumacs blooms and the canoe paddles had several as well. At first I thought they were cicada skins! So cool. I only had the short lens and sat as they hovered, trying to catch one in flight, not thinking I’d be very successful. I finally trotted, well, walked back up the stairs and came back with the long lens and they had suddenly all quieted down, the heat maybe?
There must have been a hatch of these Blue Dashers this morning! They are very small and doing a lot of hovering and fighting over territory!
I had actually gone down to get the cloud reflections in the water with the little red canoe, nothing screams Summer better than that! I also had to bail out the poor sinking ship that is was! Not a swabbie to be seen to help! I should have maybe bailed first, photography secound…? Oh well:) Where IS my scrub brush! Aaargghhh ye landlubbers, where’s my help? 😉
Yesterday I felt it had possibly cooled down enough, first day of summer to brave a walk out to check the mail…CRA still owes me a large sum, forever hopeful! I just started taking an antibiotic as well, Doxycycline, as the doctor’s office called last week saying my Lyme test was negative, but it was not good news for the anaplasmosis bacteria test…sigh…so no sunshine or UV as the antibiotic causes severe sensitivity to that…summer, and no shorts allowed. At least it explains the creaky hip and knee joints, and I just thought I was getting old…very very quickly! Did I say how much I HATE ticks! Ha! I donned my bug hat, put on an extra layer of long sleeves over my t-shirt, those deerflies bite through single layers, and camera in hand headed off down the road…it turned brisk, again, geez! I thought those dragonflies were doing their jobs, slackers they are! I did get a few new butterflies! At least I thought I did, well, one new one! Its amazing how quickly you can focus and shoot when being swarmed by an air assault of deer flies!
The Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) was new for this Spring and posed like a pro! Did somebody just draw a blank when naming this guy? Ha! The someone posted the underwing has a question mark on it! OK! I stand corrected. The Little Wood Satyr’s were proving difficult and flighty! SIT still! The White admiral which iNaturalist told me was a red spotted admiral was incorrect so not always right! Then there were dragonflies and my battery died. I always walk back then thinking…this is when the bear is going to come out of the bushes and poses perfectly and I have a dead camera battery…he didn’t, so, next time anyway, spare battery in the pocket!
A lot of Whitefaces…these are at least a bit more explanatory;) There were some Eastern Pondhawks and Blue dashers as well, love those greens and blues! So far none of the big blue and green darner dragonflies yet! And there were wildflowers, we’ll save that. Also donkeys, fighting orioles, cranky woodpeckers and why my hummer photos have “landing feet” all the time;) Stay tuned!
Spring…from snow and icicles to heat wave warnings…Oh Canada:)
How does that work, we go from temperatures in the 30’s (Celsius my American friends, we are not in the North Pole, near 90°…)…Hello Summer and cooler temperatures? You never know here! I was thinking of the poor little Blue Herons roasting in their nests that we visited this month earlier.
It’s a rookery easily seen by the road and I talked Mike into stopping by on our way to Sharbot Lake one morning. Sadly quite a few of the old cedars must have come down over the Winter. Where there once was six or seven nests I could only find two occupied! Two very prepared gentleman were there already with long camouflaged lenses, bug hats and hip waders! I felt like I should have thought about this more maybe before leaving home, sneakers, short sleeved shirt and no hat…ah, have to love those deer flies. The two photographers were set up with their long lenses and massive tripods on the edge of the swamp that last year had been under water. One of the men told me it was quite dry and I could walk out to look a bit closer. We exchanged Facebook info after our chat as we’d moved into the shade! Birders are always so nice!
The babies were all panting, and bickering, what else would you do on hot day? ha! The bugs and heat drove me back to the truck after 20 minutes but it was nice to see babies, last year was earlier and there had only been adults.
I returned to sitting under the shade of the trees and watching the local closer to home action!
Groot is great company hidden in his honeysuckle bush, fooling absolutely no one, including the squirrels, well, maybe the chipmunks! He’s not actually a good photographers helper;) Time to go in! He had a good sniff around as we had been “beared” the night before. Got home a bit later than usual to find my feeders scattered across the lawn in various stages of disrepair…sigh…looks like he SAT on one of them, squashing it flat! Nothing that a bit of duct tape and rearrangement with the pliers couldn’t temporarily fix. I sent the pictures of the “too broken to repair” parts to Brome Bird Care, a fabulous bird feeder out of Quebec and she promised to have the new parts off to me soon, no charge! Even after a bear mauling! It was somewhat ironic as I won the last feeder…with an “Univited Guest” photo in their monthly contest!
Uninvited Guest!
Must have been the bear I saw swimming across the lake! YES! The Mark Spitz of the bear swimming world! I was too busy trying to look through the binoculars at the weird hairy looking mofo swimming across the lake to grab my camera. By the time I realized it wasn’t human he’d climbed up on the bank, sniffed the Airbnb’s bright red Adirondack chairs and sauntered off into the woods. That would have been a surprise for guests! Must have been who hit us the night the bird feeders died;)
I did a “MacGyver” with some duct tape on the broken bits enough to get this feeder back on it’s pole! It is a favourite of the Grosbeaks, something about the perch that they really like…and squirrel proof, not bear proof;)
It’s not all birds after all! “Rocket, look at the beautiful Io mother I found!”…”What moth müther?”…yeah, he’s an orange cat;) ha! And the screen damage…all him! Did you know the stinging spines of caterpillar Io moths have a very painful venom that is released with the slightest touch. There are two hypotheses regarding where this venom originates: (1) the glandular cells on the base of the branched seta or (2) from the secretory epithelial cells. Contacting the seta is not life-threatening for humans, but still causes irritation to the dermal tissue, resulting in an acute dermatitis called erucic. Both male and female adult io moths utilize their hindwing eyespots in predatory defense when the moth is sitting in the head-down position or is touched, via shaking and exposing these eyespots…I guess I should not have gently moved it from the screen to the hanging basket with my fingers…0_0…lesson learned! Ha! My fingers will heal…eventually!
With the heat has come some spectacular lines of storms coming through, haven’t managed to catch any lightning with the camera yet, that close strike last year on the water right out in front of us was an eye opener…a hair raising event! Saw this line driving back from the barn, missed us completely!
There were wicked anvil clouds and storms passing by
I have kept an eye out for any babies but so far only a few juvenile Orioles, nothing yet from the Red Bellied Woodpeckers but they are here all day as long as there is suet and oranges, who knew they loved oranges?
Because I put the feeders all away every night now they are eagerly awaiting me in the morning, chastising me if I am late! Ha! The orioles as well! Boy can they natter and squawk!
I spied an Loon swimming out in the bay and quickly grabbed the camera and hot footed it, literally, it was hot, down to the dock to get on the eye level with it, maybe there would be babies! A bit early but off I went. I sat and watched it as it dove and surfaced. Bathed and preened, just a lone Loon.
Had a lovely conversation with the Loon, mostly one sided. I always talk to them, don’t get many answers but I feel if they hear my voice next time they will know I am not a threat in any way:)
The Loon let out a little warning trill as a Great Blue Heron flew right over us! Interrupted the bath and preening! Later I heard another Loon across the bay, this one dove, and reappeared on the far side, must have been it’s mate as it was an amicable meet and greet! No babies yet. It was June 23 last year! Fingers crossed we see some this year!
There are the regulars at the feeder as well. It hasn’t been the best weather for walking out to check the mail. The bugs…sigh, the squadrons of deer flies are out accompanied by small very annoying biting gnats that fly up your nose! ARGHHH!!!! Oh Canada…Those deer flies…sigh, bug hat, two layers of shirts and make it brisk! Brisk! Brisk! Definitely exercise at this pace. I still have to stop and take pictures though! Ha! Quickly, I take them quickly!
Sometimes it flowers, so many wildflowers, other days it’s butterflies and dragonflies! They certainly hatch out at different times! Then there can be an occasional beaver at the mailboxes! He is not a fan of me sadly…”Was it something I said Mr. Beaver? Come back!”
I have rambled on here for long enough, stay tuned for the dragonflies and butterflies, fat squirrels and oh yes, Mrs. Raccoon and her strawberry jam habit…coming soon to a screen near you;)!
The eggs are laid somewhere back towards the shed and she was headed back to the lake, taking a rest in the shade by the truck this morning:) Cats were watching…large snapping monster, they avoided her on their way out, been there, sniffed that! Keep moving, there are chipmunks to find!
She mosied on her way after they went out, crossing the lawn, resting again in the shade before heading down to the water. You can almost mark the calendar with the day she is going to show up! Four years now and who knows how many before that!
The daily walk out to the mailbox always leads to something new or just beautiful. The Wood frog is one of these beautiful things along with his cousins the Northern Green Leopard frog…cats have discovered the baby green guys, they are out, more than one has been rescued! The Wood frog I never see until they move, this one hopped across the road in front of me. A bit further along I came upon a new to me snake-The northern redbelly snake, nonvenomous like most Ontario snakes (OK, there are exceptions…one, The Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Sistrurus catenatus, is the only venomous snake still found in Ontario. Although the venom is potent, this snake’s small size and retiring habits make it a minor risk to humans) I didn’t see the red belly but then I didn’t turn him over;) Adults grow to 20–28 cm (7.9–11.0 in) in total length, he was about 6″ long, so darn cute, snake haters avert your eyes! At the end of the laneway by the road there was an uncooperative Milk Snake. Got very snarky with me, rearing up, ya ain’t no cobra buddy, and quickly slithered away. I lost my GT Boutique $2.50 reading glasses somewhere in the leaves following after him! Will have to go back and look another day;) About 4′ long. No red on this one just brown and tan patches. Sometimes it’s not reptiles at all!
This delightful Hooded Merganser female was swimming along the edge of the beaver swamp…with her ten chicks! She dove and came up in the middle of the swamp…Called her kids! Everyone in line! March , I mean swim on youngsters! Chop, chop! Mom is busy! I didn’t know what she was at first having never seen a female Hooded Merganser here. Just the males in Spring and Fall, I figured they went further North to breed, apparently not! Usually I just get my fill of bugs, every week a new type of dragonfly emerges!
I ran across a doe on her way up the hill and I was wondering where baby was being hid, she was obviously nursing. Occasionally the Great Blue Heron decides I’m OK and stays put out in the swamp, especially if he is intent on fishing. Those American Bullfrog pollywogs are disappearing quickly!
The song sparrow serenades me out at the mailboxes each day. The water lilies are blooming as well as the clumps of Iris, not much else along the road. Mushrooms won’t be far off now with the latest torrential rains and heat!
The changing views of the road
I keep forgetting to bring my shorter lens to get a photo of the road, same place, four seasons. I have Fall and Winter, will get one for Spring this week. It feels like you are going into a tunnel as you go down the road with the vegetation and trees closing in on you! I did finally get the canoe bailed out and took a quick paddle to check on the Osprey nest. The Loons have been quiet so they are probably busy sitting, don’t want to disturb them!
It was pretty quiet except for a doe snoozing on a small point in the shade…she was a bit worried but didn’t move as I slowly drifted by…too damn hot she said!! The Osprey nest is intact and I heard a few kikiki’s but they were far away. The Kingbirds were busy bug hunting alongside the water but not much more other than getting a tail slapping from the beaver! ha! I have heard the Loon at night calling, but haven’t seen them during the day. Patience!
The monarchs are starting to appear along with the Little Wood Satyrs and American White Admirals. The Honeysuckle is done blooming but the chive bush was covered in Swallowtails this morning…until Rocket pounced on it…sigh…all swallowtails escaped unharmed. Giant orange cat leaps onto chives…until he found something else in the grass…
This boys middle name is trouble! This is what happens when you sniff a 4′ long Gray Rat snakes tail! “But I just wanted to sniff!” he seemed to say as the gray rat snake was doing his best Cobra impression! I was too slow to catch the show he put on weaving back and forth! Rocket said it looked very dangerous and he would let it go! The Gray Rat snake slithered off to house Slytherin;) It’s a regular on the lawn and in the rocks here. Always an adventure! I shall sign off, looks like we are in for more torrential rain, thunder and lightning, new adventures later folks with a trip to see the Heron Rookery and a visit from a black bear, I saw him swimming across the lake…I was like WTF is that…yup, Mark Bear Spitz….Stay tuned…did get some nice reflections on the lake before the storms moved in! Saludos amigos.
It is wonderful to have the leaves, except from a photographers point of view, it hides, almost everything! Damn! You hear them, you catch a glimpse of them, then they are gone! Sometimes you get lucky!
Heard this bird before I saw him/her. It took me awhile to find it in the tree tops singing and eating away…another dragonfly bites the dust! A new bird for me, Yellow-throated Vireo. Actually I was informed it was a fishfly he was eating, I had to look that up as well! It was one of those rare afternoons, five or so, no wind, sunshine, few bugs…how can this be, then….as I approached the hill to head down…
Sometimes you hear the before you see them…not so with this guy! What is that red blob in the tree? A Scarlet Tanager! Always wonderful to see them! It looked like a pair, probably catching dragonflies/fishflies as well for supper! Just so bright! Need to search the forest late day more it seems! Listen for the ♫♪♫ Trah lalalalalalalalaaaaaa….♫♪♫! They have been around the last few years, I saw then far away at the boat launch last summer but nice to have them right in front of you!
I usually work on the “If you feed them, they will come” premise…it works, for some birds! Ok, maybe I’m lazy and trodding around in the bush picking ticks off every few feet in the Spring is not my idea of a pleasurable afternoon but I could hit a couple of well worn paths in the future! Or just sit here at home;)
Female Baltimore Oriole…how can I tell? Haven’t you ever been looked at like that before from a prima donna? Hahahaha! Yeah, and two males were fighting over her charms…
These Orioles are always a joy to see, and trust me, you’ll hear them. They are not shy about complaining if you are too close to the feeder, or if it’s not out yet or even if the jam is getting low…”Lady! Service! Now!”…in return, I get to sit and watch them;) They talk with their mouths full even!
The woodpeckers, Hairy’s and Downy’s can be quite bold, flying right up to me as I put the feeders out in the morning. A new thing as the raccoons have been pilfering them. How I dare I be late! Chop, chop!
The Red-Bellied, well, they can be as loud and demanding as the Orioles! Where’s my orange? I didn’t know they liked oranges?! Now I do! I’m on it buddy!
The orange eater!
The male Red-Bellied male has traditionally been far shyer, not now, not when it comes to fresh oranges and suet! These guys always give me a good chuckle and they are so darn pretty!
The Bullies on the block, Grackles, Red-Winged Blackbirds and the henchmen Blue jays are much quieter now. Must be the competition! They are here, but not in their early Spring numbers. The Jays wait for the peanuts each morning and then furtively sneak down to pluck them from between the vine, yes, they have to work for them…still;) ha! The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks flutter back and forth to the feeders. Mostly the males, the ladies must be nesting.
…and the Loon, I’ve seen him/her fishing, time to go poking around in the canoe! The Kingfishers was sitting on the gazebo the other afternoon but flew off before I could get the camera. I heard it first!
Then we have our LBB’s and LYB’s and jut LB’s…little brown birds, little yellow birds and little birds! The Chickadees have moved back into the forest. I see them hunting bugs in the swamps, the Eastern Phoebes are also catching bugs! Yeah, and I saw a beautiful Eastern Kingbird as well! Power to the bug catchers! The black flies are done, but the deer and horse flies are just starting…:(..and ticks…please birds, eat the ticks! Maybe the American Goldfinches and White Breasted Nuthatches can take over there! or maybe, just maybe…I can convince the hummingbirds they taste like sugar water! Ha!
I warned this little turd that he better start cooperating as a model! Enough hanging around the feeder…I need some flower shots…
So far the male Ruby throated has not been as accommodating at the hanging flowers baskets as I would like! I reminded him of our deal, sugar water for shots…but yeah, he’s a diva! When I first got the fuchsia he was all excited, over that now…
We’re working on it! have seen a female but she has not been around the feeders much, busy nest building I can imagine! Did you know that hummingbirds can’t walk or hop. Their muscles instead are concentrated near their wings for all that flapping! I do enjoy sitting and just watching them! Catching them in their silly poses at times, just takes time, and sunshine! Need that light for those 1/6400 sec shots! The footie one was at 600mm F9 ISO 3200 in the morning light as he hovered above the oriole feeder, it’s reflected on his breast!
If all else fails, I’ll get the Ospreys to flex their talons;) That will convince him I’m sure! Ha! In the meantime, I’ll keep a look out for an illusive bright green bird to round out the colour scale, or purple, or baby blue…hmm…the possibilities are endless! Stay tuned, It’s time for a paddle around the lake, the Loons are out there somewhere! Saludos amigos!
He looks out the sliding glass door, waiting for her to come, like a mournful teenager, we’ve all been there…right? Trying to catch the eye of that one person you would really like to meet? Unfortunately, Rocket can not differentiate between the three small raccoons we have patrolling the area, looking for spent bird seed, unattended jars of oriole jam and just about anything else they an get those long figure raccoon hand son! One likes him, sort of, the other carbon copy sibling, took a rush at him from behind the glass the other night as it came up on the deck and he looked astonished! How could she? Threaten me? Poor guy, he looks heartbroken and now growls at all of them!
The one knows our voices. Mike made a friend for life by tossing her a couple of dried dates and a cookie…she will never leave I told him!
I heard a loud metallic crash outside in the early afternoon and went out to investigate and found this young lady…Having pulled down the bird suet feeder she was helping herself. “It’s tasty…whaddya mean it’s not for me?” she seemed to say. I had to wrestle it , literally, away from her. So there was no posturing or fear, just her pulling the feeder one way, me the other…sigh…out muscled by a young raccoon nearly! “But I want it!” was the look I got as I hung it up way out of her reach! I did give her a peace offering of some cracked corn before going back in, “Healthier!” I said “Now go forage!”
In the morning, as I was making my coffee, I caught her pole dancing rather unsuccessfully on my other feeder, a squirrel proof, maybe raccoon proof, but not bear proof feeder. It was an awkward moment she said as I sat down to watch her scrounging the seeds from under another feeder. The squirrels and chipmunks were not impressed! “First cats, now raccoons! Geez! She’s eating MY seeds!” they seemed to say.
She heard a car on the gravel and started into the forest, somewhat startled as I admired her magnificent tail, good taste Rocket! Then she turned around and slowly wandered up to where I was sitting, and sniffed the toe of my shoe! I told her I was not really that edible, too tough, so she might want to check elsewhere for food! The Red Bellied Woodpecker was nattering at her as well as she eyed the suet feeder I had hung up. “I am NOT sharing my suet breakfast with you, you smelly masked raccoon!” She stood on her hind legs, sniffing, the suet, my coffee? “Damn, that smells good you ill tempered red bellied woodpecker! Ever heard of sharing?!” she seemed to be asking! Ha! She finished her corn and with a backwards look, wandered into the forest from where she came.
Rocket, devasted by his rebuttal and brush off had a glorious nap in the sun…all was forgotten.
I have a sunbeam….
and they lived happily ever after;) The lout, the lady and the gentleman! We’ll catch up on birds next time. Saludos from the Traveling Mewberries!
A walk out to check the always empty mailbox is an adventure. Stepping over the Juvenal’s Duskywings all over the road as well as the American Ladies and Red Admirals! Those colours! The new beauty on our walk out today was tiny, that is a wild strawberry flower! A White-spotted Sable moth!
The dragonflies have exploded as well! Mostly Chalk fronted Corporals and American Emeralds but I caught site of a big blue guy, too quick for me! The variety is astonishing and the numbers of them! Eat those mosquitos and blackflies guys! I watched a Springtime darner doing the wild thing..(?) or eating the other dragonfly!? Yes, apparently he is feasting on another dragonfly 0_0..must be tasty! Yikes! It’s a dragonfly eat dragonfly kind of world!
Thankfully I belong to a Facebook page Insects and Arachnids of Ontario and they keep me straight on who’s who in this amazing insect world! ….and yesterday the Swallowtails arrived on the honeysuckle! Not just one type of swallowtail, but two!
The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail is found in most provinces and territories in Canada, as its name implies. Its range extends north of the Arctic Circle in the Yukon, and to Churchill in Manitoba, Little Shagamu River in Ontario, and to Schefferville in Quebec. Adults fly during spring and summer and one brood occurs. Females lay eggs singly on the host plant. The caterpillar folds the host plant’s leaves and ties them together with silk; they then eat from this structure. The pupae overwinter, then emerge in May.
Eastern Giant Swallowtail-There has been a northern expansion of the range of the giant swallowtail in recent years which has been linked to increasingly warm temperatures, and particularly to a lack of September frosts in regions of expansion starting in 2001. Larvae were then able to withstand a few frosts before they pupated. The immediate effects of this warming, as well as their effect on host plants and predators, can explain the giant swallowtail’s range expansion.
I sat in front of the blooming chives one afternoon going nowhere (my energy levels have been low, lots of joint aches and issues that may be a vitamin B12 deficiency, who knew it could affect you so much but looks that way!) and I watched all the different bugs and butterflies that came and went! The tri-coloured bumblebees are astonishing! The jury is still out on what the other guy was, may be a Two-Spotted bumblebee, there are SO many different varieties! Trying to document them all…on the chives ha! Sorry guys, I’ll still cut a few for scrambled eggs! Chives that is;)
Even if the hummingbirds are not cooperating at my hanging baskets, the dragonflies and hummingbird moths are! The Hummingbird Clearwing…that tush! Looks like a mini flying lobster! Ha!
The cottage road continues to provide great views of both the slithering and hopping variety of reptiles here! Snake haters skip this part! I absolutely love to watch the Northern Water Snakes swim. It’s a marvel of natural engineering! No fins, no feet or arms! An engineer could probably explain the bow waves and ripples they create! So far my favourite Spring photo!
One Northern Water Snake watches me as I walk past the culvert…eyeing me…hopefully not for dinner…just kidding! The Northern Leopard frogs are out for them as well as hundreds of minnows, and a few American Bullfrog pollywogs are still swimming about! Yum, frogs with no legs! Ha!
We could all snack on the grasses the Beavers so seem to enjoy, or are they clogging the culvert again! New grates are installed, so far, so good! I check every time I walk past! Ha! I guess I got sidetracked here, the reptiles are not exactly flapping colour! I haven’t even started on the birds! We’ll save that for later this week along with Rocket’s girlfriend the raccoon;) Saludos amigos! Enjoy the rainbow!
We had two otters, then a muskrat, and finally our little buddy the beaver swimming across the lake here to accompany the rainbow last night:)
As it first started to show before the pinks and reds kicked in!
It has been many years since we were treated to an aurora as widely seen as the show on May 10, 2024, decades actually, 2003 we stopped riding lessons on a Friday night and had the kids and adults all go out and check out the reds streaking across the sky! Mike and I sat outside, looking to the North, waiting. That would be the normal direction it comes in from…but no! Look West Mike proclaimed as flashes of bright red and pink formed a dome of light behind us!
When the pink/reds started to kick in from the West
Hey! I said, you are supposed to be over the lake, what about my reflections. I was complaining to the aurora yes…sigh…photographers;) So this what Kp 8 and 9 look like! The needle was pegged on the scale and the numbers were off the scale by all accounts! People in Arizona and Baja could see the reds and pinks, mainly because those colours are at such a high altitude!
And how does altitude affect the colors of the aurora? Green-colored auroras are most frequent, resulting from interactions with oxygen molecules at lower altitudes (between 100-300 km or 62-180 mi), while the less commonly occurring red auroras form from interactions with higher altitude (above 300 km or 180 mi) oxygen molecules, or so NOAA tells me!
That pink flare to the far left was wild!
It slowly shifted over the lake as I stood and let the camera do it’s magic. I could clearly see the pinks and reds but the greens were light. It was a magical sight! I made it until midnight and then crawled off to bed as it seemed to subside but it did keep going all night as I looked out the window a few times and the whole sky was a glow, like it was full moon! What a rare treat! Hopefully with solar maximum still to come, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) estimates that solar maximum could occur between late 2024 and early 2026 we will have a few more spectacular shows! The clouds even added a nice effect!
Apparently Mother nature, after keeping me up half the night with the aurora, decided I should get up at an unworldly hour for a sunrise as well;) Not complaining…ha! Groot was not impressed that there were no crunchy offerings for him guarding the door! No sleeping in at all!
…and for the green…it’s that bright lime Spring green, fresh leaves, fresh grass, buds…it’s an explosion of green! Along the road the Ostrich ferns are uncurling. The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked vegetable, and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North America. It is considered inadvisable to eat uncooked fiddleheads. Brown “scales” are inedible and should be scraped or rinsed off.
..and that morel was HUGE! The Spring wildflowers are poking their heads out of the leaves as well as some flowering shrubs! Green and now colour!
Now with the flowers…come the bugs! We have had an explosion of dragonflies and butterflies, but I’ll save that for tomorrow! Enough green! Bring on the flapping colour! Ha! Saludos amigos!
Not exactly a hummingbird but, the hummingbird clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae (hawkmoths). This one wasn’t much bigger than a large bumblebee!
I have to admit the one male Ruby Throated hummingbird has not been as cooperative as I would like! I’m used to professional ones, yes, that flower, perfect, hover, wonderful! Go to the pink flower! yes! It’s a take! Well, only in my dreams:) As I waited for this novice hummingbird to come back this fabulous creature flew up to the hanging basket. At first I thought it was a giant bee of sorts but no, a hummingbird clearwing moth! Apparently, according to my insects and arachnids page on Facebook it is VERY VERY early to see these guys! It burrows into the soil to overwinter as a brown, hard-shelled pupa. In the late spring, it emerges as an adult moth. H. thysbe lays green eggs on the underside of plant leaves, which hatch in about a week. As a caterpillar, it feeds on honeysuckle, dogbane, and several types of fruit trees. I’ll be watching the honeysuckle bush!
…and those dragonflies, one morning we had a few, by the afternoon there were hundreds as I walked down the road! Just two species so far, the Beaverpond Baskettail, yes, close to the beaver pond, go figure;) and the American Emerald, shouldn’t that be North American Emerald? Ha! They as far as I know are NOT edible, unlike our American Bullfrogs! As I walked down the road a small brown leaping thing caught my eye…I was looking for wildflowers but this beauty was a treat! A Wood Frog, I’ve only seen one once before here! The amazing copper colour is so shiny! The wood frog has garnered attention from biologists because of its freeze tolerance, relatively great degree of terrestrialism (for a ranid), interesting habitat associations (peat bogs, vernal pools, uplands), and relatively long-range movements. Maybe they go South for the Winter as well! He was headed into the boggy area beside the road. Looking for love no doubt!
Upon return to the house I heard a familiar croaking…the Gray Tree Frog was back as well. Looking quite svelte. I had to relocate him/her as I was moving the deck furniture to clean. You know you have cats when even the tree frogs have managed to get cat hair on themselves;)..sigh…the next day, he was very very plump! After a good feed on bugs all night no doubt! What a difference. He was sleeping off his bug feast in our cushion bench on the deck, his normal home most of the time:)
That novice hummingbird model finally came through! I’d bought a fuchsia hanging plant, I couldn’t resist, never had one here…and he said, yes ma’am…this is the plant! Training has begun! I’m not sure if the sticking the tongue out was defiance or not;) Ha!
Our daily routine still consists of clearing the debris away from the large culvert each morning. The beavers have a go at it every now and then but the mesh is small enough it catches most everything, clogs, but easily cleaned with a brush and rake. I’ve been watching a pair of Canada Geese. We have a conversation each morning on how they are doing? Anything exciting last night? They honk a fair bit at me but tolerate my conversations. They neglected to tell me they were about to become parents. Last trip to clean the culvert in the rain, of course I didn’t bring the camera, there they were swimming with three very small goslings! I was so excited! Still no photo but I have enjoyed the parents! I sat and watched them one afternoon.
I flushed a pair of Wood Ducks out of the smaller beaver pond one morning as I walked down the road, I pleaded they return but no luck yet, such colourful birds!
I’ll have to settle for the Red Bellied Woodpeckers! The male has taken to feeding in the morning now, maybe less wary of me, and that green background now! Glorious! Add the Rose Breasted Grosbeak and Orioles and we have quite the colour palette now!
and of course, the Baltimore Orioles. So far just a few boys, no ladies, but they will arrive soon as well!
“It’s been a long flight ma’am, much appreciate the jam! The marmalade is grand but this strawberry! Delicious!”
I did promise donkeys and daffodils! We had a lucky sunny Sunday and off we went to help with stalls and play with critters. They are just too cute for words, and so kind. You might get a gentle nudge for a treat but not run over like the larger equines for snacks, and this field of flowers…gorgeous!
Each Sunday, Ringo the old barn cat that lives in Jennifer’s shed in his heated house gets a cut up fillet of fish he shares with Alice and Sophie, two wonderful lady cats. He is a mess of an old cat that you couldn’t touch 9 months ago, as feral as they get but he transformed almost overnight it seems to a happy and friendly boy. He hasn’t been the healthiest, but was waiting in the middle of Jennifer’s driveway for us Saturday for his fissch! I had to lure him away from the truck with his treat to eat by the steps. Sadly he passed a few days ago, I really had a long heart rending sob, but at the same time I marveled at the turn about he did, and how delightful it was to watch him eat his fish each visit…Fly high old man and give Beezil and the rest of our long departed feline souls big head butts and under chin scratches for me when you arrive. He will be missed by all…thankfully, there is Alice and the lady house cats to warm our hearts…
I wished they all lived as long as we did…
I will bid so long, farewell, auf weidersehen goodbye, I leave and heave, a sigh and say goodbye…
Never ceases to amaze me, no leaves, leaves! Yeah! Oh wait…and bugs! Ha! It’s the flying biting ones and then those miniscule little Spring ticks the size of a pinhead that I truly abhor…but hey, it’s warm…er!
I appreciate the fact that these bigger flying bugs, eat those smaller flying biting bugs! And the snow birds are back! May 2nd marked the very very early return of not only the Orioles, but a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and a male Grosbeak! Time to get my boogie shoes on! We all need some KC and the Sunshine Band on a rainy day!
..and those songs. The Rose Breasted grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole have such distinctive voices! Adding to the repertoire of the Grackle squawks and Red Winged Blackbird squeaks is nice! This morning the hummingbird was chasing a poor American Goldfinch around the trees with the goldfinch looking like “Whad-I do buddy?” You looked wrong at him, they are cranky little beasts about their territories right now, and always!
..and it’s not just the birds singing! There’s a whole bunch of croaking, popping and slithering going on! Out by the mailbox a record 18 turtles were perched on the log sunning! It must have been a Town Hall meeting morning!
The Northern Water snakes are sunning on the road. I tried to shoo one off, he was maybe 15″ long and he had other ideas! Talk about cranky! The Gray Rat snakes are also out! Such beautiful creatures!
Down at the infamous culvert a little Garter Snake was fussing a fair bit even though I was a good ways away until I noticed he/she had company. It was snacking on a tasty minnow, which is actually a Brook Stickleback I have been told! The other snakes head was under our culvert so I couldn’t tell what it was, a Northern water snake the Ontario Amphibian page told me. Probably trying to steal the minnow! Beautiful to see life returning after Winter…and the pollywogs! They are huge!
Just a few…thousand American Bullfrog pollywogs…Time to metamorphosis ranges from a few months in the southern part of the range to 3 years in the north, where the colder water slows development. Who knew they come up for air and blow bubbles! Check out the juvenile with a small, grey, oval-shaped area on top of the head, the parietal eye! They grow quickly in the first eight months of life, typically increasing in weight from 5 to 175 g (0.18 to 6.17 oz), and large, mature individuals can weigh up to 500 g (1.1 lb). In some cases bullfrogs have been recorded as attaining 800 g (1.8 lb) and measuring up to 8 in (20 cm) from snout to vent. The American bullfrog is the largest species of true frog in North America.
The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is a large true frog native to eastern North America. It typically inhabits large permanent water bodies such as swamps, ponds, and lakes. Bullfrogs can also be found in manmade habitats such as pools, koi ponds, canals, ditches and culverts. The bullfrog gets its name from the sound the male makes during the breeding season, which sounds similar to a bull bellowing. The bullfrog is large and is commonly eaten throughout its range, especially in the southern United States where they are plentiful…frog legs…hmmm….we may have to wait until they develop them;) The only parts normally eaten are the rear legs, which resemble small chicken drumsticks, have a similar flavor and texture and can be cooked in similar ways:)
I think I may stick to chicken! Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon…Thank you Gary Larson for your wonderful sense of humour!
..and the gray rat snakes are out as well! Such beautiful animals and yes, we have eaten snake stew…in Baja, Rattlesnake stew…once again, I’ll stick with chicken, it’s all those bones!
A scent-hunter and a powerful constrictor, P. spiloides feeds primarily on small mammals, birds, and bird eggs. A medium to large serpent, the gray ratsnake typically reaches an adult size of 99–183 cm (3.25–6.00 ft) total length (including tail). An agile climber, the gray ratsnake is at home from the ground to the tree tops in many types of hardwood forest and cypress stands, along tree-lined streams and fields, and even around barns and sheds in close proximity to people. Ask our neighbours, they had one hanging from the door frame to their cottage one day, Katie wanted to know if we had heard her screaming! Ha! Bet she checks that doorframe every time she goers in now!
…and not just the returning animals but the life springing from the ground! The sugar maples are blooming and the hophorn beam, Ironwood, just love that name! Ha! The wildflowers have started pushing their way up through the layers of leaves.
I love the Field Horsetail-The plant contains several substances that can be used medicinally. It is rich in silicon (10%), potassium, calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus, phytosterols, dietary fiber, vitamins A, E and C, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides and caffeic acid phenolic ester. The buds are eaten as a vegetable in Japan and Korea in spring. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system. They just look so cool! Like some kind of asparagus!
I found a pair Mock-orange Scissor Bees (Chelostoma philadelphi) which I didn’t realize even existed until today, making whoopee in the newly bloomed trillium;) Isn’t nature grand! I almost forgot the horny gray/black squirrels! OMG god, they were impossible, chasing a poor female around, a gang of 6 of them. I came close to interfering as she was exhausted but decided it was nature taking it’s course. Sometimes I wonder just how civilized we humans think we are! NOT! The spiky rock was more my speed! Rocket kept looking out the kitchen window at something, I went out, couldn’t see anything, then Mike spotted it, a porcupine making it’s way very slowly across the yard! Some days…I did catch up with a young White Tailed deer that decided if it froze, I wouldn’t know it was there…I talked softly to it as I walked down the hill and right on past…:) Every day is an adventure!
..and there’s more, bugs, more screaming birds, tree frogs, donkeys and daffodils…but we’ll tell you tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a beautiful sunrise, love those flat calm mornings, time to get the dock attached and the canoe in the water! Saludos amigos! Hasta pronto!
I heard them before I saw them from inside the house. The Ospreys were back! Their distinctive kikikikiking is unmistakable! I ran outside with the camera as a pair circled the house. They had a Herring Gull and Turkey vulture all worked up as well following them about. Just joy! I had no idea they could rubber neck and talk at the same time!
They circled around and around, going up and then coming back down, and eventually flew right by at eye height over the water…glorious!
They meandered off after awhile as I stood and watched the show. Maybe Spring is here! Will have to take a paddle down the lake to check on the nest to see if it is being rebuilt or occupied! There are so many beautiful birds returning. On my way down to the barn just before the Narrows Lock I spied a gentleman with a camera and a telephoto pointed up at a tree. I HAD to stop and ask what was he looking at! Always curious! He told me “Listen!” and there it was a very noticeable song, and high up in the pine, a Pine warbler. First for me! Thanks Ted for letting me know! He does a lot of ebird lists from the locks he said! What a beautiful bird! Now I have been keeping my ears open for new songs! We do get Yellow Warblers coming through here in the Fall so maybe the migration is starting early and I need to frequent Warbler stops! Ha! I’m not much of a birder but I do love to see new ones!
A Pine Warbler, in a pine tree!
Today, I think I’m finally feeling about 90% of where I should be, I will attempt to avoid the flu/viruses at all costs in the future! We have been living in a small bubble and had forgotten what getting sick was like for the last four years. I wanted to go to the Lanark Lodge (Retirement residence) yesterday for their “appreciation” day for volunteers. The Lanark County Camera Club members had donated many photos and I’d helped clean a few to donate to them but I was coughing so badly I would have been received like Typhoid Mary so gave it a miss, damn, I missed out on real pies! More rest! As the Turkey vultures pass over I keep telling them “I’m not dead yet!”
It’s amazing how a few hours of sun can change your daily outlook! You should have seen the Mewberries faces this morning…wet, and cold?! Outrageous! Start that fire! Now!
They are there own little rays of sunshine on gloomy days! Forecast for tomorrow is looking better! I really want to get down to the barn and photograph the donkeys in the field of daffodils! Fingers crossed for sun and some more energy this weekend! I’ve poked my head up to look at the sunrises, we did have one beauty last week, I HAD to get up, coughing or not! Now to program a coffee maker to the sunrises!
Bathrobe, check…slippers, check. Camera on autofocus (it IS pre -coffee) check! Stabilization…check…we are go for Bathrobe photography!
I was awake enough to check my camera settings this time! Last trip down the day of the eclipse resulted in only one photo in focus, it was a beauty but I’d forgotten to move the stabilizer and the autofocus buttons to the on position…some days!
Sometimes the colour fades so quickly you really have to move! Groot was NOT impressed “WAIT Müther! You did NOT feed me yet!” that’s the life of a sunrise chasing photographers cat I told him as I trotted off! I am sure he was planning my demise the entire time I was down there! Quickly forgotten once the magical crunchies appeared before his hungry eyes! All was forgiven;)
I think we are mostly caught up, whew…I will save the horny gray/black squirrels for another day…they, are, LOUD! Just a teaser, no sound recorded but I did have to get up and go inside after awhile! I’ll leave you with one of the resident Painted Turtles that lives in the swamp by the mailboxes. We are sharing the same speed mode right now, slow, but steady;) Like a herd of turtles. Saludos amigos, hasta pronto!
Everyone is cranky! Food has been the number one priority with the weather wafting between good and evil! My feeders are getting cleared out whenever the skies turn gray and if there’s snow! Pandemonium! We have three or four dozen goldfinches duking it out with the Purple Finches and Chickadees!
Thankfully the snow has been short lived and the few days of sun we have had have been a marvel…those days you think, maybe it IS Spring after all! The Goldfinches are gradually changing to their summer colours of brilliant yellow and the Purple Finches just seem to be getting brighter, not exactly purple, who named these guys after all? Red finches must have already been taken!
The red maples are starting to bloom along with the honeysuckle budding out, tasty treats! And just so pretty! The Red Bellied male has been going from tree to tree calling out for all to hear “This is my territory, my lady bird, everyone else piss off!” well, that is what it sounds like! He doesn’t like to come to the feeder when I sit too closely but did swoop down to take a look, keeping an eye on his girl!
The Hairy Woodpeckers have gotten very quiet, avoiding the female Red Bellied after their disagreements but they sneak into the feeder when she is not around, but not challenging the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds! The Grackles continue with their “Possessed” and “Not possessed” stances;)
The Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers are back as well, isn’t that just fun to say…ha! I caught a glimpse of a Song Sparrow, heard the first, there are two! American Tree Sparrows are back and I could have sworn I saw a Chipping Sparrow as well! The Eastern Phoebes have been bug catching and I even spied a quick visit from an Eastern Bluebird!
and…a Loon! Early, about two weeks earlier than our normal if I look back at my photos from the last few years! I heard it calling in the afternoon and saw why, an adult Bald eagle along with a juvenile flew over and it was NOT happy. So far, just the single Loon, hoping it’s mate shows up soon!
The Loons are back!
The White Breasted Nuthatches have been chasing each other everywhere, territory disputes no doubt! No sign of the Red Breasted Nuthatches yet but the Brown Creeper was back, creeping, do you know they can only creep up and must fly, or jump down? Ha! The Downy Woodpeckers come and go, keeping an eye out for their larger cousins, they usually avoid them when they can.
What, no Blue Jays? Ha! They continue to harass Oin and Gloin peanut peddling operation! Oin and Gloin were apparently part of a drive-by Peanut Busting attack…thankfully they only suffered bruises and scratches and vowed to return to the table later today. Neither the Grackles or Jays were present for questioning but rumour has it the Gray squirrel mafia was involved, they wanted a cut of the peanut profits…stay tuned…
So, Oin and Gloin brought in the heavy guns to protect their peanut peddling…
Groot enjoyed his brief employment but sadly, it also collapsed the peanut sales so they had to let Groot go… He was an effective deterrent, but not what they are looking for today:) Isn’t wildlife fun!
The squirrels, red, gray, black and striped, OK, those are chipmunks, are coming out of the woods and invading! Oin and Gloin were right! The Red squirrels are the brains of the operation! Smart and fast, they dart in, grab what they want, and go!
We have regular conversations as I sit photographing the birds…they are always on the lookout for the traveling mewberries! The grey, also black, squirrels, well, not the sharpest tools in the shed. They stare at me, when it’s snowing, like it’s my fault? “Why lady why?” they seem to ask….I’ve tried to explain…yeah. And the chipmunks, well, they are chipmunks, apparently delicious to cats, so Groot says, we have done an excellent job keeping the chipmunks in the witness protection program here. Hopefully we can continue our good work throughout the year!
So I guess I do photograph things other than “just birds” ha! I’ll stop for now but will continue tomorrow with our Ospreys visit! Nothing more beautiful than the the sound of kikikikiking as they fly around the house! Saludos amigos! Maybe tomorrow we will see the sun!
Pre eclipse this morning…I wandered down, didn’t even check my camera settings. Autofocus was off as well as stabilization, imagine what I could do if I looked at my camera and lens;) It’s been a long week of flu, culverts washing out and general fatigue and malaise. May the rest of the week go better!
Run off, Spring run off, common, it snows, it melts, it rains, water has to run somewhere. It seems to have all run into the swamp on the upper side of our narrow little cottage road. Don’t get me wrong, I have no bad feelings for beavers, they are to be admired, industrious, hard working, good at construction and filling holes, anywhere…including in one of the large culverts our small narrow road. We should have clued in sooner to the water level discrepancy on either side…should have, could have…live and learn right? The snow well, enough already!
Now, if it had just been the one beaver, well, it might not have been so bad, there is his cousin in the swamp a bit higher that was also threatening to overflow the road further down…We pull apart his/her dam every morning, and he works from dusk to dawn filling it back in…maybe we should just get floats for the truck and swim across these spots!
Did I mention we both were battling some kind of flu throughout this. I came down with it on Mike’s birthday…of course I coughed on him;) Thus the rather quiet period in the last month, even though we had exciting things going on, like beavers, and eclipses…sigh, oh, and it snowed a substantial amount as well…Spring, what f***ing Spring? As we battled with the culvert we were certain the levels would go down, then came 6″ of snow…Mike even donned hip waders our lovely neighbours dropped off and we attempted a culvert clean out…yup…water wasn’t quite as cold as I thought it would be;)
The water ran across road, then started to erode the road. Our wonderful neighbour Nick showed up with some PVC pipe and his skid steer and we made a makeshift drainage system, but parked the truck on the “other” side of the culvert, the eclipse was happening the next day and Mike wanted to be sure we could drive to an area of totality. Good thing we did, it continued to run and eventually left a large crevasse beside the old rusting, collapsing culvert still there…filling it back in wasn’t an option as the water was just taking everything with it. This is where you kick yourself in the butt for not checking to see if the beavers have been filling your culvert with large sticks, grass and mud….
Good thing we parked the truck on the other side of the culvert. I was feeling slightly recovered from my flu/cough when we left for the barn in Plum Hollow to sit and watch the eclipse with our friend Trevor, and his daughter Molly and Jennifer, and of course the horses, donkeys and cats there. Sadly, the clouds rolled in before totality but we did get to experience everything getting quite dark. Dusty the paint of course wanted in, it must be dinnertime he said standing at the gate! I was sad for Mike as he was really looking forward to the totality part, asi es la vida. It was still very cool, it got dark and cold and the light was weird and wonderful. Then it got light again! We should have, could have driven farther east to where it was clear but to be honest, it was the most I could do just getting to the barn! And then at least all the hype would be over, the fear, “You’ll burn your eyes out!” the cries coming from the scared and uninformed. Now we just have to put up with all the stupid AI photos making the rounds. Apparently critical thinking has bypassed a large segment of the population….humans:( very very sad mammals. Or maybe staring at those tiny little phone screens is what is causing eye and brain damage…hahahahaha! It’s an eclipse, not the apocalypse! 😉 My congratulations to all the wonderful photographers that did make amazing captures of totality and the before and afters!
On the plus side, while we waited for the eclipse, Mike called our friends who have an excavating/gravel/road business, Phillip, and he agreed to come out later in the afternoon to look at the washed away culvert area to see what we could do. We actually met him on our way back in and decided on a plan of action for the next day, to be able to get across and not walk home each day from the swamp. Thanks to all those who offered to bring us food, or wine…hahahahaha! I would have taken the wine;) but we were well stocked up anticipating the culvert washout! Ten years in Mexico trained us well:)
On the plus side, with nothing to do but bust beaver dams in the morning I could sit and watch the wildlife passing through. Our resident fox has been stopping by the compost pile late in the day, Groot growls at her through the window so we know when she is there! and the young buck, I told him to stay away from the lilacs…
And there was a wonderful morning for bathrobe photography, chilly, -11° towards the end of March, but it makes your run down the steps and back up again in record time! There was ICE forming again! NOOOOO!!!!
Spring…an argument between Winter and Summer. What, no bird shots? Stay tuned, the snowbirds are starting to return. Saludos amigos! We’ll play catch up in the next week!
I knew it, jinxed us…Winter is back. There was some debate but the Goldfinch breakfast group has agreed…Tuesday, March 19 at 11:06 p.m. EDT marked the vernal equinox for the Northern Hemisphere, when the sun was directly over the equator and its energy was in balance between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres…It’s SPRING!…but currently -5 C…so yah…no;) and how much snow forecast for Friday night, Lordy, Lordy, I don’t want to know!
We will survive until the beginning of the week when it starts to moderate again…I didn’t even put the snow shovel or the snow blower away! What weather Gods have we offended?! Ha! We were teased and tempted with pretty reflections and sunshine. Winds were howling today, even the chipmunks looked like they needed jackets! The Purple Finches were looking up at the sky…like WTF is this? Who turned on the snow machine???
When the flakes were really coming down yesterday the birds were in a feeding frenzy, they cleaned out two feeders in a morning and yes, I did go out with my umbrella to try to catch those beautiful huge cloud flakes!
A pair of deer stopped by nibbling on the lawn, looks like a mother and last years baby, those white tails! Beautiful! A grey/brown/missing hair squirrel showed up, an Eastern Grey squirrel, all our black squirrels are colour variations of those but this guy, yes, he showed me his nuts more than once, had the absolutely most fantastic tail I have ever seen, Farah Fawcett would have been envious! Yeah, I’m a boomer, get over it!
The black squirrel had me humming ♫ ♪♫ Here I am stuck in the middle with you!…♪♫♪…hahahahaha! The Mewberries were not impressed with both the stealth and cunning the large rodents are exhibiting, and the lack of any mice in the basement traps has been a big disappointment…Müther is quite happy the traps are empty;)
But those skies…sigh…and reflections… be still my heart! Then…what pines? What skyline? I can’t see a thing!?
It was so cold this morning, -9°…windchill said -20° Celsius, even the birds were avoiding the ground! The Mewberries lasted all of maybe ten minutes before trotting inside saying breakfast was the better option!
So what did I decide to do…photograph our waterfall along the hill with all the icicles, I am mad…I had secound thoughts after scrambling up the rocks on the ice thinking what have I got myself into! We’d already walked up the road to clear the beaver dam, damn industrious little rodents! But yes, just so pretty! I may go scrambling back over the rocks if it snows!
I maybe should have listened to Rocket;) “Müther should stay inside today and sit in the comfy chair with the big babou!” he said…I did wash my camera bag, yikes, first wash in 8 years, don’t get me wrong it has been vacuumed out many a time but my old 24-105mm Canon lens died, will try to get it repaired, so I went through the bag and cleaned out anything that was no longer needed, and yes, I bit the bullet and got the prime lens for the R5…which means new UV filter, new ND filter…of course it’s a few mm bigger than the old lens so nothing will fit…grrrrhhhhh…..;)
So, I’m going to go hang out with Oin and Gloin. Talk to them about peanut security, them Jays are thieves! No please or thank you! Very entitled! I’ll keep you posted about the snow…maybe, just maybe, they are wrong, you know these weather guys! Bad as the blue jays! 🙂 Saludos amigos, stay warm out there!
March 15th 2024 sunset…far bottom left is Bubbles swimming past looking for his next tree!NO ice!
We seem to be about a month ahead of schedule! 2021-2022-2022 in Mid April we still had ice!
2021-2022-2023 mid April
Don’t get me wrong, I am always happy to welcome Spring, lilies are sprouting in the garden, it’s just when it goes BACK to Winter it can be a blow! I was surprised to see Pussy Willows along the road, maybe they know better than we do! The beavers have been busy filling the big culvert along the road, we pulled out a few logs and gunk but the end that is blocked is underwater…and that water is freezing, almost freezing anyway! It is still draining, albeit slowly, as long as it doesn’t start to go over the road!
Speaking of Beavers….I have named our local tree chewer Bubbles, do you know they possess ice breaker capabilities? I watched fascinated yesterday afternoon as he/she proceeded to use it’s paws/feet, body weight to clear a path through the thinning ice to get to this side of the lake. His/her lodge is on the far side, to the right of the pines in swampy area. Absolutely amazing watching what unfolded before my eyes late in the day.
I am not sure if this beaver had multiple lodges, as there is one to our left in the swamp as well, or if it is a neighbour?According to Beaver Solutions:
The beaver (Castor Canadensis) is North America’s largest rodent. Adult beavers typically weigh 45 to 60 pounds, but have been known to grow to 100 pounds. Native Americans greatly respected beavers, calling them “Little People”. Beavers and humans are alike in their ability to greatly alter their habitats to suit their own needs.
To obtain food and building materials, beavers are well known for their ability to topple large trees using nothing but their specially adapted incisor teeth and powerful lower jaw muscles. Beaver teeth never stop growing, so they do not become too worn despite years of chewing hardwoods. Their four front teeth (incisors) are self-sharpening due to hard orange enamel on the front of the tooth and a softer dentin on the back. Therefore as beavers chew wood the softer backside of the tooth wears faster, creating a chisel-like cutting surface.
Very interesting animals! Now if they could leave the road culvert alone!
Heading North
There is a steady stream of geese, swans and sandhill crane flocks flying overhead! All those different honks and squawks! Looks like they are all headed North…and these are contrails kids…not chemtrails in the photo. I had to take a photo down from a page on Facebook that was hijacked by chem/cam trail conspiracy whackadoodles…Humans…sigh…
Along with the flocks of geese have come the steady squawks of the Red-winged Blackbirds and of course, the Grackles! Robins are picking through the dirt on the lawn and territorial squabbles are breaking out among the rest of the winged warriors!
But NO one messes with the Red-Bellied Woodpecker, even Count Gracula!
These guys are just so pretty, and loud, and bossy, even the jays avoid them!
I’m taking my feeders down at night or the racoons use them as swings, dangling from them, shaking out the seed. My critter cam’s night vision died so no shots but the they or a skunk have been cleaning up what is on the ground as well. I could have sworn the white tailed deer was looking at the budding lilacs licking it’s lips…time to get some chicken wire to protect them! They chomp them back as soon as they start to grow…not this year! No sign of Spitz sadly…:(
Stay away from the lilacs buddy!
Did I mention the chipmunks? Groot can’t stay outside long enough, while Rocket says he just wants to chew on my clean shoes…these guys! Kinky cats! Ha! It’s leash time again for Gamora. Mike had to chase after her down to our neighbours, up their laneway and down the road back to the hill and trailer while she trilled her tail and stayed at least 10′ ahead of him the whole way as she romped! Spring Fever:) I wondered if our vecinos caught it on their garage camera…it would have proved to be entertaining!
Spring, only 6 days away…I’m still waiting for third Winter, in my bones I know this is too good to be true, but in the meantime, we are going to enjoy the sun and everything that arrives, even if it is too soon…and those reflections! I could make out Bubbles doing his nightly cruise past the cottage last night under a dramatic sky reflected in the lake! Hasta Pronto amigos, hopefully not snow storms next! ha!
Is it Blue Jay torture slipping the peanuts between the vine so they have to really work to pull them out or is it blue jay exercise? You tell me! They are greedy birds and can be downright rude to their fellow avian relatives so I try to level the playing field at times. Now adopting Oin and Gloin they said was just downright mean! Evil little dwarves, or do we call them gnomes now? The Jays were NOT impressed and treated them like some kind of otherworldly beasts…wait, they are;) Do I have too much time on my hands? I couldn’t resist for a very small investment at the Dollar Store I came home with these two. I have been looking for garden gnomes, used, but have not been successful…but now! Ha!
They treated the poor dwarves like a foe to battle and overcome!
Finally it was “Operation successful, dwarves Oin and Gloin do not appear to be a hazard! Returning to base…Blue Bomber out! Good Luck Blue Thief! Then the next Jay came in for peanut retrieval!
Then, it started all over again, the squirrels on the other hand just kind of sauntered up, “Hey dude…got any of that good seed? or maybe a trippy peanut?”…not the raccoons, they tossed Oin and Gloin about on the table, beating them up so I have to put them away at night! No asking for seeds from them, gimme them buster, or face the consequences…we live with a rough crowd out here at the lake!
The bad ass visitor this week, a Sharp Shinned Hawk, is not much bigger than a mourning dove! He flew over us as we sat, I actually thought it was a dove at first but a very decisive flight so I followed him. He was chasing a dove, then harassing some chickadees down at the edge of the lake in the cedars until the ravens came and escorted him away! Songbirds make up about 90 percent of the Sharp-shinned Hawk’s diet. Birds the size of American Robins or smaller (especially warblers, sparrows, and thrushes) are the most frequent prey; bigger birds are at less risk, though they’re not completely safe. Studies report quail, shorebirds, doves, swifts, woodpeckers, and even falcons as prey. Sharp-shins also eat small rodents, such as mice and voles, and an occasional moth or grasshopper. Scarier than the Grackle yelling at dwarves for sure!
I made the mistake of running low on suet and the Hairy woodpeckers were very very crabby having only one spot to go eat…and share…not sharers the male said. The smaller female stood her ground, good girl! I was happy to hear and see the male Red Bellied Woodpecker early one morning, he’s been pretty quiet so yeah! Still a pair here!…and the sound of geese going over…like a symphony of Spring! Hundreds of them! Some heading North, ha and some heading South! Not yet they must be saying!
And we have our usual cast of small fluffy birds and woodpeckers. The Pileated have been very very quiet…most likely looking for, or making their nesting sight. I will have to keep my eyes peeled on the old maples with newly made holes! There is one dead one they have been tearing apart!
I was sorry I missed capturing the fighting/playing eagles, those screams, I thought something was being eviscerated! Funny how the cats came running into the alcove…all safe here Müther, we will sit with Father for awhile and then maybe go back into the house please!
All safe here Müther!
We will keep our eyes peeled for any newcomers on the lake, if it melts, or snows…we never know! I like how unspecific they are with their “Special Weather forecast”..it could be anywhere from 10-60mm of rain, or 2-10 cm of snow. I called our plow folks, told them not to plow the road this weekend as it is so soft it would tear it up pretty badly, or fill in the potholes…wait, nah…Ha! Could we be done with plow bills for the year?! Hopefully I didn’t just jinx us! I’ll leave you with more crabby woodpeckers. Apparently the Red Bellied doesn’t take any guff from the Hairy’s, feathers were flying! Lesson to be learned here…don’t mess with a red head;) Saludos amigos!
Ok, technically, cat on ice, and oh my! What a beauty! I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye as I sat at my computer, looking out at the lake, what the…coyote? Grab camera, Holey moley, no tail, could only mean a bobcat or lynx! I yelled for Mike and opened the sliding glass door so I could get some better shots, less glass…he stopped walking, the cat, and looked up at us, still from a long ways away but he saw the motion, or heard us most likely! He was BIG! Not the little bobcats from Baja, they might have topped out at 20-25 lbs, this one looked almost twice their size. Always a thrill, he looked away and continued walking towards the forest and disappeared among the trees. Lucky to have our view from up high!
Look! Out on the ice, a coyote without a tail…wait a minute!That ain’t no coyote!!
We’ve had rain, snow, rain, wind, summer temperatures, OK, almost summer temperatures, some record highs, flash freezes to -16° and then warmth and sun and now perhaps tonight, more snow, just when I could see the ground! NO! The yoyo that is Spring here. The deer bravely attempted a crossing of the ice as well, I was holding my breath, there are holes everywhere, they nimbly picked their way across, looking for an area that had ice right up to the shore, stopped, had a scratch, then carried on. But not today…
In two weeks the lake has gone from snow, to rain covered to back to ice and now…rain covered once again! Tomorrow it may all be snow covered once again!
But hey! I can SEE the canoe again! For now, ask me tomorrow, I’ll take a picture! The small stream beside the road was running like crazy then froze overnight, then was running like crazy again. Our lovely neighbours let me go down and photograph the small waterfall near their cottage, a before and after the freeze!
One day running, one day frozen again!
I was just getting used to walking out to get the mail in my sneakers! It maybe snow boots by Monday! There were pussy willows starting to bloom! I warned them to stay put for now!
…and the Robins are back, with the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds. The Jays are not the only thugs in town now! The cats, our small 20 lb. domesticated versions are also extremely happy, chipmunk and red squirrel season has been declared open with the first catch…
We are running about three weeks ahead of schedule Mother Nature…you are very motivated this Spring! The cats aren’t sure when they go out if it’s Spring or Winter! They creep out into the alcove and look before they go anywhere! Last week they all scampered back quickly as two adult eagles were either having a disagreement or perhaps it was just horny eagles! Ha! The screeching made me jump as well! They said better safe than sorry the Mewberries! It’s back to harnesses now that the snow is gone, wild chases will ensue otherwise as Spring Fever hits the felines!
It is fun to watch the cats exploring. We put the batteries back in the trailer and opened it up, was Gamora ever happy! Her home she says! They all had to go aboard and check out where they were raised! They can now sit on the rocks and watch for their favourite rodents!
Several mice have also been caught with a vole and sadly…a very slow chipmunk…they are just doing their job they tell me…I do my best to slow them down;)
Did I mention birds yet? Ha! Maybe tomorrow. We have to clean up a large pine that came down this week on the road out. When it’s really windy, we travel with the chainsaw, you never know what you might come upon. It was also the coldest day last week with howling winds so we did a quick chop, and pulled it to the side with a rope. It will make good kindling!
Country living!
I’ll introduce you to Oin and Gloin as well…someone has to torment the blue jays;) Our resident black squirrels have made friends with the seed dealer;) do you know the black squirrel is actually the eastern gray squirrel, but with melanism, which is a genetic condition. The ‘proper’ name for a black squirrel is Melanized Grey Squirrel…yeah, we’ll stick with something less fancy!
Stay tuned for Blue Jay exercise and a cat with a shoe fetish and maybe winter again, would that be 3d Winter, or 4th? Ha! Saludos amigos!
Apparently Dusty doesn’t like the taste of snowflakes;) Yes, 2nd Winter is here. His face seems to say: “How many days until Spring?” The snow squalls can stop anytime now!
Sunday is barn day, helping out as best we can, a bit of human socializing, not just cats, but yes, with cats, and donkeys and horses and humans:) Snow squalls were forecast last Sunday, ya gotta love snowflakes right? Now, how to go about capturing them in the cold and wind…take lots of shots! The lowest F stop you can go, these were F5 ISO 1600 1/3200 sec and I was having trouble with the autofocus focusing on the snowflakes in front of my nose and not the horse…always something this photography stuff!
The worst, I forgot the bag of carrots…:( luckily I was saved by the box of sugar cubes! Whew….The donkeys pretty much refused to come out of the shed, smart little fuzzy creatures! I was trying to get them at the entrance to the shed that would have given me a dark background to highlight the snow flakes but…have you ever worked with large animals? Yeah…We once tried to get donkeys with Christmas scarves on, it was like watching a Benny Hill/Monty Python production…Ha!
Art, or just out of focus? Ha! The adapter for the camera lens was also wigging out, it does that when it gets cold. Time to get back to cleaning stalls!
This is such a happy place:) We get to feed Ringo, the 18 year old patriarch of the barn cats, his serving of fresh fish, it’s called “Paying the troll” for passage, I bring a cut up fish fillet every time. He is quite the sight, matted and dirty, but oh so happy and well loved with his heated water bowl and heated house. Alice is always ready to greet you at the barn, sometimes halfway down the driveway, the most cheerful cat I have ever met. I need to try to get her in a fashion snow photo shoot, she prefers hanging out in the hayloft with Mike as he brings bales of hay down! There is a new gentleman as well, Pewter, the grey tom, we’ll work on getting his shot as well, he’s pretty wary. Not to mention the racoons…one must come at feeding time to capture them!
It’s a wonderful world of fur and fuzz. Today we have been awarded a day above freezing, this must be Spring of deception;) Ha! Friday, tomorrow night’s forcast is back to -17° Celsius…I can do one night then maybe, just maybe this snow will start to go and we can see the ground again! Until then, the views are not too bad and it’s interesting to watch the deer tracks across the lake:) What can I offer to the weather Gods for more sun? Ha! Stay warm amigos! Hasta pronto!
A sunrise! Woohoo! I can see the canoe! Woohoo! I can’t tell you how nice it is to wake up to this! I even managed the shots in my bathrobe and rubber boots, slippers are still right out! The fog was drifting in fingers across the lake, I hot footed, er, booted it down the steps as the sun was peeking from behind the clouds!
It was 6° Celcius! 6!!! a Heatwave in February! Miracles can happen! Hahahaha! The entire bird world looked like it was giving a sigh of relief and were happy to sit on their trunks and branches soaking up the sun!
Trading bird insults more likely! Ha! I think our local ravens and crows have a CCD camera pointed somewhere at our house and compost pile. How DO they know when you have gone out and put something there? I hear the clicks and squawks and then they appear!
It didn’t last, the sun, but the bit of warmth hung around! The Mewberries were enjoying watching the birds one morning when Rocket decided he might try and flex his muscle…well, Müther has only one chief lighting assistant and he let Rocket know where he stood;)
I couldn’t resist! These guys love each other but Groot takes his job outside very seriously, Rocket, well, he’s a goof! We don’t get many babitty bap sessions! Ha!
That sun:)
Fools Spring…sigh, I think we are back into 2nd Winter now;) The weekend could bring Spring of deception! Ha! Or would that be third winter!
Birds…ha! I decided if the sun came out I’d try a new strategy and try to capture them in flight, or some other weird kind of behaviour:) Everyone needs a hobby right? Right!
I didn’t promise no birds aye;) Next time, horses and snowflakes and only a few birds…Promise;)..and cats…always lots of cat moments! Saludos amigos, we may get caught up tomorrow! Note to self: write these weekly!
I don’t spend all day outside photographing birds, depending on the weather half an hour to 45 minutes before my teeth are chattering. Did you know this January has been the gloomiest in a decade? 26 cloudy or overcast days… Sigh…One must look for the wonders out there…then this guy appeared!
There was a big kerfuffle one morning. I was wondering why the Blue Jays were chasing this bird away, thought it might be a Northern Mockingbird at first glance through the branches but as he returned I could see it was an Immature Northern Shrike. The bird is a pint-sized predator of birds, small mammals, and insects. A bold black mask on the adults and stout, hooked bill heighten the impression of danger in these fierce little predators. No wonder the Chickadees and Goldfinches disappeared so quickly, small bird is on the menu! Groot was not impressed! His birds he said! Shrikes have a toothlike spike on either side of the upper bill and a corresponding notch on either side of the lower mandible. Known as a “tomial tooth,” this feature allows them to kill prey with a quick bite to the neck. Shrikes are rare among songbirds for their lifestyle of hunting and eating animals. they often kill more prey than they need at one time, but they don’t let it go to waste. They often store food for later by impaling their prey on spines or barbed wire, earning the nickname “butcher birds.” One other photographer said to look for them around Hawthorn bushes, where they can impale their prey! Tough guys these! You never know what you might see if you sit quietly and wait…
I have also resorted to both tricking and tormenting blue jays…those wedged in peanuts slow them down a bit, they have to really work to get what they want…I do get slightly outraged looks like “Sh*t lady, what you doing?” 🙂 Waiting for the sun darlings, waiting for the sun!
Spring must be around the corner, there is a tremendous amount of squabbling going on with both the Hairy and Downy woodpeckers and even the nuthatches are nattering at each other, territory squabbles…same as humans.
I finally took down the Christmas wreath off the house, I thought the birds and squirrels might enjoy the pine cones and yes, it might make for a new photo opp, not for birds though. Ha! My photography assistant was perplexed by this new addition to the woodpecker tree and had to investigate it thoroughly;) Emperor Groot gets special time, being my photography assistant, he sits and watches with me after the other two younger ones have gone in. He has a sled strategy, one shouldn’t sit IN the snow after all!
We seem to be in Woodpecker alley…just no wands;) I was happy to see a female Red Bellied Woodpecker put in an appearance as a male has been visiting as well. Maybe we’ll see a whole family this year!
To be honest, it hasn’t been all birds. I’m very glad I joined the Lanark County Camera Club as they had an outing at a members house to dosteel wool photography…What the??? you are asking…playing with fire, who could resist! I have to thank the courageous gentleman who stood on the driveway swinging a whisk, stuffed with various grades of steel wool around his head after it had been lit on fire! The fire department was not involved, it was actually at the house of one of them;) The lovely home owner, Linda, provided a great driveway to do this, as well as tasty homemade cocoa afterwards, it was cold…not bitter cold, but still, Canada cold! This club has a wonderful group of people. Everyone I have met so far has been very kind and encouraging. Can’t wait for the next meeting!
It’s not all birds I guess. It is just my everyday habit to go sit and watch, along with our Sunday trip to the barn to help out and mingle with our four footed friends, feline and equine. The drive down sometimes provides some exciting views!
Share the road aye! Ah, Canada! I’ve missed not having too many deer around the house this year. I fear the worst for Spitz as he hasn’t put in any more appearances, and our cantaloupe loving doe and baby have not been seen either. I see hoof prints in the road as I walk out to check the mail but none have been interested in the bird seed so maybe there has been enough to eat out there.
I can’t say we haven’t had any sun! We have! Enough to melt the snow from the roof for the first time, makes great icicles! So far as well, it looks like my pebbles are surviving the freeze and thaw! That has made me happy, and maybe ready to create some more this Spring/Summer. But now, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, gimme me a landscape, we are going to the birds;) Ha! Some sun and icicles, trying to catch the sunburst with F20 1/1000 sec. 2000 ISO.
I’ll leave this here today before it turns into a novel and the TLDR folks attention span is challenged;) Ha! Am I a Boomer? Maybe! Ha! There will be sun and landscapes and even a shot of the little red canoe! The snow has melted, somewhat, and yes, there has been more as well! Hasta manaña amigos! We’ll carry on then!
Although my bathrobe isn’t burgundy coloured, today is a Hawkeye Pierce kind of day. You *Mash* fans will get it.. The freezing rain, now just rain, left it too slippery outside to do much unless you own ice skates, my cleats have worked OK, but better to sit and look at the fire, in my bathrobe, the cats agree.
Freezing rain always brings back memories of the ice storm in 1998, wow, twenty five years ago. The sound of branches breaking and crashing to the forest floor still haunts me. Hopefully no repeats this week of that but although it is beautiful, it reeks havoc with the plants and trees with the extra weight, and then the wind has come up as well…0_0….will walk the road later to make sure nothing large has come down! The cats know how to live!
A bit of black and red squirrel watching, perhaps some birds as well. A bath in front of the wood fire, and perhaps some afternoon yoga, or nap, or a combination of the two;)
I tried sitting outside, under the eaves, not very pleasant. Only Groot ventured out of the alcove to sit under the picnic table, on the kids sleigh to birdwatch for awhile, not long. He was slipping and sliding as he decided this was rubbish, time to come in for breakfast! American Goldfinches were not on his breakfast menu!
Yesterday was just icy, the rain let up so I could sit outside. Maybe I should build a small bird blind:) the umbrella thing works in the snow, as long as there is no wind! Otherwise balancing the camera and umbrella feels a bit like Mary Poppins and take off might be imminent! Who needs a drone when you can fly by umbrella! Ha!
Groot is really not a good bird watching partner…
At least the real cold is gone for now, -22° was cold enough. Cats said it was -100° surely! They didn’t last long on their morning outing, in fact sprinting around the house to the back door where they were appalled a servant was not waiting to let them in! Good help is apparently hard to find they agreed. The fact a path was shoveled for them and snow blown away in front so their little pawsies didn’t get too, well, ick, cold, wasn’t enough! The frantic pawing at the back sliding glass door was picture worthy, we’ll try it one day, from inside;) The outrage will be fabulous;) “LET ME IN HOOMAN!”
I did attempt a walk down to the canoe…my ice cleats popped off in the deep snow as I struggled to find my previous footprints. The deer have stuck very close to the shore to nibble on the cedars. I knew I should have shoveled the steps down! I could have bounced off each one, like a cartoon character it was so icy, I made it part way down before abandoning my trajectory! Screw this, let ‘er melt! I think I pulled a muscle sliding around, crap. Ice looks soft and mushy out there. So far the deer are sticking to the shoreline, no one wants to cross! What dock? I saw a snowmobile track this morning, some fool of a Took must have done a spin late yesterday, or this morning…0_0. Hopefully they made it home, Darwin awards all around.
No sign of Spitz sadly. I’m hoping he is hanging out by Round Lake. With the snow you can follow the deer tracks up and down the road, followed by coyote and fox as well, it’s the path of least resistance! No passing now! It’s a one lane track, starting to look like a luge run!
Down at the Narrows Lock I stopped one Sunday on my way to the barn to gaze at the Trumpeter swans! I stopped counting at fifty! There wasn’t a lot of open water but it was well populated. The wind was so strong I hid behind the truck before stomping through the deep snow and using the Locks building as a windbreak. The swans had their bums turned towards the wind. A few youngsters were showing off…”Look at my wingspan babe!”…the ladies were, “Yeah, whatever!” Ha!
So, you know how big a Canada Goose is…they are dwarfed by the Trumpeter swans:) It’s makes you realize how huge these birds are!
I did get another milder afternoon to hang out and try to photograph the birds in the snow. So magical with those flakes! I had to take away the small wicker chair I picked up at the free recycle bin. The Blue Jays said it was a demonic cage like thing and refused to come anywhere near it. Funny how they react to certain things! Will have to start looking for Valentine day props! Ha!
Ok, enough birds, but it’s all I have, short of trying to follow deer tracks around! Ha! So far no American Redpolls yet, or Pine Grosbeaks. The American Tree Sparrows have shown up in numbers though, such cute little hopping birds, they were sliding around on the ice this morning! We all were. So, back to computing, I have a helper, when he’s not splayed in front of the woodstove upside down warming his belly, he is a helper he says…not sure if his editing techniques are the best…”Is that one edible Müther?” is his favourite line…
Stay warm folks, don’t be slipping and sliding on the ice, we’ll see what tomorrow brings! We still have power! Woohoo, I probably just jinxed us;) Saludos y abrazos!
I was sure he was blaming me for all the snow! Sorry Dude, we are in for a wicked week! Storm #2 down, another on it’s way Friday night…it is January I keep trying to tell myself as I took my hat off as I shoveled, too warm!
I do believe I have perfected the art of holding an umbrella sitting down while photographing birds in the snow:) Now, I could just go get my large porch umbrella and stand and try and set it up, but where is the challenge then? Ha! We have had a few sunny moments this week. One morning, it was very odd, you know when a apex predator flies over, bald eagles and ravens today, when all the birds scatter, the jays screeching and these Hairy Woodpeckers literally freeze in place! I could have touched him…no woodpeckers to see here Ma’am…just a tree trunk:)
I had a call and text from Mike as he’d gone to town to help a friend, six bald eagles at the end of the driveway! I hot footed it out there, OK, my normal walk, maybe a bit more excited than normal. I could hear the ravens and crows as I approached the road but the eagles flew off the tree they were perched on. This is when a vehicle is better, odd, they feel safer with a car driving by than a human walking! I peered over the fence and there was the intact carcass of a deer, I zoomed in, no antlers, so was hoping it wasn’t Spitz. It may have been hit by a car and made it that far. They had been feasting on it’s rib cage and underbelly.
When Mike came back I drove out, a single juvenile, probably one of this years babies, was sitting in the old tree, not sure if he wanted to take the ravens and crows on! That look! So intense, what a beautiful bird! The next day I walked out, the only thing that remained of the deer was it’s backbone, everything else had been dragged off, eaten and picked clean. That was fast! Later in the day I noticed another deer down, on the ice, halfway down the lake. I could just make out the eagles and ravens and it’s body. It is so slippery out there a deer crossing the ice wouldn’t stand a chance against a pack of coyotes. Nature at work…
Ice finally filled in at the far end of the lake! I did see someone putting an ice fishing tent/hut out there, it just froze two days ago…😳…could be Darwin Awards in the making! 😉
What an odd January, at sunset the earth shadow moved in, it was being reflected onto the ice, that pink! Earth’s shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow’s visible fringe – sometimes called the dark segment or twilight wedge – appears as a dark and diffuse band just above the horizon, most distinct when the sky is clear, the blue band here.
Approaching Earth Shadow
That glassy finish wasn’t about to last! Ha! We went down to the barn to help with chores Sunday, OK, to brush Maya and feed carrots to Dusty and donkeys as well! I was hoping for a few snowflakes but was once again foiled by the weather Gods…donkeys and snowflakes apparently are just going to have to wait until the time is deemed perfect! I’ll keep trying! Maya had a great beardcicle! Yup, that’s a new word;)
On the way down to the barn going through the Narrows Lock a family of Trumpeter Swans was swimming about in the open areas, getting smaller and smaller! The lake in the morning had a different look to it as well! Canoe and snow drifts!
I was expecting a frozen mess this morning but the freezing rain passed us by, it went from heavy wet snow to rain last night, still a mess, but not the added weight on the trees of ice. The plow guys were gearing up all day yesterday. The snow started at noon and didn’t stop until 9, the plow guys showed up after 10 pm and did a wonderful job on that wet stuff, about 6″ of it! This morning we cleaned up a few paths, man it was heavy, but above freezing, 4° Celsius and some sun! There are holes in the ice on the lake, it looks like a big slushcicle! The muskrats paw prints could be seen going to the different holes!
I could suit and watch our locals carrying on! No eagles or ravens this morning and no snow in the trees, everything has melted from the branches.
The blue jays are still not convinced my new acquisition from the free booth at the Real Deal store in Smiths Falls is safe! It’s such a pretty little dolls wicker chair. It’s seen better days but I was sure they would perch on it for a peanut…more training is in order! Maybe I’ll ask the squirrels to pose. A red one has finally showed up from the bush! He’ll whip the black squirrels into shape in no time!
We lost the sun, got wet feet walking out to check the mail, but I’m still in my sneakers! We had rain flurries I called them! Ha! Tomorrow we are off to help with some fencing, in January, who’s have thought the ground wouldn’t be quite frozen!…and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get snowflakes and donkeys! It will be bound to happen as soon as you want to do something outside, bad weather approaches…I’m working with Murphy here! Ha!
Saludos amigos, we’ll be shoveling more snow in a few days by the looks of it!
The blue jays are not entirely sure they like my new prop from the free bin at the recycle store;) Will they ever perch on it? We’ll see!
We have gone from water, to slush, to ice, then snow, then slush and now we are back to ice. The lake has been groaning as the temperatures drop each afternoon. Hopefully Spitz the deer hasn’t tried to cross it! I’ve seen a few small footprints, the mink and or muskrat that lives under the dock. The otters have been pooping on the other small dock…cool, their poop is full of fish scales, yeah, I’m weird, whatever! Ha! The Otters seem to prefer the sunfish and perch. They have been hanging close to shore in the far Northern bay. I can hear them them screeching, probably a youngster yelling for Mom. I thought it was something being killed at first! Nature:) I’ll wash the poop away another day! I’m not counting out rain yet!
This morning there were no open spots in the ice I could see. Not willing to walk on it yet though! It’s hovering near melting today and we won’t have any colder stuff for a few nights. So wild, January…I even found some “Witches Butter” on my walk out to get the mail the other day! It feels so cool, like a pile of jelly bears! Everything is so shiny or green in the rain!
Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain, golden jelly fungus, yellow trembler, and witches’ butter is a common jelly fungus. It grows in crevices in bark, appearing during rainy weather. Within a few days after rain it dries into a thin film or shriveled mass capable of reviving after subsequent rain. It can come back to life! How cool is that! Although considered bland and flavorless, the fungus is edible. It is shiny as it was raining…I wasn’t singing though;)
The next day I checked the culvert in the largest beaver swamp our small road crosses. Mike and I pulled about twenty large branches out of it last week, the beavers have been busy. We didn’t get into it to completely clean it out, just leaned over the culvert and pulled like hell on the branches for half an hour. There is a small dam about half way in but I wasn’t ready to go swimming to climb in! That can wait until the spring! It’s draining. Wait, our neighbours have small children! We can lower one of them in! Ha! I will ask Katie;)
So much fungi growing and reclaiming and recycling the forest! I did see a lone red squirrel but it is very quiet until you get to the house, you can hear the jays from a ways away! I have a small waterproof Olympus camera I can take with me on the rainy days. It’s not as nice photo wise as the Canon but I’d rather not soak that one! It was great for bubbles and reflections in the puddles!
The other shot I’ve dubbed: UCM…unintentional camera movement;) Ha! versus ITM…intentional camera movement:) When you take pictures by mistake when you are walking! I came across a couple of guys camping on the side of the Long Lake Road by the Rideau Trail. At first I thought someone had lost a tent out of their truck, or it was bright orange balloon, until the guy popped his head out and smiled, wet. Said he and his friend had picked the wrong two days to hike the trail. They were waiting for someone to pick them up in a bit. They were soaked. It was only drizzling, but two days of that…ugh! Brave souls!
You can imagine how thrilled the traveling Mewberries have been with the wet weather. They stare from the alcove out towards the trailer proclaiming “What went wrong? Where are the dry warm sand beaches of Baja?” Next thing they will be contacting their solicitor for cruelty to pampered cats! Groot has figured out if he hides under the picnic table it’s not too bad…good for bird stalking anyway! The lake has been groaning and cracking, it is delightful but Rocket heard it, eyes got big, lake monster Müther! I want in! Makes it easier to keep him off the ice until it gets thicker though! It’s a magical sound. Here is a link to a wonderful U tube video with a very attractive blonde woman…not that Mike noticed;) Ha! ICE sounds by Jonna Jinton.
So, the cat walks have been short and wet! Time by the fire and in sunbeams, when available…priceless!
But today, a few glimpses of sun, then clouds. Looks like that is it for the next few days. There is a rumbling of serious snow fall by next week this time…we’ll see! Maybe we should go look at that snowblower soon!
We headed down to the barn New Years eve to help Jennifer out with cleaning stalls and chores. We stack hay for her close by as her back has been bothering her so much. Trevor joined us and helped out. It’s nice to get out every now and then! Woohoo! Ha! I was hoping for large snowflakes but was thwarted by the weather Gods so made do with the wonderful creatures around us, as is:) Just as well, they were filthy filthy beastlings! Time for some serious brushing and deburring!
There will be big snowflakes again one day soon! mwahahahahaha! But those donkeys…so darn cute. And Alice the barn cat, she is adorable with her large white belly!…and that tongue blep! Ha!
This cat is ray of sunshine on a cloudy day! Maybe we can talk her into her using her cat superpowers to bring us some more sunshine! Go Alice!!! I’ll keep you posted! Saludos y abrazos amigos! Happy New Year:)
Well, it’s easier to tell how old I am, I was born on a even year! Yes, I do still count on my fingers smart asses out there! I did graduate 5th grade after all! Ha!
Carl Sagan’s words are something I try to start each New Year with as a reminder of how small and insignificant we are, and how we all need to learn how to live in peace, accept each others differences, revel in them, honor them, realize we are all different and we will never all be the same. Put down your arms…call for peace, wherever you are….our time here is limited.
“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
Sage words from a sage man who left us too soon…Happy New Year my friends, words to live by.
I’m usually relieved when this time of year passes us by and we step into a New Year. The fuss and stress, watching peoples’ pained faces in the grocery stores, especially the folks that work there. The hypocrisy of religion and peace when at heart many humans are not like that at all. Power, greed, weapon sales, bombing, killing children and defenseless people. It happens all over the world. I am not sure as territorial mammals when and if we will ever evolve but this Holiday BS, well, it gets tired quickly some days.
I try to focus on the good, the people we meet and share a meal with, the ones we can help, or help us in their kind ways, even if it as small as holding a door or offering a smile. It is sometimes those little things, the sharing of grief, or joy, cats…ha! Yes, I did write cats. Our two boys are currently on the bed giving each other a big bath…happiness. Take every small trinket of it that comes your way!
Maybe it’s just the gray days and the long wait until Spring, yes, I need to get over that and go out and find the beauty, however frigging cold it is! I thought we were going to have a white Christmas perhaps but by tomorrow it may all be melted away. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that we won’t have a plowing bill, yet…it is those little things! 🙂
We have seen a lot of Spitz recently, must be the cracked corn. One of these days he is going to walk right up to me and eat out of my hand I think. It is magical that connection to something wild, like feeding the swan. The cats have enjoyed watching him as well…Is that a big dog? 😉
The walk out to check the mail, not that we get much more than flyers (good for fire starting), is a constant search for colour and texture, what is that. The turkey tails are still clinging to their decaying branches and trunks along with various other types of fungi. A few freeze dried berries are clinging to their vines. Wild clematis seeds look like sea creatures swimming if you squint your eyes and just imagine…
The leaves, mostly oaks are scattered on the road in places, they become imprinted in it after being run over a few times. The creek was running after the thaw this week, it’s a wonderful sound, running water, and those bubbles! The forest cloned in every one of them!
The road is quiet, apparently the birds are all around the house house now!
It’s been pretty chilly the last few morning to spend much time photographing them. Finding a spot out of the wind was a must. So far no new birds, waiting for the Pine Grosbeaks and Common Red Polls to show up still!
All I could think of was Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets as I watched the bluejays! Ha! We did get to see a magnificent pair of Bald Eagles on the drive down to the barn. Mike is used to me yelling, OK, not yelling but excitedly exclaiming, or would that be proclaiming “STOP, STOP, STOP!” while we are driving, and this time it was “You have to turn around! He does, so wonderfully. This beautiful Eagle was perched beside Highway 5 near Chantry, and his mate was flying around much to the aggravation of some crows. I couldn’t have asked for a more patient model! Look left, look right! Perfect!
On the way back we went through Motts Mills and spotted over sixty wild turkeys in a farmers field, picking away at the left over corn. They were a ways away but what beautiful colours! And we always have the peanut chasing Bluejays as a constant source of amusement!
I’ve been up, checking on the sunrises but we haven’t had much colour…anywhere! We had ice, then slush, then melt and beautiful patterns and a few reflections, now back to a light layer of snow on the ice. When it blows across the lake it creates beautiful patterns. We have about 4″ of ice, only a few spots in the middle of lake look slushy where it is deeper water. It is an astounding changing view! Right now, all I see is fog! The Little Red Canoe has been put to rest on the dock until Spring…Only 86 days now.
December, we are almost done with you. It hasn’t been without its very, very sad moments. We had to say farewell to Quizzie, possibly the saintliest pony that ever lived. She was 24. I looked forward to seeing her each visit with the horses and my heart breaks with Jennifer’s. She has been at the barn since she was 6 months old. Jennifer has had a tough year saying goodbye to some wonderful friends, human, four hooved and pawed. We have felt that sadness and pain. Our hearts breaking as well. It seems so quiet without her furry afro forelock and muzzle greeting us as we arrived. RIP beautiful pony, you are missed.
Maybe this is my almost year end novel…:) We’re not quite done with 2023 yet. I told all the other wonderful old horses and donkeys in the barn that they better do their best to stay with us! Let’s all celebrate Spring together guys. Until then…
Peace, love and health for all! Whatever your beliefs or religion may be…May the yellow birds of happiness brighten your way:)
So, this was a pre-coffee surprise! Looked out and here is our obvious Olympic Deer Swimming team! As it got into the bay I was running down the stairs, trying not to lose it behind the trees….look at the white tail trailing behind! Then it hit the ice around the edge of the lake which goes out over a hundred feet…and started to break through using it’s front feet! It would surge forward each time it hit the ice with it’s hooves…then as it tired it started using it’s body, damn that water is cold! You could see it’s trail through the ice. Over and over it pushed with it’s feet, then body, struggling to make a path. I was trying to adjust my camera settings while watching, thinking I was going to have to get in the canoe and help this poor doe out! When it’s hooves finally hit ground…it stopped and just waited, catching it’s breath not doubt, I could see the water running off it’s coat as it just stood there for the longest time resting. If I had a placard I would have held up a “10”! I’m sure many deer who try this don’t make it if the ice they run into is too thick…
Then Spitz showed back up. We decided to name him after the famous Olympic swimmer given his dashing style:) What a ham. Someone has been feeding him for him to be so tame. He rattled my hanging bird feeders, cleaned up the sunflower seed and corn under the others, he knows what he’s doing. And I blamed the poor black squirrels for destroying my beautiful cedar/red berry centerpiece on the picnic table…it was Spitz snorfling around in it!
It was pretty hard to resist those snowflake covered eyelashes! I sat out with him for awhile in the light snow as he poked around, ate, had a pee…I’ve seen his tracks around and I’m pretty sure he is the same guy that ate all my hostas this Spring, all is forgiven;) I’ll be wrapping my lilacs in the Spring though! Sorry Spitz, we’ll make sure you don’t starve!
Is that how you feel about the snow sir?
Isn’t nature wonderful?! This morning I thought he was going to come right up to me, he stopped three feet away…”Where’s the corn lady?”….How could I resist that face!
We have had a few moments of sun and the temperatures have finally risen above zero, freezing. The surface of the lake is starting to appear again. I did shovel the dock and steps down so the the traveling mewberries can get some more exercise…you should have seen the look this week we got after the snow…withering…hahahahaha! Groot and Gamora would not leave the alcove, asking for their cat solicitor, said they had rights, something about warm sandy beaches and fresh fish, geez, I should have brought them some sashimi from Yukihana! Today, finally, they went out for a walk. Rocket shot down towards the lake with me hot on his heels, didn’t want him to try out the ice! Got the leash on before we got to the dock. I wasn’t fancying a dip in to fish him out!
Then when it started to snow again…well…the looks of horror! I do love that red coat!
The birds didn’t look thrilled either. Cold perches, cold feet, icicles…outrageous! Our regular gang of Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers were out, the flock of American Goldfinches has grown in size and of course, the chickadees and Blue Jay hooligans!
You can see the difference in size between the Hairy and Downy at the feeder. The Red Bellied has put in an a couple of appearances but unless you sit out there all day, you never know! I managed a few minutes out in the snow with our feathered neighbours:) The Chickadee might make next years bird calendar!
and the American Goldfinches…I love how they stand out with the American Bittersweet berries!
One of the struggles I have with snow photography is the white balance. I like the warmth the cloud setting gives, I tried the AWB, all white balance, and I get too much of a purple tinge, how to shoot the shots like they look?! Perhaps a question for The Lanark County Camera Club I joined this month! I went to my first meeting and really enjoyed myself and look forward to more. There was a wonderful zoom speaker, Freeman Patterson, who was really interesting, simply saying to follow what you were passionate about. I got it. The funny lady sitting next to me told me she thought he was a crackpipe, that was new one to me, I’ve heard of crack pot, but maybe it’s a new millennial version…ha! I figured Freeman knew what he was talking about given his age and experience! Canadians…”Keep your stick on the ice!” a friend told Mike the other day after we chatted and headed back to the car…yup, Canada. This club should be fun! Thanks Jim for reminding me to sign up!
So, that has been our week…I wasn’t expecting the snow to stay and stick, besides, we aren’t even into Winter yet! Ha! It was brutal bailing out the little red canoe, I’m not sure I can feel my hands, maybe by tonight! The lake was white this morning, by tonight, we may even have our reflections back. Do the otters care? Not a whit! They have crapped all over the dock, enjoyed their perch suppers and paddled off looking for more! I’m still working on getting them to do all this in front of me…We have cooperative deer, why not cooperative otters!? I’ll keep you posted:) Saludos amigos, stay warm, and don’t accept any collect phone calls from the traveling Mewberries, they are not getting a beach vacation this year! Ha!
♫ Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! ♪♫♪ Do they make canoe bells instead of sleigh bells?
Wait, it might be duck breast he is after! Caught this guy out of the corner of my eye a few nights ago, it was already getting dark but he was dive bombing a merganser…that stare! I’m glad I’m not a target! Ha! Then he dove!
“Holy Sh*t!” Eagle!” is what the Common Merganser must have been saying, he dove straight down! No duck for dinner this time! He’s been hanging about the past few days this eagle. They love the large pine across the lake but this particular eagle kept attempting to land on the branch covered in pine cones…maybe it’s new to the area?
It is always a special treat to see these amazing flyers, and that stare when they fix you with their eyes! So glad I am not a duck, or fish! These are huge crops taken from him flying across the other side of the lake so I was happy they turned out as well as they did. He, she, is easy to pick out in the pine with that white head!…sorry he didn’t get a meal today, but we have had some amazing ones!
Yukihana Sushi in Smiths Falls, who knew we would have some of the finest rolls we have eaten…in Smiths Falls. Perth and area isn’t particularly known for it’s ethnic cuisine, or cuisine of any sort, so we are beyond happy to have this amazing chef and his wonderful staff so close!
The rolls are out of this world, a taste sensation, I was lucky to get pictures they were consumed so quickly! The Yukihana roll with crab and eel, wrapped in seaweed and salmon…pure happiness in your mouth! The Bang Bang chicken came with a slightly smoky miso soup and the seaweed (kelp stalks) salad was delicious to accompany it, devoured…The fried udon noodles, another sigh….The tempura, crispy shrimp and that tempura asparagus…holy moly…I could eat a dozen of them myself! The vegetarian Spring rolls were crispy and fresh…I think I may need to try everything on the menu! Can you imagine if you lived above them, Mike said he would never cook again! Ha! It’s not all sushi as some folks wrinkle their noses at raw fish, that’s fine, there are so many other delicious things to eat on this menu! The red date tea is my go to beverage until they get their liquor license which is in the works. Sigh…happiness in Smiths Falls! When can we go back Mike? Anyone? Lunch? Hahahahaha!
It’s been a gray week, seems like more than that since we’ve seen the sun. The trees were heavily laden with ice, then light fluffy snow froze to that so the branches are so weighed down. Some have broken but luckily we have had no strong winds. Driving out our road is like going through a narrow chasm of drooping branches, mystical, beautiful, but so very hard on these trees! Today, we may get lucky and have it melt off!
Several trees were down in the road, one top was snapped right off with the weight. We’ll be traveling with the chainsaw for the next few days as we drive in and out as more is bound to come down. I walked out to check the mail and removed dozens of large branches out of the road. The snow at least bonded with the ice so we didn’t have skating rink under all this! Big cheer to our Amazon driver Lorraine! She made it in in her van! And it’s still not Winter yet! Ha! and that poor canoe…I did bail it out!
I think I need to consider putting it away! Ha!
Ok, I’m done shoveling for the day, time for a hot bath. Not the kind Spitz, our swimming deer did. A tad chilly for me out there in the slush, did I mention he has an Olympic deer swimming accomplice? A tag team! A doe…always an adventure here! We will catch up next time with both of them and perhaps a view of the water again! It’s all snow covered, for now! Ha!
Saludos amigos, stay warm, keep your toes out of the lake!
These birds are exhausting to watch!! Common Mergansers dive underwater to catch fish. After the chicks leave the nest in summer, the female stays with them as they grow up while males gather in flocks. In winter, mergansers form large flocks on inland reservoirs, lakes and rivers. They stay in these tight flocks to feed and court during the cold months. These are males and juvenile males by the looks of it. One catches a fish, the entire flock thinks it’s theirs! What a guy has to do to get a quiet lunch around here I do NOT know! They have been favouring the calm areas on the bay that are protected from the wind. Quite the bunch these boys. There have been a few ladies as well!
It’s a busy time stocking up on high protein out there! Watching them fish as a flock is interesting as they dive and drive fish too and fro, some surface, then dive back down as if they are herding the fish towards their buddies. Way better than any TV and certainly the news as of late.
As I was sitting at the table I heard quite the commotion…trumpeting…loud, loud trumpeting. I ran outside with my camera as a large flock of swans circled overhead then started to come down and land in groups. Man they are loud! Such a sight these magnificent flying white tanks! They can weigh up to 25 lbs! No wonder they make a splash as they land!
You can hear the Captain announcing” Please raise all tray tables and make sure your seat is in an upright position! We are on our final approach! Landing gear down! Deploy flaps! Touchdown! Applying brakes! Thanking you for flying with Swan Air!” Ha!
These guys! Along with a group of obvious hooligans a very proper family with four young cygnets arrived and were given a respectful distance! Although awkward on the ground due to short legs set behind their center of gravity, the Trumpeter Swan can walk more than a mile at a time, even when traveling with cygnets less than a week old.
Trumpeter Swans are impressively large—males average over 26 pounds, making them North America’s heaviest flying bird. To get that much mass aloft the swans need at least a 100 meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off. (All About birds) Landing is no easy feat either! One group came in and almost immediately tucked their head under their wing for a quick snooze. Apparently one got out of line and was told in no uncertain terms to back off buddy! Great social interaction!
Maybe he was the swan that never shut the f*ck up the whole flight from Northern wherever! Ha! They are remarkably beautiful these birds and always a treat to see them. This is the most we have seen in the four years we have been here!
♫♪♫ Four swans a swimming! ♪♫♪
Tired of birds yet! Ha! All these photos are on sunny days, it’s deceiving. It feels like we have been cloudier than normal but that is November for you. At least hunting season is over. I spied a large 5 or 6 point buck on the road on my way home from the barn one Sunday, glad to see he made it! Time to move the wildlife camera around. It’s been out on our front deck as I was trying to figure out what wild creatures the cats had spent night after night watching until they were exhausted and downright grumpy! I mean really grumpy, don’t touch me, leave me alone to snooze in the sun grumpy! Raccoons? Coyotes? Nocturnal squirrels, what wild creature could it be, a bobcat? I hope anyway…No….deer mice…apparently they are very very entertaining!
Why the cats have been pulling all night benders…Ha! Those rascally deer mice! Look at that stare from behind the door! Ha! I think I need to set the date and time in my camera;)
We live a wild life out here in the woods! We’ve had some more flurries, thankfully nothing has stuck around with the ground being so warm. Still a few Fall things to do before the real storms dump their white stuff on us! It has made for some beautiful hoar frost on the glass and leaves coated with frost and ice. There is so much beauty, even on the gray days, it’s there! And I can walk out for the mail again without being too worried about being mistaken for a large doe and shot! 😉 Ha!
I love reflections, and reflections in bubbles, how cool is that! Ha! Some ice has started to form on the bay. Time for Rocket to go on the leash, the big goof would probably walk right out on the ice. Mike chased him down the steps today afraid he might wander out! They were fresh and fruity in the wind, it feels like it’s been howling for days!
Did I mention it was -8° Celsius this morning? I just ran out with the phone early this morning! I didn’t dawdle to take a few shots! I have been keeping an eye on the sunrises, nothing very fancy the last few weeks. I bail out the canoe every few days, almost time to tip her up onto the dock! Keep hoping for one more “nice day” for a paddle without a gale force wind! This was just TOO cold, calm, but too damn early and cold…I am a wuss! Bring back my nice sunrises please!
November is here…grey days abound!
I sat behind the truck using it as a windbreak one sunny windy afternoon to try to see if the Red-bellied Woodpecker was still about, he did not disappoint and put on a show with a Blue Jay.
He was having a tiff with the Blue Jay as he was stealing the blue jay’s stash of suet he had hidden in a small hole on this maple branch! The Red-Bellied did not care, he was not going to be bullied by the jay. They had quite a few words to say to each other…Before the Jay gave up……and sat and watched his hard winter work of suet hording being eaten by the woodpecker. 🙂 Karma I told him…;)
Our regulars have been enjoying the suet blocks and the American Bittersweet berries provide such a beautiful backdrop! The juncos, ha! They should be called mini penguins! The Dark Eyed Juncos spend more time on the ground than perched. The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers let me know when the suet is getting low, I even spied the Red-Bellied coming in for a nibble! So far just the male. Hoping a lady will show up. My favourite shot so far this Fall, the White Breasted Nuthatch about to grab a berry! Such busy chatty little birds!
White Breasted Nuthatch and American Bittersweet berries
A few days have not even gotten above freezing…ugh! I can count on the the greedy Jays to bring a smile to my face as I sit bundled up against the wind. They are hooligan clowns! I set my table up with some lovely cedar gifted from a friend and a few stalks of berries I’d foraged for along the road with a few pine cones…By the next morning it looked like an all night rave had happened there…sigh…hooligans I say! The Jays said the squirrels did it…not sure if they are to be believed!
Now to go look for more berries beside the road to redecorate! We have a few days that look like they might be above freezing! Time to go photograph the very furry donkeys down at the barn! I’ll stop my novel here and leave you with an absolutely stunning sunset. We don’t often get this kind of colour except at sunrise so it was a real treat, those pinks! It lit up the whole sky, what a show! We’ll get to joining the local photo club, Smiths Falls Sushi and more birds next week! Only three more weeks until Winter, someone must tell Mother nature that! Ha! Saludos amigos! Stay warm!
It was wild as the setting sun lit up the whole sky! That’s Barbie pink! Ha!
I think I need to talk to Mother nature….she’s early!
I was going to go for a paddle…
The cats were out exploring, when the flakes started coming down with a vengeance they made a bee-line for the door, “LET us IN!” Sensible beasts! I grabbed the umbrella afterwards and sat with it shielding the lens as I watched the birds come and go. Note to self, time to get the winter boots out!
I had to grab the camera and wander around for awhile. There is something magical about those big heavy snowflakes swirling about. They cover everything so quickly with that soft coat of winter. It melted as quickly as it fell on the warmth of the ground. I thought about going for a walk but remembered it was hunting season and I didn’t feel like coming home with bullet holes in me;) It’s actually been pretty quiet this year but hey, why risk getting shot when you don’t have too. Guess I should get rid of that hat with antlers on it;)
I’d been hoping to take a paddle out into the bay, the Mergansers have arrived in droves, at sunrise it was clear. Not today but I did get some shots from the dock. Not much light. I love to watch how they hunt/fish together. They don’t as much swim across the lake surface but hydroplane on their bellies pushed with their feet! Very cool. Sometimes they dive only to resurface like a submarine, their necks and heads being the snorkel. The otters are back as well. I could hear them chirping, they sound like birds at times! Three of them, sitting on the old cedar eating a fish until Mike went down and they scooted. I’ll have to spend some time camped out on the dock to see up close I think.
Then there was the swimming deer a few days ago. I thought Mike had seen a bobcat in the front yard as he was saying “UPUPUPUP!!!! LOOK!!!” I was sipping on my morning coffee, got me leaping out of the chair, What, where? LOOK! WTF….hahahahahaha! Why there is a paddling deer nonchanlantly cruising along. It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s not a moose or mighty mouse or Superman but our local one antlered White Tail buck deciding he might try the Wim Hof method of cold water bathing for inflammation! He’s actually probably just evading some hunters or a pack of coyotes hopefully! That’s a first from the deck! He swam across the entire lake!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s not a moose or mighty mouse or Superman but our local one antlered White Tail buck
May the force be with him through these last few days of hunting season, he’s not very wild and trimmed all my hosta’s leaves this Spring:) I told him I didn’t need a gardener but he kept at it anyway;)
So, I’ll have to rely on the clouds, reflections and mother natures palette at sunrise for some brightness and colour. Not a bad way to start the day:) It was above freezing 1°, not quite an end to pyjama photography just need to add a robe! Saludos amigos, now where did I put those winter boots away anyway?! Ha!
There is something so spectacular when the moon rises over the pines, orange as a pumpkin and slowly fades to yellow, then a bright white that hurts your eye almost as you look through the telescope at it. People always rub their eyes after, no it doesn’t hurt your vision but it is so bright you feel blinded for a moment looking out over the dark water of the lake. Then come the reflections…even Jupiter was reflecting the other night, a trail of wobbly light across the water, spectacular.
..and now the clouds again. November is the month I dread the most, before the snow flies and brings some light, the flowers are gone, the birds are fairly quiet and that wind. Brrr….we did have a few moments of sun today and a newly moved in Woodpecker graced the feeder, a beautiful Red-Bellied Woodpecker male. We had a pair back in 2021 so I was thrilled to see this fellow show up with the regulars, he’s shy, but hopefully will get used to us. The backseat of the truck makes an excellent bird blind to keep me out of the wind!
Maybe I’ll join Groot and we can hit the nip together;) It is amazing how well it has survived the frosts and -5° the other morning, still green, still has it’s wonderful nip qualities resulting in fresh and fruity runs down the driveway on the windy mornings in a serpentine pattern;)
He disavows all knowledge of being impaired! No nip to see here, wanna give me a nippalyzer officer? Ha! Rocket has rediscovered one of the joys of November, now that the leaves are gone, he has sunshine on the bed most of the day, when there IS any sun! Ha! Life is good! It is a time to worship the sun God Ra!
I walked out to check the mail. It was such a quiet place. A few chickadees could be heard chirping, it had a solemn feel to it, death of the the year as it goes into slow hibernation. Día de los meurtos, not always human the dead, the leaves, the bugs, the fungus. The potholes filled with rainwater hosted an array of leaves laying as if artistically placed, waiting to be admired and loved in death, like a corpse in a coffin. Those colours, onyx/brown, perfect for November in one of my photo groups, I thought it was onyx or brown but it is actually a colour, a dark brown/black marble like creation of nature.
In the swamp I marveled at the Virginia creeper berries, thinking they might be grapes, leftover, dried, raisins but no! The birds will take care of them soon enough! The only mushrooms visible through the leaves in the forest are the rows and rows of turkeytail on dead and dying trunks and branches. At the culvert I spied a single drop of melted snow on a milkweed seed, it was irresistible, having to photograph that. I climbed out on the culvert, on my knees and lay down so I was the same height as it, pondering one wrong roll would land me in the pond, the chances you take! Ha! I figured I could still hold the camera above the water if I tumbled in, so why not! Ha! Those little marvels of beauty.
I made a note of the locations of the winterholly berries, they are so beautiful. Along the Narrows Lock Road we passed an area that was solid red. I’ll go back to collect some for the Christmas wreaths and to string in the trees for the chickadees. They are so cheerful. But for now, the golden leaves of Fall will be a memory until next year when they burst forth in their last glorious display before falling slowly to the ground. Mike proclaimed seven weeks until Winter, it feels as if it has already arrived:)
Saludos amigos.
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” ― Henry David Thoreau
I know it’s a fleeting thing, these Fall colours, but I do mourn as they fade away, now only the gold and browns of the oaks remain with a few wild red sumacs popping out between, then this morning, our first snow flakes…sigh…The blue Jays are wildly getting ready for the colder months ahead, stashing sunflowers seeds and peanuts, they are the local bullies if you ask the somber yellow goldfinches and chickadees. The woodpeckers ignore them mostly and usually won’t back down from a confrontation. I placed our remaining pumpkins on the picnic table for some colour and the Jays stopped by to check them out, so I put a handful of peanuts out and watched their curiosity and love of peanuts get the better of them!
I call him James Jay, on his majesty’s service, he likes his martinis with peanuts thank you very much!
I am not obsessed with Blue Jays, ha! They are pretty colourful though and fun to watch, they would fall into the local mafia, narcos, extortionist categories if they were human I think. They are bullies lets not be shy here:) So I don’t mind setting them up to do my photo bidding every now and then. It is amazing how fast they can find a few peanuts, they have super sonic peanut radar apparently! We had one tree this week, a glorious little maple with a few bright red leaves left on the lower branches and I was thinking…blue, red, would be a nice combination, so yeah, they work for peanuts my models! I’m wondering if there is a minimum peanut wage for these stars and starlets! Ha!
I just couldn’t resist the last of those red leaves! Not all Blue Jays either, the White Breasted Nuthatches are out doing their acrobatic moves alongside the chickadees but it does seem a bit quiet out there after the hum of summer.
I walked out to check the mail, the road seemed so quiet, not even a rustle. A lone goose was on “Goose Rock” as I walked past the swamp on the road. No frogs in the ditches and not a single butterfly. Not even any mail! Ha! A few very small Autumn Meadowhawks were still whirling about, brave little flying insects. The bumblebees bees keep expiring in the few remaining dahlia flowers, curled up, gone to sleep, never to wake. I can’t bring myself to cut them down, not until all the flowers are gone. It’s like a bumblebee cemetery. Someone asked what happens to the bees, well, only new queens survive the winter, while the rest of the colony dies off. In the fall, male bumble bees mate with future queens from different colonies, and these future queens spend the entire winter underground or in holes in soft wood that are safe and dry. The boys curl up in flowers and pass…
There is the squawk of passing geese, or ones on the water having a disagreement. As I sat under the trailer hitch out of the wind photographing the blue Jays one looked very startled as three Sandhill Cranes flew over, honking loudly, as only sandhill cranes can! He watched them fly over as well! Fascinating as you can hear their wing beats if they are low enough!
It’s not all birds;) or blue jays! Ha! A few squirrels have ventured out of the woods, no red squirrels yet but several black ones and the local small raccoon pulled one feeder down early in the morning. I went out and had a chat, told it about the compost being far more satisfying than a few sunflower seeds, we’ll see if it heeds my advice! Time to put the wildlife cameras up again. The blowing leaves set them off so now we should be good now!
The chipmunk population has dwindled to the few Einstein’s left. Between the fox, we smell it’s pee out by the trailer on a few trees, and the traveling mewberries they are hard on small rodent populations.
It’s wonderful we all have time to work on our Shakespearean insults! So colourful! This morning was a shock with those funny white flakes falling from the sky, outrageous said Gamora, she wanted right back in. The boys hung out over the chipmunk producing hole then we went down to the dock to bail out the canoe, it was chilly! No fish biting at all…sad cats….
Tomorrow they are promising sun, we’ll see. We caught a lucky break Saturday night as Mike had arranged to take his telescope out to the local distillers here in Perth, Top Shelf, they were introducing their “moonshine” spirits, it had been cancelled from the last cloudy Saturday! Friends Graham, a local schoolteacher we know and Ingrid, from Ottawa brought their telescopes out as well to show folks the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Fun times showing people the night sky and helping with cell phone photography, my only known superpower, getting phones to focus on the moon through the eyepiece! ha!! It has been sooooo cloudy, bienvenidos a Canada mis amigos!…and hey, FYI, Top Shelf is a Harvest Host location! Chatted with some campers staying the night there!
For the eclipse October 14-2023-We got a lucky break in the clouds as well. At 1:13 when there was the largest amount of the sun covered for our location. A few cool sunspots as well! With my Canon R5 and Tamron G2150-600 lens at 600mm. I used a Baader Solar filter Mike has for a pair of binoculars that worked well and fit over the telephoto lens.
Thoughts on a gray day...
We closed up the trailer yesterday morning, winterized the water system, swept off the slides and closed them, Rocket wanted to know where the stairs had gone this morning as he sprinted to what he thought might be a warmer place than outside. It’s with a bit of melancholy seeing it put away, almost, batteries still need to come out. Humming this morning…
♫♪♫ Carefree highway Let me slip away on you Carefree highway You’ve seen better days The morning after blues From my head down to my shoes Carefree highway Let me slip away, slip away on you…Thanks Mr. Lightfoot:)
There will be other trips, plans for perhaps an East coast tour of Canada this coming Summer, a winter on the West coast? Could be, I could use a few tacos, wait, I will NEED a few tacos by then:) At least the snow stopped and has turned into a drizzling rain! No shoveling today! Ha!
It hasn’t been all clouds and doom and gloom, it’s actually been unseasonably warm and cloudy the last few weeks, that is why maybe the cold, or “normal” temperatures are a shock. I have had a few early mornings of pyjama (yes, not pajama) photography;) The hats, gloves and mittens are out now, time to find the snow boots as well! Every now and then the sun has poked out at sunset, bathing the far shore in a wonderful glow of soft colours and warmth, simply astounding.
I salute whoever was in charge of the colour palette!
The paper birches are white twigs now on the far shore, I am glad the pines add such a wonderful splash of green to an ever monochromatic scene of gray and blue. I will be relying on the light for the next six months to bring me some colour! And yes, there is beauty in the gray as well:)
Grey days and reflections
….and there is always that wonderful red canoe. As I bailed it out this morning I was hoping the wind might die down, for a quick paddle to catch the last few oaks reflected in the waters surface. We’ll see! It’s better than what my thermometer told me the other morning, bit of a shock! Ha! It warmed up quickly when I replaced the batteries! Ha! Great joke pre coffee…NOT! Hahahahaha! Saludos amigos, hasta pronto! I have sushi photos and moonrises still to come! ♫♪♫ Rainy days and Mondays…I’m not going to let it get me down!
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien
It was the temperature change, it was summer, summer, summer and we knew it was coming, but those first cold gray days always eat into my soul, especially when it’s a weeks worth. With the warm came the colours, they didn’t wait for the gray and rain, it was glorious. The high winds have laid naked the small colourful trees as some of the giant maples remain green, it is odd. My mind wanders to travel, but not this Winter.
Those warm temperatures lulled me into a sense of timeless late Summer. It was so comfortable. A pair of trumpeter swans, named Graham and Joyce I was told were paddling around the bay one afternoon. Apparently, they are regulars at Long Lake but have been absent the last few years, it was wonderful to see these huge majestic birds up close as I paddled over. I sat in the canoe and watched them, not wanting to disturb them, they swam past an oasis of colours, reflections on the still-calm lake.
“All about birds: Trumpeter Swans demand superlatives: they’re our biggest native waterfowl, stretching to 6 feet in length and weighing more than 25 pounds – almost twice as massive as a Tundra Swan. Getting airborne requires a lumbering takeoff along a 100-yard runway. Despite their size, this once-endangered, now-recovering species is as elegant as any swan, with a graceful neck and snowy-white plumage.
Trumpeter Swans are impressively large—males average over 26 pounds, making them North America’s heaviest flying bird. To get that much mass aloft the swans need at least a 100-meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off.
Starting in the 1600s, market hunters and feather collectors had decimated Trumpeter swan populations by the late 1800s. Swan feathers adorned fashionable hats, women used swan skins as powder puffs, and the birds’ long flight feathers were coveted for writing quills. Aggressive conservation helped the species recover by the early 2000s. Overhunting of muskrats and beavers may have harmed Trumpeter Swans, too: the swans nest on their dens and dams. As the rodents’ populations recovered, the breeding habitat for the swans also improved.
Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do switch mates over their lifetimes. Some males that lost their mates did not mate again.
The swans spend significant time preening, rubbing their bills in the oil-secreting uropygial gland near the base of the tail, then distributing the oil over the feathers to waterproof them. Swans form long-lasting pairs and may identify a nesting site when less than 2 years old, but often wait several more years to breed.
Trumpeter Swans take an unusual approach to incubation: they warm the eggs by covering them with their webbed feet. To feed, Trumpeter Swans skim vegetation from the surface, dip their long necks underwater to forage, and tip like dabbling ducks with the rear half of their body in the air as they scour for algae, leaves, stems and roots of pondweeds and other plants. They also pump their large, webbed feet up and down to create water currents that free roots from surrounding mud.
Trumpeter Swans are mainly vegetarians, although they occasionally eat small fish and fish eggs. Younger birds also eat aquatic insects before switching to a plant-dominated diet. Day and night, the birds feed on a broad range of aquatic plants, including pondweeds, eelgrass, marestail, sedges, rushes, duckweed, wild rice and algae. To feed underwater they tip in the air like dabbling ducks, rooting beneath the surface to twist and pull up vegetation or freeing roots by paddling their feet in the mud. In winter they eat a higher percentage of terrestrial plants and berries, such as blueberries, cranberries, lupine, wheatgrass, broom, and ryegrass. Grain crops, including corn and barley, and tubers such as potatoes and carrots also make up part of the wintertime diet.”
Clouds started to move in as I paddled back….
They are an early morning alarm clock, they don’t call them Trumpeter swans for nothing;) Ha! As I got back to the dock they swam over. All I had to offer were a few sunflower seeds. The male came over at first and nibbled them out of my hand, then Joyce was brave enough to sample some as well. I promised them cut up apples for the afternoon if they were hanging around:) They are VERY large but exceeding polite birds!:) Something magical about having them eat out of your hand:)
Such amazing reflections and magical swans!
The weather was just too nice, we broke records last week, 30° Celcius In October…0_0…86° Flinstone scale! So the highs of 10° yesterday with howling winds and rain were a shock, even when you do know they are coming.
The few remaining bugs, mostly Common Eastern Bumblebees have been clinging to the last of the dahlia blooms at night, no frost yet so they are still beautiful. A Banded Tussock Moth and his mini-me were crawling along the basement door, the mini-me, I think may have become his next meal! 0_0! I spied a butterfly on my walk out to the mailboxes, a Pearl Crescent, and a few young bullfrogs in the swamp. The Autumn Meadhawks are still flitting over the swamps. I spied a larger dark-coloured dragonfly but it was busy flying and did not land. A new to me beetle was clamouring across the gravel as well. Commonly known as Blister beetles. The name derives from their defensive strategy: when threatened by collectors or predators they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints (legs, neck, and antennae). This fluid is bright orange and contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical compound. Wiping the chemical on skin can cause blistering and painful swelling of the skin. As with all other members of Meloidae, the larval cycle is hypermetamorphic; the larva goes through several body types, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin that finds and attaches to a host in order to gain access to the host’s offspring. They usually climb onto a flower head and await a bee there. They will then attach themselves to the bee. If it is a male, they wait for mating with a female. They will switch to the female when this takes place. If the bee is a female, however, she will take them back to her nest unwittingly. Once in the nest, the larvae morph into a grub-like “couch potato” and feed upon all of the provisions and the larva. Next, they form a pupa and emerge in various seasons depending on the species. Each species of Meloe may attack only a single species or genus of bs. Some are generalists. Though sometimes considered parasitoids, it appears that in general, the Meloe larva consumes the bee larva along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone. So, you catch a ride on a female bee and become a couch potato in her hive while consuming her grubs, isn’t nature somewhat gruesome, weird and amazing!
There are only a few Asters blooming for the rest of the bugs out there. I collected some baneberry and holly seeds to dry, we’ll see how that works. The true splendour was in the canopy above me as I walked down the road. In the swamps the reds are fierce, the birches have lost their leaves already but the maples, they range in all the colours from green to yellow to orange to red.
You start humming a James Taylor tune…:) Or it could be a John Denver one as well;)
“Take to the highway won’t you lend me your name Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child Mama don’t understand it She wants to know where I’ve been I’d have to be some kind of natural-born fool I wanna pass that way again But I could feel it, oh On a country road”
But it’s fleeting these magnificent colours and warmth. You have to appreciate every day the sun shines and when the wind still sunsets and sunrises bring their magic. Those moments when not a breath of wind is in the air and the fallen leaves are floating, waiting to get moved away by the morning breeze…
Still working on that #LittleRedCanoe calendar for 2024! Ha! We have had a few evenings this week where the sun has appeared under the clouds just as it was setting, as if to remind us of the wonder, even after a day of rain and wind. Astounding beauty can be found:) When you casually look out the window after looking at your photos of soggy maple leaves in the rain all afternoon and see this! The sun came out at the last minute! Holy F@*k Batman! Isn’t nature grand!
I can’t read the news, my heart aches for the death and destruction happening in our beautiful world. Man is man’s worst enemy, will we ever evolve? C’mon Darwin!
I’ll leave it there, still so much to do. The swim ladder needs to be pulled and painted, dahlias, well, they get to keep blooming for the bees but the cannas and gladiolas have been pulled and are drying, last of the tomatoes are in, the trailer needs to be winterized, and the list never ends, we are never, really ready for Winter! The Traveling Mewberries were not impressed by the last few days of rain…Time to get out their wee winter coats I told them! Stay tuned! If you are looking for a beautiful book to read, our wonderful friend Jennifer gave me this to peruse last time we were down at the barn, she said it reminded her of my blogs. I was very much flattered by that after reading it: “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” by Edith Holden.A remarkable journey through the seasons month by month with stunning drawings and poems, I think I would have liked Edith very much! While reading through the book a poem about March by William Wordsworth stuck a cord, read it, the last line…
Do you love leaning over for great lengths of time, want to firm up your abs, have a good set of knee pads already, and don’t mind playing with cement and grout? Maybe pebble mosaics making is for you! 😉
The round garden and pathin Baja California flashback 2014
I was younger then…hahahaha! 2014 and my knees were younger as well! There was well over 160′ of paths, it took me a while and the rocks were so easy to source. A drive down to the coast netted me various colours and presorted sizes of these lovely beach pebbles to work with! They came in feed sacks, weighed, way more than feed, but the guys would load them up down at the beach and I’d drive them back to the ranch.
I had great ambitions this Spring as we were leaving Baja and convinced Mike a few sacks of the pebbles in the back of the truck would be out of the way and hey, it’s a big truck, it wouldn’t notice a few more hundred pounds of rocks would it? They were already bagged up so I didn’t get a chance to see them super well, they were blue, 1″ I thought, but turns out most were quite a bit smaller, sigh, that just means they take WAY more time to place but it also lets you add better detail. Still interested? Go buy this book!
Maggie Howarth’s book is the bible for pebble moaiscs! https://www.maggyhowarth.co.uk/ A big thank you to Stefan and Stephanie who gifted me a new and expanded version of the book!
She goes through all the steps you need to do these, but you do need to practice with stone flow, filling, and of course designs. I sketched out most of what I wanted to do, then added the pebble shapes in pencil to see what direction they needed to go. In Baja it was easy, we were all sand, everywhere, just playing with pebbles beside the path, laying them out, then moving them over when I was ready…not here in Canada. Did I mention our house actually sits on one huge rock?! That was then…this is now:
First, acquire pebbles! I had the four large bags I brought back from Baja, plus two I bought in San Diego of the maroon colour, then I knew it wasn’t going to be enough so I dragged Mike all over Ottawa looking for pebbles until I came upon Cohen and Cohen Natural Stone. All in search of those beach pebbles from Baja. Careful here, this store could be addictive! I wandered around glassy-eyed staring at rocks, big as VW’s to tiny wee bits of stone…heaven! Apparently, most people start these projects in Spring the lovely lady explained as I fondled their large box of sample stones up front. No, I didn’t steal any! They didn’t have many left, but she’d take me back and show me. They had GREEN ones! I was very very happy, and some beautiful semi-polished beige ones as well. I took their last 5 bags, sorry folks, you’ll have to wait for Spring now! I felt like Gollum clutching at the one ring with my rocks!
I went home and started sorting. Buckets are great for this, separate by colour, and size. Also, have someone strong go with you to get the sand and cement;) ha! I Baja, I would go into the arroyo with the tractor bucket, scoop up some sand, then sift it through various mesh sizes to get my mix, not here! OMG, you can just buy sand! Clean, perfect sand! I was cheating I felt…and a bag of Portland cement. I asked about premixed bags of cement but they all were with gravel, no good at all! Now, back home to plan!
You need some stonework to contain your pebble mosaics. I walked around our large rock here, and found dozens of small rocks that fit the bill to make a framework to work within. I then built a 32″ x 32″ frame of wood, put it on the ground, and filled it with the wonderful sand, this was the starting point of the designs. Caution, if you have cats, such a frame was approached with great glee the first day, dug in, half the sand flung out as happy cats spun around in it, and pooped in…sigh…note to self, cover frame with white tarp, especially if there is a partial design on the go!
The actual first preparation was getting a small load of crushed rock/gravel dumped in front of the alcove. I needed to level the area off I was working in so water would run off. I wetted it down and tamped it with a piece of wood…Baja style, a 2″x 6″X 12″ long with a handle screwed on, for several days until I was satisfied it was really well packed down. I’m a bit worried about the freeze and thaw but we’ll see! Life is an adventure right?!
I’d seen some pebble mosaics surrounded by white rocks so I thought I might give it a try. The first bag I bought was marble, too soft and falling apart, perhaps suited to potted plants but not mosaics. I also went looking for glass pebbles to do the wings of the dragonfly and bumblebee I’d planned. See, still sourcing rocks! Walmart had glass pebbles for vases so I bought two bags of those and found some 1″ ones online, and ordered them, Amazon can be handy! I did read to keep the glass pebbles out of high-traffic areas so decided they would be on my right, where we don’t walk in as much. Then to the planning!
Decided on a bumblebee to fill the first small corner, the dragonfly was getting too big! Those wings! Finally found some smaller white stones that were not too soft. Added some stones around the white that I brought back from Baja. After the design is set into the dry cement and sand mix I tamp it down with a 2″ x 6″ X 1″ board and hammer very gently to try to get it as level as possible. I angled this one down for drainage. Then it gets sprayed with a hand sprayer until thoroughly soaked, repeat every four hours then tomorrow again until it is set. I use the board to stop the work, seams are always tough! This is where the practice comes in! I found a small sprayer for insecticides/fertilizer at Home Hardware for under $30. Not too heavy, easy to fill, and pump up as well. I was happy for some extra cushions below my knees on top of the tiling pads I have! My knees appear to be saying I am not immortal…Ha!
The next day I retrieved my shade umbrella from the front, if I am going to abuse my knees, at least it will be shady abuse!
Dragonfly was moved from the frame full of sand to the cement and sand mix beside the bumblebee. I mix small batches in the wheelbarrow, one cement, and three sand, mix and mix and mix until it is absolutely all the same colour! I fill the area I’m working in about 2-2.5″ deep, giving me room to tamp down the bigger pebbles. After I place the main design I think: try to keep following the flow, like water, rivers, eddies forming circles. Creating a bit of movement. In Mexico initially, I did a lot of straight lines but this needed something different, you learn to look at the pebbles and sizes and create other small designs in those spaces you are filling. I’d forgotten the leaning over the entire design for hours feeling…That’s what those stomach muscles are for!
I struggled with a few different bird of prey designs but this one fit the space. I got it a bit close to the edge of the alcove but was happy I found a perfect stone for the beak! One of the several hundred rocks I picked up in Baja, Arizona, and New Mexico walking on trails and around the campgrounds! This was a bit larger, longer, all those small rocks, yikes, that took a few hours of sitting, placing, sorting, getting up and moving around, then going back to placing! I was running out of the burgundy rocks I brought back from Baja, I was even using the ugly ones, not symmetrical, placing them along the edge of the house where they were less noticeable! I did have @4 80lb bags of the smaller-than-I-anticipated rocks! Ha!
For the last design I struggled making mushrooms, they just didn’t look right, I still had a bunch of the beautiful green and beige semi-polished pebbles so decided a turtle it was going to be!
I used all the remaining burgundy stones and had to switch over to the small blue ones to finish the project. I’d get up every 20 minutes and sort through another giant pail of tiny blue rocks, picking out the biggest ones to use! Then it was done! The base design! It now needed to be cured for a week or so. I wanted to see how the smaller pebbles held up as well. It was watered twice a day, this time with just the hose for the entire week, or more, while I went in search of a sanded grout colour I liked. Yes, it still needed to be grouted! ha!
I apply approximately a 1/2″ layer, sometimes more, of dry sanded coloured grout and use a soft paintbrush to ensure it gets into every small crevice and crack then it is misted with a sprayer just until water pools. Then you have to go over it a few times to ensure the bubbles and small holes are filled. Occasionally you have to go back after it is dry to fill small missed spots or where it is too thin. I missed a few bits that were too high with cement that I had to chip out with a chisel and apply more grout to several small spots. Once it’s cured for a few days, it gets sprayed for the next week, I can use grout remover/muriatic acid on the white and light-colored rocks to remove any grout haze, then seal it! I did finally find some “earth” coloured grout at Home Depot, bonus was it was on sale for $11 a 25lb bag…woohoo! I bought the last three they had, wasn’t sure how much I would need. I have leftovers for the next project…mwhahahahahaha!
I left it for a few weeks after grouting, took my time, cleaned the grout haze off the white rocks, filled a few more holes, and looked around for sealer. Our friends Pam and Graham mentioned they had used a concrete sealer around their stamped pool edge and asked if I wanted to come look. I wanted a bit of a sheen, and hopefully, something to protect from the freeze and thaw cycle. I liked the way the sealer looked, they told me to take the 5-gallon can and use what I needed, which turned out to be only about 5 cups worth, and then to bring it back! Thanks you two! So ta-dah, the finished project! I waited until the leaves were not blowing about too much and got out the knee pads and cushions for one more spell! I applied the sealer with a brush, the small foam roller wasn’t working getting into the smaller crevices and it looks beautiful!
I will let you know in the Spring how the freeze-thaw worked out and snow removal as well;) Excuse my shadow here!
I just can’t help myself when they start flying over, not my husband’s favorite movie, but I know ALL the words to the songs! They have been paddling by as well, Fall, first day, sigh. Hummingbirds are gone, the feeders I’ll leave up until the end of the month for any straggler, but the last sound of wings was two nights ago. I do miss them, it seems so quiet. I did get a few lovely photos right up until the last day! They were ignoring the flowers and heading straight for the sugar water, the jet fuel of migration!
It never ceases to amaze me these feather-light birds go so far, maybe I’m a bit envious, Mexico will sound good in January! This Winter we are sticking out with the Chickadees and Woodpeckers! Nearly all the winter wood is in and stacked, taking a break today, sat and watched the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. The Pileated put in a brief appearance as it called and hammered a few tree trunks and then moved on through the forest. Hopefully, they’ll come back for the suet block this Winter.
The Goldfinches are still feeding babies, they nest so late! The White Breasted Nutchatches are fighting over territories and rights, always a kerfuffle when they are around and the trees, green in one direction, red in another, Gold to the left, yellow and brown to the right! Absolutely stunning. It’s later this year but Mike pointed out that with no stress from the moths, they have had a much better summer. The apple trees lining the hedgerows and in people’s yards are covered wherever you look, speaking to a successful year of flowers and fruit.
Did I mention the bugs, daytime ones anyway, are gone! Hallef*ckinglujah! I can walk out to check the mailbox without being carried away by deer flies! I can amble, oh dear, that means stopping to take pictures of course, it’s not exercise Mike says the way I do it…Ha! It takes time to see all the sights! The new bugs, and dragonflies, the few remaining butterflies, and fruits, on trees and shrubs, I have to see it all! There are still a few mushrooms out there as well! One MUST explore! 🙂
..and all the berries! I’m checking stock for those winter wreaths! ha! The birds will probably beat me to all the holly! The grapes are already being eaten! The Bittersweet Nightshade we will avoid! Pretty, but not to be consumed along with the White Baneberry!
..and the flowers, those last beautiful blooms before Fall are upon us and the frosts turn everything brown! Asters and Goldenrod, Queen Anne’s Lace and Nodding Beggarticks…WTF??? Hahahahaha! Who gets to name these things? I love the Gentiana andrewsii, the bottle gentian, closed gentian, or closed bottle gentian, it’s a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the gentian family. The flower never opens. According to iNaturalist: The closed flowers make entrance to feed on pollen or nectar difficult for many species of insects. Those strong enough to enter through the top of the flower include the digger bee species Anthophora terminalis and the bumblebee species Bombus fervidus, Bombus griseocollis, and Bombus impatiens. The eastern carpenter bee chews a narrow slit at the base of the flower and “steals” nectar without pollinating the plant, a behavior known as nectar robbing. The holes in the petals created by this species allow smaller insects to also access the nectar and pollen, including the honeybee, the green sweat bee species, and the eastern masked bee. Isn’t our natural world amazing!
…and one frilly mushroom! I believe this is Rhodocollybia maculata, also known as the Spotted Toughshank. There are also a few red Chanterelles still poking their way up through the old leaves! Turkey Tails are growing on the dead branches and trunks of soon-to-fall trees.
At one of the hills, we came upon a Bald-faced Hornet’s nest! Such a delicate work of art hanging by a thin thread. Feather-light, I gave it a good berth, allergic to these guys! I’ll be back in Winter to save the nest if it survives once the hornets are gone!
I avoided getting too close to this Bald-faced Hornet’s nest! It was a beauty though!
and the caterpillars! Wow! They never cease to amaze me with their furry bits and bumps and man, they are just wonderfully weird! It’s always amazing to see what moth or butterfly they will actually turn into!
The Tiger Moth caterpillar is busy making its way through all the leaves on a sunflower plant. It has a few left to go. I wonder where it will cocoon? He has a racing stripe down his underside and such a furry back! This morning he/she/it was covered in dew drops! A large bumblebee was buried in one of the dahlias, once it warmed and dried off it, it was off flying. So much life in these potted flowers beside the driveway! An eastern Comma was out flying about, This butterfly seldom visits flowers, but rather feeds on sap, rotting fruit, salts and minerals from puddling, and dung. He was interested in the woodpile!..and the frogs…Ha!
The resident Gray Tree Frog, he lives with his spouse in the cushion bin. I often have to move him to get at the cushions. Today I placed him on a canna lily leaf as I took the cushions out to sit on them, then put him back, it doesn’t seem to trouble him in any way;) His young ones, several of them I think, are tiny! Barely an inch across and very very green. Mike rescued one from Rocket who seized it inside by the screen, it must have squeezed in through one of the holes! It was safely placed back outside! The traveling mewberries consider the frogs a source of amusement, we take them away to safety when we can but apparently, frog legs are very tasty as well! The beautiful toad was down at Plum Hollow, what a fabulous creature! So much life!
Apparently, lying down on the ground to photograph a mushroom…or a leaf…Causes great consternation to Mr. Groot…Perhaps he is worried I have died……and won’t be able to feed him, feeble human that I am;) Ha! No lying down and photographing he says! So many rules these cats!
Anyway, this is beginning to feel like a novela so I will sign off! Next up, pebble mosaics! I will explain in better detail what is involved in making these fun projects! It’s time for a paddle to check out some colours soon too!
Hard to resist these morning reflections!
…and wait…one more shot, this one I managed to clean up, it was very noisy and far away but it really did make me chuckle all morning long! A juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird had been exploring the red flowers I have in one one the baskets, they are nearing their end and the flower came off on his beak. He flew away, not amused, and pondered just how to get the “Holy Mary, mother of Jesus” flower off his frickin’ beak! Ha! I don’t think he was amused at my chuckling from far away;) He shook his head, looked left and right and up and down before using his small wee foot to remove it…I felt he might be of Irish descent and all, with his swearing…hahahahaha! Isn’t nature grand!
…and it was a scorcher! With 32 classes to start they were still dragging the ring a half hour after start time and we waited! I think Jennifer groaned audibly at me, “You said we’d be done early!” She proclaimed, last year it had all gone quickly and we were done by 4, maybe not this time! Horse Shows! I was glad she had decided to judge, I told her misery loves company! I appreciate her amazing eye, I’m still looking at a horse’s pretty face and she can tell me it’s not tracking up from behind, right hind leg before I have even gotten past the ears! She has ridden all the disciplines and has so much knowledge, so a great person to judge and help anyone coming up in the ranks! And hey, we were in the shaded building on the edge of the ring, judges, announcer and the amazing Kristyn who organized it all! Not me, I was out in the sun for the first half of the day before admitting defeat and retreating for the 2nd half of the show to take pictures from the building only!
Perth Fair ribbons and prizes!
This wonderful Fair is run mostly by volunteers. We ran the Hunter Horse Show for many years when we had Ranyhyn Farm, our equestrian center, so it is nice to lend a hand, a chance for local kids to shine, taking photos and dragging the jumps around is the least I can do! We were well fed by Tommy, delicious pulled pork sandwiches, what else could you want! It started with the English Classes.
Perth Fair English classes
There was only one bad pony with a tough little rider and all day long we only lost one kid, bucked off, to an over-enthusiastic horse! It wasn’t a hard hit to the ground so all got up, brushed off the sand and carried on! The came the Western classes…
Western Classes
and then the pairs classes:)
Pairs Class
I got a few headshots of the beautifully clean and turned-out horses, the tongue wagger was very comedic. There was a Spanish-speaking family standing next to me at the ring laughing, “Qué divertido esa lengua!” I had to chuckle along with them as well! Provided that the rider is not pulling on the metal bit, and causing pain, it may just be a habit, expression of anxiety, or expression of concentration. Every case can be different.
A few participants
The we stopped for lunch before the jumping! We had a few hands to help us set up and measure the course that Kristyn had made up. I sat and watched some of the rides as we ate. I zoomed in on some of the faces on one ride, having fun? Not sure;) Ha! We agreed the teacups, or merry-go-round might be more our style;)
The heavy horse and mini show had also started out towards the Scotch Line, that can always cause even the quietest horse to have a look at loudspeakers blaring and jingling harnesses! And those minnies! Way too cute! Please tell me those barrels are full of wine! My perfect ride! hahahaha! I’ll take the large barrel por favor! Merci!
Maxies and minis!
The jumping was fun, as always, we had a few cringes and crossed fingers, stay on kid! Hang in there, what amazing ponies, doing their jobs. Brings back memories of many previous shows!
Perth Fair Jumping
Perth Fair over fences classes
I did miss a few rounds as the camera battery started to die before it had processed about 60 shots, Perhaps I was shooting too quickly and given the 31° temperature, it wasn’t happy either! I found a corner to stand in where I had a clear shot of the fences, in the shade, Whew…I was sweating even there! These kids and adults are tough, not to mention the horses!
Costume Classes
After the over-fences classes, we pulled the rails and standards to the side of the ring while the Costume class participants were getting ready. My favourite part of the show! We had a John Deer Tractor, Harry Potter Pony, a Pirate, a butterfly (?) (too damn cute!), Barbie, A Harley Pony, a busted orange-clad pony and a cop and Yoda with Chewbacca:) I had to admit the cop was my favourite, the pony, Slick’n’Dry was busted for impeding traffic;) Ha!
…and there was more!!! The games! Egg and spoon, the last egg left in the spoon wins after the walk, trot, canter, and multiple stops! Water cup, the most amount of water left in the cup after several maneuvers wins! Relay race, timed, and whew…we were done!
Perth Fair Games
Shouts out to all the volunteers at the Fair and Kristyn who did an amazing job putting the Family Fun Horse Show together! Jennifer did a wonderful job judging, kids even came and asked for more advice, love to see that! Announcers/ring stewards Amanda and Janet, thank you as well! And many thanks to Tommy for lunch! I think it took me as long to go through the photos as the entire horse show! I posted a link online here at the website for the kids and adults to download the pictures, free of charge for them to share and keep. I’ll leave it up for a while, many more pictures there if you want to have a look.
So, we’ll wait for next year’s Fair! Maybe I’ll get out and take a look around at the rides and heavy horses if it’s not boiling again! Look for those casks of wine;) Ha! Saludos amigos! Salutations aux amis!
In a few days we’ll be saying goodbye, or just one morning, they will be gone, that whirring sound of wings and squeaky chirps defending feeders, flowers, and perches. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird adults, males and females are gone, headed South, just the juveniles remain, playing tag at the feeder, seeing who is the toughest, stopping for a drink or to look at a possibly edible nectar-filled flower!
How do I know they are juveniles? They can’t figure out how the feeder works! Ha! And they are trying all the flowers, very cautiously, is this one good, or not? Fun to watch! Groot, Gamora, and Rocket say they would like to be hummingbird photography assistants in the morning when I sit, drink my coffee, and watch their antics. I have assured them I need the hummingbirds flying, not brought to me in their clenched jaws…;)
They still think they could be helpers;) Ha! Those sad faces…get me every time! At least they get to watch! The flower baskets are still popular out at the lakeside, everything that is red is game and out the other side they have been exploring the zinnias, dahlias, and gladiolas.
The Canna lilies are again a hit this year! I’ll dig them up after the first hard frost and store them in the basement with the dahlias, gladiolas, and crocosmias bulbs until the Spring. Next Spring I’d like to plant more in pots on the deck, where I can sit and really enjoy the show!
Nailed that landing!
We delivered the kittens’ Torch and Mask to Mike’s friend Dave after they quarantined for two weeks in the trailer. It was sad to see them go but at least we can go visit and watch them grow! Their sniffles were cleaned up, first shots, no more goopy eyes and eating us out of house and home! Ha! The traveling mewberries said there were terrible little mini me’s in the trailer, they wanted nothing to do with them! Let them be GONE! Three is just fine they said, NO MORE! Hahahahaha! Rocket thought he was being replaced I think:( Poor guy!
The trailer is cleaned and ready to be winterized. We’ve had it for sale, thinking of something a bit smaller but the market has been soft, if it doesn’t sell, maybe we’ll take it East next Summer and explore some of Canada we have never seen! We looked at a few newer ones at a dealer, Oh my we are spoiled with the quality of that DRV, everything else seems so flimsy and poorly made. We’ll have to look for something older to find the sturdiness and workmanship we cherish in what we have!
In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye out for these guys tomorrow morning while I drink my coffee. I may need a blanket! Our hot snap gave way to cooler temperatures today and finally some rain in the early morning hours. We needed that! Trees are starting to turn here and there, Fall is coming. Stay tuned for some fun shots from the Perth Fair Horse Show and my latest pebble project! Saludos amigos and Hello September! Did I mention I love Fall! Ha!
It was still pretty dark at 6 a.m. but those cloud reflections were too pretty to pass up! Colour faded quickly but it was a beautiful sight for twenty minutes or so:)
Those flat calm days, where the canoe will glide through the water by just thinking, well almost, I wish I had those powers! Our neighbours down the lake had said the osprey nest was full of activity so I took a few hours, poodled (our riding version of taking a nice slow walk on horseback around the field, go for a poodle!) around the far bay first and then slowly made my way down the lake in the lee, no wind. It was quiet, I hunted down a few dragonflies, stared at some bluegills below the surface of the water but hardly a bird to be seen.
I reached the island and turned the corner and I saw a tremendous splashing going on, at first I thought the bird might be in distress, so I inched closer and then just sat and watched for a while, a loon was having a magnificent bath. It truly looked like it was trying to dislodge something from itself but no, just having a wild and crazy time. I was getting some shade from the clouds and it was almost windless so I sat and watched.
“Extreme preening” Ha! Occasionally a loon will bathe more vigorously, splashing its wings in the water, doing somersaults and plunge dives, and aggressively tending to its feathers with its bill. This behavior is often reported as a loon trying to remove tangled fishing line. But the loon is actually giving itself a thorough bath, trying to remove mites and other parasites. To a loon, it may feel good – like jumping into a lake on a really hot day!
I was humming ♫♪♫ Splish Splash I was taking a bath!
They was a-splishing and a-splashing, reelin’ with the feelin’.
Moving and a-grooving, rocking and a-rolling, yeah!
I was a rolling and a-strolling, reeling with the feeling.
Moving and a-groovin’, splishing and a-splashing, yeah! ♫♪♫
A preening loon may roll onto its side or back and pull at its breast and belly feathers with its bill, or, stick one leg in the air and paddle in circles. It may rub its head against its back and shoulders to disperse oil. Loons and other birds secrete oil from a gland at the base of the tail called the uropygial gland. When preening, loons take oil from this gland in their bills and use it to coat their feathers.
While I let the occasional breeze blow me about in the canoe out of the corner of my eye I caught this ones mate, or buddy, just quietly paddling along, diving occasionally, not the raucous show this one was putting on for me. Occasionally it would dive and come up fifteen or twenty feet from the canoe, not a care in the world other than trying to have a bath! It could care less that I was there, the crazy loon voyeur;) Ha!
I did mention Loony right? A legend says that to see a Loon means a dream will come true or a wish will be answered. Why do loons flap constantly while they are flying? I can hear them going over head! Thanks to their tiny wings, loons simply can’t glide or soar, but must ALWAYS flap to stay aloft. Loon wings are so small compared to their body weight that even with strong flapping they can’t support the weight of the loon in the air if they’re missing a couple of feathers. For loons, daily preening is necessary in order to maintain the waterproofing of their feathers and keep them aligned. Individual feathers are like shingles on a roof, their interlocking structure creates a barrier so that water cannot reach the skin. Loons bathe to clean their feathers and rid themselves of feather lice or other external parasites.
When swimming, loons typically rely solely on their feet for propulsion, however, they may use their wings as paddles to help ‘row’ themselves across the water when they need to escape a situation quickly. Male and female loons have identical plumage, which makes them nearly impossible to tell apart by sight alone. Although males are generally about 25% larger than females, this size difference is difficult to determine. Adult loons weigh from 7 to 15 pounds and measure roughly 3 feet from bill tip to outreached feet.
I completely forgot about the ospreys! The sun did finally come out from behind the clouds, I was just hoping I caught this Loon fast enough to see all the water droplets flying about! It was magical! I was looking forward to a tailwind paddling back as I’d paddled against the wind to get down to the islands but the workout Gods must have been chuckling as the wind turned around again and I had to huff and puff to make it back to the dock. Dastardly wind gods!
I was thrilled to be able to just sit quietly and watch these magnificent birds. Sorry about the loon dump of photos, I couldn’t just pick a few! They showed no distress and went about bathing and preening their feathers until a motorboat buzzed by and they gave out a few howling wails and calls…just goes to show how much we actually disturb wildlife, humans seem to be good at that… I have missed our baby, sadly it didn’t make it. Whether the eagle got it, or bad weather, or just bad luck who can say. It was hard to listen to the parents wailing, looking, mourning. They carried on their cries for about two weeks before moving on. I hope they return next year and with any luck, can raise two. It’s a precarious life that of a baby loon. I’ll sign off with my favourite shot of the day, such joy, we need more of this in all our lives! Saludos y abrazos amigos.
The pure joy of water:) For my friend Joanne, may she fly free.
Summer does this every year, it flies by, it doesn’t matter if you are busy or not, happy, sad or outright crazy, it flies by;) The rains came, and they haven’t stopped. If I could wave my magic wand, if I had one, (does anyone know of a wand store near Ottawa? Ha!) well, I’d do a lot of things, bring loved ones back, send clouds to British Columbia, move hurricanes out of people’s paths, create world peace, yeah, if only I had a wand. I’ll simply welcome the rain when and where it falls, no matter how hard or drenching, I’m sure every living thing out there is soaking it up, especially the mushrooms.
I’ve seen varieties I didn’t even know existed, a few that are regulars every year, and then some downright crazy-coloured ones as well! I asked Mike to pull over on our road to see what the hell those bright red things were, did someone throw out some plastic, were they geranium petals, What? I was wondering but no, nature’s marvels! Candy Apple Waxy Cap (Hygrocybe cuspidata). Such a bright red! I decided to take a slow walk around the yard, getting down to eye level a few times to see just what WAS growing in the grass, I didn’t have the heart to cut it to the south of the house there were so many things popping up!
On the North side of the lawn, these were my finds. The Common Funnel (Infundibulicybe gibba), it was full of rain before I picked it up to bring it into the light, where Fairies bathe;) it is growing out of an old piece of tree trunk/bark. The Common Gilled Mushrooms and Allies(Order Agaricales) meaning…I dunno what the hell it is! Ha! We call these LBMs (little brown mushrooms) a friend remarked. And FYI, all ID’s are not set in stone so don’t eat any you are not 100% sure of or you may be taking a trip, not walking, good, or bad one to the hospital! The Red-mouth Bolete(Boletus subvelutipes) or what I call the “double dong” had me chuckling all week. A model for a double stick onto the floor didlo perhaps? I saw it in a catalog once! Ha! Commonly known as the red-mouth bolete, is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is found in Asia and North America, where it fruits on the ground in a mycorrhizal association with both deciduous and coniferous trees. Its fruit bodies (mushrooms) have a brown to reddish-brown cap, bright yellow cap flesh, and a stem covered by furfuraceous to punctate ornamentation and dark red hairs at the base. Its flesh instantly stains blue when cut, but slowly fades to white. The fruit bodies are poisonous, and produce symptoms of gastrointestinal distress if consumed. So, yup, not for dinner. Now, Coral Fungi-Genus Ramaria, it’s almost like you are underwater! The genus Ramaria comprises approximately 200 species of coral fungi. Several, such as Ramaria flava, are edible and picked in Europe, though they are easily confused with several mildly poisonous species capable of causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; these include R. formosa and R. pallida. Three Ramaria species have been demonstrated to contain a very unusual organoarsenic compound homoarsenocholine. Now that is a mouthful! But, no thanks again! But! Eastern Black Trumpet (Craterellus fallax) you can eat these!!! Skip the Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum) not edible;) Ha!
So many different kinds of Amanita. Amanita multisquamosa or the small funnel-veil amanita is a species of Amanita from the coniferous forest of eastern North America. They have such beautiful patterns on them! Marasmius oreades, also known as the fairy ring mushroom or fairy ring champignon, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause some confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as the edible Agaricus campestris and the poisonous Chlorophyllum molybdites. Marasmius oreades is a choice edible mushroom. Its sweet taste lends it to baked goods such as cookies. It is also used in foods such as soups, stews, etc. Traditionally, the stems (which tend to be fibrous and unappetizing) are cut off and the caps are threaded and dried in strings. A possible reason why this mushroom is so sweet-tasting is due to the presence of trehalose, a type of sugar that allows M. oreades to resist death by desiccation. When exposed to water after being completely dried out, the trehalose is digested as the cells completely revive, causing cellular processes, including the creation of new spores, to begin again. How cool is that!
Leucoagaricus leucothites, the white dapperling, or white Agaricus mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus. The species was originally described as Agaricus leucothites by Carlo Vittadini in 1835, and bears similarity to species of that genus. Solomon Wasser transferred it to Leucoagaricus in 1977. While sometimes regarded as edible, the species is suspected of being poisonous due to gastric-upset-causing toxins. It could also be confused with the deadly Amanita ocreata. We’ll skip that one, and a weed? Laccaria laccata, commonly known as the deceiver, or waxy laccaria, is a white-spored species of small edible mushroom found throughout North America and Europe. It is a highly variable mushroom (hence ‘deceiver’), and can look quite washed out, colorless and drab, but when younger it often assumes red, pinkish brown, and orange tones. The species is often considered by mushroom collectors to be a ‘mushroom weed’ because of its abundance and plain stature. So much to learn!
We went for dinner down the lake at Stefanie and Stefan’s lovely cottage and there were HUGE mushrooms there! Over a very tasty dinner and a raspberry infused G&T we enjoyed a wonderful evening, and a new mushroom to me, in their yard lakeside! We had a Bald Eagle swoop right down in front of us here after a fish a Loon had caught! Priceless!
Then I took a walk down the road. I decided to brave what was left of the deer flies and go check the mail as well out at the main road.
Blue, yes friggin’ blue! Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, the indigo (or blue) lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken — a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius — is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Honduras, the mushroom is called a chora, and is generally eaten with egg; generally as a side dish for a bigger meal.
Red and yellow, edible and not and purple coraL FUNGI! They come in Purple as well I gasped!!!! Clavaria zollingeri, commonly known as the violet coral or the magenta coral, is a widely distributed species of fungus.
That was just going OUT the road, on the way back I took one of the wonderful woodland trails:)
From Jelly Babies, how cool is that! Leotia is a genus of cup fungi of the division Ascomycota. Leotia species are globally distributed, and are believed to be ectomycorrhizal. They are commonly known as jelly babies because of the gelatinous texture of their fruiting bodies to Goblet Waxcap-Hygrocybe cantharellus. Hygrocybe cantharellus, commonly known as chanterelle waxy cap, is an agaric (gilled mushroom) in the family Hygrophoraceae, no bigger than my pinky, to more Blood Red Russula-Russula rosaceas and Hygrocybe miniata, commonly known as the vermilion waxcap, is a small, bright red or red-orange mushroom of the waxcap genus Hygrocybe. It is a cosmopolitan species, that is found worldwide. Then the shining waxcaps, a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. It prefers bogs, swamps, and similar moist habitats and Candy cap or curry milkcap is the English-language common name for several closely related edible species of Lactarius; L. camphoratus, L. fragilis, and L. rubidus. These mushrooms are valued for their highly aromatic qualities and are used culinarily as a flavoring rather than as a constituent of a full meal. Thank you Wikipedia for so much information! All this, on an hour long walk!
It wasn’t all mushrooms;)
There were wildflowers, from Prunella vulgaris, the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter’s herb, brownwort or blue curls, is an herbaceous plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. Self-heal is edible: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the plant as a whole can be boiled and eaten as a leaf vegetable; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a beverage. To Purple-flowered Raspberry, wild carrot and Virgin’s-Bower (Clematis virginiana)…and berries!
Not to mention several lovely Leopard Frogs:) ♪♫♪ Walking down a country road ♫♪♫
All thanks to the rain:) I found a few more interesting fungi in the yard his week as well. I looked at one, pink Fairy fingers I was thinking? No, Rose Spindles. It only lasted a day, then its cousin, golden spindles. Crowded Parchment (Stereum complicatum) not just for old libraries it seems, it likes dead branches, Common puffballs, Club Feet (?), and bright red Chanterelles! OMG, they are red! Orange-red! I usually feel like Mother Nature is screaming “DONT EAT ME!” when you see these colours but no…Nature never ceases to amaze me.
As I mentioned, so many fungi! I am not an expert and I have probably mislabed a few of these but OMG, so much incredible life! I have spent hours on my hands and knees just mesmerized with the camera, trying to coax a cat to pose with some, impossible;) Ha! We’ll keep trying!
Hug your loved ones close. It was a very hard week as we said goodbye to a very dear friend battling cancer. I have had a hard time containing my emotions and have a pretty good idea of what her family is going through as well. I don’t have the words to express the grief and pain, I really don’t. Celebrate the time you have, open your eyes, take it all in, it goes so quickly life, and time. Abrazos amigos. I’ll leave you with a look down the lake, magical reflections for souls flying free.
Some mornings you just have to get up, I can roll over, look out my window and make that decision pretty quickly! It’s pajama photography at its best. Sometimes it’s a sprint down to the water before the colours fade but what got me here was watching the mists roll down the lake like a steamroller. They were tossing and turning, churning, circling. I wondered if the lone fisherman out in his small boat was watching it all roll by and over him, or was he concentrating on his line and reel! Today we have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect, it feels like it, hot, heavy humid air, we may hit 30° Celsius, 90° Flinstone scale. Ugh weather….cooler is coming, maybe more of these early morning mists!
It’s been a long emotional week, a dear friend in hospital, another friend with broken ribs, another had his beautiful cat suddenly pass away after a jump, a blood clot the vet thought, then news that a friend is giving away, rehoming…I hate that word, his two cats, beautiful cats, because his new girlfriend is allergic and suddenly now they are affecting his asthma? I was thinking get a new girlfriend, but she’s a nice woman, how about allergy shots? WTF? Maybe I’m overly sentimental about my cat family but sheesh…get them when you need company, then get rid of them when you don’t. We humans don’t deserve to survive on this planet some days. I had to endure a mother who gave away all my childhood pets and sell our horses, all because they just were not convenient or conducive to her lifestyle at that time, so maybe I’m a bit sensitive to that shit, I’d take my cats over 90% of the earth’s humans. To see the broad spectrum of one man sobbing at the loss of his cat to another’s cavalier attitude towards giving his away was such a spread of emotions. OK, end of rant, like I said, it’s been an emotional week.
The one wonderful thing about the rain and hot humid conditions….mushrooms and lichen are popping up everywhere, these are just in the yard, Fairy Fingers? Ha! Love it! All I need to see now are Dead Man’s Fingers, Xylaria polymorph, they like Beechwood stumps I read, they are REALLY cool looking! Did the first guy who found them stop, and call the police I wonder? Ha! The bugs are still in force, mostly the wicked deer flies, the TIE fighters of the forest here. I feel sorry for the deer and know now why they are all out in the fields! I feel at this point of the summer I must have a flashing neon sign only visible to bugs that reads “Free bug buffet! All the human you can eat or bite!”…sigh…they will be gone soon, all part and parcel of living with nature. C’est la vie:) and no, it’s never convenient, there will always be something you will have to work hard for, and it may work, and it may be in vain, but you never know until you try:) Abrazos amigos, never mind me, I’m cranky today;) We’ll see how the weather Gods treat us later today!
Nothing cuter than an orange kitten! Love the ladies in the doorway:)
He just wouldn’t quite fit in my purse… Ha! Mike’s good friend Dave feeds these lovelies at a friend’s dairy barn, a fabulous organic dairy at that, and I asked to come along to take some pictures, especially as they had kittens, and on top of that, an orange one! We arrived with Dave and they started piling out the barn doorway at a full run towards Dave, then the two young barn dogs joined in, then the old guy Fife! It was a meeting of chaos as dogs barked, kittens hissed and postured and everyone wanted a pet or pat! I think Fife, the old guy was upset the younger two dogs were being hooligans, as young dogs can be! The orange kitten, Torch, was having none of it! Dinner was here dammit!
“Work with me Fife and we’ll both get something!”
Orange cats are renowned for being a bit too brave, OK, maybe not so smart, yeah, yeah, all orange cats share one brain cell, I know, but this little guy, you had to love the way he just took control and said yup, no one is coming between me and Dave’s sardine dinner!
Torch was not the only kitten, a beautiful fluffy Tortie joined the saunter, a fluffy black sibling, a void, much smarter than the other two said yeah, you guys go ahead, he will bring the food into the barn fools!
As the two young dogs rough-housed around the pickup, I picked up Torch and his sister and took them back to the barn with Dave following, the man with the yummy food! They just went limp, yeah, free ride! They were then fed and dug in with great glee. Dave has a soft spot for these guys and visits every night, I can see why:)
Everyone finally calmed down and after cat feeding we ate the cake I brought, sipped a gin and tonic, and chatted, Wilson and Jane have a beautiful farm on the Tay River, Wilson was off wrapping hay as we arrived, it was going to rain, no rest for a farmer in summer during hay season. Cats fed, dogs fed, all was good. Smiles and wonderful company, who could ask for anything more? Saludos amigos, remember it is often the small moments that bring the most joy to your lives!
It’s still looking shiny from all that polishing, but it does need bailing out sometime today! More rain is on the way. It’s hot and muggy and buggy, ah, summer in Ontario:) The bugs I don’t want to see are numerous, deer flies and mosquitos, the butterflies and dragonflies are letting me down! Guys! Let’s get feasting here! After photographing the loon baby I paddled back along the southwest corner of the lake, looking at the water lilies and their inhabitants. I was happy to see some Blue Dashers and a Frosted Whiteface ( I want a chance at naming dragonflies, PLEASE! Ha!) among the variegated yellow pond lilies and swamp roses growing at the edge of the water.
The Blue Dasher was on a leaf, with a snack, or maybe it’s the snack of the guy in the lower right-hand corner! Someone pointed out it may be a molted damsel or dragonfly, this is the entire carcass. Maybe the guy at the bottom going “Please don’t eat me!” Ha! I have a new dock buddy, a new guy for me, Striped Fishing Spider, there are usually just the Dark Fishing Spiders down at the canoe. This guy was over 3″ across! Nice size and beautiful markings! Maybe I should have put an arachnid warning up! Ha!
I sat quietly later on the lawn and watched the comings and goings of the other dragonflies sharing our space with us. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird gets irritated when they sit on the top of his one dead branch, he chases them off like he would another male hummingbird, actually, he chases everything away, from goldfinches to red-winged blackbirds, the guy is serious about that branch!
Catmint…not just for cats I have discovered;) I sat waiting for him to check out the hosta blooms, the few left that the young buck didn’t feast on, he thinks it is his yard apparently, both buck and hummingbird. I’m a bit alarmed by the fact I have really only seen this one male this week, no ladies, no babies, it has me wondering what is going on. I should have a batch of youngsters vying for the feeder right now judging by the last three years’ photos and dates but all I have is this one guy….He did finally come and hang around the hostas checking them out! I need to work on his cooperation skills it seems! Ha!
The Orioles have also dropped off the map, last one I saw was July 5th! I hope they are nesting again and have not become tasty Barred owl snacks! They have been heard out hunting in the daylight, usually in the late afternoon, their hoots, grrr’s, and grunts are quite loud! The Grosbeak youngsters have decided the marmalade and strawberry jam are quite tasty in the meantime!
The woodpeckers, both Downy and Hairy have also dropped off the map but I have noticed the Chickadees and white Breasted Nuthatches are starting to come back around, with the kids;) and the Northern Flickers are starting to drop in from time to time. No sign of the Bald Eagle recently but I should paddle down the lake as someone mentioned seeing baby Ospreys:) awwww…..:) They had been promising a cold front, cooler weather…liars, liars, pants on fire! Them there weather folks, we need to chat!
I’ll keep you posted and will see if I can see any baby Ospreys next time I go for a paddle! Saludos amigos!
What a difference a week makes, how is that even possible I wondered, until I sat in the canoe and watched Father bring fish, after fish, after little fish, basically non-stop for half an hour! Now, if only it was cake, I’d want to be a baby loon;) ha! Even I didn’t get that much fish as a kid, and it’s all we ate it seemed! Sigh…so much care in their little ones’ upbringing. I saw them on the far side of the bay, it was almost flat calm in the lee of the trees so I had to paddle over and check up on Junior.
Did you know unlike adult loons, a young loon chick is able to walk upright on land. Although they can swim immediately after hatching, chicks spend a lot of time riding on their parents’ backs during the first several days of their lives. What a great warm taxi! Junior looked like he was involved in some fishing lessons from the surface!
I always paddle over slowly, stop, set down my paddle, and drift, the wind was slowly pushing me away. I watch their body language, it’s pretty obvious if you have gotten too close. Father popped up right beside the canoe several times, checked me out, then dove again, mostly harmless was his reaction…
At times the small fish were placed in baby’s beak, at other times Father would toss them to him, learning to play catch apparently! At about three weeks of age, Loon chick bodies begin to change and elongate. Their bills also begin to lengthen. Juvenile feathers begin to develop on white underparts. As their bodies grow and begin to take on the characteristic shape of loons, they lose the ability to walk upright on land.
I didn’t think Father was going to stop but eventually he dove, and disappeared, time for some refueling on his own I thought! I saw them earlier this week at dusk, the baby was even bigger! I’ll have to get out once the weather settles, did I mention I saw a lightning bolt strike the water right out in front of our house? We are up on the rocks so I could see quite clearly, it then radiated out from the strike point like a starburst of electricity. My eyes must have been huge, Mike was asking if I was OK, No, I said I wasn’t, holy f*ck! That, and the boom of simultaneous thunder had me levitating from my seat, along with the cats that scrambled for cover. I was wondering if any fish had gotten zapped, but it seems that before a lightning strike, a charge builds up along the water’s surface. When it does strike, most of the electrical discharge occurs near the water’s surface, not underneath where the fish are. I wondered as the Osprey was out flying in the rain and rumbling right after, looking for a bbq-ed fish I thought! Hopefully, baby Loon is OK!
Father didn’t reappear so I slowly paddled back home, leaving Mom and Junior to do some fishing on their own! I just love those colours when the sun hits her neck!
I will give you a junior progress update next time they cruise by! In the meantime, abrazos amigos, stay as loony as you can!
Apparently they are somewhat antagonized about having their tail touched;) Ha! I just wanted to gently feel it, so soft, I pulled my hand back quickly when I realized she/he was NOT amused! I was wondering if it was heading to our compost pile to lay its eggs, one has in the past, but it seems she may have gone all the way to our “human” neighbours (wonderful people on both sides of us I might add!) and moved into their cottage, needless to say, our human neighbours were maybe not quite as pleased at seeing her as I was! I didn’t ask how they convinced her to leave;)
The gray rat snake is non-venomous and is Ontario’s largest snake, reaching up to 2 metres in length. This one was maybe 5′ long. Adults are strongly attached to their home ranges and often return to the same nesting and hibernation sites. They often lay eggs in logs or compost piles that serve as incubators. Sometimes several females will use the same site to deposit eggs. Its worst enemies…humans, destroying not only their habitat but persecution, the whole, anti-snake thing. We need to get past the Adam and Eve and snake in the garden thing folks, these beautiful creatures mean us no harm. They are an endangered species and protected so drive around them and let them live their wonderful lives! I did get a tail rattle, they mimic rattlesnakes that way when they are annoyed, not quite as impressive as my Baja friends, the red diamond back-crotalus ruber-but a beautiful snake none the less!
“Spare an orange for a poor raccoon Miss?”
This young lady still owned Rockets heart-he watched from inside last night as she inspected the alcove for any snacks but came just short of tipping over the recycling and wandered off below the bird feeder to clean up, then the compost. Late in the afternoon apparently she had the munchies and climbed up the tree while I sat and watched, yeah, what ever lady, I’m hungry. Still no signs of any young ones, we’ll see!
Down at the dock, I sat and watched the sky, they were calling for severe thunderstorms but they just seemed to be sliding North, or South of us, the humidity felt tropical, and the deerflies, well, let’s just say unless you are an Olympic sprinter your chances of surviving a walk down our laneway unscathed are slim. Even the cats are hiding under the truck! Our lawn looks like a cut hayfield in August, brown, we’ve mowed it twice this year…I maybe initiating some kind of weird rain dance soon! But the reflections…hard to resist, and just watching the waterside birds go by:)
The Osprey put in an appearance but was promptly chased off it’s perch by a pair of red-winged blackbirds…small, but fierce! A Yellow Warbler was foraging in the tree by the lake while the eastern Kingbird looked on. I’ll have to get in the canoe and see if they have nested in the old cedar leaning into the water, I was surprised the tree survived the last few storms but it is getting lower, and lower to the water! A Ring Billed gull flew over cheking me out before I headed back to the house, light was fading, the Robins are busy eating the honelysuckle berries.
The orioles have become very, very quiet! I believe they are nesting with their second brood perhaps! I saw a female pruning after a lake bath, no doubt! Can’t a Baltimore Oriole get some peace? Damn paparazzi! I think the hummingbirds are boycotting me as well;) maybe not, but it has been so quiet. Maybe the heat, the smoke last month, who knows, it’s somewhat disheartening to hear from my other hummingbird photographer friends as well that they are not seeing the numbers this year as we should:(
Doesn’t stop Napolean junior here from hogging the feeder!
Such an agile little guy! Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Mrs. Ruby Throated has been very shy. I’ve seen her, but she keeps to herself, darting into the feeder whenever I don’t have the camera in hand! We’ll catch up with her later. I did catch sight of the baby Loon last night at dusk, with its mother and father, but we’ll leave that for later. I’ll leave you with a few reflections. I’ve been doing a lot of that the last few days. One of our neighbours from the horse farm days recently passed away, my brother was in the hospital with blood clots in his lungs (thankfully he is out and doing well, Love you Shea) and a dear friend battling cancer had a stroke, and she has been on my mind and in my heart. I wish there was some fairness in this world where truly bad people can live to be old, and the good suffer too young. That shit isn’t right. Hug your loved ones, humans, felines, equines, or yes, even dogs 😉 (the cats made me write that!) We are but specks of dust in this vast universe and need to make the most out of every single day we have, especially those of us with the luxury of our health, of a roof over our heads, clean running water, and food to eat. Abrazos.
It’s always a cause for celebration after listening to the haunting calls and protective territorial screams of these amazing birds that we get to see this one fluffy nugget, hanging out on Mom, or perhaps Dad’s back:) The Common Loon, just doesn’t fit that name for such a striking bird. I love to photograph them in the sun but it was in and out, between wafts of high smoke, their colours sparkle around their necks, the deep blue-green strip standing out against the dark feathers, both stripes and polka dots!
“Faster Mom! Faster! This is fun! Weehee!”
We paddled slowly down the lake, checking the bays, an Eastern Kingbird was feeding a baby in nest, but no loons, and then the parent appeared around a corner, a lone Loon was hunting further down the bay, Dad maybe. At first I couldn’t see the baby, we were keeping our distance, you can tell when a Loon is getting agitated and that was the last thing I wanted to do. The 600MM lens comes in handy for not getting too close:) A little brown lump appeared finally on its parents’ back, first just a head, and a sleepy eye, a look that said do I really have to wake up, or not. Baby priorities!
It woke up for a few minutes, looked at the strange red floating bird in the distance, and flapped it’s wee little wings a few times before lying back down, so tired, beak dragging in the water…what a life!
When you are SO tired you fall asleep on Mama’s back with your beak in the water:)
The first year we had several pairs nesting but I think the constant attention from the bald eagle made the one pair reconsider its housing arrangement! There hasn’t been much perching this year for the Eagles but a parent has come in with a juvenile, who flew right over my head as I sat and watched. Such a delicate balance in this world of what will live, and what will be eaten.
From big, very big, to very small. Eagles to hummingbirds, it never ceases to amaze me the scope and breadth of wildlife around us. On any day the variety of bugs, birds, reptiles, and furry creatures you come upon is a gift. I’m not anti-human, well, maybe a bit of a misanthrope, OK, OK, a misanthrope, I distrust humans in general, not single human beings, but humanity as a whole has this “Oh so superior” air to them, everything was put here for them to use…USE, being the world I hate, not co-exist, but use. Then I hear pissed-off Orcas are running into sailboats and yachts off the coast of Spain and I think, OK, turn around is fair play! We, as we destroy our planet, are not as smart as we somehow think we are, so yeah, I like the rest of the things on this planet, with the exceptions being the humans who create nice wine;) and my friends! Ha! Not necessarily in that order!
This young buck wasn’t very concerned as Mike and Gamora walked right up to him, he was busy eating. When he did decide to trot off Gamora thought she might give chase! What a girl! One wants to chase deer, the other is in love with a raccoon?! And Groot, he is Groot! Ha! May we all live here in harmony!
This was a spectacular morning, thanks Groot for stepping on Mike’s bladder, then mine, and waking us up;) Ha! He is Groot! I have surmised it wasn’t to get me out of bed to go down and enjoy the sunrise but to open the corner cupboard and fork over a handful of crunchies! Who needs an alarm clock? Not me!
He does get rewarded with private harness less fishing expeditions down to the dock, but so far nothing of notable size, all had to be returned to the lake he says sadly, he’s waiting for his first big bass fillet or even a canoe trip out to where the BIG fish are is in order! Stay tuned he says…Captain Groot will soon be sailing the high seas, I mean, being paddled on the calm waters, of Long Lake! Ha! And we’ll see how baby Loon is growing!
These Swallowtail butterflies are just astounding, the colours and iridescence are so beautiful! We haven’t had a huge variety of butterflies so far this year, a few Mourning Cloaks, and Little Wood Satyrs. I thought I saw a Monarch but I think it might have been a Viceroy instead. Not as many bumblebees either. I have put off mowing alongside the driveway as it is covered in hundreds of daisies! Just couldn’t bear to remove them!
With the birds nesting it has become quite quiet, the exception being the woodpeckers! We have a young Hairy that is quite the beggar! He was trying to hit the Downy Woodpecker up (who is half his size) for some seeds! Ha! She flew off in a huff, you are NOT my baby! I am trying to convince him that hanging about on the ground like a chipmunk looking for seeds under the feeder is a dangerous occupation for a young, not well versed in flight bird, especially once the mewberries head out in the morning for their supervised walk!
This morning I found him sitting on our front steps, sleeping…head tucked under his wing. My first thought was he’d hit the glass, or he’s cold, or wet or sick from the small amount of rain we had overnight, no…he was just snoozing. I nudged him gently and he yawned before looking up at me sitting beside him drinking my coffee as if to say, why’d ya do that? I carried him up to the top railing away from the mewberries who were about to go out for the morning, he seemed unperturbed, then decided perhaps it was best to fly to the tree and start screaming for a parent for breakfast! He is a shameless screamer when hungry! and very very loud! Ha!
…and do we have hummingbirds? Of course, but again, very quiet. The female only comes out occasionally, the resident male sits on top of a dead branch surveying his kingdom, once or twice we have had an interloper, we’ll see once everyone is hatched out and flying if the population rises, it’s somewhat alarming not seeing very many. Could be the wildfires or destruction of habitat, something is odd and changing.
So few sunny mornings to sit and watch them explore the flower baskets, damn smoke! Hopefully, the bulbs and perennials will start to bloom soon to give them something other than bugs and hanging flower pots to feed on here!
The Baltimore Orioles are certainly filling in the colour gap! They haven’t decided if they like the strawberry jam better than the marmalade so I leave a teaspoon of both for them every morning as well as a fresh orange cut in half. I feel they might eat more fruit than I do at this point! Waiting for the local stuff, supermarkets are depressing right now both price and fresh wise! Miss Raccoon pretty much runs off with what they don’t eat orange-wise every night so cleans up well! I haven’t figured out if the all-yellow orioles with a bit of black feathering marks on their heads are juveniles or females…must research this some more!
I did promise chipmunks, didn’t I?! I was actually trying to photograph the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks when a particularly impertinent young chipmunk decided I’d obviously put the bird feeder on the picnic table just for him (yup…boy equipment visible!) He was a hoot! They are very aware of when the cats are out and do some scouting if it’s just me there…I could be hiding one!
Watching this young gentleman trying to figure out the mechanics of getting his head into the feeder to eat the seeds was impressive, not that he thought to use his little hands to pull them out and eat them, no, had to be his WHOLE head in there!
I tried explaining to him that if perhaps his cheeks were not full of the seed he scrounged from under the feeders his endeavors would be more successful. He took it badly!
I might have suggested that fat greedy chipmunks get eaten by Blue Herons and cats more…He was alarmed at what I’d told him apparently and decided to repent, for a few moments, anyway;) I did thank him for his comical modeling skills. Everyone needs a smile like that occasionally!
The Traveling Mewberries got to welcome their local snapping turtle back, she has appeared every year so far, within a few days each time, what a great sense of timing/alarm she has. Sadly most of the rain had fallen everywhere but here and her endeavors to dig into the driveway and lawn proved unsatisfactory, she moved off into the bush, hopefully finding a spot there. She can really move when she wants to!
Naturally, the mewberries had to go check her out, like they do every year. She must sigh and go, I’ll just lay here and they’ll get bored and go away! We keep a close eye on them, that’s a sharp beak for snapping! Could be a tripod cat in a flash! They are quite respectful as well!
Always an adventure here! So far few chipmunk casualties, they must have nine lives like cats. I can envision a small group of them, scarred, missing a claw, or fur, sporting an eyepatch like a pirate, in a badass chipmunk group, telling the youngsters the pitfalls of thinking you are faster than Rocket! Thankfully he hasn’t figured out the kill thing yet, unlike Groot, so once caught they can be pried from his jaws and be set free to be caught another day…I swear it’s the same ones…not so smart some of these guys!
Anyway, work to be done now, there is always something! I’ll leave you with a shot of Miss Raccoon, she knows exactly when we leave in the truck and comes and tries to pull my bird feeder down, it is now firmly attached but she does shake it until a few seeds come out!
You’re back? Already?
Stay tuned for baby Loons! Insert big smiley face here! Ha!
Where do the days go? First I’m wrapped in a blanket then I’m sweating! How did that happen? Ah Canada. It just miraculously appeared Summer it did! It seems we spend nine months of the year complaining about the cold, then it’s too hot! Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, I’ll ask someone from Wisconsin! We’ve had a weird one, fires burning to the North, not TOO far North either, a 100 km away, early mornings inundated with layers of smoke swirling across the lake like something from a surreal dream, and who ordered the sun to come up at 5 am? Geez! A girl can’t get a good night’s sleep if I have to get up to enjoy those amazing sunrises! Ha!
Smoke, which is made up in part by soot and water vapor, scatters visible light and obscures the view. Infrared light passes through the fine particles in smoke, providing a clear view but changing the light, everything is tinted in a rose-coloured/orange sherbert way. The windows were closed for a few days and you could still smell it. My thoughts were with people being evacuated from their homes and lives, what would we do I sat and wondered as our neighbouring Airbnb had a huge bonfire one night with 80 km winds…I messaged the Airbnb owner, later in the week the Township put a fire ban in effect, ah, poor cottagers and renters can’t burn down the area with their campfires…arseholes! I am becoming a curmudgeon, wait, maybe I just am!
But I sat thinking, how fast could we pack the trailer up to get out, or would we simply be fleeing with what we had on our backs and of course, the traveling mewberries!
I have an early-warning raccoon system in place. It is Rocket at the kitchen window, standing on the stovetop, announcing his girlfriend is here and he would like to go out and see her in long howling wails of passion…orange cats. This is one tough bird feeder, it has survived a few bear maulings with Brome’s help and this young lady was shooed off, the smoke must make her think it is later in the day than it is! I’m not sure if our little trash panda is a young mother, but she is a girl! We’ll wait and see if she suddenly arrives with a whole family in tow!
Muther! Father! she’s out there
The smokey air has been hard on the older horses, Maya, Dusty, and Phoenix have all been on steroids at some time due to the air quality and laboured breathing. The hot humid air doesn’t help either. The donkeys, nah, eating to their heart’s content in fields of buttercups! Alice likes to wander out with us as well when we head up to the fields, she is such a beautiful cat:)
Hard to resist them! Scritches all the way around! I went looking for the Raven children. They have all fledged and are performing acrobatic feats of sliding down the metal barn roof and generally being loud! They were looking for shade on the day I was out, it was hot, and two were huddled looking for shade on a rail fence. I walked up to a single one perched on a post, talking to him/her/it…unperturbed, yeah I know ya lady, whaddya want? Another glamour shot? Should I look left? Right? you say…I got both;)
Swallowtails-who knew there were so many different kinds! Jennifer has a magnificent Preston Lilac by her house down at the horses that has been covered in swallowtails! Three different kinds one afternoon! It was as if the bush was alive with all that fluttering! Stunning. Mother Nature…the best artist ever!
Well, I will sign off for now, there are crazed cats hounding me, or would that be appropriate, maybe main-cooning me (?) that would like to go sniff where Miss Raccoon was last night and there are chipmunks to chase! Woohoo, unless you are a chipmunk, but that will be a whole other story, maybe tomorrow! I apparently have some catching up to do. I’ll leave you with the old man in the buttercups, hard to believe he is in his 30’s…what a guy! He still has so many opinions…Ha!
It’s that green, peridot, lime green, my colour theme this month in a photography group. As a background, it is everywhere: the young maple and oak leaves, the new blades of grass, and wildflowers that have yet to bloom. As the season progresses the green shade changes to that deep green of hay fields and forests. It is so vibrant! With it return all the insect eaters, the dragonflies are welcome, eat those mosquitos, please! I don’t think many people realize how far some of these dragonflies migrate! It is astounding that they cover hundreds of miles on these gossamer wings! The Common Green Darner can cover over 900 miles! Not just birds and butterflies, so much we just don’t know! So much to learn!
The chipmunks are foraging for fresh seeds, the snakes slowly winding their way through the shrubs and leaves looking for their next meal as well. A friend in town hosts a yard bunny, too many predators out here to see them during the day but we have our masked bandit making the rounds. She is feeding babies judging by her tum and must be so hungry, she looks like one of last year’s babies, not very big! I have been saving the compost to put out late in the day so the ravens don’t eat everything before she has a chance to find some tasty tidbits! If I’m too late taking the feeders down she does the job for me, as well as polishing off the oriole oranges!
..and we have orioles! So many of them! At one point this week I counted four adult males along with three juvenile males, that was before the ladies showed up! They have their orange marmalade to snack on, occasionally it’s raspberry jam. I just try to buy jars with no artificial ingredients or additives, the dollar store is good for the marmalade, check the no-name brands as well, just read the labels! And their daily orange! Apparently, it’s the most popular snack item! For everyone!
Judging by where the orioles fly we have nests both North and South of us, and then all the hoodlum juvenile orioles just hanging about bothering the serious guys that arrive at the orange with their ladies, don’t want them whisked away by some younger more handsome oriole, do we! Many other birds defend large feeding territories, but orioles defend only the space near their nests, and so you may see several neighboring orioles feeding close to each other.
O is our letter for the day! Ha! Not just orioles though. The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are such a delightful dash of colour, we have five or six of them about. The juvenile Blue Jays are as large as their parents now and have learned peanuts are put out in the morning! Sadly the Red Bellied Woodpecker came back once or twice, I bought some corn for them, their favourite, but he hasn’t appeared since. Lack of ladies I presume! The flycatchers have returned as well, please let them eat mosquitos as well! PLEASE!
I sat and watched a young Hairy woodpecker working out the intricacies of the seed feeder, then exploring the hummingbird feeder as I sat there, and eventually the bird bath, he did looks a bit lost and Mom came to the rescue eventually! The world goes on by as you sit quietly and watch.
I have to admit to not really hiking the laneway, the bugs have been a bit overwhelming and I am not willing to start a marathon race running from them! I haven’t explored the woods for wildflowers but have been watching what has popped up around the house and lake. The Red Columbines are everywhere! I have never seen so many! The Choke Cherry and Serviceberry bushes are blooming along with our two very sad lilacs, one white, and one purple, that each produces a few blooms. The soil here isn’t exactly fertile, we are on rock.
I’ve hung out near the lilac waiting for the hummingbirds to take a sip but it has been quiet. We have at least one adult male and a juvenile one as well as a female but it seems like there should be more. I look at pictures from previous years and there were, it makes me sad to think in my lifetime I will start to see some species disappear. Humans, the most dangerous species of all…
The skies haven’t been so hot, cloudy when there was aurora (NOOO!!!) and high smoke from all the fires burning in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. We had a wild thunderstorm pass to the South of us last weekend, out of the blue it seemed. The first rumble of thunder had me getting up wondering who was driving a dump truck into our laneway, just Mother Nature. She’s funny;) The smoke has made for a few interesting sunrises and the cool mornings had me grabbing a cat for a hand heater after the trip down the stairs to the lake! 4°…cold, but thankfully not cold enough to mess with the tomatoes!
There is something magical about mists! Just a few phoebes and kingbirds to keep me company at the water’s edge! I did finally turn the canoe over and slip it into the water, like right before the thunderstorm, ha, let’s call it a clean-out for the chief bailer! Coffee and sunrise, this view sometimes makes me wonder why I want to go anywhere else, but I do. It’s called six months of Winter! Ha! Next week we get to pick up the trailer, finally fixed, and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg, only an arm:) We will need to have words with Rolling Retreats, the DRV dealer in Elk City. One front hydraulic jack cylinder was installed upside down and two of the Teflon seals were missing. I can understand if the seals went, they could have been faulty, but not missing, and upside down, and they killed our fridge as well…sigh…words later. The rain slowed down our pick-up date, better to give the road a few days to dry out, it’s tight getting in so better to keep it “out of the rhubarb” (out of the ditch!) as they say here in Ontario. The cats will be happy, they love going onboard when it’s parked, it may be my new office! It will get my computer off the dining room table, but then, I’d have to give up that view…so maybe not!
I’ll leave you with one more sunrise, next time I need to get up earlier and take that hot coffee down with me to keep my hands warm, as well as the tripod and camera bag and what else? Ha! I’m a minimalist in the early morning, camera only:) Saludos amigos, Happy Spring!
I have always loved Ravens, they have such a wonderful array of calls and sounds. This parent is patient with all the begging coming from these youngsters. They doubled in size in a week and are flapping about trying their wings! Another week and they’d doubled in size again! They barely fit in the nest! A group of ravens is called an unkindness, but you can also refer to them as a rave, conspiracy, treachery, and flock…those names just don’t seem fair for such a smart and interesting bird! They get the bad rap with crows for being harbingers of all kinds of bad omens and misfortune. As a carrion bird, ravens became associated with the dead and with lost souls. In Swedish folklore, they are the ghosts of murdered people without Christian burials and, in German stories, damned souls.
In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the God of prophecy. They are said to be a symbol of bad luck and were the god’s messengers in the mortal world. According to the mythological narration, Apollo sent a white raven, or crow in some versions to spy on his lover, Coronis. When the raven brought back the news that Coronis had been unfaithful to him, Apollo scorched the raven in his fury, turning the animal’s feathers black…yikes…hard life for these ravens!
The raven (Hebrew: עורב; Koine Greek: κόραξ) is the first species of bird to be mentioned in the Hebrew bible and ravens are mentioned on numerous occasions thereafter. In the Book of Genesis, Noah releases a raven from the ark after the great flood to test whether the waters have receded. According to the Law of Moses, ravens are forbidden for food, a fact that may have colored the perception of ravens in later sources.
Ravens are prominent in early Welsh mythology, with the Medieval Welsh poem Y Gododdin repeatedly associating ravens with battles, bravery, and death. The poem refers to the battlefield as the “ravens’ feast”, with descriptions of the ravens eating the dead bodies of the fallen warriors. In praising the bravery of a warrior named Gwawrddur, the poem’s author references his affinity with ravens:
He fed black ravens on the rampart of a fortress Though he was no Arthur Among the powerful ones in battle In the front rank, Gwawrddur was a palisade.
That sounds a bit better!
The raven also has a prominent role in the mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, including the Tsimishians, Haidas, Heiltsuks, Tlingits, Kwakwaka’wakw, Coast Salish, Koyukons and Inuit. The raven in these indigenous peoples’ mythology is the Creator of the world, but it is also considered a trickster God.
I’d like to think of them as Gods I think, or dinosaurs, or both! All hail the ravens!
They are all so busy, these birds! I am feeling lazy! The arrival of the black flies and mosquitos has put a damper on wandering far into the woods or down the road to check the mail, even the cats are hiding under the truck on their morning walk…bugs are bad, for us, but good for other birds! Gamora is no longer terrified of my hat and mesh bug cover, previously the poor cat thought I was some kind of creature from the black lagoon come to eat her! The soil is waking up, I can smell it, hopefully, most of the freezing nights are behind us, they better be, I just planted my tomatoes! Ha!
The cottagers are arriving, the snowbirds! The colorful guys having spent their winters in Mexico and South America! The blue jays must hate these guys, back with a tan and a belly full of margaritas! Ok, maybe not margaritas, I must be dreaming…The rose-breasted grosbeak is the harbinger of warmer temperatures to come, followed by the red-bellied woodpeckers, orioles, and hummingbirds! They arrived yesterday, the Baltimore orioles, no, not the baseball team, and a lone male ruby-throated hummingbird came by this morning! The marmalade and orange halves have been out for a few days waiting for their arrival and the hummingbird feeders are all topped up! I even bought some corn (their favorite) hoping to lure the red-bellied woodpeckers into hanging around and nesting here. I missed them last year, those calls, and colour!
I was hoping for another colorful sunrise this morning like yesterday when the oranges and reds were exploding across the sky. When I see those colours I just have to get up and drag myself outside, it is pre-coffee by the way! Ha!! There was just the smudge of smoke on the horizon today and the whole sky felt dim. The smoke from Alberta and Saskatchewan wildfires has arrived. At a high altitude but it affects the light we see. I pulled the canoe last week with the heavy rains, we had over three inches and tipped it over upside down on the dock, saved me bailing it out!
Our resident beaver was NOT happy I stopped to say hello! With a huge tail slap he left in a huff in front of the dock creating quite a splash! It made ME jump! From destruction, momentary beauty from the smoke. This morning fog was rising from the lake but you could see the smoke on the far horizon, it colours everything with a different tone, odd, a bit reddish and purple, didn’t look right, somewhat eerie, almost like smog in a city.
We’ll see if it clears in the next few days from the upper atmosphere. The birds don’t care, either do the other four-legged wander abouts! A young buck wandered past the front of the house and around the side later, nibbling and trying everything he passed. Gamora felt it might be a dog and maybe she should attack…he looked small far away! Ha! He’s losing his winter coat and looks a bit scruffy but it will soon shed out, those little nubs of horns are so cute! The resident raccoon is very quiet, maybe babies have her busy, she is cleaning up any delectable tidbits in the compost pile on a regular basis! The croaking of the tree frogs has become quite loud as well. I grabbed the wheelbarrow only to squawk and drop it, as it was soft and gooey, I had a frog in my hand instead. I set him on the pallet and warned him of the dangers of sitting on wheelbarrow handles!
The chipmunks have been busy as well as the squirrels, a black squirrel was chiding me for being too close to the flat seed feeder…oh yeah? and who fills it up, buddy! Wasn’t the point he said;) Gimme more peanuts! Luckily no chipmunk fatalities, they have managed to keep one step ahead of the traveling mewberries, with a bit of human help! The cat are all apparently more interested in our new metal bird, Cora the Corre Camino than anything else. She must be sniffed each morning by everyone. Cats are so wonderfully weird! That and exploring the horse poo buckets, manure from the barn for the garden these cats are full-time entertainment!
So Spring, and those new wings. I’m just glad to see leaves on the trees and the thermometer going up a bit more each day, it’ll be too hot before we know it. Time to get down to the barn and shed the horses out a bit more, I could make carpets out of those coats coming out! I will check on the resident dinosaurs as well, there is a raven’s nest on the old silo, but we’ll leave that for next week. Saludos amigos and enjoy the leaves and reflections and the shiny little red canoe!
It happens so quickly, one day, the lake is covered in ice and all of a sudden you notice subtle shifts in colour. The white blanket that lay there all winter starts to change. First to come are the pale blues, then deeper ones, spiderweb-like cracks start to form and then finally it starts to turn dark.
♪♫♪ What a difference a day makes! Twenty-four little hours…♫♪♫
It is a sign that Winter has lost its grasp on this part of the world and we can hope for some warmer temperatures, and hopefully an end to ice and snow storms! There is still the cleanup from the ice storm and after that, we’ve had a few Westerly howls that brought down some branches that the ice storm simply wounded. Walking the road and tossing the branches aside that have fallen. Filling potholes and gaping crevices where the heavy rain, after the ice storm, washed away the gravel. It’s all still there, the gravel, just at the bottom of the hills, not the tops and middles! Ha! Our neighbours have been wonderful in helping to fill some of the really damaged spots with machinery! A big thanks to them! Too much for the little plastic wheelbarrow!
Then there was the Little Red Canoe to contend with…it was in need of a spa day. The red gel coat was fading to pink, the wooden trusses’ varnish was peeling, and there were dings and dents to be filled…poor canoe. She had to be in tip-top shape, she’s a canoe influencer, didn’t you know? All the canoes want to be like her!
Glamour shot-Little Red Canoe
She has fans! So, I went to work. Researched how to clean up that gel coat and put a sparkle on her sides! My power buffer didn’t seem to help much and holding it was harder than cleaning the girl by hand. Found a good 3M product (although one article I read just suggested coating her in boiled linseed oil…kinky! Ha!) it was a cut polish as well as a wax, and she was starting to look pretty fine! Old-fashioned elbow grease the older generation would say…it works the best! Some filler for a few dings when she was being used at the rental in Otty Lake (no one takes care of things as owners do!) and let’s see, to cover the filler in those dings, a bottle of red nail polish from the dollar store worked like a charm! As if she had her nails done as well!
The goal was to get back to that red, red, but not quite, I can still make out her manufactures mark so we have faded a bit but she is now shiny! After all the cleaning, the wooden trusses were sanded, stained, and varnished, ready for the comfy seats that attach to them! She’s sitting in the water now, next to her little dock, waiting for the maiden 2023 voyage…soon! Working on the energy levels! Still, so much to cut up and clear away from the broken limbs and trees…little by little!
Some mornings after the cats have had their outing it is nice to sit and watch what appears. Usually, the chipmunks say thank you for putting those ratbags in lady! We have a group of regulars, all regulated by the grackles, followed by the red-winged blackbirds, their followers;) The smaller birds toe the line with the exception of the woodpeckers, White Breasted Nuthatches, and bug-collecting birds who have no time for their tomfoolery!
It is always a wonder to see the return of the bug-eating birds. How do those robins and flycatchers survive those cold days? I heard the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker well before I saw him! Back to his maple tree, sadly missing one giant branch but the sap was running out and he looked quite happy, a maple syrup fountain! I heard and saw a lone Red-Bellied Woodpecker calling from the treetops. I hope he finds a mate! I missed their brilliant colour last year as the pair we had moved on or were killed. The one thing everyone reacts to by scattering into the branches, turkey vultures included, is the arrival of the bald eagles! As soon as the ice was gone, they were here. They had scouted it last week briefly and flown away.
And the loons, the sound of the loons echoing down the length of the lake…magical! An adult eagle brought a juvenile by early one morning. The adult sat in a tree at the end of the lake and watched the youngster. He/she dive-bombed the Loons much to their dismay, they just dove and resurfaced a few moments later. He seemed to be practicing under the watchful eye of a parent! The Loons went about their business, shaking their heads as they surfaced and looked around for the irritating youngster. The Ospreys come and go, you see them soaring over, scouting, sometimes they get lucky, sometimes they don’t! Life coming back after the ice is gone.
Along with the Loons, the ducks and the geese are back! Hooded Mergansers and wood ducks and I think Golden eyes across the far side of the bay. If you sit and watch it is amazing what appears some days! Just being quiet and still. We need to do more of that, observers, not participants. That will come soon enough with the boats and noisy jet skis, for now, I will enjoy the magic that is the sounds of nature. I’ll go hang out with the chipmunks but we won’t be singing any Christmas songs…promise;) Stay tuned folks, we might be seeing some wildflowers appearing soon!
Writing the escapades of my childhood sailing around the world on My Love with my mother and siblings was the fun part, proofreading, well, not the most fun, not tedious, a learning experience! Grammarly has been handy, I now know I have no idea where to put commas, I’m not fond of “the” and “of” and Grammarly is not familiar with sailing terms! It also does not like “u’s” in harbour 😉 ha!
I also relive and remember tidbits and reflect on things that I still see as a bit unjust. When my mother asked me why was I turning into an unruly, miserable child around New Year’s in Papeete, Tahiti in 1974? I don’t think it was a question, but a statement on her part, she didn’t want to know why as it interfered with what she wanted to do. She had promised when we embarked on the sailing trip that we would only be sailing for a year, then we would go back to Arizona and what was important to me…my horse. Kids don’t like it when adults lie to them. Our entire existence was often upended by her relationships as the crew we were fond of came and went like the workings of a circular door at a department store. It was hard. The constant change, and the constant stream of new people who knew nothing about sailing or boat maintenance. It became our responsibility as siblings to have to train them at 10, 13, and 15 years of age. We groaned at the thought of any new crew at times! Worse, the ones that thought they knew….
Ah, life on the high seas! I just finished a book lent to me on living aboard called “All In the Same Boat” by Tom Neale, thanks, Malcolm! My mother should have read this! Ha! So well prepared this man was with his family and boat. My creation will be the manual on how “Not to do it” I was thinking, chuckling to myself. But we turned out “better than expected” a friend of my grandparents and uncle once told me…Ha!
It does put me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster this proofreading and I do have to walk away at times, breathe, go outside, and think of something completely different.
A package arrived the other day from UPS and inside I found photos and letters, mine, my mother’s to my uncle Harry. My wonderful cousin Bronle was clearing out her dad’s files, he’s suffering from severe dementia right now and she asked while we were Rv-ing if I wanted them back, of course, I replied!
Included was a fabulous black and white photo of my father, Al, that I’d never seen. I believe my uncle must have taken it with the handwriting on the back. He had his own darkroom for a very long time I remember. He is an amazing author and photographer. It was fabulous. I saw myself in this photo of my father. The eyes, the chin, the lips, that somewhat suspicious look…it was a delight!
So, back to proofreading, it’s Fiji and onward now, me battling with my older half-brother Forrest who came down to crew and knew it all, that is when he wasn’t vomiting up magic mushrooms! Ha!…sigh…adults can be so difficult! Fightin’ around the World…I struggled with the title I named my diaries as a ten-year-old but I think, well, I should stick with it!
Saludos amigos!
Me and my brother Shea-Photo by Dave Jahnke-where are you now Dave?
We had one big load to get out of the trailer, dishes, glasses, bookwork, printer/scanner, tools and on and on, good thing it was just the one load. The RV Place was still fiddling with the hydraulics so we left them to it. A stop at the grocery store was in order as Weather Canada was warning about a possible significant ice build up/storm coming, I didn’t want to wait until later in the day when everyone else might have decided it was a good thing to go grocery shopping!
There were plastic totes and bags and bags to unload, sort, wash, dry, put away…I was forgetting where things were to begin with! Yikes! Five months on the trailer does that, it still feels like home sometimes! Maybe I just packed too much on the trailer to begin with! I think I brought back as much food as I initially packed…comes from living on the boat as a kid and shopping for six months at a time! I’ll blame it on that anyway!
In the morning Wednesday it was starting to look ugly…the branches were starting to droop, I had to keep clearing the bird feeder off and filling it…they knew! We had no plans to go anywhere so I sat and watched the ice accumulate on leaves and trees. The wind was coming from the East so it was sticking to the windows and doors, forming icicles on the roof’s edge.
Then the thunder and lightning started…WTF? Rocket made a beeline for under the comforter on the bed, his go to hiding spot…lumpy we call him…the Gods and Goddesses must be angry! All that booming! I went out during a lull to photograph the ice build up, so beautiful, but so heavy. The pines were taking a beating across the lake and I was hoping the wind wouldn’t start to howl.
Then it really started to come down, the power flickered a few times but remained steady for most of the day. I went to the front of the house to look at the ice build up, under the maple and a quick peak down the stairs to the dock to see if anything large had come down. Not yet. I went back to knock the ice off the bird feeders and heard a crash that made me jump! A huge limb came down off one of the maples, there had been a squirrel nest in the cavity there…I’d just walked under that branch…time to go back inside! It wasn’t just freezing rain, an occasional hail shower would come down as well!
Earlier I’d filled up the tea kettle, left a bucket under the eaves in case we needed to flush the toilet if the power went out. At 4 p.m. it really flickered but came back on, a teaser, for fifteen minutes, then all was silent, and getting dark…it was just a matter of time. We had several gallon containers of drinking water off the trailer, we had food. I’d filled the oil lamp and put the candles in easy reach earlier. Now we would have to wait.
When you were raised on a boat with a 12 volt light system where the batteries were always dead…you have a plan….thanks John Harrison, the oil lamp was a wedding present way way back in 1990’s…Yes, we often forget what year we were married! Ha! I swear the transistor radio is over 40 years old, or more…yikes! I had it as teenager on Ile de la Reunion in the Indian Ocean for cyclone updates…it still works, yeah, new battery, Lake 88 FM for local news about power outages and posible repair times. The entire town of Perth was out as well! Nothing to do but sit, wrap up in a blanket and keep the wood stove going! The power tease us and flickered on at 7 but went off again. I crept into bed and didn’t even wake up when all the lights came on after 11 p.m. we were back online!
In the morning the fog hovered over us as we listened to the trees creak and groan, then you would hear a branch come smashing down, our heads would swivel to the direction of the noise. My fingers were crossed as I went to bed, the warmer mass of air was supposed to move North over us by midnight, at dawn, we were still hovering at the freezing mark:( A few hours later you started to hear the drip, the melt, temperatures were on the rise! Yeah! The burden of ice was slowly starting to melt. It was a bit surreal as I looked out the window at the rivers of water running down all the trees…
Power was still out in so many areas! Most of Perth, as well North of us, this time we were lucky. In 1998, the infamous ice storm had left us without power for three weeks, with 35 horses at the barn to care for! Not a period I have forgotten! Some people had their power lines ripped off the house by heavy falling branches, others, their entire lines were down. One friend lost their power pole, snapped off at the ground. The power of all that weight of frozen water! By 6 in the evening, most of the ice was gone. Mike wanted to do a quick recon of the road so we hopped in the truck. The torrential rain had created chasms in the road down the hill, thank goodness for duallys! Tires went right over them! We cleared limbs and near the end ran into our neighbor on his 4 wheeler, coming to check the other two cottages, a pine was down over the road. He went back for his chainsaw and Mike it cut it so we both could pass. I picked up limb after limb and tossed them out of the road. We were lucky, just that one small pine but you could see the damage throughout the forest.
In the morning, the sun was out! The cats were pleased to get out, they had been SO excited our first day back. Groot and Rocket were running up and down the driveway like little lunatics, crabbing and bouncing like kids set free from a long car trip, wait! They were!
Groot had to give our new metal bird, Cora, the corre camino-roadrunner, a once over before declaring her family! They sniffed their old haunts, chased a few birds and stalked the squirrels. It was good to be home. My bird friends slowly started to filter back after going without their steady source of sunflower seeds all winter. The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers were the first, then the Purple and American Goldfinches showed up with the ever present flocks of Chickadees. It was good to hear bird song again, the first few hours here of quiet was eerie!
The henchmen showed up, the Grackles, then the Red Winged Blackbirds in flocks. The American Goldfinches were changing over to their bright yellow breeding colours! I sat and watched a flock of birds fly over I wasn’t familiar with, Waxwings I was thinking…and yes, thirty or more Bohemian Waxwings were exploring, looking for fruit and berries. Hopefully we can get a few more bushes and fruiting trees planted this year!
The LBB’s and LGB’s showed up as well, little brown birds and little gray birds! The Chipping Sparrows and a reclusive Song Sparrow, The juncos were poking about in the leaves for seed and the White Breasted Nuthatches were busy as well! A feeding frenzy after the ice and cold.
I think that perhaps the chipmunks and black squirrels were hoping the nasty cats weren’t back, sorry to disappoint them! The feline force is back and ready for some chasing! Actually, not really;) They have deemed the black squirrels too large, with big nasty teeth to bother with much but the chipmunks, we’ll do our best to protect and rescue those young unsuspecting ones caught when unaware! Rocket was bitten on the nose by a vole and has decided the squeaky ones are best left alone as well. Gamora runs the other direction when she hears them squeak! These traveling mewberries, they have so much catching up to do! I was so pleased to see how incredibly happy they were to back on their home turf. The running and crabbing and overall joy was wonderful to behold…then of course…nap time in the sunbeams. I will leave it there for today and stay tuned for the lake ice going and suddenly what seemed like Summer, then Winter, then Spring again. I saw sign on the road at a local farm market: April..the only month you get to experience Winter, Spring, Fall and Summer, all in 24 hours!
Apparently in some Virginia counties they have to remind folks that you can’t get to the Southbound lanes, from the Northbound on the freeway/interstate onramp…no left turns folks, just merge…. oh my! Then the intimidator passed us, broke down pulling over in front of us with smoke rolling off his back tires, but soon passed us again…? Really? Nothing says “twat” quicker than that! ha! Ah, the freeways of America! On our way to the Natural Bridge KOA for a few days, trying to juggle getting back to Perth on a Monday!
♫♪♫ I love you for your pink Cadillac Crushed velvet seats Riding in the back Cruising down the street Waving to the girls Feeling out of sight Spending all my money On a Saturday night Honey I just wonder what you do there in back Of your pink Cadillac ♪♫♪
I couldn’t resist!
I loved these ornate old PO boxes, something magical in the craftsmanship of the past and the vertical numerical numbers!
We didn’t eat at the diner here, reviews didn’t look the best! We made a quick trip into the tiny Post Office at Natural Bridge…I had to pick up a package (horse dewormers! Ha!) at the tiny post office that is under the visitor center for Natural Bridge State Park offices. Like Perth you don’t get the packages delivered if they are over a certain size! It was open 8:30 to noon only the girl at the KOA warned me, a single postman. He said he used to work in Northern California and did more mail there in day than a month here, he loves it here;) When I called to see if it had arrived per the tracking he knew exactly what box I was talking about…small villages are wonderful. I loved these ornate old PO boxes, something magical in the craftsmanship of the past and the vertical numerical numbers! We stopped at the grocery store in Lexington and then Mike had read about a fried chicken place we could try on our way back. I should have taken pictures. I could hear banjos playing…;) customer service was not their strong suit, the girl at the front grunted my take out order to the cook in the back and I did feel a bit worried, especially when the pickups started arriving with very large tires and oversized upright exhaust pipes. I was scared to look to see if they had those plastic testicles hanging from their trailer hitches as well! Ha! It was food, nothing to write home about. It still felt like Spring here at least!
We had a great spot at the KOA, one of the few open as we head North, close to the pond and a small forest on a hill behind. A traveling Mewberries approved park! Except for the cackling geese, ducks and chickens and those crazy looking goats…we didn’t go near them! Ha!
There was the resident Red Bellied woodpeckers who were not cooperative this trip! White Throated and Song Sparrows. These birds forage on the ground, in shrubs or in very shallow water. They mainly eat insects and seeds. I saw my first Carolina Wren. I heard him before I could see him! They are generally inconspicuous, avoiding the open for extended periods of time. When out in the open, they investigate their surroundings and are rarely stationary. Only males sing to advertise territory.
There were familiar calls, the Cardinals belting out their availability, and the chickadees. The Carolina Chickadees and the black-capped chickadees most likely diverged about 2.5 million years ago, the birds still hybridize in the areas where their ranges overlap. The calls and song between the Carolina chickadee and the black-capped chickadee differ subtly to an experienced ear: the Carolina chickadee’s chick-a-dee call is faster and higher pitched than that of the black-capped chickadee, and the Carolina chickadee has a four note fee-bee-fee-bay song, whereas the black-capped omits the high notes. Identification is very difficult even with an excellent view…in case you wanted to know! Ha! The Dark eyed Junco’s were familiar faces and a beautiful yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) was having a drink at a muddy pond. The eastern myrtle warbler is the subspecies. The genus name Setophaga is from ancient Greek ses, “moth”, and phagos, “eating”, and the specific coronata means “crowned”…so a crowned moth eating bird;) Ha!
I have to admit to not being a KOA fan but this spot is lovely. Far enough away from the road to be quiet, a rarity, and then all the birds and animals are a bonus, if you have to be at a campground, it was laundry time, this is a nice one! We had a few cloudy days but it was nice to see the sun come out the day we left headed for Chambersburg, PA. The Twin Bridges campground was not officially open but they take overnighters on their way North in the early Spring, and South in the Fall. They had power she said, not sure if the water would be on.
♫♪♫ Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah Valley…♪♫♪…Mike was begging no more spontaneous John Denver singing on the way up the I-81…ha! It was nice to see farms and old barns and stone houses again. We are pretty familiar with this RV park as well, so few are open this time of year. They are delightful to deal with. We pulled in, the water was on! There were a few others there as well. We decided to stay two nights, Mike’s birthday and all, a day of rest was in order!
It is a cool little town. We knew right where to go shopping, remember their weird liquor laws, can’t buy more than a few bottles of wine at a time…horrors! But actually you can buy the limit, go out to your car, come back in and the limit starts again! We had an extremely disappointing chicken shawarma and Mikey’s donuts was closed so I did bake a cake! We had a chuckle as we drove by “Stoner’s Restaurant Family Dining” ♫♪♫ Everybody must get stoned…♪♫♪ ha! Not in the biblical sense please;) a giggle at the Pompy’s Best view barber shop…for those not in the know, pompys is slang in Mexico for, as Forest Gump would say…”Buttocks!” as we waited for the shawarma and then the usual weird biblical things written on cars and signs…”Keep Looking UP! Christ is coming soon!” What if he rises from the ground? Won’t that just shock them all!
The campground is out in an open field but this is farmland. Surrounded by hedgerows and fields. The birds were familiar faces, it felt almost home. I wandered around the empty campground, some trailers were there but not open yet, seasonal spots.
The huge beech (?) trees here are enormous and so beautiful. There are dozens. New bridges being built, sometime this Winter, after we were here in the Fall one was washed away, the remaining green one in the background is bent in the direction of the water…that was a high water mark! A flock of mixed ducks overran me, it must have been feeding time, when they realized I had nothing to offer but kind words they waddled off!
Silly ducks!
Next jump was to Northern Pennsylvania at another RV park that offers spots year round. They have heated water taps and lots of permanents here. Shady Rest Campground in Union Dale, PA. Always friendly and smiling as well. Really nice folks. These spots are hard to find. Our years of going back and forth to Baja gave us time to find these gems!
It was even starting to look like home, rock and bare trees. It was as if we were going back in time with Spring getting further away as we went North! We had a some bad weather forecast so opted for another day at Shady Rest, possible snow and back to serious cold, none of this just freezing temperatures! Not fun to drive in…we were so close…yet so far away…sigh! It’s a beautiful but somewhat sad area. There is an old mill, a church, a house built over the river nearby, stone walls beautiful stacked from decades and decades ago but an air of decay and loss here.
I walked along the road and found a spot to go down to a small river, running water is magical. The first crocuses were blooming but I was appalled at the amount of garbage, glass, cans, water bottles, all thrown out beside the road and down the banks of the stream. Is it education? Is there a cure for that kind of ignorance? Or is it just that people don’t care if their lives are so bleak or is it the tourists from the nearby ski resort? Who knows, it was sad.
Groot and Gamora thought the forest was perfect! Below zero! No problem for the fur kids!
Last stop was in Mexico…hahahaha! Mexico, New York, actually…J & J campground. I’d called Jeff, the owner, “Yeah, we’ll find you a spot” were his only words last week…When I walked into the office his wife didn’t look too happy. She was still in her pyjamas, “Cleaning” she said, with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she spoke. She was irritated with Jeff, apparently he hadn’t told her we were arriving today and she was too old to be holding down two jobs and cleaning the bathrooms…I agreed she should be upset with Jeff…bad husband! Bad! “We’ll park you in the laneway” she proclaimed, there is a 50 amp plug right there, people can drive around you…even with the slides out? I ventured? “Yeah” she said…OK, not much choice! We parked as far over as we could without getting off the road, it was soft, put the jacks down and unhitched, it wasn’t very even. We decided to go diesel up before anything else so we would be ready to leave “tout suite!” in the morning! When we got back from the diesel run and a bottle of wine for the nerves the trailer didn’t look level. I checked, it was down 3°..0_0. The front jacks had been slipping a tiny amount after the initial leveling, but only 2/10 or 3/10’s of a degree…this 3° was not good. We hooked back up.
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, not the jack again!!
The idea of being stuck in Jeff and Jackie’s road was not appealing. Better safe than sorry, then we would be EXTRA ready to leave! sigh…”C’mon Myrtle, you have to make it home!”I said patting the trailer!
We were on the road by nine, no cat walks, hitting the highway! First time I’ve been happy leaving Mexico! Customs was a breeze after the bridges, there were maybe three RV’s in the big “RV” lane and four cars in the lane beside that. The Customs officer looked at our passports, asked Mike our license plate number and anything to declare, I piped up with all the numbers (I have filled it out on way too many park reservation sites!) a bottle of tequila and one of wine, he then handed us back our passports and we were good to go! Welcome to Canada. It felt a bit surreal to be back to kilometers and the familiar landscape winding our way back to Perth, through Athens and Rideau Ferry (the bridge still isn’t finished! Ha!) and then through Perth and up onto Highway 7 to the RV Place. It was 10:30 a.m. They said they could winterize the trailer and store it while we checked out the cottage laneway.
Blair was at the shop, we explained what was happening with the jacks and they said they’d have a look as we went to the house. Down the lane, cats were getting excited, they knew where they were! It was a beautiful sunny day! No way in hell the trailer was going to come in here yet. Snowbanks lining the road and very, very soft shoulders! We got the power on, Mike started the furnace and then the fireplace, he’d left it set up and ready to roll! Kitty litter in, cat food, my computer and once we were warming up we plugged the water heater cord to the well in and went back for the contents of the fridge and pantry and our clothes, leaving the cats to re-acquaint themselves with the Long Lake house! When we got back to the trailer, she was on her nose, jacks completely in…I put the slides all the way out, we leveled it again, and it seemed to hold while we gathered the rest of the essentials. Weird that it held this time. Back home, the cats were running around like lunatics, exploring every crook and cranny again. We turned the water on…yeah! All systems a GO! Purged all the air from the pipes then flipped the breaker on the hot water heater …that bath tub was calling my name. Blair said they’d put the trailer inside the shop for the night and we said we’d be back for another load or two in the late morning…we were home:) Nothing compares to that sweet feel. Still somewhat surreal, but home! The rising moon saluted us on the still frozen lake…chez nous, home.
Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me: Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill.
On a footnote here-I finished this up last night but sat reflecting on the differences of these two countries, Canada and the United States of America, not to be confused with the United States of Mexico:) There is such a volatile feeling for me there, maybe most Americans untouched by the violence have gotten used to it, or ignore it as a form of protection. The random violence. I heard a joke once that Canada was the apartment right above the crack house…maybe. With the elimination of many rights for women to choose what they want to do with their bodies and the ever increasing violence, some random, some not, how can you ever explain to a parent their six year old, a child, was taken down by an AR15 automatic rifle for no particular reason except someone hated that school and what was done to them there, or their spouse working at a bank, minding their own business…How?
How can anyone fire anyone in the US? Do you worry about repercussions from that not so stable employee you had to let go? Just how unstable is the system you wonder with no health care for so many, unaffordable, unattainable. This is certainly not the America many yearned to go live in when I was a child. Even then the cracks were starting to show, I always said I was born in Canada. America was already making enemies long before I was born. While Canada is by no means perfect it does have a hospital I can go to without worrying about losing everything I own to their billing department. I don’t worry about going grocery shopping, or looking for unhinged people in parking lots (other than my friends;) ha!) I do in the US. It’s my spidey sense scan that looks all around me before I exit the truck and the desire to get in and out of a store as efficiently as I can while noting the exits…Would I go to a Walmart? Never…schools are certainly right out as well! I am not a fearful person, I don’t say “Be safe!” as all our American acquaintances do, I say “Bon voyage”…is that fear built in after decades of violence for them? It’s not new…just the guns are firing more bullets now. It made me sad, and thankful at the same time that I live in Canada. Very very thankful. I know many of my American friends live in wonderful caring communities and I am happy for them but what will the next few decades bring? Sadly if the crack house burns down, the apartment above it is bound to burn as well….
I hate hooking up in the rain, there’s the mud, then the wet feet and the cold but we got going early, no cat walking. We wanted to get to RV’s for Less as early as we could in case they could get working right away. I did forget about losing an hour going into Eastern time…sigh…another hour of my life lost arbitrarily! Ha! We pulled into North Knoxville just after midday. It took a few tries to get parked where they wanted us to but managed, always harder when there is an audience! At first they suggested a hotel but then saw we had cats (furbabies..ha!…their words) and said not to worry, they’d get us back on board as soon as they could. We shut the traveling mewberries into the front of the trailer and closed the door, Rocket hid immediately under the bedcovers, the other two hung out by the windows watching Mike flirt with the official greeters! The old dometic fridge came out quite easily but the new Whirlpool was stubborn and it didn’t help it was not exactly the dimensions that Lowes told RV’s for Less it was…
You have to love an RV dealer that has cats and dogs running around their grounds, real animal lovers. Four cats and two dogs wandered about, people let them in and out, fed them, called them, petted them. Miss Priss is the grande dame of the place, elderly and not a care in the world as she wanders about her property. There was a siamese cross, Gracie and an elderly very fluffy grey boy, Leo, who had things to do, then there was Cali. She definitely owned this place! At six months old fear wasn’t in her vocabulary! She was as bold as she is beautiful. Tried to climb on the trailer multiple times as the workers removed the fridge and shooed her off! She sat under it after that, she WAS the supervisor after all! Perhaps wanting to know how these Canadian cats traveled? Ha! An older Jack Russell cross followed everyone about-their dog at Rv’s for Less, but not their dog, she lives behind them (but they are NOT nice people! We were told stories in depth, didn’t feed the poor older girl and far worse things) but she comes here to eat and live most days:) and nights. She barked a few times our first night and Mike opened the front window and told her it was OK, and she went back to sleep. Gamora even let her sniff her tail, the dog killer herself!
They went right to work the next morning, we moved back to the truck cab, cats in front again. We were going to lose the top cabinet, which was fine as it only held napkins but then there were more snags. Apparently the specs Lowes had given them were off…enough that it would not go through the door, but fear not, they could put it in through the side window! We sat and watched from the truck through the windshield at the progress. At lunch break I went on the trailer and gave the mewberries some water and crunchies for their hardship, Rocket was still hiding. There was some sawing and banging so he wasn’t ready to come out and face the cat killers he said!
After lunch the insertion of the fridge was resumed. Window removed, many hands gathered together from office and shop as they gently handed it from the outside in with the forklifts help. Not much swearing;) this whole dealership is very very religious. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team-Serving in Jesus’ name trailer was parked behind us, another one came into the lot while we were waiting. I was a little worried about our “alien” fish, hoping everyone had a sense of humour;) While the fridge was being installed another man was working on replacing the power cord reel cover as well as affixing a bracket under the backend to help with the back cap wiggle. It was a short term fix Karen, one of the owners said, “Ya’ll need to bring that back another time to get fixed properly, a 12 hour job!” Next trip we promised, another Fall! Mike’s friend Dave aka Pork, stopped by for a quick visit while we were waiting, he lives in Knoxville now, originally from Perth, nice to see a familiar face.
The fridge was also deeper than they were told so no ice maker, no problem we said, we didn’t want any extras, more to go wrong in my book. They managed to move the island 3/4″ to the right for clearance but then the table was hitting when the door side slide closed…I’d had the table out to refinish it in the Fall..”Why not chop an inch off the back of the table, if it slides out an inch less it won’t bother us!” I suggested. Perfect solution! Butch apologized profusely when he brought the table back, the painter’s tape they put on it to protect it had removed some of the awful shiny varnish I had applied, and planned on sanding off when we got back, “Not a problem!”I told him I’d planned on removing it all anyway! He came back later with a jar of laquer, he said I should try it, not so shiny. Very kind. At closing time they were 90% done and said they could finish up in the morning and we moved back on board to admire our shiny new cooling device. It was HUGE! Bigger than what we have at the house!
We took the cats out for a wander once everyone had gone home, They give you a key to their front gate to come and go as you need to after hours. Cali took a shining to Groot who was MOST disturbed by this! “How forward!” Groot exclaimed (he’s a bit of an old fashioned guy, we can’t sniff noises right off the bat, we must get to know each other first, he’s such a prude!) there was to be no playing! He had sniffing to do! “BORING!” Cali said and finally wandered off much to Groot’s relief! Groot may kick himself down the road for not making friends;) Hahahahaha!
Sunrise in Knoxville
In the morning after a few snags were worked out, inverter hook up and trim we were on our way by noon after settling up. They had estimated the time to relace the fridge on the quote and felt bad they had to charge us a little bit more as it hadn’t gone as smoothly as they’d expected, but they didn’t charge for half the time they did spend on it, very gracious generous people. We may not share the same beliefs but acknowledging good people is what we need to do more. Ken, the sales manager had taken a shine to our retro aquamarine mini fridge, we didn’t really need it so offered it to him at a reduced price and he was very happy. He’d sent pictures of it to his wife earlier and she loved it! He was busy that morning smoking ribs and pork in a huge portable smoker for a charity dinner behind the shop, it smelled amazing, “You could all stay!” I think our neighbours were planning to! A lovely couple next to us from “New Joursy”. Their trailer had been submerged in Hurricane Ida in Myrtle Beach, Florida and they were picking up a new one they had bought at RV’s for Less after the insurance paid out, “not until” he said winking! I joked with Mike that it was like living next door to Tony Soprano;) Apparently a lot of filming in that series had been done in the neighbourhood where this really nice guy, Dave lived, it was just the accent! Ha! Or was it? Ha! We opted to start North again, just under two hours NE was Warrior’s Path State Park, we’d stopped here on the way down and decided to resume our journey towards home!
They were also calling for some heavy rain so best not to be on the road for that. There was no one at the small park office when we arrived but I had an idea where we were going. I’d walked this upper part of the campground in the Spring, noting the few sites we could fit in. #85 was the only one. It was a tight turn but they’d added some new width with paving and some extra gravel to the inside of the road which made it easier! Great view down the river. Mike wasn’t impressed with my choice but there were only a few sites we can actually fit into, the spot where we had been before was booked, it was the weekend! I thought three nights here was a treat after RV’s for less urban setting. I had no idea the entire park would fill up! ha! Even on a rainy forecast!
Groot thought the leaves across from the trailer were fine for a nice long pee but just too many dogs he said, in almost every camper except the pop up one right beside us were dogs, both big and small, some campers had three, others had two…not funny Groot said as I told him to put his big boy pants on. His little sister Gamora would protect him! Ha!
There are trails along the lakeside, some a bit precarious after the rain, but the leaf covered forest floor was alive with small wildflowers. Red Deadnettle, Virginia Spring Beauties and Rue Rue Anemones. The lake, well, not really a lake but the Fort Patrick Henry is an 872 acre run-of-river reservoir, meaning water is passed through the reservoir without being stored long-term. It has two hydroelectric generating units at a large dam on the end. The huge towering trees, oaks and beech tree roots seems to be what holds the reservoir banks together, sometimes they win, sometimes mother nature does judging by the number of toppled trees in the water.
I tried to find some information on the geology of the area without much luck. The huge rock outcroppings that go diagonally up and down these hills are fascinating as well as the striation on the rocks by the edge of the reservoir, what caused those scratches and lines? Fossil pine needles a friend suggested! Who knows. I read that 22 families were “relocated” to flood this area:(
Given how full the park was I was surprised how quiet the trails are. Most are not small child friendly unless they want to fall into the reservoir over and over again, from heights at times! They are narrow, and after the rain, slick. I came across some new flowers and plants along the way. The small furled umbrellas when they emerge were Mayapple, American mandrake, wild mandrake or ground lemon and are widespread across most of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. The unripe green fruit is toxic. The ripened yellow fruit is edible in small amounts, and sometimes made into jelly, though when consumed in large amounts the fruit is poisonous. The rhizome, foliage, and roots are also poisonous. Mayapple contains podophyllotoxin, which is highly toxic if consumed, but can be used as a topical medicine. Karen will want to know! happily I can inform her that the Eastern redbud blooming(the Cercis canadensis), a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America has flowers that can be eaten fresh or fried. In some parts of southern Appalachia, green twigs from the eastern redbud are used as seasoning for wild game such as venison and opossum. Because of this, in these mountain areas the eastern redbud is sometimes known as the spicewood tree. Native Americans consumed redbud flowers raw or boiled, and ate roasted seeds. Analysis of nutritional components in edible parts of eastern redbud reported that the flower extract contains anthocyanins, green developing seeds contained proanthocyanidin, and linolenic, α-linolenic, oleic and palmitic acids are present in seeds. So many plants! Inquiring minds want to know.
Saturday we had two trailer whip past us at least 30 mph…this is a SMALL tight road, they nearly creamed the front of the truck in their hurry and the camp host was right on their tail in his golf cart reading them the riot act AND that they’d booked a site too small for their trailer. It must be a tough job here in Tennessee, especially given their gun laws, one has to be careful.
TENNESSEE GUN LAWS AS OF JULY 1, 2021, AN ADULT CAN CARRY A HANDGUN, OPENLY OR CONCEALED, IN TENNESSEE WITHOUT A PERMIT, IF THE PERSON IS:21 OR OLDER (OR 18 OR OLDER FOR CERTAIN MILITARY MEMBERS)
Carrying Handguns Tennessee does not require a permit to carry a firearm, whether openly or concealed. If you want to carry a gun openly or concealed in public in Tennessee, you don’t need a permit. As of July 1, 2021, Tennessee is a permit-less carry state.
Purchase of Firearms Subject to some exceptions, it is unlawful to sell or transfer a handgun to any person who is intoxicated or who is prohibited from gun ownership under the law….duh????
Warriors Path State Park-a time for reflection at sunrise
Our three generational neighbours across the way had been watching their kids like hawks, now I know why! He was shaking his head in disbelief after they shot past, I went out to check our truck…missed it by “That” much he showed with his two fingers…nice folks. Their son in law had never met a “Canadian” before. He wondered if our license plates from “Ontario” was the capital of Canada….sigh….
While humans pose the most danger to anything in life there is an astounding amount of other toxic things growing in plain sight. I wondered if the parents of the kids who didn’t know where the capital of Canada was would know about the rest of the weird things right next to their trailers! Ha! While I was walking Rocket we spied, actually, he spied a millipede for me as we meandered through the deep layer of leaves! Toy! Müther! Toy…nope, very toxic! Apheloria virginiensis, the Black and Gold Flat millipede, is a large North American millipede. It is reported to secrete cyanide compounds as a defense. It is recommended that one wash hands after handling this organism as the toxic compounds it secretes are poisonous and can cause extreme irritation if rubbed in the eyes! Apheloria virginiensis serves as a host to the parasitic fungus Arthrophaga myriapodina, which causes infected individuals to climb to an elevated spot before death. Good thing I didn’t let Rocket play with it!
Across from the trailer at the base of a large oak were plants that looked like blooming pine cones, absolutely fascinating! Conopholis americana, the American cancer-root, bumeh or bear corn, is a perennial, non-photosynthesizing (or “achlorophyllous”) parasitic plant. It is parasitic on the roots of woody plants, especially oaks (genus Quercus) and beech (genus Fagus). The only part of the plant generally seen is the cone-shaped inflorescence, which appears above ground in spring. The plant is found growing on roots in wooded ravines in every state of the United States east of the Mississippi River. While widely distributed, it is uncommon. The suckers of the parasitic roots cause the formation of large rounded knobs on the roots of the host tree.
Then I found a beautiful flower….Cancer root and now Bloodroot? Sanguinaria canadensis is sometimes known as Canada puccoon, bloodwort, redroot, red puccoon, and black paste. In bloodroot, the juice is red and poisonous. Products made from sanguinaria extracts, such as black salve, are escharotic and can cause permanent disfiguring scarring. Bloodroot is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also benefit from growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris. Internal use is not recommended. An overdose of bloodroot extract can cause vomiting and loss of consciousness…will avoid but the roots can produce a dye as long as you don’t get it on your skin…once again, I will avoid it!
Maybe speeding trailers and gun toting Tennesseans aren’t the most dangerous thing out there after all? Some would beg to differ with me after Monday’s shootings in Nashville…It is the guns…I saw the meme..what is wrong with this country? It breaks my heart to think of the insanity here, and at home. Some days I do think humanity is doomed, but as a senator said, guns aren’t the problem, we need more prayer in school…STFU…shut the fuck up….
That covers the good, and the bad…and the very very sad. We are ready to head home…stay tuned, a few states still to go! Saludos amigos ♥
Light and water-beautiful-Warriors Path State Park, Tennessee
After a shopping trip to Ponchatoula (Is there a town called Umpalumpa here as well? Ha!) to diesel up and get some ice, meat and vegetables for our small larder as I couldn’t see any grocery stores near Archusa Creek we said goodbye and sacrificed our $20 night here so Mike didn’t have to battle the elements, as well as the road work that continued on the Interstate 12 and then again on Interstate 59 North. We were passed by my very first live Catfish truck! Those are holding tanks! Who knew? Interstate 59 full of surprises!
We’ve traveled this stretch before headed back to Canada just after Covid hit hard. We turned off at Mississippi 512 and headed East through Pachuta, more road work…argh…and extremely narrow lanes, but no giant oak branches..whew! There were pretty clear signs to the Archusa Creek campground, aka Water Park, it was sitting on a good sized lake.
Archusa Creek Water Park
No one at the front desk/window when we arrived so we drove in and followed the signs, it was 4 pm! Past loop B to loop A, narrow, wooded, very very crowded with campers and trucks and bonfires and kids on bikes and site 23…had a trailer in it…but site 26 did not. Mike just managed to get backed in. Sites were narrow but paved. A lovely gentleman from across the way, on the fancy bayfront sites on the water (lake/reservoir) came over and offered to drive me over to the camp hosts trailer to ask, especially before we unhooked, better to know in case we had to move. There was no one at the hosts trailer but a large loose dog with sharp claws that was very friendly so he flagged down someone else to do with the lake management who called, Donna, and then passed me his phone. “Oh yes, it’s site 26 you are supposed to be in, training a new girl, sorry about that!” Good to know. I thanked her and the water management guy in the pickup and the nice man drove me back. I thanked him. He’d been near Canada once he said, Lake Superior in Michigan, his kids had wanted to go to a beach when he lived in Indiana..too cold for me he said of the water. I laughed, yup. Very friendly helpful people. Mike walked around the campground, every license plate was Mississippi….and us;) Ha! Now hopefully all that wicked weather will go North of us and the sun will come out and we can look around!
Archusa Creek Water Park is located in Quitman, Mississippi, just off Hwy. 45 and Hwy. 18 East. The 450 acre lake is a fisherman’s paradise with large quantities of bass, catfish, perch and bream. The whole family can enjoy camping, boating, swimming, water skiing and picnicking. The picnic areas are equipped with barbecue grills and family-size picnic tables.…Family sized picnic tables vs couples picnic tables? Ha! That was about all the history or information I could find. When the Waterway District was created in 1962, its main mission was flood control for rivers and their tributaries along the Pascagoula River Basin in southeastern and east central Mississippi. In addition to flood control, the agency’s mission expanded to include water management and recreation. The District derives its name from Pat Harrison, who served Mississippi as U.S. Representative (1911–19) and Senator (1919-41)...end of story.
That is just too weird but I remembered a news article on BBC I’d read about a young black man being dismembered and discovered (I googled it) not too far from here, his mother was looking for justice…just kinda creepy. Apparently the police force denied any foul play even though his head had been severed…combined with smiley police chief on the billboard we saw earlier just reminded us of how lucky we are to live where we do, with the freedoms hopefully all of us deserve no matter what our colour, creed, race or religion.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…maybe not here.
At 10 p.m. there was a loud knock on the door of the trailer. Mike turned on the outside light and went out to find two young boys, maybe 8 and 6 years old. “”D’ya wanna buy turtles?” they asked. Mike look perplexed…turtles, no thanks. They continued on with their chatting, Mike called it gibberish, of which he understood none before coming back inside, I was smiling, I did hear, “D’ya have an air gun?” was it real turtles or maybe they were selling the chocolates called turtles I suggested to Mike, he’s leaning towards real turtles, I did make out paper route but their accent was so strong I only caught a few words here and there….we are traveling through a very foreign country I laughed, we can’t even understand the locals!
We did a diesel-up run and a quick trip to the grocery store, not many white people in that grocery store. A friend suggested socio economic reasons for having the campground as all white but I think it goes deeper, is there a fear to be surrounded by these whites? I came across this article written in The Atlantic that begs to be read: RACISM IS ‘BUILT INTO THE VERY BONES’ OF MISSISSIPPI
When I thanked the grocery clerk for bagging my groceries, he looked surprised and taken aback…
I had to force myself to get up and walk about the campground, the gray skies and a slightly off feeling of the place had me wishing we were gone. The Flowering Dogwoods were beautiful as well as a few wildflowers, a type of sage and cress. Out at the park entrance an azalea bush was in full flower! I’d found some cheerful colour!
I wandered back down the road towards the tent camping area and out to the side of the lake. I’d seen some ducks in the distance and when we’d arrived I thought I’d seen a swan, “No, a goose!” Mike said…turned out it was a Goose Swan! The trio looked like the Far East Mafia that controls this side of the lake;) a Swan Goose, native to Mongolia, northernmost China, and the Russian Far East with his henchmen ducks! Ha! Most likely an escapee or a domestic one! While uncommon in the wild, this species has been domesticated. Introduced and feral populations of its domestic breeds occur in many places outside its natural range. The wild form is also kept in collections, and escapes are not unusual amongst feral flocks of other Anser and Branta geese.
It was a bit of a relief to pack up and head out in the morning. We had to wait for a few trailers to go first, not much parking here and trucks were blocking our way out of the corner. We were on the road by 11:15 and said Goodbye to Mississippi and headed into Alabama, heading for Oak Mountain State Park. Up the MI 45 to the Interstate 20, the turning North East on the I-59/ I-20. Alabama gets the reward for smoothest bridge/freeway connections, Mississippi gets the lowest score…paving guys need some help it seems! Ha!
We’ve been to Oak Mountain State Park many times and it is always heavily booked, perhaps more so as it’s closing in May for a total redo of the campsites, roads etc. We had a spot nearly on the end of B campground, always good, less people, near some tent sites that I figured with the rain and colder weather wouldn’t be used. It’s a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved Park! Great sniffing and walking, even trails they can mosey down!
It looked a lot like the fall except the leaves were just starting to bud out. Tiny wildflowers dotted the bare ground, no dragonflies here yet but I could hear a Cardinal calling and I caught a flash of blue-Eastern Bluebirds, adults as well as juveniles! So soon! A Brown Thrasher poked around in the bushes by the water’s edge and a muskrat popped up for just a few moments before diving again. Damn, Muskrat Susy and Muskrat Sam are going to be stuck in my head all night long! Ha! Curse you Captain and Tenille!
In the morning behind the trailer I could hear a Red Bellied Woodpecker and a Brown Thrasher was twittering away in one of it’s 1000 song types. It has the largest song repertoire of any birds. However, each note is usually repeated in two or three phrases! ♫♪♫ Sing, sing a song , making my notes just two or three tweets longgggg…..♫♪♫…The Cardinals are easy to spot! I’d love to see this forest leafed out one day!
I walked along the edge of the road following the songs. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker had just dug an ant out of a hole in the tree he was perched on. The Eastern Bluebird was busy feeding it’s puffed up juvenile and I spyed three Brown Thrashers digging around in the leaf litter. The brown thrasher is an omnivore, with its diet ranging from insects to fruits and nuts. I think fox coloured thrasher would have been a perfect name. There is something about that amazing coloring!
This guy, I presume, got up on the branch and started to belt out his repertoire for the ladies below! I never tire of these amazing thrashers! I walked around the lake path, still covered in downed trees from a tornado last year, or maybe it was the year before. You can see it’s path as you drive through the park, it is horrific. I wanted to check out a small waterfall, Peavine, in the park but was just too tired of driving to be honest. After a trip to the US 280 for a trip to Sprouts and Pet Valu it was time to head home.
It is wonderful to see the trees and bushes blooming, I need to take that with me we will still have a wait by the time we get back to Ontario for any flowering shrubs! In the morning I went off with better light to get some pictures of what I thought might be members of the trillium family. When I uploaded the picture to iNaturalist it was indeed, Sessile-flowered Trilliums (Subgenus Sessilia)! There were ones with both green and variegated leaves as well! So cool!
Getting to Knoxville was quite a jump so we opted for a small county park to spend the night, they were calling for possibly heavy rain overnight so we decided to give it a try. It would also make our jump to RV’s for Less in North Knoxville much shorter and they might be able to start work right after we arrived, we hoped!
Chester Frost Park Map
We’d stayed at a very noisy KOA right off the highway, ugh, on the way down South of Chattanooga so didn’t want that experience again! This was another very low reservoir off Chickamauga Lake but it was quiet and reasonable and I wish I’d taken pictures. We walked the very happy cats right down to the water and beach, nothing like a thick layer of leaves for a good cat pee time! There were pines and wild chives everywhere! I picked some to put in the sour cream for our baked potatoes for dinner! Have to love a park with fresh herbs! Our spot #167 was a pull through, but an older one, we did manage to get in and out with no problem but it took some wiggling! We went to get diesel and came back. There was a bald eagle fishing way out in the lake and in the distance I heard our first sound of home, a Loon was wailing… then the clouds rolled in, and it did rain. It was a wet, wet morning, but that is another story…stay tuned for repairs, ambassador cats and the rest of Tennessee:) Saludos amigos!
Welcome to RV’s for Less, I am Miss Priss! Welcome to Knoxville!
This 1,087-acre park near Moss Bluff, Sam Houston Jones, recently re-opened. In August 27, 2020 Hurricane Laura, blew through as a high-end Category 4 hurricane, made landfall near the Louisiana–Texas border in Cameron Parish and simultaneously tied the 1856 Last Island hurricane as the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall in Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Storm surge as high as 17 feet was measured at Rutherford Beach and a wind gust of 137 mph was recorded at Lake Charles. Widespread severe damage occurred across southwest Louisiana with coastal areas experiencing devastating storm surge and inland areas experiencing catastrophic wind damage. 33 people died in Louisiana from the storm and an estimated $17.5 billion in damage was inflicted across the state
Four out of every five trees at the park have been removed, even those left standing after Hurricane Laura, because they were severely damaged. The giant magnolia was left as it still shows signs of life! Then August 29, 2021 – Hurricane Ida made landfall as a high-end Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, the same day as the 16th anniversary of Katrina making landfall in the state. 33 people were killed and at least $18 billion in insured damage was inflicted across the state. and that’s not counting the Hurricane Delta that made landfall fifteen miles away from where Laura did as a category two hurricane October 9 the 2020 and on October 28th Hurricane Zeta made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph…
The park has a slightly, no, well an apocalyptical feel to it. A war zone of nature. What the park here has done is nothing short of miraculous with budget cuts over the years. You had to look past the emptiness at the little things. It wasn’t what I was expecting as my choice of site was made from campsitephotos.com #23 was heavily wooded with overhanging branches I was slightly worried about! The ranger at the front gave me a zeroxed map, ma’am, things have changed. He pointed to where we were going and off we went. It had been an almost four hour trip from Galveston Island and we were ready to stop moving in whatever site we could get!
Everything was brand spanking new, the concrete roads in the campground, not the one leading in, maybe that’s up for repairs next, new washrooms and even a laundry room with coin operated machines! 50 amp service, water and sewer…all in a small state park with 24 sites. Una milgro really. I just happened to pick one of the two incredibly uneven sites…very downhill..there was. Guys, you JUST made this park, what were the architects thinking? That, or they ran out of fill in their budget! From the google maps overhead screenshot of the campground you can make out the destruction all around.
Unhitching, the leveling system wigged out again, oh no I was thinking but only because the front jacks ran out of stroke, even though I’d placed spacers and extra blocks of wood under them. The hydraulic slides hadn’t wanted to retract as well in Galveston when we were leaving until I pressed the control buttons really hard, but they did go in after a few tense moments. I wasn’t looking forward to hydraulic issues so quickly again, it certainly dampens your enthusiasm…Ha!
The Mewberries were itching to get out, this was paradise, green grass and dragonflies to chase! We walked along the border of the what was left surrounding the campground, looking at flowers and vines, mushrooms and tree seeds. American sweetgum seed. Cats didn’t like walking on them! Very prickly but cool looking! Yes, I did stuff a few into a bag, for future Christmas Wreaths! Ha!
Behind the campground there was a small swamp, bayou, Creedence immediately screams into my head ♫♪♫ Born on the bayou ♪♫♫ and other fabulous CCR songs but did you know they were actually from El Cerrito, California? I was crushed…not;) Part of the path in a small boardwalk over the swamp, I met and spoke to two nice couples there, one just visiting the campground to check it out, another camped there. Why my walks often go longer than planned! One woman pointed out the Green Anole! It had moved onto a piece of wood and was turning brown in front of me! Pond Slider turtles lazed on a few logs sunning, no sliding today!
So much life. In the middle of the swamp a Great Egret moved stealthily among the water plants waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Yellow water lilies with no leaves were blooming here and there as more dragonflies flitted back and forth. A tribute to how quickly life returns, or that it never leaves.
I spoke to another camping couple walking their dog Tobey. They were from Alexandria Bay, just South of us in New York, they knew where Perth was! They asked if this was the original campground? I said I didn’t know but explained the two back to back hurricanes…”Ahhh” they said. They were here in 2019 and nearly drove by the campground yesterday, not thinking it was where they were supposed to go, now they understood, the old campground no longer existed, they had said how spectacular it had been with all the beautiful magnolias and shade trees. A local lady walking by introduced herself, Stephanie, from Moss Bluff, she was so happy the park was open again, her happy place! “Don’t forget the crawfish in town, and the cupcake shop!” she remarked, “Thanks for visiting here!”
Groot and Gamora absolutely loved it here, making a beeline for the edge of the shrubs, chasing lizards, sniffing everything, digging in the sand at the edges of the filled areas. Rocket, well, we had to carry him out to the edge, the open areas melted down his half brain cell and he just couldn’t do it, on the way back he’d scoot all the way to the truck and trailer, and yes, they know which one is theirs! In fact they occasionally do a scan to see where it is, just in case you know! It may have been the grey panther they all spotted from the window earlier! A young beautiful grey feral cat was going from trailer to trailer. He liked the Airstream parked across from us, they also had two cats. He almost acted like he wanted to go up there steps. I felt bad, maybe someone had been feeding him. He looked in good shape and was enjoying peeing on all the truck tires…mine, mine, mine….cats!
Mike and I took a walk on the boardwalk trail, I saw one bird, a savannah sparrow I think. The “warning alligator” signs along side the “slow children” signs were a hoot. The SLOW children won’t stand a chance!
OK, we did the boiled crawfish thing at Red Tails Boil House. You drive up, put your order in and they give it to you in a big white plastic bag, in a brown paper bag…everything is boiled..the crawfish, the corn, the potatoes, the mushrooms and an onion. Boiled, like it says. I’m afraid if I want to to eat bugs in the future, I’ll order a lobster! Ha! This is diet food, you have to eat it so slowly I am going to start calling it slow food crawfish as you try to pick the tiny pieces of meat from the tail and yes, the tiny claws! Ha! We should have added crab and shrimp!
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. I pulled a tick off of the back of my leg, and one off Groot…nasty little bugs! Spring is here!
Good Morning Louisiana
It was a three hour trip, plus any highway work to Tickfaw State Park. I was a bit worried about the hydraulics, I’d gone into manual mode to get the trailer somewhat level, the slides had behaved but I held my breath when I pushed the slides in button and in they retracted as they should, worried about nothing apparently! The jacks came up and we were off to Interstate 10 headed through Baton Rouge, over the Mississippi River and on to Tickfaw State Park.
There was more road work, more idiots, and so so many billboards. Religious ones, lawyers ones, lawyers ones with religion and food, even political ones At least the food ones were making me hungry! There was even an Acme 18 wheeler one, Wylie E. Coyote will be driving for them soon;) Watch out roadrunner! The icing on the awful billboards came as we entered Livingston Parish-We love our schools, churches and the 2nd amendment. Enjoy your stay! from the sheriff, Jason Ard, he must be up for re-election…0_0….
Right to Bear Arms-A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
No mistaking the values here…Sheriff Jason is not someone I’d want pulling me over….but hey, enjoy your stay…I would have put down “we love our kids”, maybe a better choice of words than their institutions…
Then you have Bart and Gordon, your Louisiana lawyer billboards (I counted over 30 of them and sure there are more. Apparently the lawyers Bart and Greg really, really like their own pictures. Bart and Gordon like themselves…a lot! Ha!)…what is with the dog in we are loyal to our clients? Is he sueing his owner for those pink ribbons? Then you have the lawyers with religion billboards…mixed reading for sure! If Jesus can’t answer you right away, call Gordon . And of course a bit of politics thrown in with Pray, Pray, Pray…what’s not working guys? and don’t sell booze to babies and finally the food billboards, the most food billboards I have seen, it actually made my stomach growl a few times but not enough to stop…Boudin balls? No, not part of an alligator’s anatomy;) Boudin balls are made from Cajun boudin sausage, which is a mixture of ground pork and rice, along with seasonings. The sausage is removed from its casing, formed into balls, then coated and fried. I’m sure it is simply delicious!
Thank goodness for billboards, it’s awfully flat here, a few bridges, wait, that’s the Mississippi River! Lot’s of small brown rivers and many green swampy ones! The “Skywalker” was being brought up the river by tugs, if I was a graffiti artist…I’d have to add “Luke” here! Ha!
Once we got off the I-10 the road into Tickfaw State Park was a bit sketchy. At one point we turned down a road and I called the park office, is this the way in? Well ma’am…you could but…and he told me another road, signal breaking up, we backed out, well, Mike did, I stopped traffic, and went a bit further to an equally, well almost, narrow road and followed it to the park through an odd bit of suburbia where someone had gone off the edge of the road and was being pulled out by a tow truck while we waited, because the roads were so narrow, with no shoulders and large drop offs, Baja roads! It is always a relief to see the park signs and arrows as you think where the hell are we going…Welcome to Tickfaw State Park!
Tickfaw State Park
Tickfaw State Park is 1,200 largely undeveloped acres in an isolated pocket of Livingston Parish. Until August 29 2021 Tickfaw was covered in the shade of a tree canopy so thick that the sky was rarely seen. Hurricane Ida’s eye wall knocked down about 80% of the trees, mostly in mud that the 30-foot arm of an excavator couldn’t reach from the roads that run like fingers through the swamp. Seven state parks were closed because of severe damage. All boardwalk trails at Tickfaw State Park are currently closed due to severe damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Canoe rentals are also currently unavailable. Two trails are currently open to the public, the hardwood trail and the trail around the fishing pond.
The campground is cleared, just, between sites huge pines still lay toppled. Funding cuts from 2017 didn’t help things. The sites are narrow, some a bit difficult to get in with trees, sites on the inside of the road have sewer. We had space #3. Space #1 is a first come first serve site. Not quite a apocalyptic as Sam Houston but still gut wrenching.
From its cypress and tupelo swamp to its bottomland hardwood forest, Tickfaw State Park is no stranger to water. The low-lying park occasionally serves as a detention pond for rainfall that overflows the Tickfaw River’s steep banks. Of the park’s 1,200 acres, about half of which lie west of the Tickfaw River and remain undeveloped, 99.8 percent went under water during the 2016 August flood…this floor of the bathrooms is about 7′ high…all the campsites would have been underwater. Swimming back to your trailer! Yikes!
I walked over to the nature center and looked at the exhibits, snakes and mammals, alligator jaws, stuffed Bobcats and birds, it felt like a step back in time. They had wonderful aquariums with turtles and salamanders, even an obituary to a deceased one on one tank, very sweet, I didn’t realize there were so many poisonous snakes here, I should have taken pictures, I was just enthralled walking around. Making a mental note not to let Rocket pounce on anything in the bush behind the trailer! Earlier I should have let Gamora eat the anole she caught! She grabbed one, not this guy and made a beeline for the trailer steps, wanting to take her new toy inside. I had to pry it out of her mouth as Rocket watched sadly from behind the screen, it escaped by running down my leg and into a crack in the boards of the small deck beside the site…safe! The Brown Anole is highly invasive I read.
We had some nice folks across from us from Vermont with a lovely grey cat with four white boots and a couple from Massachusetts we chatted with on our other side. Thursday morning we had some decisions to make. Severe thunderstorms, possibility of tornadoes (ugh, lump in my stomach) and torrential rain. Great traveling weather right? not! We weighed our decisions, the spot we were in was not available for Friday, nor did they have any other ones available. I called Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi to see if we could get in a day early…nope, they weren’t sure, their entire reservation system was down so couldn’t even tell me if the spot I had reserved for Friday/Saturday was open for Thursday, he didn’t think so he said, someone was in it. Mike went searching and came up with these gems! Archusa Creek Water Park, The Pat Harrison Waterway District, like county parks? I called the number Mike gave me and the new girl at reception, who kept yelling back to her boss, Donna, came up with one site, for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday for us…for a 38′ 5th wheel? I asked, we can get in? Plenty of room for site 23 I could hear Donna yelling. No roads not to take in I asked? Nope…OK. I gave her the credit card number and she said site #23! All good! I need to learn to speak Mississippian…they had some serious dialects happening. There are days I want to break out in an Irish brogue, but they wouldn’t understand would they? Ha! But that…is another story. Stay tuned for Mi-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i…..
♫♪♫ M I double S I double S I double P I M I double S I double S I double P I
Right in the middle of the cotton belt Down in the Mississippi Delta Wearin’ last years possum belt Smack dab in the Mississippi Delta ♪♫♪
OMG! A Green Blue Jay, wait, a Green Jay! or should that be green, blue, black and yellow Jay!
First we had to get through San Antonio…We truly hate big cities, medium cities, the roads are usually a mess, or being redone, the lanes are narrow, people are idiots and don’t know how to merge and no one seems to look beyond the hood of their car! Wake up people or get smushed by a 18,000 lb. trailer and 10,000 lb truck! pedal to the metal or hang back, your choice. Maybe it’s just me, but Mike swears in three different, wait, at least four different languages when even the cats perk up their ears!! There is even extra points given for creative use of swear words and combinations as well, we’ll make a chart one day on the severity of the situation and a list of his creative expressions that fit them!
Yes, it’s an agitating experience going through large cities. San Antonio was no exception, we took a wrong turn that got us on the Interstate 35 South, the phone was saying one thing, the truck GPS the other (I think it needs an update…hate dealers) but in the end we avoided downtown and swung South on the Texas #16 headed out of the city and into God’s country…Who named a town Poteet anyway? So it wasn’t the Interstate 37 we were trying for but it got us there just the same after one experience with what a turnaround is, just that, it turns you around, then you go back and find the next “turnaround” to get you going back in the direction you wanted to go in the first place! ha! We did get turned around!
I feel this billboard needed some punctuation…is it “THINK GOD! or Think God? or maybe you are talking to God saying “Jeesuz, think God, why did you put all these crazy humans here after all?” Just saying;) they have their own website if you want to know more..0_0…and who is Elmer? A plumber, a electrician? Someone who had a good year and wanted to thank San Antonio? Inquiring minds want to know! Maybe he’s thankful for McDonald’s someone suggested, maybe he is. I always think the more God billboards you see, the sketchier the population must be…looking for converts! We were happy to get out of town and into the country. The huge live oaks had stated to outnumber the mezquite scrub and wildflowers were blooming across so many fields, this felt like Spring!
From the park website:
Choke Canyon State Park is on the shore of the Choke Canyon Reservoir, which supplies water for Corpus Christi.
The state acquired the park in 1981 in a 50-year agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation, the city of Corpus Christi and the Nueces River Authority.
Eroded, gently rolling brushland crossed by silted stream valleys makes up the terrain here. This land formed during the Cenozoic Era (the period following the extinction of dinosaurs).
Ancient rivers flowing to the southeast dumped their sediments into what was then part of the Gulf of Mexico. This created new land.
Seas intermittently covered the newly-formed land with more river sediment. These sediments were mostly volcanic ash, claystone, siltstone, tuff, shale and shaley limestone.
Over time, erosion of these sediments and subsequent deposits of river silt produced the land you see today.
The Choke Canyon Dam is near where the Gulf shoreline was about 30 million years ago.
From the scant evidence available, we know that Paleo Indians crossed the Frio River Valley more than 10,000 years ago. They were following game such as bison and mammoth.
After large game disappeared more than 8,000 years ago, nomadic hunters and gatherers associated with the Archaic culture camped near the river. There they made tools, built fires, and gathered and processed food. Archeologists have found numerous Archaic sites in the Choke Canyon area.
The sites were really well spaced, on very old dirt, ha! This actually had some of the best spacing we have seen so far, so much room between you and the next site, very private, I put up by back window feeder, they said there was a $500 fine for feeding wildlife…did that include birds? The park lady at the front desk was none too friendly, your tag is outside, pinned to the board, end of conversation…Okeedokee…
We took the cats out for a spin, he bangs on the side of the trailer as he is walking Groot before I get out and says “Is this the green jay you’ve been looking for?” Wowza…not just green but blue, black and yellow too! It exceeded my expectations of just how bright a bird can be! I apologize for all the pictures! Ha!
Like most members of the crow family (Corvidae), Green Jays are omnivorous, eating a great variety of insects, small vertebrates, seeds, and fruit. Among insects, grasshoppers, crickets, bugs, caterpillars, and flies are common prey items. They are non migratory but do differ slightly from ones in South America. Green Jays are agile, active foragers. They forage in family groups, moving in the same direction together as each explores a different tree or shrub, scanning for insects or other food before hopping or flying to a new vantage point. They are noisy, like most jays, but not as noisy as the flock of Great Tailed Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds that descended onto my feeder! I had to put it away!
I sat at the bird blind, a few hundred feet away, the feeders were empty and the orange halves old and picked over, it looked unkempt, and it was empty. I wandered over towards the bathrooms where there was a small patch of yellow flowers, full of butterflies!
Love was in the air in the butterfly patch! The The Bordered Patches were frolicking as were the American Ladies. Pipevine Swallowtails, mostly in fairly ragged shape rounded out the group with a Xylocopa micans, also known as the southern carpenter bee. (Like all Xylocopa bees, X. micans bees excavate nests in woody plant material.) and a Fiery Skipper, they can hold their wings in a “triangle” shape. The forewings are held upright, and the hindwings are folded flat. This position is thought to better absorb the sun’s rays! So much life in that little patch of Cowpen daisies.
The next morning a herd of White Tailed Deer walked right past the trailer. Groot and Rocket were not impressed with the smells, I think the javelina scent set them on edge! Danger Will Robinson! Danger! That herd came by early the next morning! Scary pig dogs Groot said looking out the window at them!
The bird blind was hopping the next morning! Several people were seated at the picnic tables and benches watching the incoming crowd. A nice group, friendly with lot’s of hints for the parks they had been too. Apparently South Llano is a favourite of all of them, this blind here they said was neglected. The fact they stop feeding the birds, so they don’t interrupt migration they said, was BS several said as all the other parks feed all year long, too cheap one lady said. I did notice South LLano had a donation box I added to, perhaps they should do that here as well! It would be hard to keep the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds fed. They descended several times in great numbers causing a ruckus among the Green jays and Golden Fronted Woodpecker, that’s quite the name to live up to!
One lady stopped in hoping to see a Green jay, they arrived right after she left…:( The Golden Fronted Woodpeckers I hadn’t seen since we were in Palo Duro canyon State Park South of Amarillo many years ago. They are really striking, another Texas bird! The Woodpeckers eat more than just insects. The Golden-fronted Woodpecker consumes about as much fruit and nuts as it does insects. In summer in Texas, the faces of some woodpeckers become stained with purple from eating fruit of the prickly pear cactus. Carpintero Frentidorado in Spanish, are omnivorous, eating insects and larvae, spiders, fruits, and nuts, much like their relatives the Red-bellied and Gila Woodpeckers. They also eat ants, beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas, praying mantises, walking sticks, moths, small lizards, and possibly birds’ eggs. It was a treat to sit and watch them!
After walking the cats I headed out to the beach to see what was there, an alligator maybe? Choke Canyon reservoir has a surface area of 25,670 acres and a maximum depth of 95.5 feet. The water levels fluctuate between 10 to 20 feet depending on rain, they looked quite low as I walked through some muddy areas. This is a fishing destination judging from the hotels and motels nearby, and I thought they were for visitors to the Federal Prison nearby! Ha! The campground also has cottages to rent to the fishing and birding folk. I think the fishing is the biggest draw here.
The water doesn’t look particularly appetizing to swim in, call me picky…Ha! There were several ducks, A Blue Winged Teal, a female Redhead and a Canvasback duck (male). The Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) is a species of diving duck, the largest found in North America, a first for me as well…and a Coot…gotta love Coots!
I was looking for the Crested Caracara, I had seen it fly over the bird blind but too far away to get a shot at. We’d also seen them on the side of the road picking at carcasses and one evening, with not enough light, one was scavenging on the beach. You were not supposed to leave your fish entrails behind but I’m sure many do. Many folks were simply fishing from the shore. Such a striking bird!
Crested Caracara from my files!
For some inconceivable reason I decided to take a walk the last afternoon we were at Choke Canyon to follow some of the birding paths…in the 92° heat…what was I thinking;) Ha! All around us sweet acacia, huisache, or needle bush, a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae were blooming. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry. They smell divine! Yellow good smelling pompoms!
While I meandered over several miles of trails wondering what was I thinking I did get to see some cool plants, a few butterflies, a dragonfly and one bird. A very quick Blue Gray gnatcatcher. So much for the well named trails of Warbler Way and Owls Roost…ha! I was going to sleep well! I should have sat in the shade by the bird blind!
One thing about photographing the plants and flowers, bugs, birds and blooms and uploading them to iNaturalist is learning what they are, what they mimic, how they can kill! ha! I thought I’d found a Monarch but it turned out to be a Viceroy Butterfly. It was long thought to be a Batesian mimic of the monarch butterfly, but since the viceroy is also distasteful to predators, it is now considered a Müllerian mimic instead…who knew..I need to go look those words up! Ha! Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimic each other’s honest warning signals, to their mutual benefit. Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.
I have learned two new words today that I probably won’t retain;) I also learned that ingestion of silverleaf nightshade has been implicated as a cause of ivermectin toxicosis in horses given the recommended dosage of the drug. Metabolites from the plant are speculated to disrupt the blood–brain barrier, allowing ivermectin to enter and disrupt neurotransmitter function in the brain and spinal cord….very bad Indie for horses!
And Tillandsia recurvata, commonly known as small ball moss or ball moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) in the family Bromeliaceae that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidity, which is commonly provided by southern shade trees, often the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana). It is not a parasite like mistletoe, but an epiphyte like its relative Spanish moss. It was beautiful backlit against the sun! Mike and Groot were much smarter than their wandering servant Pamela…..
Way to chill on a 92° afternoon…he is Groot and his servant Mike.
We walked out to the beach for one last sunset as it cooled down, sort of and were looking forward to sea breezes, bay breezes, any breeze! Our next park was Goose Island. I was a bit worried about getting in there after reading reviews from campers who wiped out their skylights and vent caps on the overhanging oak branches but figured if we took it slow, we’d be OK!
I had quick walk out to the reservoir for one last look for the Crested Caracara and encountered a lovely Snowy Egret fishing before we left. It was going to be a short hop, just under two hours, but through Corpus Christi (who named that Christ corpse!) before we turned North to the Park.
We passed through Three Rivers, Texas, on our way to the I-37 to the gulf coast…great old theater and of course….pawn and guns….then Donuts and Chinese Food…I have not seen this combination before and although the sign looks like it could be closed, they were open for business….I was not brave enough;) The view at the gulf coast was not promising, refinery after refinery, all the big names in oil, Shell, Mobil, Valero, Pemex…wait…yes, Mexican companies! The USS Lexington, nicknamed “The Blue Ghost” was cool, it’s an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Currently a museum. We turned North at Corpus Christi and headed for Goose Island. It is on the inside bay actually, not the coast at all. We passed through Rockport before the park. Why here? Whooping Cranes. Mike felt bad I missed Whitewater Draw in Arizona with our jack problems so felt we could stop here, the home to the endangered Whooping Cranes, all five hundred or so of them ar Aransas Wildlife Refuge, but some hung out North of the park!
Goose Island State Park is 321.4 acres on St. Charles and Aransas bays. It is located north of Rockport in Aransas County. The state acquired land for the park in 1931-1935 by deeds from private owners. A legislative act set aside the state-owned Goose Island as a state park.
The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the earliest park facilities in the 1930s.
When we checked in I asked the the park ranger about the branches, just watch them as you drive, take the middle of the road and watch yourself backing in, as long as you are not a newbie she laughed, you’ll be fine! We were OK! Site 113 wasn’t too hard to swing and back into, several of the other sites would have required gymnastics on the part of the trailer to get into! Bonus was first night we had no one in front of, or here, bedside all us and we sat outside and watched the fireflies!!
Groot said he had to chase this “Black Panther” away from HIS trailer! I was shocked at how aggressive he was, big boy in town. Not sure if this was a camper’s cat or a stray, and yes, people do turn their cats out loose we have discovered…You see them sitting under their trailers at times. I think this guy was a feral cat.
Lot’s of wildflowers around the trailer as well. We talked to a French Canadian couple next to us who had toured all over Mexico this year, it was fun to exchange our views of camping in Baja vs the mainland, many funny stories to share, really lovely folks!
The next day we drove up to see the Big Tree-It was named the State Champion Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in 1966. The San Bernard Oak on the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge dethroned it in 2003. The Big Tree is still one of the largest live oak trees in Texas and in the nation. It is massive!
Trunk circumference: 35 feet 1.75 inches or 10.71 meters
Average trunk diameter: 11 feet 2.25 inches or 3.41 meters
Crown spread: 89 feet or 27.1 meters
Height: 44 feet or 13.4 meters
Age, possibly over 1500 years.
I love these fabulous oaks but was reminded of the price I pay being near them, camped under them…constant coughing…I am allergic to these giants and wee ones as well. Sucks! I could get close to the Prickly poppies around the tree, many had visiting friends! Fork-tailed Bush Katydids! Green bugs!;)
We saw some cranes, they were out in a farmers field but too far away to get a good shot so I vowed to drive the five minutes back later in the day to check again. In the meantime we went to town for a few supplies given the limited space in our new magic chef fridge, I was keeping ice in the defunct dometic with a few vegetables as well, had to replace it every day.
Now I love me some new grocery stores;) Ok, I promise not talk that way but all I wanted was some tea-I don’t need tea for serenity, or joy, or harmony or bliss, I just want some damn English Breakfast tea! Where are Twinning’s when you need them?! Hahahahaha! Then the ice…Ok…Ice is food? Come on Texas, this is just ridiculous, unless you consider it diet food? This marketer needs a firing squad;) The chicken paws didn’t surprise me…ah, the world of marketing… We were stopped at a light by the bakery so I said, hey lets go in, get some donuts! Rockport, population 10,000 and some, mostly old people it seemed, retirees, snowbirds, whatever. The donuts were good. I asked if they had any bread? No, we tried, the people here won’t pay more than a dollar a loaf the young girl said behind the counter, they are too cheap…please never let me get old..AND cheap;) You do know what pigs in a blanket are right? The smoke shops/get yer bud light drive throughs, well, we don’t see many smoke shops in Perth anymore, let alone drive through ones! Always something new to either raise your eyebrows or just have a chuckle at, chuckling is easier.
I drove back up to see the cranes later, a few more had arrived, but none flew in while I was there and they were still a long ways away mixed in with Sandhill Cranes and Roseate Spoonbills. It was still cool. The fields of flowering Prickly Poppy were just beautiful.
The endangered whooping crane feeds on berries and blue crabs found in the coastal wetlands around Goose Island State Park. From March through October, roseate spoonbills prefer the bays, marshes and estuaries along the Gulf Coast. Occasionally they will travel inland through the eastern third of Texas. In winter, most roseate spoonbills migrate to Central and South America.
Goose Island State Park is surrounded by suburbia if you look on Google maps. There is a fishing pier from the “bayfront” sites. This bay, Aransas, smelled, badly. No fresh ocean breeze here but dank estuary rotting smell. We could even smell it from the wooded campground further inland. The French Canadians had been out there but said the constant wind and the airboat noise drove them away. Most of the sites were too uneven for us, dropping off at the beginning and end with a huge hump in the middle, only a few were suitable for anything other than very small campers or trailers.
I drove back out to the bayfront sites. We’d read about the airboats, then I got to see one! We could hear these guys inland like they were next door. Airboats, they started launching them at 6:30 am. There is a reason the driver has hearing protection on….These bays are shallow, not sure I want to eat anything out of them after looking at the pelicans…
Further up the coast past the cranes I came upon a beautiful Great Blue Heron and a Laughing Gull. Laughing Gulls eat almost anything I read, including food they catch or steal, handouts, garbage, and discards from fishing boats. They often congregate in parking lots, sandy beaches, and mud bars. Listen for their nasal, strident calls in flight, while feeding, and at rest, they are loud, not sure laughing is what I’d call it…like a hyena maybe! Ha! They are quite striking looking!
And that was Goose Island. Best thing…not hitting an oak branch and sitting and watching the fireflies after dark, always a magical experience! As we go North it will be like turning back time!
In the morning we took the Texas 35 east North East towards Galveston. I’d tried to get into the state park but it was fully booked, Spring Break was upon us so I settled for a spot at The KOA, mostly to do laundry, I was down to the last t-shirt and clean pair of underwear! I loathe RV parks, well, most of them, soul-less lines of trucks and trailers, lined up in neat rows…I’m always happy when Mike is crookedly parked! Ha!
We had to head a bit inland, through farm land, Texas longhorn cattle, fields of wildflowers and lots and lots of Trump 2024 signs. It looked wartorn in so many places and I couldn’t help but think a few hurricanes and tropical storms had been by these places. The billboard “Tired of that EYESORE” was an eye opener! The God billboards were few and far between here, just the “church” signs before the massive and somewhat monstrous churches which dotted the landscape like Home Depot’s for God’s word. A friend posted that if you were queer in Texas you appreciated the warning, I laughed weakly, he was right. How spoiled we are where we live.
We headed back out to the coast at Freeport, finally the gulf of Mexico, real water, not baywater!
Surfside and Surfin’ Rita Daiquiris to-go was looking more promising..…Little know Texas liquor laws: Fact No. 1:Parents can buy alcohol for minors. As long as a legal guardian is present – and the bar permits patrons under the age of 21 – a minor can get wasted with his or her parents (although if you drink too much, you can get charged with public intoxication) Fact No. 2: If you’re under 21, your spouse of legal drinking age can order a beer for you. Ask your husband or wife nicely, and it’s perfectly legal for your spouse to order you a frosty beverage. Fact No. 3: Prohibition is still enforced in the Houston Heights. Prohibition was repealed eight decades ago. Nevertheless, 10 Texas counties and several smaller communities remain dry, including the Houston Heights. Fact No. 4: Drive-through daiquiris are legal. At least two-dozen daiquiri “to-go” stores exist in the state. Just pull up one of these liquor establishments, ask for a margarita or daiquiri and you’re good to go. To avoid open container violations, the drinks are sealed and obviously should not be consumed in your car. Fact No. 5: The TABC proposed allowing the sale of alcohol at gun shows last year. The proposal was withdrawn, after the commission received hundreds of complaints. I could go on…Ha!
We were caught in traffic at the Bluewater Highway-by the number of people dressed in silly green costumes we deduced it was a Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, with daiquiris!
Little Boxes, some not so little, on stilts
The height of your home pillars often denotes age…the higher it is, the newer it is…every single home here is on stilts…$500,000 beach homes, those are the old ones…mile after mile and mile of these homes.
I was singing Pete Seeger’s ♪♫♪ Little boxes on the beachside Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the beachside Little boxes all the same There’s a pink one and a green one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same ♪♫♪
I can’t say I would want to live here…ever….then there are all the people…ha! Mile after mile after mile of stilted houses and some businesses as well. I suppose once you’ve been washed away you learn your lesson, or you call the number for White Trash Site Services…although no one here with a less than substantial income could buy or build. Some houses sit on their stilts with obvious storm damages, but not many. I wonder what insurance costs here, if you can even get it, or if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
The KOA was just South of Galveston Island State Park. We checked in, and I started laundry, you can get a daiquiri here as well! Too early for me start! Ha! Find waldo in the picture, I mean us…Hahahaha! Taken from the top floor by the laundry room of the KOA…on stilts.
Find Waldo..I mean us…hahahaha!
Laundry was a necessity and we had a good feed on fried shrimp at shrimp n’ stuff food truck but overall I had the intense feeling of wanting to run away from this area! Maybe it was the throngs of people in the grocery store, Spring Break is a busy time but overall just nothing here appealed to me. There’s a beach, yup, waves, yup, but it’s not a Carribean beach, or a Mexican beach…it’s maybe all the people. It’s not that I hate people, I just only like some of them;) I will remain a recluse:)
Anytime I see an RV flying multiple large flags I immediately think..TWAT. One RV had a new one. A white flag with a canon, a black star and the words “Come and Take it”. I’ve seen ones with AK 47’s on them but this was new. The flag is from that Gonzales clash that has become a hallmark of Texas pride, with its “Come And Take It” message. It is the first flag used in the Texas Revolution and close to 200 years later it shows no signs of going away. But the expression is actually not Texan and it was 200 years AGO!
According to Wkikpedia: “Come and take it” is a historic slogan, first used in 480 BC in the Battle of Thermopylae as “Molon labe” by Spartan King Leonidas I as a defiant answer and last stand to the surrender demanded by the Persian Army, and later in 1778 at Fort Morris in the Province of Georgia during the American Revolution, and in 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas Revolution.The flag stood for defiance against Mexican dictatorship, and today the flag’s meaning remains rooted in Texas pride.Say What? Hahahahahaha! Like I said…TWATS! Get over yourselves! It all used to belong to Mexico until the Americans decided they wanted it. Thieves! I loved some graffiti written on a Mexican building in Baja…Make America Mexico Again:) It’s time to get the hell out of Texas before I open my mouth and someone shoots me! Help me Lordy, Lordy, Lordy!
We said Goodbye to drive-thru daiquiri town and headed out, North on the I-45 then off through the outskirts of Southern Houston on the toll road, I guess I’ll get the bill in the mail one day, onto the I-10 and East. I’m a billboard nut, we had the normal lawyers but there were dozens and dozens of billboards for ER’s…emergency rooms…what gives? Houston is not a pretty city, it is an industrial city with oil refineries and storage and I have to presume, lots and lots of accidents to need all these emergency rooms…now for something completely different…Capitalism at work.
Houston ER billboards…WTF?
This was just a sampling, there were dozens and dozens of them. We passed the bridge over the San Jacinto River and Burnet Bay where the tankers lay waiting to be filled or emptied with oil, or gas or something combustible I’m sure and we were glad to be heading to Louisiana…but that amigos, is another story…Stay tuned! Adios Texas!
One evening of tornado sirens and shelters was enough for us! In the morning at Rolling Retreats RV sites we looked at the fridge, still sitting at 42°…not cold enough. We swung past the office to return one of the workers, Travis’s Hoodie, he left in the front. He’d shown us pictures of his tricked out Land Rover…not an off road tricked out but a chollo tricked out mobile, shiny rims, low profile tires, you don’t go off road with that one I said laughing, he smiled, nah…Apparently it could take up to two days for the dometic fridge to return to a normal freezing temperature…two days…what to do with everything in the freezer, that was defrosted. “I guess we should have mentioned that” Liz, the lady who took care of us said…why didn’t they turn the fridge off to avoid this? Inquiring minds want to know. We’d be patient, get some ice, and get the hell out of here. Copper Breaks State Park was 106 miles South into Texas, the fridge would start to cool by tonight we thought….
We took Oklahoma #6 straight South passing fields and old buildings, so many abandoned homes and farmsteads. When you see building after destroyed building you wonder…tornado? We finally passed the welcome to Texas sign and continued South through small towns with names like Duke, El Dorado and Quanah. Copper Breaks State Park was just off the Texas 6, we checked in and drove down past a very very low reservoir before pulling into an almost empty campground. It was very quiet.
From the park website.
“Copper Breaks State Park is a state park in Hardeman County, Texas, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) south of Quanah, the county seat. It covers 1,898.8 acres (768.4 ha) and contains two small lakes and 10 miles (16 km) of trails….currently one lake, one very very small lake… The Comanche were the dominant tribe of the plains. They hunted, took shelter and sought medicine from the spirit world in the Pease River area. They believed that spirits dwelled in the Medicine Mounds, four domes about 10 miles east of the park.
In 1860, a young scout for the Texas Rangers named Charles Goodnight found signs of a Comanche camp near the Pease River. The rangers tracked the band, and a gun battle ensued. The rangers captured a woman and her infant.
That woman was Cynthia Ann Parker.
A large band of warriors had captured Parker in 1836, and the Nocona Comanche adopted her. She later married a Comanche chief named Peta Nocona. The couple had three children, one of whom was Quanah Parker. After her capture in 1860, Cynthia Ann was returned to her relatives. She never adapted to a settler’s life. She wanted to rejoin the Comanche but wasn’t allowed to do so. Quanah Parker was the last war chief of the Comanche. He led raids across the Texas plains and fought the U.S. Army. The Comanche finally surrendered in 1875 and were forced onto a reservation at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. After the surrender, Quanah Parker became an advocate for his people. “
“Originally, Copper Breaks was part of the land held by the Comanche and Kiowa. Comanche mound sites can be found in Hardeman County, but not in the park itself. Purchased from a private landowner in 1970, the state park opened to the public in 1974. Not much left of the lake currently…Dreams of riches: George B. McClellan, former commander of the Army of the Potomac, took up mining after the Civil War. He noticed copper deposits in northwest Texas while on an expedition in 1852.
He formed the Grand Belt Copper Company in 1877 based on a geologic report and eyewitness accounts of plentiful copper deposits. The company purchased 200,000 acres in Hardeman County for 25 cents per acre.
Later that year he set out from Fort Worth with a large entourage of engineers, miners, carpenters, laborers, horses, wagons and supplies. McClellan’s personal belongings included a full-size metal bathtub, carpets and fine furniture.
After a three-year suspension in operations while McClellan served as governor of New Jersey, mining resumed in 1884.
He and his employees found ore mainly near the surface. They collected it from a broad area, including multiple sites within the present-day park. Up to 100 employees worked the steam-powered machinery and rock-crushing equipment. A nearby shantytown of saloons, brothels and other frontier businesses soon appeared.
Major obstacles blocked McClellan’s dream of riches, including fuel and water shortages, transportation issues . . . and his death in 1885. The company continued limited operations for three more years before closing.
Later attempts to mine copper were also unsuccessful.”
From the park website.
We walked along past the very much closed boat launch for a very long time down what used to be a stream before we found the water. Was hoping for some ducks, or birds…nothing in sight except for a few spiders scurrying across the cracks in the now dried up mud. This all used to be under water. Copper Breaks is a semi-arid region receiving 23.4 inches (590 mm) of rainfall in an average year, allowing the growth of bunch grasses, and narrow shallow breaks of mesquite, juniper, cottonwood, some scattered native pecan, hackberry, soapberry and a variety of wildflowers. It was feeling very desolate, but quiet and the fastest internet we have had on the trip…not a lot of users or competition? Who knows! Our fridge was still not working…sigh…we decided to go to the town of Quanah in the morning and get some ice to see what we could save.
I can’t say I was happy in the morning, the low rumble of thunder was making me feel a bit uneasy. There were thunderstorm warnings to the South of us but no tornado warnings, the wunderweather app radar was my friend! A new chatty neighbour with three dogs (Groot growled, not nice dogs he said!) from Dallas waylaid us before we headed North to Quanah, past the Dually truck auto carwash (only in Texas) and left on the #287 to the local grocery/hardware store. We bought some ice and next door at the Dollar General I found some small totes I could put in the bottom of the fridge. We’d read turning the fridge off for 24 hours might help with an ammonia coolant block, let things settle in the cooling coil.
The clouds on the way back to the park were eerie, they looked like hills but moved and changed shape close to the horizon, swirling like fog but they were dark gray and blue. Never seen anything like it. At the park we had a sprinkling of rain but no more, when we headed south the next morning, it was cold! The small towns we passed through had puddles lining their roads so they did get unleashed upon. I was reflecting on the incredibly violent history of the movement of people West displacing and killing the Comanches here, should we really even wonder about today’s violence? What has changed?…Not much. Our chatty neighbour told us that the Texas Rangers today would have been labeled a domestic terrorist group for the acts of violence they committed.
Gentry’s Grocery said it was open but the door was padlocked shut. Two thirds of the town’s storefronts were abandoned, for sale, or simply vacant. These small towns along the Texas 6 with names like Crowell, Knox City and Rule looked abandoned in places. The grocery building was built by M.F. Thacker in 1899…our changing world as rural communities are slowly shrinking. For sale…or rent?…not for fifty cents…Talk to Marshall D. Capps, the lawyer next door. Then a Goat Milk Soap Company? OK! The garage we passed wasn’t fixing anything anytime soon…a history perhaps of boom and then bust.
The road seemed to go on forever in places, past hundreds of wind turbines, first time I’d seen a bent blade! Through more small towns and past fields waiting for Spring to come. Our destination was Abilene State Park, another new to us stop.
A Mexican friend once asked me “There are no poor people in the US, like Mexico are they?” He was educated but if all they know of America comes from TV they don’t realize it is not always the glowing rendition Hollywood supplies. Did families just walk away? The end of a dream… a few bad crops, the bank takes the house and land and agro business takes over?
At the end of Texas 6 we turned East then South again on bigger roads and past towns that had survived. You wondered how much the road system played into these births and deaths of towns in rural America.
Abilene State Park was located South of the town, through a oak tree lined village called Buffalo Gap. Our GPS wanted to take us through town, we should have followed in instead of a few very rural roads we ended up on to arrive…Ha! I am the navigator, some days…don’t go as well as others. The low stately live oaks we passed under in Buffalo Gap had me cringing thinking of roof vents and AC units, we have had enough issues without wiping something else out but we breezed under, in my mind with inches to spare…we were fine. The main campground was full and we ended up in what they called Wagon Wheel campground which is what it sounds like, you backed into your site around a large rounded area filled with oak and pecan trees. There were bathrooms in the center and picnic tables, I think it is their overflow area and where large groups can convene.
From the park website, not exactly a long review;) Ha!
The state acquired the property in 1933 from the city of Abilene. The park, with 529.4 acres, is southwest of Abilene, in Taylor County.
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the park’s facilities in the early 1930s. Abilene State Park opened on May 10, 1934.
And finally…bird song! Noise from nature other than whistling winds and thunder! I put my bird feeders up and we had a sudden rush of visitors much to the cats delight, even the feeder stuck to the back window had cardinals visiting, bird song and colour! It took my mind of what we were now calling our defunct fridge!
Now, about the fridge. We went through some options, returning to Elk City wasn’t one of them but Home Depot had some mini fridges/bar fridges that would fit at the end of the kitchen island that wouldn’t break the bank as a plan B so to speak and I could tie it in or bungee it to keep it from moving so once we were settled, off we went back North into town. We passed the oddest abandoned building, it looked like a Southern mansion, or funeral parlour (It was beside a church so maybe I thought!) but no, it had a long history. Another fixer upper here in South Abilene. Fairy tale or monstrosity? You be the judge:) https://discover.hubpages.com/…/Close-to-a-Fairy-Tale…
One guy wrote: This place is perfect for an end-of-the-world party. Seriously, a little spit and elbow grease, and this place will be cleaned up perfectly in order to enjoy armageddon. South Abilene reminds me of the Pete Seeger song “Little Boxes” but instead of little boxes there are 4000 square foot subdivisions of McMansions. No trees, no life just a nod to rampant consumerism surrounded by Dollar Stores…and churches….and the pickup in the Home Depot parking lot said it all…In the ever so PC correct Texas…sigh…not…where you can’t drink alcohol openly at a State Park at your campsite but you can carry your AK 47 around? Something is seriously wrong here. I felt exhausted, the drive down, the bad road to the park, going to Home Depot, our fridge failing, I felt like I was ready to cry. We did find a fridge and luckily the dumpster was close as we had to throw out most of what we had left, I hate waste, just one of those days. We got back to the trailer with our nifty new fridge, plugged it in, it was cooling, but making a very odd noise…enough for today, if we tipped it back a small amount the noise would stop, we’ll deal with this again in the morning we decided!
In the morning I needed to go for a walk, shake off the blues. The pecan trees had leafed out overnight and the Black Crested Titmouses, mice, were having a feast. Butterflies were flitting about, the sun was shining and the butterflies! In the rest of the park and on some trails where there was grass small flowers were blooming and the ground was alive with Sleepy Oranges and Southern Dogface (who names these guys???)
I was looking for the bird blind on the park map, hoping to see something new. What I did notice was the people walking or sitting, with the exception of an older gentleman at the bird blind who was quite chatty everyone else averted their eyes, didn’t want to make eye contact, didn’t even want to know you were there, Southern California style “I am in my own bubble and you don’t exist”…maybe it’s just city people, or people who live in fear I was thinking. Very sad. I tried several times on the trail, they just immediately looked away and walked past you…maybe I am invisible? Ha! A useful superpower, but no, Mike saw me;)
and the mini fridge…was still making that noise. We bundled it up with all it’s accessories and put it back in the truck and returned it to Home Depot after calling the nice lady in appliances, yes, they had one more, a floor model and we could plug it in before we picked it up. We did, plug it in, it had a small ding on the front, was $30 cheaper so off we went with a new to us aqua coloured fridge that didn’t make strange noises! Yeah! Rocket promptly seized the opportunity to call it his throne! We stopped by an odd ALDI grocery store, it was like a mini Costco, we didn’t get much as the packaging was too large and things were very close to their best before date, or past..0_0…and finally found another grocery store on our way back to the park. We were stumped as to why the Aldi had such high reviews…it’s cheap I told Mike…just make sure you eat it today;)
Our new fridge:)
Now I was ready to get the hell out of Abilene, we didn’t even go look at the lake after reading the map. I loved the “area shown does not represent current lake levels“…I didn’t need to go look at another drained reservoir. South llano Park was a short jump, just over two hours South and we had been here before! It was a lovely park and the campsite I reserved was close to the one we’d had before, trails, birds, a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved park!
Venison world, gas, a convenience store and a cowboy church? Who could ask for anything more ya’ll! State road 83. We passed through Menard and Eden (there was no garden..Ha!) I was hoping for a good photo opportunity! Nope. As we approached the interstate 10 the ranch gates got bigger and more elaborate, and OK, yes some were really tacky. We went up and down the hills, Texas Hill country before arriving in Junction, the town North of South Llano State Park. We passed Lums BBQ, mental note…dinner for tonight as we threw most of our meat away the day before.
South LLano River State Park from the Texas Parks website:
Walter Buck so loved his ranch, that he donated it to Texas Parks & Wildlife so others could also enjoy it.
Walter White Buck, Jr. moved to this area with his family in 1910 when he was 18 years old. They lived in the house that is now park headquarters, and the younger Buck took over the family ranch after his father died. Buck felt strongly about conserving the land. After his father died, he reduced his 1,000 head of sheep, goats and cattle by nearly half. Eventually, he ran only 125 head of cattle, which he later sold. Caring for the land and not overgrazing his livestock allowed him to survive a five-year drought in the 1950s. In two of the best years, Buck harvested 75,000 pounds of pecans. He enjoyed caring for the pecan trees, which included both native and cultivated varieties. A bachelor all his life, Buck used to say that this land was his one great love. He donated his whole property to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1977 for wildlife conservation or park purposes. The park opened in 1990. South Llano River State Park expanded from about 600 acres to 2,600 acres in 2011, when the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area became part of the state park. This backcountry area offers hiking, mountain biking, and primitive camping.
OMG!!!! Armadillos! Nine Banded Armadillo to be exact! Crossing the road right in front of us on the way in! How cute is this armoured pig like dinosaur?! The sites here are so wonderfully far apart any neighbouring campers are not imposed upon you! Even Armadillo chasing ones…yes..0_0….If alarmed, nine-banded armadillos can flee with surprising speed! As I found when trying to photograph this fascinating creature, Found two burrows as well. What was really disturbing though is our neighbours, camped next to us, thankfully not too close, were throwing rocks and wood at one that had come out to feed on the lawn. Because their nasty yappy little dog was barking at it. Come to a park, come to nature, then chase it away. F@cking citidiots! The woman after throwing rocks at this very small armadillo, too scared to get within 15′ of it had to call her husband over to chase it away with an umbrella…are you kidding me? They have poor eyesight. Maybe that one had GREAT BIG Fangs! (they can’t really bite, their mouth is very small) I am appalled at humans, we are the INVASIVE species…
The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. The nine-banded armadillo is a solitary, mainly nocturnal animal, found in many kinds of habitats, from mature and secondary rainforests to grassland and dry scrub. It is an insectivore, feeding chiefly on ants, termites, and other small invertebrates. I waited all afternoon for one to walk by the trailer again! Rocket said “Müther…these armoured pigs called armadillos smell funny!: Ha!
Not only does this park have one bird blind! But 4 of them! I could see the “Acorn” site from the trailer. There were these amazing yellow blooms, almost looked like holly leaves, that smelled like you were walking past vats of freshly extracted honey! Intoxicating smell!
Mahonia trifoliolata is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, in southwestern North America. Common names include agarita, agrito, algerita, currant-of-Texas, wild currant, and chaparral berry. The name Agarita comes from the Spanish verb agarrar, which means “to grab”. The ending “-ita” is often added to little things, so agarita means “grabs a little”. This was probably said because the bush is a bit scratchy but does not have significant spines. Typical characteristics are grey-green to blue-grey leaves, yellow flowers in February to April and the red berries appearing in May. The most important harvest organ are the berries, though the roots and seeds can also be used. The plant is well adapted to hot temperatures and dry conditions. In areas where it occurs naturally, it is also liked by many wild animals. Birds like to eat the fruits, small mammals use the plant for cover. The shrub is also considered to be a good nectar source for honey bees and other insects. As the trifoliate leaves are tough and spiny, they aren’t eaten by cattle or deer.
I wandered back to the bird blind and a Ladder Backed Woodpecker was the only bird there! The ladder-backed woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris) is a North American woodpecker. Back in the woods I heard a pecking noise and found a newly excavated nest hole, A Northern Mocking bird sat on an Agarita bush. So much life! Just what we have been searching for!
Our site in the woods
In the morning after the cat walks I wandered back to the bird blind to see if it was busier, a few OGB’s…old grey buggers, ha! Do they always have grey hair and beards, well, the ladies don’t, usually! Ha! All with binoculars! Actually there were several hard core birders there who could tell me what every bird was in the blind and why they were there! Very helpful!
There was even a grumpy know it all guy who kept telling us to keep our voices down, except when HE wanted to talk it was fine! Ha! We were speaking quietly! Ha! I only made it to two, of the four blinds. Walking in the 88° heat was getting to me! Ha! Too cold, too hot! The 2nd one I wandered off to was full of birds and empty of humans up near the tent camping area.
There were SO many Northern Cardinals! They were bathing in the water feature and splashing around. Truly a wonderful sight!
It’s not often you get these blinds to yourself! One of the birders was very excited at seeing a Fox Sparrow, a new bird to me as well! The blind was such a noisy in a wonderful way, the Pine siskins and Goldfinches bathing were a full time comedy routine!
Mr. Know it all arrived in the bird blind just as I was leaving, Ha! I was going to walk to the blind out by the office but halfway there realized it was further than I thought and I cut back through the fields on a shaded path back to where the trailer was. There were Robins and Eastern Bluebirds gathering nest material, Spring is in the air! I heard a turkey cackle in the bushes behind us so followed the sound to see a beautiful male strutting his stuff!
I was a bit shocked when a doe walked across in front of me while turkey stalking! It’s an Indian deer! A Chital (Axis axis). In 1932, axis deer were introduced to Texas. In 1988, self-sustaining herds were found in 27 counties, located in Central and South Texas. The chital ranges over 8–30°N in India and through Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. What a beauty! I sat behind the trailer and watched a very well endowed fox squirrel foraging for nuts, not that he needed anymore;) Ha!
The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant’s fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, it is sometimes mistaken for American red squirrels or eastern gray squirrels in areas where the species co-exist. Rocket said they looked delicious! Ha! Then he realized how big it was! Nah…maybe another day! Ha!
Not much blooming other than the Agarita bush and this Dakota Mock Vervain. The Tasajillo here in Texas or Christmas Cholla-Cylindropuntia leptocaulis was full of fruit on the paths around the fields. I ended the day chasing a Red Naped Sapsucker around the pecan trees by the trailer hoping he’d come out into the sun, every time he did, I wasn’t fast enough to get the shot. Such colourful birds, we had them at the ranch in Baja. The Red Admiral Butterfly was more cooperative.
Before we left the next morning, it was a bit longer jump to Choke Canyon State Park, three and a half hours (cat patience limit!) I took one last trip out to the blind behind the trailer before we headed South once again, over the new flood concrete and water gauge headed towards San Antonio. Mrs. Ladder Backed Woodpecker was there, a beautiful Cardinal and a Fox sparrow settled down for a nap:) A Black Crested Titmouse was checking out the Woodpeckers nest, building inspecter no doubt;) ha!
But Choke Canyon (what happened there?) is a new park, and a new story as I close out this birding novel! Stay tuned amigos for more reservoirs and green jays! At least South Llano River State Park was a river! Woohoo! A low river;) Ha!
Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico, located on the eastern plains.
Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico is just under nine miles from Santa Rosa and the I-40. The park features the large 3,800-acre Santa Rosa Reservoir that is home to various fish species including largemouth bass, catfish and even walleye. The park elevation is 4,800 feet above sea level. The water levels were astounding low….(around 300 acres of lake right now, not 3,800, a man said I met walking) it was shocking. We were here in March 2017. The campground was closed for remodeling but we dry camped and met some wonderful Kiwis here, Debbie! I had known her father, Trevor as a child in Whangarei, New Zealand, he sailed on a boat my mother did to Australia, attached is the newspaper headline of their voyage….how small is the world sometimes!
You may get to read the book someday soon!
It was nice to get power this time, I thought we might have water but that was only in a few sites. We circled around and I’d picked out a level pull through, I was feeling pretty chuffed as a lot of the sites were REALLY uneven…well smell me! Ha! Slides went out, we stopped, it was SOOOO quiet, so wonderful but the shock at the levels of the lake was mind-boggling. It looked like a swamp compared to 2017.
I needed to walk, too many hours sitting so I took off on one of the paths around the lake, except the lake was now a long ways away from the path!
The only colour I encountered were some Christmas Cholla Berries-the plant grows red berries that when consumed, can have an intoxicating effect. The fruits are crushed and mixed with a beverage by the Apache, Chiricahua, and Mescalero to produce narcotic effects. Inquiring minds want to know! I may need some of these berries down the road! Ha! It was somewhat appalling seeing so little water. Makes you wonder what will happen to all these small towns and agricultural operations when it gets even drier. They’d had no winter rains the one birder/photographer I talked to. He and his wife stopped me as I walked down the road to ask if I’d seen anything…nope….there were some deer, last week, he mentioned….
After a walk down the road in the morning I was ready to go. Not even a birdsong in the scrub. The landscape didn’t change much as we headed east on the I-40.
So, I looked at billboards along the I-40…lawyers and guns…can someone tell Keller that pointing pokes holes in the air and lets the flies fly through? New Mexico marijuana is legal…Texas…NOT! Call Tisdell if you get caught with weed in Texas! But your AK 47 is just fine! Then came the endless miles of plains. Sadly the 007 truck was NOT being driven by Daniel Craig;) Ha! The “Get Off The Phone Idiot! Yes You!”…I don’t get all the capital letters here but then understood after seeing the Make America Great Trump 2020 sticker….
When you leave New Mexico and head towards Texas and Oklahoma, the Spanish named towns fade into names like McCleans, and Erick. This church is a giant rest stop, for those in need of spiritual help as well as rest. A reminder of the area’s strong religious beliefs. Are there crosses so big because everything in Texas is big, or maybe just their sinners;)
We’d reserved a spot in Eastern Amarillo at a RV park for the night not far from the I-40. The constant hum of traffic and jake brakes along with large flapping Texas flags (did we need to be reminded we were in Texas?) at the end of each RV spot were a stark contrast to Santa Rosa State Park. Rocket went out on his leash for a few moments then said…Nope, going back in. Even Groot wasn’t too happy. Gamora always astonishes me, she’s aptly named, if she were in human form she’d be a kick ass princessa! So brave! I’m going here, I’m walking there, dogs, don’t care, I’ll take them on! There was a pond with ducks, Groot and Rocket felt the back window of the trailer was the safest spot for bird watching!
We left Amarillo early to try to avoid the high wind warning to get to Elk City, Oklahoma. It was broadside and blowing but not horrible…yet! Rolling Retreats had texted us the address where we could hook up for the night, at their old facility, it was odd to be in the company of so many like us! Ha! Others waiting for service, parts trailers, several of the workers lived in trailers here as well. The lovely DRV service rep who will be taking care of us tomorrow morning stopped by to tell us there is a tornado watch in effect, and if we see him running from his rig, we should follow him as well, there will be sirens as well he said…He showed Mike where the shelter was…0_0…how to carry 50 lbs of cats now running?…If the day wasn’t long enough! I looked at the phone, it didn’t look good. When they start calling them derechos, that is bad news.
Mike got our smaller collapsible carrier out of the front cupboard and set it up, just in case we needed to make a run for the shelter 200 meters/yards away. The storm shelter was in the basement of the house, entrance by the back door Mike said. Like sitting on pins and needles hoping for the best, then the phone warning came, no longer tornado watch, tornado warning…then the sirens. OMG they are f@cking loud! I was a bit stunned for a few secounds…the rep ran by, banged on the trailer and said, to the shelter! NOW! Mike managed to stuff Groot and Gamora into the smaller carrier, I was chasing Rocket around in the front of the trailer where he had run as soon as the sirens started, my heart was pounding, I could see the sheet lightning out the windows lighting up the trailer! Mike had put all the outside lights on so we could see he said, in case…yup…case happening! I had my Mexican blanket over my legs as I jumped when I heard the sirens, I had my purse ready on the table. I threw the blanket over Rocket as I cornered him by the bed, his eyes looked like they were going to pop out. I wrapped him up as best I could like a burrito as Mike was yelling at me NOW!!! GO!!! He was outside, I stumbled out clutching Rocket as he squirmed, no way he was going to get away from me and Mike and I fast walked, I couldn’t run, my legs were shaking, I just didn’t want to lose hold of my big orange bebesaurio! I could see the lightning now approaching over the house, the wind was howling and we got to the house, a trap door was thrown open as we arrived inside, down you go! Quick! The man holding the door said as we climbed down some steep stairs and found ourselves in a room with 5 or 6 other people already there. They then closed the hatch…make sure it’s fastenned a young blonde girl remarked! “I’m terrified!” she exclaimed “and I left my cat in my apartment!” Groot and Gamora sat calmly in the carrier, poor Rocket by this time had tucked his head between my arm and stomach and was shaking uncontrollably…like me I thought. There was some cheerful banter, candles were lit, just in case the power goes out, these guys knew the routine. Everyone has their phones out watching the mass of dark red storm on the radar, it’s going North and South of us, the worst someone chimed! Rocket continued to shake. Another lady arrived with a small dog. Everyone knew each other. Rolling Retreat employees or friends. A teenage boy had his phone and games packed in a bag, just in case he’d be here awhile. You could hear the wind. At one point one of the guys sitting opposite us called for quiet…listen….the wind was howling, not a “nader” he said, they roar…
I looked around, chairs, maybe ten of them, then I just concentrated on Rocket, petting the burrito kitty, hoping we’d have a truck and trailer to go back to, trying not to actually think too much…and how is it that Monty Python’s ♫♪♫ Always look on the bright side of life! ♪♫♪ was my ear worm….
The wind died down, a few folks went up the hatch to look and were talking, there was a storm chaser sitting in the parking lot in their car…”Is it such and such?” I can’t remember what they called him, must be a celebrity storm chaser one of the girls asked! It made me smile, no, the guys replied, not him. Ha!
They finally gave the OK, the derecho had blown past us at 70-80 m.p.h. We could come out! “We’ll see you in the morning!” the lovely lady, Mary, with the dog replied “I’ll be at the office, just come on in when you get here at eight!” My heart was still pounding, my legs felt like rubber, I didn’t even remember if I’d closed the door to the trailer….
Rocket leapt from arms into the trailer from several feet away, they know home, and he promptly went and hid under the bed covers, no way he was coming out. I sat and stroked him for awhile, we are OK, we are all OK….Groot and Gamora acted as if nothing had happened…such brave cats! My heart was still pounding. I didn’t think I was going to get much sleep. I sat and studied the radar and weather, of course I’d forgotten the phone in my panic to grab Rocket! There were reports of tornados touching down ten miles to the NW of us, as well as to the SE…we were spared. Several years back Elk City was hit, fifty one homes leveled over by the golf course, really nice, well built brick homes Mary emphasized, not trailers, not mobile homes, razed to the ground. This is still fresh in their minds what can happen.
♫♪♫ Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ Oh, what a beautiful day I got a beautiful feelin’ Every thing’s goin’ my way ♫♪♫
Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ Oh, what a beautiful day I got a beautiful feelin’ Every thing’s goin’ my way….the only song from “Oklahoma I know!
The alarm went off so we could have the trailer to Rolling Retreats by 8 a.m. I thought Rocket was going to go through the roof at the sound of it! Poor baby is traumatized! We dropped the trailer off, Mary Jo was in the front office from last night. I’d written out a small list (ok, maybe not so small!) of our trailer woes and we left it in their hands. They have small private waiting rooms, we tried to take the cats into one, Groot and Gamora were fine, it was just too soon for Rocket after last night’s terror. He found a hole in the bottom of the sofa and managed somehow to squeeze his largesomeness in! We decided sitting in the truck might make them, him, feel safer. We moved the other two out, then had to turn the sofa upside down and squeeze Rocket back out…sigh…they all seemed much happier in the truck, a familiar place.
…and we waited, and waited. We went for a drive to buy some water, a pulled pork sandwich from the Rib Crib and went back to the DRV parking lot, to wait. Part of life. They had the trailer on it’s nose, vanity slide was giving them grief Travis the tech said. The wire for the slide was so snarled up he had it halfway apart even to get at it. Liz, the lady who was taking care of us came out near 4 and said it would not be done today. The front jacks needed replacing and they would be in, in the morning, the slide was still apart. I talked to the tech, he said the tornado sirens really rattled everyone! I went onboard to get the cat food and we started looking for a motel online. We found one close by that took pets, two pets, of course that is all we have, Gamora is so small she doesn’t count! We could drive right up to our room as well which is so much nicer than trying to transfer cats down hallways and lobbies! Groot and Gamora settled in like old pros! They were playing and exploring, poor Rocket was hiding under the bed skirts. I did a quick revision that there were no holes he could climb in anywhere before realizing I’d forgotten the backpack I had packed for us for the night in the trailer. I drove back while Mike supervised the cats to get our things. Liz at the office laughed and laughed as she took me out to the trailer, you remember the cat food but not your things? Ha! Still feeling a bit scattered after last night!
It was time for a hot bath when I got back, and a large glass of wine!…Wait, Groot! Get out of the tub!
One must engage in playtime! They started again at 1:30 a.m. tearing about the room, crawling along the undersides of the bed, all the way around, great fun, for cats…the drawers provide great beds and fun time as well! Everyone has to explore the drawers…except Rocket, hiding under the bedskirts at every new sound. He did finally come and smother me for awhile before creeping back into hiding. If we were in OZ, we could have been…0_0….Ha! He’d be the cowardly lion looking for courage! At 2 a.m. Groot started to growl loudly, protecting, some late revelers were arriving back at their room next door! Danger müther! Danger! We assured him we were safe and he settled down!
I did some reading later on the air raid/tornado sirens and imagine the fear they put into people during WWII. I hope never to have to hear one again! Apparently there are four that overlap where we were and it may have been why it was so loud, and it was just across a field from us as well! This was in interesting article about the Elk City tornado sirens! Click on it! Apparently the tornadoes made the National news as well as the derecho that brought them!
Ok, by now, we were running out of steam. We checked out just before 11 a.m. and after a delicious, OK, not Egg McMuffin we once again went to wait for the trailer. The rebuilt jacks had come in and they had the vanity slide moving again with a new cable, the reverse solenoid had been replaced. The tech, Travis said he’d never seen jacks slide that fast and what a clever way we had fastened them with our fancy yellow chains! One guy used several rolls of duct tape to hold his up, you can imagine the fun peeling that off and cleaning it up he winced! They fixed a few other minor issues and by 4 we were ready to go. We asked if we could go back to their overnight lot to spend the night, shopping to do…and then secretly make sure EVERYTHING worked! Ha! They said no problem so we hooked up and pulled out of the bay. It felt good to be moving with the trailer and we parked back where the tornado shelter was and let out a sigh of relief…except for the fridge. Apparently when the trailer is on an odd angle it messes with dometic fridge. The service manager assured us it would remedy itself in a day…or two….0_0…I should not have gone shopping apparently at WalMart earlier. It was worth it just to see what was at the checkout alongside People and National Geographic…The psalms in color coloring book, Too Blessed To Be Stressed (I might need that one! Hahahaha!) Large Print Bible Word Search and 10 Commandements of Marriage….I resisted purchasing any reading here;)
WalMart checkout reading
Enough for now! We’ll be heading South, out of tornado alley and towards warmer temperatures near the gulf. I’ve made the state park reservations so hopefully, just hopefully, I will not have to cancel them again! Stay tuned….:) May the force be with us!
No, of course it’s not Mike! Ha! It might just be a mobile RV repair guy and his trusty sidekick;) We had the weekend to wait until we could take the truck in Monday, for a new to us turbo (rebuilt) and to hear back from the mobile RV repair guy. We moved spots, closer to the road and gunshots but with a bit of greenery behind and a better spot to walk the cats. It was available until Wednesday so I thought we should have things figured out by then…always the optimist! I put my bird feeders out and tried to think of something other than RV and truck problems! I’d gathered quite a crowd by day two!
There was a pair of Cardinals, a female “Pyrrhuloxia” pronounced like this: pir-uh-lok-see-uh. Now, see if you can learn to spell it. There will be a test later! A Verdin, some doves and of course Cactus Wrens and Gambel’s Quails trotting across the road and into the bushes. A male Costa’s hummingbird took over the feeder and we had a few bunnies cleaning up what the birds spilled!
Love the green palo verde twigs in the background here but it makes focusing difficult. The camera seems to like objects in the distance better than those up close, a fault of the Canon R5 I have found with many others. It hunts constantly to the point I use the manual focus ring to bring it back. Bright purple feathers drape across the throat of male Costa’s Hummingbirds, sticking out wildly to each side, like an overgrown mustache. Males show off their purple colors for females, which are dressed in green with a pale eyebrow and a whitish belly.
When it comes to hummingbirds you are always playing with light-the man in the camper next to us couldn’t understand why I was sitting with my back to the sun. I explained I was trying to catch this beautiful hummingbirds purple throat feathers…ahhh…he exclaimed. Costa’s Hummingbirds occur in Sonoran and Mojave Desert scrub, coastal California chaparral and sage scrub, and deciduous forest and desert scrub in Baja California, Mexico. In the Sonoran Desert they occur in desert washes with palo verde, jojoba, desert lavender, or chuparosa, on steep rock slopes, and in lowlands with saguaro, creosote bush, and cholla cacti typically below 3,000 feet elevation.
Using the neighbour’s lighter coloured A-class behind us as a background let me up the shutter speed to get the feather detail. Hampered by clouds I was shooting at 1/2000 sec at 2500 iso. I prefer to have the iso much lower and shutter speed around 1/4000 sec. Hummingbirds take nectar from a lot of flowers: researchers calculated that a Costa’s Hummingbird needs to visit 1,840 flowers to meet its energy requirements for one day. The neighbour are a nice couple from Vancouver Island, then Alberta with three cats. She, Sharron, brought them out one by one to meet Groot and Gamora, a ginger and two tuxedos, the ginger, not having a brain cell was the friendliest! Al, he’s an electrical engineer, we looked at the grounds on the trailer with him late today, all good he said. Everyone is always impressed with my brothers wiring of our batteries…top notch! The mobile RV guy raved about it!
A Great Horned Owl sat on a limb and serenaded us one evening where they used to nest. The tree is dead now so sadly no shade for the nest and young, so they have moved somewhere else certainly. A grasshopper was a highlight and the bunnies resting in the shade of the underbrush.
It was an early bleak start to the day Monday, clouds and rain to the South. Without the jacks down the trailer had rocked and rolled like a boat in a roaring wind, I know that feeling, uneasy, at least you don’t have to worry about dragging anchor! We had to get the truck into the diesel repair garage halfway across Tucson by nine a.m. and we needed to pick up the rental first. Apparently you can’t rent a car in the US with just your Canadian drivers license…sigh…that was 25 minutes from the RV park so we’d be late dropping off the truck. The rental guy said no worries, he’d come pick us up at the RV park, we just needed to find a way back to there after leaving the truck. When we dropped the truck off, they said OK, maybe Friday it will be done….WHAT! WAIT! We have to move our trailer Wednesday we told them. OK, they’d work on it…uploaded the UBER app and ordered a ride, how easy is that! By the time we got home even the cats knew we were stressed. Enterprise Rental guy came and picked us up and drove us back to the storefront with our passports. Really nice guy, him and the Uber driver, just feeling tired, tried calling the RV tech…closed? WTF? It’s Presidents Day, holiday…sigh…we were not the only ones to go what holiday? Went to the RV office, the young woman, who’s dog passed a few days ago, found us a spot for Wednesday night, then we have to move again to another site where I could book another week in case we have to wait for parts for the trailer, and she even gave me the name of a permanent resident here, who could move our trailer for us if the truck isn’t ready…Ok, i’s dotted, t’s maybe crossed, hopefully we might get a handle on the chaos soon:) Nothing but kind courteous, helpful people and the sun finally shone through…how sweet is that!
On Tuesday morning we had a call from the Diesel repair shop…all done! Way ahead of schedule! We felt a wave of relief wash over us, one repair remedied…now the trailer. The tech did finally phone back after I called in asking if he’d been in touch with Lippert who makes the jacks…yup, not much help, he rambled on and on and then said, “Yeah I can’t fix it, take it into a shop!” The only reputable place in Tucson, couldn’t get us in for at least two weeks, then they might have to order parts so we’d need a hotel for that time period… at this point we had enough of trouble in Tucson. Mike called the closest DRV dealer, Rolling Retreats in Elk City, Oklahoma. They have one of the best ratings we’d heard of, top in the country, “Yes!” Mary said “If you have it here on Monday the 27th we can get it right into the shop!” Deal! “How far is Oklahoma?” I asked, 850 miles. We had five days to get there. “Do ya wanna get the hell out of Tucson?” I asked Mike…of course you do. We still didn’t know if the jacks would go up, or if the hydraulic slides would go in but I went online, Kartchner Caverns State Park, an hour away, had one spot open…Let’s do it! I booked it online and we got ready to leave in the following morning. If chaos ensued, it wouldn’t be too far to try to retreat back to Tucson with our tails between our legs!
We were chomping at the bit in the morning, horse talk..ha! Maybe it was just wanting to know if the slides would go in and the jacks go up. We did our shopping the day before as we didn’t plan on unhooking until the DRV dealer on the morning of the appointment as not to use the jacks at all, only the slides! We bundled the traveling mewberries into the truck, the slide rooms went in! Whew! Now to get it hooked up! The front jacks started to retract…then stopped….ARGHHHHHH! I opened the hydraulic door and with the end of an adjustable wrench I whacked…gently, Ok, maybe not so gently, the solenoid the RV tech said might be the problem! It worked! When I went back to the control panel and hit retract we raised them enough to attach it to the truck, then the rest of the way once we were all hooked up and we wrapped our fancy plastic coated yellow chains around the miserable beggars, attaching them to the exhaust clamps and sighed a sigh of relief…we could go!
It was a Canadian coat and toque kind of weather! Cats were happy to frolick, away from the city and gunshots…halle-f-ing lujah!
We arrived before check in and were informed we had to wait in the Cavern parking lot, not a big deal, we were so happy to out of the city and away from the gunshots! Halle-f-ing lujah! Camp hosts here were really exceptional, check in was 2-we got there at 12:30, yes, we were in a hurry to leave Tucson! They came by in their cart where we were parked and told us as soon as the site was ready! It was a back in and we had room to to stay hooked up! It was cold and blowing but we were so happy…slides went out! Whew! Then it started to snow! Ha!
We woke up to a dusting of snow on the upper hills at Kartchner Caverns State Park and as we headed out all the surrounding hills were covered in beautiful layer of white! We headed back to the I-10 and then Eastbound, past the Dos Cabeza Mountains with the the rocky outcrops framed by snow covered mountains, it was stunning. Our next scheduled stop was an RV park in Las Cruces before we headed North to the I-40.
Dos Cabezas Mountains-how stunning is that!
The kittens took it all in stride! We warned them it would be longer jumps every day, no rest days in between! There was some jostling for prime spots but overall these guys are such wonderful travelers!
The snow slowly disappeared as we went further East into New Mexico. Across the continental divide, the random person walking a baby stroller along this stretch of road was interesting! The bare countryside is dotted with windmills and bare trees, reminders it was early Spring still. I was glad we were headed East! There were two separate back ups for miles and miles going West, it would have added a lot of time to traveling! So much truck traffic in this corridor! An endless stream of eighteen wheelers blowing past us at 75 m.p.h.
We arrived in Las Cruces where we had found an RV park with a pull through site, no need to unhook and space for both the truck and trailer. Las Cruces had an air of times gone by. It is always worrisome when you go to an RV park and it is fenced like a maximum security prison to keep others out! Ha! I have never seen so many rules at a park..someone is OCD! If you are caught speeding more than 5 mph, more than three times…you’re OUT! I assured the woman at the desk that given the speed bumps and pulling a 18,000 lb trailer we were not likely to be offenders!
We pulled into our site with some apprehension, never knowing if the slides going in and out was a fluke or how it was going to be! Makes setting up very easy, no chocks, no jacks, just open the door into the trailer once you are stopped, take a deep breath and hit the “offdoor slide” button…out…it went, as did the door side slide! Yeah, looks like we may just be OK! For now…didn’t want to jinx ourselves!
This was no state park, the cats walked along a wire fence topped with razor wire, the poverty on the other side of the fence was apparent. We were happy to gather everyone up for the next jump in the morning-to Santa Rosa State Park off the I-40 and route 66, anything would be better than a RV “resort” hell as I call them! I realize their value and services they provide, I just don’t want to spend a single golden year here…
La Cruces does have a spectacular backdrop with the Needles in the background! Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. So many boarded up buildings though. We took the I-70 headed towards Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument. It was going to be a long day, a four and a half hour drive to Santa Rosa Lake State Park. Past the White Sands Missile Range, not subtle about it;) I did check to make sure the I-70 wasn’t closed for any missile tests as it is sometimes! Past Alamogordo where we stopped for diesel and North on the New Mexico 54.
The con trails were out of this world! So much air traffic over this area! Lot’s of water vapour up high and low winds! As White Sands slipped by the snow topped Sierra Blanca dominated the landscape for the next hour. At nearly 12,000 feet in elevation it towers over the desert landscape.
All the small towns along the I-54, Oscuro, Tularosa, Corona and Vaughn had an air of desperation to them. Most buildings on the main streets were boarded up with plywood or falling down. You could see they once thrived with old gas stations and stores of adobe, now abandoned, what happened? Save for a few gas stations, big ones, for the trucks, everything else seemed so abandoned. A huge military plane banked sharply behind a hill at a very low elevation before heading South, not something you see every day. The massive complex of volcanic rocks that makes up Sierra Blanca slowly faded as we seemed to go up in elevation and then came the high plains.
For miles and miles and miles…high desert plateau…cattle country, wind mills, deserted buildings. We followed the same eighteen wheeler for what seemed like hours. There were occasional passing lanes, but never quite long enough to get by so we simply followed in his wake. At four hours Gamora stated to squeak, I couldn’t blame her, I felt like squeaking too….Are we there yet! The boredom was only broken by the white pick up driver who tried to pass on a curve, then a hill, then in another no passing area, never in an actual passing lane, you wonder about these ones…ha! It was with great excitement we saw I-40 looming ahead and turned right onto old route 66. Just a few more miles to Santa Rosa Lake State Park but we’ll leave that for tomorrow! Stay tuned! ♫♪♫ Let’s get our kicks! On Route 66! ♫♪♫
It’s impressive that even two miles away the sound of gunshots can be loud, very loud. Located due South of the RV park is Tucson Trap and Skeet Club. from 8 a.m. until dusk the sound of shotguns going off fills the air, a continuous barrage of sound since 1948.
50 Trap Fields with Canterbury system
13 Skeet fields (International capable)
Two 5-stand fields
3+ Sporting Clay Courses with 12+ Stations each
5 Station Sub-Gauge Sporting Clay Course
Fitasc
Five International Bunkers (Use Mattarelli machines)
2 Wobble Traps
Trap, Skeet and 5-Stand Leagues (see games)
A 9,000 square foot club house (Now with Air Conditioning!!!)
Restaurant
Bar
Pro Shop
200 full-service RV hookups
Free Wi-Fi
It’s the 200 full-service RV hook ups that get me…people come and stay here! They must love the sound of guns…sigh…to the North of us, Tucson Mountain Park, full of trails and nature, to the South, crazed shotgun shooters (I’m sure they have every manner of guns stored in their RV’s as well) shooting ALL DAY LONG…0_0…plus there is a bar…how can alcohol and crazed gun owners be a good thing? I had to look at their website to even understand what they do…sit and wait, for a clay object, or a live bird to be released, then shoot. Maybe we have been here too long, a week has felt like a month. I’m sure the RV park where we are is doing their absolute best but they need to take the “Quiet!” advertisement off the front page of their website! A couple from Saskatchewan pulled in, after he hooked up, he looked at Mike and asked “Does that go on all day?”….yup.
Depending on which way the wind is blowing dictates the sound level. The last few days it has been howling. Gusts you can lean into! We woke up one morning to find the truck hood covered in snow. Not expecting the 25°F -4°C mornings either! It was warmer in Perth! Added to the hydraulic woes Mike was wondering what exactly we were doing…escaping the Winter? No, I said, “Escaping shoveling snow!”;) smart ass that I am. On top of that we’ve had an intermittent check engine light coming on in the truck, we thought it was a bad load of diesel, apparently not. Mike took the truck into a diesel specialist…turbo is failing…sigh…always happens in threes? What’s next? Maybe I can count the slides, jacks and turbo as three! Whew! We did make it down from Catalina State Park with no issues, until we tried to put the slides out when we arrived, I could hear the motor, no movement, after pushing the in button, then the out button several times, they slid out. Yes, I’m the impatient kind that keeps hitting the keyboard in hopes of getting a result…it works…sometimes! I did read about a sliding jack fix and we did take care of that for any future issues, I believe it is completely unrelated to the hydraulics, but what do I know? Muffler clamps, carabiners (no they are not called stainless steel hookie things!) and plastic coated chain will hold these puppies up! I was informed rope would not on my DRV fixes group on Facebook!
We did finally get an RV tech out. He was colourful, chatty (very chatty!) took readings from wires and grounds, took pictures (he liked our jack fix! Cool!) said he’d have to call Lippert and explain and then ask about the component error message we got, maybe Monday he could have an answer. We are booked in here until Wednesday, then most likely will have to try and move again. It will be a crap, or would that be skeet shoot, if we can get the jacks up, slides in, the all out again. Truck goes in Monday for the turbo replacement..apparently it is the Achilles heel of the Dodge Cummins motor. But, we are healthy, we have food, water and power…oh, and a toxic spill a few miles away, guess it made the National news. Reason our RV tech was late, he was on lockdown a mile from the spill. What’s a little nitric acid blowing our way going to do….in gale force winds. It has been one of those weeks hasn’t it! Ha!
…and yes Karen, you can eat the fruit of the barrel cactus (she’s kept me busy looking at recipes for all the interesting and unfamiliar fruits we have encountered, both edible, and toxic) you can have it dried, chutneyed, candied….I see a store that sells it! Ha! Maybe that will be something to do!
Now that the wind has calmed down I can go for a walk without swallowing copious quantities of dust and dirt! I spotted a juvenile Harris Hawk on a dead tree, and one butterfly, a “sleepy orange” it sounds more like a variety of pot than an insect name! The Gilas are quite loud, like the laughing hyenas of the woodpecker world. We had a cardinal at the feeder yesterday as it swung in the wild winds but so far no hummingbirds have claimed the feeder. Maybe today.
…and we wait. I went to the office to inquire if this spot would be available after Thursday morning but it was closed. Poor manager, her beautiful black lab died yesterday another lady told me, she was giving away free boxes of Gamesa strawberry cookies and zucchinis from a kids red wagon with her husband, how could I refuse? My day is much better than the poor managers, I did tear up, her face was unrecognizable the cookie lady said she had been crying so much. Been there, my heart aches for her. So my day isn’t going too badly after all.
I could be wearing one of these! I threatened to buy Mike the sequined Boss cap, or the pot flower, it is a pot flower isn’t it? The shiny pink butterfly one is remarkable if only for the quantity of applied sequins. I fear I would need a walker, and an old pink cadillac before I am ready for one of these;) Might not be too far off! Ha!
The traveling mewberries were not impressed with the snow, puddles or the spot we were in before we moved again! Too much traffic and OMG…dogs everywhere! We did encounter a couple walking a siamese and a daschund! Cute! It is not a Groot approved park. I keep telling them we’ll get back to state parks sometime soon…soon…in the meantime we will need to occupy our time here with frivolity and fun! Ha! Now to figure out how to do that! Stay tuned for fun in Tucson…Ok, we will figure it out! We will! Also, if anyone has a spare turbo for a Dodge diesel, let me know, would save us thousands;) Ha!
The jump to Catalina State park wasn’t overly long, 144 miles, two hours and a bit, if everything is working…living on a moving piece of steel covered in fiberglass can tend to move around a bit, especially on those bumpy roads. Things get jarred and shaken, like a martini;) Things get loose. Before we even got to the paved road outside the campground Mike spied the drivers side front jack slowly making it’s way towards the surface of the earth…unasked. It apparently has a mind of it’s own, or it’s possessed?
We pulled over, the entire solenoid, one of four, that attaches to the metal thing-a-ma-jiggy (technical term of mine for the hydraulic box) was loose, you could swivel the solenoid, not good. I opened up the trailer, drivers side slide a bit and the bedroom slide part way to squeeze into the front to get at my plastic tote of “big wrenches”, must keep these in the pass through I made a mental note to self. Our small adjustable couldn’t do the job. I hate scrambling around in the dirt on the side of a road. I asked Mike if we could just go back to the campground and park in an open site, maybe we could figure this out, tighten it up, scare it it behaving by yelling wildly and swearing at it perhaps so we did that. Should we call a mobile tech? Way the hell out here? The adjustable was a bit large to get in there but Mike managed to tighten it so the solenoid ( not cellinoid Mike pointed out! I like phonetics!) wasn’t moving, either were the jacks. ♪♫♪ Should we stay or should we go♫♪♫ The million dollar question of the day, they were up, still up, so we decided to take a chance and off we went. Mike spent more time looking back that forwards I think, I felt ill, hate getting out on the side of the freeway with huge trucks rolling past. You can just get off the pavement but not far enough to safely stand by the 6 point leveling system to operate it, no, you have to hide under the nose and reach around with you arm while eyeing 75mph moving trucks moving towards you three feet away rocking you around with their blast of wind as they whizz past. Not fun, as I said. What about the complete idiot on his phone that might rear end you as well, no, I’m not a catastrophist but hey, some people can be stupid! I keep that in mind, so, I felt a bit ill.
We made it out the 11.5 miles to the Interstate, jacks still holding. We could stop at a truck stop or RV repair in Gila Bend Mike suggested…”It’s Sunday…” I replied. OK, nix that, let’s go for Catalina. With a lot of rubber-necking behind us for the next 134 miles from the I 8 to the I 10, which was SO busy, then down a long undulating road towards Catalina State Park we kept going. Rocket started to drool profusely on West Tangerine Road due to all the dips for water run off so we slowed down some more, we were almost there. I’m sure the cats feed off our angst, they were all very, very quiet, except for the drool. Poor carsick monkey! But we arrived!
Our first site #29 in A loop was a big pull through right near the entrance to a trail. Cat’s liked that. New smells to sniff, lot’s of birds and OMG Broad Billed Hummingbirds! These are about my most favourite hummingbird ever! Not only for their glorious green and blue feathers but that bright red beak! I sat with my camera and feeder and rejoiced watching them. A Verdin stopped by to check out the feeder as well, such beautiful little birds! Camp host stopped by to say the water was turned off, bathrooms closed, they were trying to find out why, hopefully you have some in your tank…oh dear. We are the lowest campsite on the loop, I decided to take a chance and unhook the hose from the trailer and see if the tap was still on, it was running, slowly, but running! The wonders of gravity, we managed to fill the water tanks 2/3’ds full!
Breath deeply, let the stress of the day go! Did we fix the jacks? They made it 144 miles! We had to leave the next morning by noon, we’d planned to stop at the dump station, by the time we got there, jacks were lowering again. Oh crap! I looked at Mike and said, OK, I’m walking to the office to see if I can snare another spot for the night, if they have one, we’ll call one of half a dozen mobile techs and see if we can get one out, I wasn’t willing to do the Interstate through Tucson as at times there is no shoulder to pull over on, I don’t fancy getting smushed by a truck! They had one spot #22 in the A loop, a cancellation. Whew! We ran the jacks back up, Mike had the wrench in the drivers door as well and was busy tightening the solenoid again while I went to the park office and after dumping we turned around and headed back to the A loop. A wave of relief swept over us but then I realized we only had one more night booked. As we pulled into our new site, I put the jacks down, then tried the off door slide…nothing. I could hear the motor, but it didn’t budge, this has gone from bad to worse. Can’t get at the bathroom, bed, fridge or stove. Looks like we’ll be sleeping on the sofa or floor! I searched the Arizona Parks Reservation website and reserved spots for the next two nights..all in different spots, but time perhaps to get a mobile tech to look. Then I started to call Mobile techs. Out of the four I left messages at, only two ever got back to us. Guess they are busy. One lady said she’d try to get the tech out that evening as he had one last call near us and getting the slide out was important! They lived on a trailer, she knew! Yeah. One tech called me back, yeah, I’m busy, call Lippert, get the part numbers for the solenoid and valve, order them, then call me when they are in he said…shut the fuck up, I thought. Why thank you sir. I’ll let you know. I sat outside…these little guys cheered me up. The water was still shut off, a few hours later, the power went out…but, we did get the slide out. One of the wires on the top of the solenoid had come off when Mike was tightening it, voilá, when it was reattached, all was good there…whew!
Tucson Mobile Repair called back late in the day, a husband and wife team who live on a trailer with their kids as well, she told me Sean would be there shortly. He did arrive, looked at the solenoid and connection, we hooked the trailer up to the truck, ran the jacks up, d’you think they would drift down, no, suddenly the bastards are shy! ARGHHHHH! It’s most likely the solenoid he said, electrical, intermittent. He took the part numbers Mike had already gotten from Lippert, took a photo of the solenoid for good measure and said he would check if we could get the part locally here in Tucson or Phoenix. They are a pretty common six point leveling system. We thanked him profusely, I went back online trying to find another spot for a few days while he looked for parts. I found two spots, in B loop, one for following night, and one for Wednesday night, that gave us two days, so we had to move a few hundred feet, no big deal, it will be a nice surprise for the cats…”We’re HERE already?!!!”
The next morning we slept in a bit, the cats were fascinated, looking out the back window at the giant rodents of unusual size! The round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus), known as “Ardillón cola redonda” in Spanish, live in the desert of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. They are called “ground squirrels” because they burrow in loose soil, often under mesquite trees and creosote bushes. They are omnivores. The bulk of their diet is green vegetation, especially in the summer. They also eat seeds and insects (ants, termites, and grasshoppers). Most of their foods are chosen for high water content because of the shortage of available water in their environment. The average water content of the food they eat is 80%. That should make them good and juicy Rocket was thinking! Until they saw the Road Runner! Gamora said she could take him, until she got a bit closer and decided maybe it was a tad large, with a great BIG beak! Ha! These guys. Reminds me of a Gary Larson’s Far side cartoon!
We hooked up, just before noon, check out time, and moved over to the B loop. site #40. Jacks stayed up, OK, that is good I thought. We’ll wait to hear from Sean about parts. No call. This loop had a lot more people feeding birds so there was a flutter as soon as I put my suet and feeder out, along with the hummingbird feeder.
We decided to do a grocery run, Ace hardware, Sprouts, Total Wine (I needed to restock big time! Stress is equal to increased wine consumption!) while waiting to hear from the mobile tech. Then it was time to come back, put the groceries away, grind up a new batch of cat food and then sit outside and watch who was watching me!:)
Not only the male Broad Billed Hummingbird showed up, but the Mrs. as well. She’s more understated but oh those blue fluorescent tail feathers are gorgeous! The Traveling Mewberries couldn’t figure out where the rodents of unusual size went as soon as they went down the steps! Ha! They would sit and watch me as I photographed the hummingbirds, it appears I was safe enough to them to come out and nibble on the grass!
Still no call, so I called. Ok, I’m a wee bit impatient! She said she had emails out to different suppliers, one didn’t have the parts and she was waiting to hear back from the other….back to waiting!
The morning’s were cold, -3° celcius. There is still snow on the top of Mount Lemmon, a wee bit chillier up there I bet! By noon, we had to move once again, we walked over to site #4 around 11 a.m., it was empty so we decided to shuffle once again! Jacks did not drift down…
I needed to go for a walk, waiting for calls was getting to me. Feeling bummed out at the silence. I figured I could find a Gila nesting in a saguaro somewhere out there to cheer me up. All you have to do is listen, and then watch from where the laughing hyena noise is coming from! A large fire in October 2020 burned through the campground and surrounding areas. The Mesquite and Palo Verde trees are coming back slowly, some older branches no, the saguaros seemed to survive, full of monsoon rain water but it’s not a pretty landscape, it feels desolate and dry, it is! The Gilas did cheer me up, a couple of riders mosied past on a pair of fat quarter horse buckskins. All night long I was going over in my head “What can we do if there are no parts available, or can’t be shipped overnight?”
I went back to the trailer and took to my DRV fixes and repairs group on Facebook and put drifting jacks in the search area. A few posts came up, then as I scrolled down the list I saw a picture of a fix. We can do this! Tie up the jacks! With rope, or chain, or something! There were photos! Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier! It means we could move down towards the Ajo highway. There were no sites available from Thursday through Sunday here in Catalina! I felt better!
There was a TINY juvenile Broad billed, half the size of the other adult I’d photographed. So friggin’ cute, not a lick of sense in his head, he buzzed me, and the cats as if to say, back away from that feeder lady! I own it! Then he had to sit on a branch and rest. A young Gila was slowly working her way towards the suet feeder, chatting quite loudly the whole time. It was nice to have so much life around us.
Yes, that is snow on the top of Mount Lemmon. It was -3° celsius this morning way down below here at the campground, a wee bit chilly!
It was an hours drive from Catalina State Park to Justin’s Diamond J RV Park off the Ajo Highway, they had room for us for two nights, then I’d cancelled the reservation at Kartchner Caverns to go next door to Diamond J, Desert Trails RV for the weekend into Monday, thinking we might get the solenoid.
In the morning, the RV tech’s wife called. No parts available locally, Lippert did not offer overnight shipping, in fact she said it could be anywhere from seven to twenty two days to get the solenoid….what did we want to do? We are not willing to wait, with this new way of keeping the jacks up we decided we will move on and figure it out as we go. We thanked them, did we still want to order them, they could ship them to us? No, I said. We’ll wait until Knoxville where the DRV dealer perhaps can figure out exactly what is going on. I rigged up ropes tied to the inside jacks. When we hooked up I wrapped them around the bolt that holds the foot on, said a prayer to the RV gods and goddesses and we hooked up. Held our breath…got out of the site, past the dump and park office and out to the light, jacks still up! We were good to go! Goodbye Catalina State Park, it was a fun if somewhat stressful stop but we’re moving on! We asked the tech’s wife if he could call back to discuss different ways of keeping the jacks tied up, perhaps he could come out to rig something up with a chain, he never returned the call, no big money or expensive parts, very sad, business nowadays it seems. Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of jack fixes and the road that goes East Amigos!
It wasn’t a long jump from Wellton to the Painted Rock Petroglyph site and campground. Eighty four miles, a bit more than an hour. A nice break as the cats were looking like they were braced for the worst. Gamora threw up as soon as we put her in the truck…:( The first few drives have not been smooth so we hoped this one would pacify her fears for awhile! It’s located eleven miles North of the Interstate 8 on a small paved road. I’d found you could reserve a site over the Winter months, so did. It’s dry camping but the the sites are large, I just happened to pick one with a twist and turn. I wouldn’t want to be in here when it’s pouring rain! Our site looked like it could be underwater at times!
The archaeological site containing hundreds of figures and designs carved into rocks, known as petroglyphs. These were produced centuries ago by indigenous peoples. The area is mostly flat and sandy with May-Oct daytime temperatures in the 100s. The annual rainfall is only about six inches and the nearest irrigational water is the Gila River. In prehistoric times the Gila flowed west out of the mountains of western New Mexico.
Although considered a Hohokam rock art site, Painted Rock is on the extreme western edge of the Hohokam cultural area. East of Painted Rock, petroglyphs take on more typical Hohokam characteristics, while petroglyphs farther west take on more Patayan characteristics. Found here and in nearby areas of the Gila River are petroglyphs of Archaic origin. Painted Rock also bears the inscriptions of historic passers-by.Juan Bautista de Anza passed near here during his 1775-1776 expedition, followed by the Mormon Battalion in the 1840s, the Butterfield Overland Mail, and countless numbers of pioneers. During World War II, GeneralGeorge Patton used this area as headquarters for tank training–Wikipedia
Painted Rock Petroglyphs-1879 and 1907 graffiti
Painted Rock Petroglyph site is a bit of a misnomer. A Jesuit called it “piedras pintados” in 1748 but in truth they are etched into the outer surface of the rocks over a period of 1400 years. There is recent graffiti from idiots and assholes, even in 1879 and 1909. This sight is still sacred to the O’Odham and Piipaash tribes.
Painted Rock Petroglyphs lizards
It is such a small hill but so many etchings. 3800 individual designs on 428 boulders!
Painted Rock Petroglyphs-I see a bighorn sheep!
The amazing variety of animal and desert life is depicted here, you feel far removed from Western civilization and ensuing mayhem they caused here. The parks gives as much sign time to the Spaniards, wagon trains and white men than to the actual history of those that made the petroglyphs, I felt that was unfair. History is written by the conquerors…:(
Painted Rock information
The late day sun brings out the amazing colours in the rocks. You can walk around the small pile of boulders in ten minutes but it’s much better to linger and guess what some of the shapes mean! Aliens and cats, I swear I saw them! Most of the petroglyphs are on the SW side. I read the Hohokam style petroglyphs consists of an assortment of lines and geometric patterns.
The rocks are fenced, someone asked why? Because of the assholes, even back in 1909 that had to add their art and “I was here” mark. Many have been stolen as well I read. What is wrong with people? It hosts one of North America’s densest concentrations of petroglyphs. The petroglyphs have been attributed to the Western Archaic Style, 7500 B.C. to about A.D. 1, and the Gila Style of the Hohokam people, 300 BC to AD 1450.
Painted Rock Petroglyphs-I see a cat! Ha! Ok, maybe it’s a lizard!
There are pit toilets and a dumpster here and a few information signs but little else! I put my hummingbird feeder out and an Anna’s claimed it pretty quickly! Not much blooming here! A brave Harris Antelope squirrel made a quick appearance before seeing the cats and he skadoodled away quickly! Later in the evening you could hear the coyotes howling.
We had our trusty little Honda generator to charge the batteries later in the day and the inverter and batteries are always a luxury! We had neighbours the first day but they left the next morning. A truck and camper top pulled in with a trailer and they were walking their big orange cat on a leash as well! 🙂 Groot, Gamora and Rocket were obsessed with the lizards, I think they were the Common Whiptails. They didn’t stick around and let me take their picture!
We ended our 2nd day with a beautiful moonrise over the petroglyphs and and orange red sunset to wash it down! We had one day booked at Catalina State Park North East of Tucson we were looking forward to seeing. Our last time trying to get into Catalina State Park the camp entrance was closed due to flooding in the arroyo, a lot of water, reservation or not, no one was getting in or out! Stay tuned for trials and tribulations with drifting trailer jacks once again…but that is another story! Saludos amigos!
Mr. Anna’s hummingbird at Painted Rock Petroglyphs
We read a travelers blog about this “hidden gem of a park” and it suddenly dawned on me they were talking about Anza Borrego…hidden, ha! Don’t think so, guess they never tried to make reservations for any of the sites in the Palm Canyon Campground in Jan/Feb or March! Gem, yes. The Borrego Palm Canyon trail is hiked by roughly 20,000 visitors annually so yeah, not hidden dear! With the rains, come streams and waterfalls trickling through out the Palm Canyon path.
then there are the sunrises!
It helps to start the day with a beautiful splash of colour! Cat walking first, lizards chasing, then human walking!
The trail winds through the stream at times past beautiful boulders, it is rocky walking over stones and between and under the boulders at times! I think I got flanked by an 80 year old with walking sticks…sigh…so I’m a tortoise! I ate too many tacos in Baja, Mike, a frigging’ mountain goat! I told Mike the only people slower than photographers might be botanists walking;) I like taking pictures of the flowers and odd plants:) Ha! The trail was the quietest I’d seen, bloom has not really started but there is still lots to see!
A fire swept through here in 2020, the palms have survived thankfully but the whole area is closed to give it a chance to rejuvenate. There used to be seating in the shade, Mike found a boulder while I stalked a beautiful Costa’s Hummingbird defending his bush of red chuparosa flowers. I needed a breather anyway! whew!
I talked Mike into taking the alternative route back, I hadn’t quite given up on seeing any borregos and had seen them along the higher path once before, what was I thinking? It wasn’t well marked and I think we went off path a few times, rock jumping, scrambling up and down, life is an adventure and my legs will hurt for days I’m sure! Ha! No borregos but we got to see a beautiful American Kestrel snacking on a grasshopper! There are no pets allowed along the trails, to protect the bighorn sheep no doubt!
At the end of the path we came upon a Black Tailed Gnatcatcher picking the seeds off the brittle brush blooms. There were actually more blooms around the campsites and campground than higher up in the canyon. The ocotillos were just starting to leaf out there, a few Northern Mockingbirds flew from the palms to them and back.
Anza Borrego is a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved park! So much to sniff! Prickly things though and LIZARDS! OMG, happy cats indeed, no lizards were harmed, they are far too fast! It’s an odd mix of sites here.The two on the outside, 50 and 51 look out onto the desert, but I bet they are hard to book, unless you do this months in advance. We can’t really fit into any of the sites in the upper campground that we drove past.
A few spots down from us was an A class with a fake mini mailbox and a sign proclaiming God’s watchful eye is guarding you…why? Just why? Avoid at all costs these campers! Ha! I guess it’s better than the “Protected by Smith and Wesson” signs we see hanging off RV’s…Welcome to ‘merica! At the spot next to us they had two Mr. Triple heaters! I had no idea these existed, obviously I have been living in a vacuum! I have warmed myself in front of a Mr. Double Heater as we called it, in Jack’s carburetor shop many a time! I assume they are tent camping here! Temperatures were dipping into the high 40’s, warmer than Santee Lakes! Wusses here! Ha! says the camper from her nice warm 5th wheel with it’s electric fireplace;) Yes, we are spoiled!
Good morning Anza Borrego!
We had a beautiful send off the next morning, another astonishing sunrise, those oranges and blues, breathtaking. A bit of early morning bathrobe photography as I caught a few more blooms and seeds in the campground. A bit of a stretch for those tired legs as well, the trip into Arizona was going to be almost three hours.
I didn’t realize it was going to be the road from hell out! It started off smooth enough through Borrego Springs, then Highway 78 East towards the Salton Sea. As we approached Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area it was bumpy and undulating in the worst way, like a freeze thaw road in the North, except there is no excuse for that here?! WTF (who the f*ck!) built this! Two cats were drooling profusely, Groot was burping and coughing, bad sign, we slowed down to less than 40 mph as we navigated the potholes that were thrown in for good measure. The inside of the trailer looked like a tornado had gone through when we stopped! Broken dishes in the cupboard (a first) pictures off the walls, box of cat toys scattered across the floor, a lamp bent! Wild bumpy ride!
When we arrived to the #86 South it was with a huge sigh of relief! It felt smooth as silk, as did the Interstate 8 as we turned East. It wasn’t the only adventure though, an eighteen wheeler in front us of lost a tire, we had some warning as the bits started to fly off, these are busy roads and sometimes hard to even move over a lane, Mike managed to and we missed it, in the next few minutes I saw a car out of the corner of my left eye from the two lanes of traffic heading West. It was going backwards very quickly across the sand divide from the opposite lanes of traffic. He’d spun out, missed an eighteen wheeler behind him, didn’t flip but was obviously going in the wrong direction now! Jeezus murphy, actually I think Mike said something far worse, I was craning to see if he made it into our lanes of traffic behind us going backwards. “ENOUGH!” Mike exclaimed! Things settled down after that!
So I missed the phalloplasty billboard, damn. All I saw was “Increase your girth!” and I was wondering what old codger in Yuma was worried about increasing his waistline…oh dear, just old codgers worried about increasing their penis girth…OMG..on a billboard? WTF? This is just the weirdest country. At least Cannabis is now legal;) ha! According to the plastic penis surgery folks:
“Penis enlargement surgery is an outpatient procedure that usually takes about two hours. We inject the penis erect, and your erection may last up to 3 to 4 hours after the procedure. Medications are provided to keep the patient comfortable and safe. The surgeon will see the patient shortly following the procedure and several times thereafter to ensure proper recovery. Voluma is a high-tech filler placed beneath the skin to increase the width of the penis. There are several advantages to the use of VolumaTM over other techniques. It is inserted through one insertion point, can be smoothed into place, and has a very high satisfaction rate. The gain in girth depends on the amount of Voluma placed in the penis. Most patients require 10 – 12 syringes to achieve an aesthetically pleasing result. *Results may vary. These results are not guaranteed.“
OMG!!!! I had to look it up. Mike was wincing as I was reading it to him! No thanks he said! Ha!
A picture of the RV park we spent the night in, a few palms and then metal flowers, nothing alive, we actually did see an occupant or two😂
We made it to Wellton and turned off the Interstate. I was bound and determined to skip Yuma and put us a bit closer to Painted Rock Petroglyphs site, our next stop. It was pretty depressing. No living plants except for a few scraggly palms, lot’s of plastic and metal flowers and the smell of manure! You know you are a farm girl when! Ha! A nice man walked me over to a few sites and said to take whichever one we could fit in and pay in the morning when the office was open.
We both wondered who in their right mind would actually choose to spend a Winter, or any other time here. I get that it’s cheap and warmer than Idaho but!?! The lady at the front desk was pushing a seminar on how to get your RV home if your spouse dies. I suggested driving it back…”But how would you get your husband back? “she asked! “In a box, you know cremated, ashes, or I could cut him up and put him in the freezer but that might be frowned upon at the border…” she didn’t look amused…I really should sign up for that seminar but darn, can’t stay! Ha! Stay tuned for Painted Rock Petroglyphs! Saludos amigos, we’ll get Mike back alive, don’t worry!
I always feel like I never get enough time with my family when we are here, it never fails but it can’t be helped. They have lives here, they work, they are busy, they have kids, parents, all kinds of things that take up the day and night. I, on the other hand am a underworked sloth, moving slowly with a camera;) I’m worried about my brother, a move is being planned to Texas (…O_O…) and it can be stressful giving up everything you know, trust me, been there, done that, several times, but it’s my nature to worry and I love my brother. It could be a good change, it can be. I still worry:) My cousin has her parents to care for and worry about, among other things, maybe we are the worrier’s of our sides of the family. I loved every moment I got to spend with family, every moment. It was so wonderful, and so short…maybe next visit, they can come North…in the Summer, or Fall, I stress, not now, not winter…it is currently -32° without the windchill in Perth, Ontario.
When I’m not being an underworked sloth, or cat walking, yes I do have my camera. It’s not hard when you open your door, sit in a chair, and watch the ducks swim by;) Not too tough!
That’s not including the squabbling Coots. Every time you go to the back of the trailer means there might, just might be a snack for them…forever hopeful these ducks! Those feet get me every single day I see them!
Sometimes it is just waiting for that perfect reflection, it’s a photographer thing;) it might be windstill, or just a bit of a ruffle, or waiting for the reeds, or clouds or some shape or form to add something to the capture. Maybe it’s just that blue sky. Maybe it’s an obsessive thing, ha! Never really explored that, why;)
I did warn you there would be a lot of duck photos! Santee isn’t just ducks though, there are flocks of Cormorants, Double Crested Cormorants. Groot eyes them like they would make a good meal and meows when they swim away. Better than his neighbour cat, she just gets to sun bathe in the window of the A-class she lives on!
The colouration on these Double Crested Cormorants varies so much. Generally they work as a group, like synchronized swimmers, but there is always one in every crowd…that goes their own way when the entire flock is moving one way, they are going the other. Those eyes get me! Turquoise.
We had a rainy Monday, I needed to get out of the trailer, those walls felt like they were closing in. 340 square feet is big, but at times you just need to walk. I was feeling a bit down and needed to shake off the funk I was in. The herons and egrets didn’t seem to mind the rain. The pair of red shouldered hawks did NOT look impressed. I hid under a pine for a short burst of harder rain watching a Egret before moving around the last lake. A crazed photographer dressed completely in camouflage with a matching camouflaged lens and camera as long as his body was laying in the wet grass watching a bird. Now, I’m not that passionate about bird photography to be doing that, at least I’d have a yoga mat to lie on. I only have two pairs of jeans with me! Can’t get one covered in mud and bird crap! ha! It at least made me smile…I should have taken a picture of him but decided to look at what he was trying to photograph and there was another snowbird. A Hooded Merganser male was swimming about in the lake, I waved, maybe he spoke French I thought, he could be a Quebec bird! Bonjour!
The walk motivated me enough to get in the truck and drive over to Lakeside to visit a rock and landscape store and pick up a few more bags of Mexican beach pebbles, in tan and reddish colours to add to my pebble mosaics when we get back. I fear the truck bed could get quite full unless the driver complains! That is five large bags of Mexican beach pebbles! Mike just got his computer back after a week of being computerless…gasp! The video card died, possibly fried by the excessive current at the RV park in Valle de la Guadalupe, or it just died, who knows, he was finally a happy camper again, literally! Technology, can’t live without it nowadays it seems.
Seeing the Hooded Merganser, in that low gray light gave me inspiration to go back the next morning in the bright sun. One last goodbye to my fellow snowbird and a reason for a good walk, Ok, slow walk, looking for birds! I stopped and checked out some mushrooms popping up through the leaves. The shaggy parasol is popularly praised as an edible mushroom. However, it contains toxins which can cause gastric upsets and some individuals show a strong allergic response even after cooking…I’ll pass:) A flock of Cedar Waxwings were feeding on some tree seeds as well as some Yellow Rumped Warblers. Past the first lake a Pew bird, aka Cassin’s Kingbird, was perched so nicely. They have such a distinctive call and no I don’t know why all my birds are facing to the left!
I did a double take as I walked past one of the lakes, what were those Red Slider turtles doing? It was simply his reflection, nothing too kinky;) Ha! A sole American Widgeon graces the presence of hundreds of Coots and Ring Necked Ducks by the office. That green, wow. American Wigeons eat a higher proportion of plant matter than any other dabbling duck thanks to their short gooselike bill. The shortness of the bill helps exert more force at the tip so they can pluck vegetation from fields and lawns with ease. I love the pale blue bill and that green head!
I continued on to the next lake. The cinnamon teal is a species of duck found in western North and South America. It is a small dabbling duck, with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds, and feeds mostly on plants. They are so so beautiful! Unique among our northern dabbling ducks, this cinnamon teal also has nesting populations in South America. Habla él español? A close relative of Blue-winged Teal (and sometimes hybridizing with it), the Cinnamon Teal has a slightly larger bill, better developed for straining food items out of the water. A beautiful Gadwall rested by the lake edge. In a world where male ducks sport gleaming patches of green, red, or blue, the Gadwall’s understated elegance can make this common duck easy to overlook. Males are intricately patterned with gray, brown, and black; females resemble female Mallards, although with a thinner, darker bill. We don’t tend to think of ducks as pirates, but Gadwall often snatch food from diving ducks as they surface. A great Egret did a fly over as I rounded the end of the last lake before the bridge.
A Common Gallinule swam about by him/herself. They are medium-sized marsh birds with long legs and toes. Swimming birds frequently hold their wings up, such that the wingtips stick up on the back. They seem almost clown like with their bright colours! The Common Gallinule swims like a duck and walks atop floating vegetation like a rail with its long and slender toes. Further along it looked like I’d stumbled across a board meeting for Snowy Egrets;) There was some heated discussion going on! Must work for Tesla;) ha! Still no Merganser…but wait, the crazed camouflaged photographer was parked beside the lake, his huge camouflage coloured camera lens resting on the windowsill of his car…what was he looking at today? Ok, he’s not crazed, or is he, the weird thing is I’ve never seen his face!
I spied the paparazzi across the lake as well…is it wrong to get more excited about the cool reflections than the rock star bird? Ha! He has quite the “do” this Hooded Merganser. I was trying to explain to one guy that he might want to wait until he came out into the sun but that’s life. Glad he did swim out of the shade! I guess this guy being here is not a common occurrence and his wife was tagging along as well! According to All about birds: “Hooded” is something of an understatement for this extravagantly crested little duck. Adult males are a sight to behold, with sharp black-and-white patterns set off by chestnut flanks. Females get their own distinctive elegance from their cinnamon crest. Hooded Mergansers are fairly common on small ponds and rivers, where they dive for fish, crayfish, and other food, seizing it in their thin, serrated bills. They nest in tree cavities; the ducklings depart with a bold leap to the forest floor when only one day old. Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a “nictitating membrane,” which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles.” and yes, they extremely uncommon here in San Diego county. First time, one photographer said they had seen them here:) I left the paparazzi and headed back, Mike would have the trailer hooked up and ready to leave I was thinking if I strayed out here too long, or he might just be gone! Ha!
While I was walking back towards the trailer I caught a flicker of red out of the corner of my eye! He was still here, The Lewis’s Woodpecker! I came across a nice lady looking around with binoculars and camera and asked her if she’d seen him as I walked along, the Lewis’s woodpecker! “No!” She exclaimed, she’d been looking…”Follow me! I told her as we made our way from the lake edge over to the center portion and out onto the small island you can access by a floating bridge..and he wasn’t there, only a red winged blackbird. Had I been mistaken? I was feeling bad having drug this lady all the way around when he appeared from the other side and perched in the tree for us:) It’s nice to be nice!
Mike was chomping at the bit when I got back…OK, we’re outta here! Enough ducks! The jump to Anza Borrego was not long, 75 miles but we were in for some smaller winding roads, you know, the ones that say “not recommended for vehicles over 40′ in length or 25′ from Kingpin to axle” yeah, those roads. As we headed out of Santee and onto the 52 eastbound we could see Mt Laguna covered in snow! You are very much in a valley at the campground and can’t see the surrounding hills!
From the 52 Eastbound we headed North on the 67, this is so California talking about roads and freeways with just their number! Before Ramona, I waved at the turn off to my brother’s and we headed through Ramona and the line of ole eucalyptus trees that line the highway through town. From there we headed to the turn off at Santa Ysabel. The cats were not looking well, in fact green. Rocket lost his breakfast, good thing I’m the fastest paper towel retriever in the West, caught it before it cascaded over the center divider and onto my feet…whew…it was windy, poor guys, bad first day out but not any way around here that didn’t take hours, or take us right over the snow capped Mount Laguna.
It straightened out after the turn at Santa Ysabel for a bit until we started the descent into the Anza Borrego desert. Lot’s of 30 and 35 mph turns, the road was quiet thankfully except for a CHP highway patrol that followed us for a very long ways before passing, either reading our bumper stickers or shaking his head why we decided to go this way with a big trailer;) The sign didn’t say NO 40′ trailers, it just said it was not recommended;) ha! besides, we’re 36′ long!
The sight of the campground was a relief to the cats as we slowed down at the entrance booth, following another camper. Anza Borrego is a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved walking and sniffing park! While our site was incredibly downhill and we couldn’t really get quite level, #17, it was the only one available so we were thankful for that. We tried to check in at 1:45 pm and got a very cranky park host at the entrance “I could LOSE my job for letting you check in 15 minutes early! she proclaimed, “OK, we were not arguing, where do we turn around to wait?” we asked? Another camper had blocked the turn around area, “Oh, just go to your spot!” she then said. Someone was having a bad day…the next day, a guy checked into his site at 1pm so I guess the 2 pm check in time is not hard and fast… Life of a cranky camp host;) We were glad to be stopped finally and happy, so happy, to be out of the city and noise and military helicopters and jets…just the quiet! But we’ll get to that soon! Saludos amigos from the Anza Borrego desert!
Actually sea lions, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). They are “eared seals” native to the West Coast of North America. It is one of six species of sea lions and yes, they love to surf. I talked Mike into doing the tourist thing and going to La Jolla Cove, I actually wanted to see the Brandt’s Cormorants but the sea lions were an added delight! There were some huge sets coming in. Several body surfers were out with the sea lions as well! The sea lions kept looking at them like”Dude, who are the guys with no fur?”
The miracle of finding parking meant the Gods and Goddesses of the cove were smiling upon us! I’d come looking for the Brandt’s Cormorants who are showing their bright blue breeding colouration. I had no idea just how blue until we saw them! They were stunning! Males collect (sometimes steal) nesting material, and both male and female arrange it constantly during incubation. Nests are circular bowls of grass, moss, weeds, sticks, marine algae, and bits of driftwood (less often feathers). Adults in breeding plumage are mostly blackish, with blue eyes, vivid blue throat skin surrounded by a buffy band, and whiskery white feathers on the head, neck, and shoulders.
In the main part of its range, from California to Washington, the Brandt’s Cormorant is tied to the rich food sources associated with upwellings of the California Current. Male Brandt’s Cormorants usually arrive before females in nesting areas and claim small nesting territories on rocks or cliffs. Males advertise to females by pointing the bill skyward (to show off the blue skin of the throat) or by waving the wings. ♫♪♫ “I got it! Baby I’ve got it!” ♪♫♪
Brandt’s Cormorants foreplay;)
I sat and watched, several tourists asked me a few questions about them, I could give them their name and tell them to look them up! New bird for me! Google them! Ha! Poor Mike has to endure my constant stopping and photographing…Ha! He just goes on ahead, no ladies to look at on the beach, poor him;) Ha! A pair put on quite the show in front of me as I watched…Brandt’s Chiropractic work or sex? Ha!
Pairs maintain their bond usually just for one season. They greet each other at the nest with displays, including pointing the bill at the sky, a “gape” display in which they inflate the blue skin of the throat and cock back the head, and a display in which the females grasp the male’s bill (containing nesting material) and the two sway with bills locked, gradually placing the material in the nest. Both sexes share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Nice guys, not like those good for nothing dead beat humminbird Dad’s! Ha!
The sea lions seemed completely oblivious to all the cormorant quacking and panting in the warm sun as they sun bathed on the rocks below after their surfing adventures. They shared the rocks with a few seagulls and Royal Terns, punk hairdos’ gone bad;)
You get such a beautiful view looking down at the rocks and off to the North towards La Jolla Shores. It was interesting to watch the big sets come in, breaking and curling into horses manes and tails.
Several very very large California Ground Squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi, Otospermophius in Greek means seed-loving squirrel with prominent ears!) could be seen sauntering, not moving very quickly, among the succulents, choosing the tastiest morsel…they were HUGE! Rodents of unusual size! Ha! The California ground squirrel is diurnal, which means it is most active in the daytime. It lives in colonies, but the squirrels tend not to socialize with each other. They often spend their time feeding, sunning, dust-bathing, and grooming and eating, always eating! California ground squirrels are frequently preyed on by rattlesnakes. They are also preyed on by eagles, raccoons, foxes, and weasels. Since the 1970s, interdisciplinary research at the University of California Davis, has shown that the squirrels use a variety of techniques to reduce rattlesnake predation. Some populations of California ground squirrels have varying levels of immunity to rattlesnake venom as adults. Female squirrels with pups either roll on or chew on the skins shed by rattlesnakes and then lick themselves and their pups (who are never immune to venom before one month of age) to disguise their scent. Tricky little guys!
It wasn’t just the Cormorants in breeding colours either! The California Brown Pelicans were showing off as well! Adult colors change during breeding season. Chest and head feathers become golden, eyes blue, and the skin surrounding the eyes pink. The gray gular pouch turns bright red and the back of the neck chestnut-brown. The male selects a site on the ground or in an exposed treetop and performs head swaying displays to attract a female. The California Brown Pelican, a subspecies of P. occidentalis, is the smallest member of the pelican family! The diet of California Brown Pelicans consists primarily of surface-schooling fish such as Pacific mackerel, Pacific sardines, and northern anchovies. Anchovies are 90% of their diet during the breeding season. They have a lifespan of 25-30 years if they survive predation, starvation, pollution, entanglement, etc. Such amazing flyers and yes, their beaks can hold more than their bellies can! The beak is capable of holding up to 3 gallons of water, about 3 times more than its belly can!
Mike had to drag me away, as normal, somebody needed to feed Mike! Ha! It was odd being back in ‘merica;) back to hamburgers and fries at Habit Burger. Just not the same as tacos…:( Our border crossing was fabulous though, we drove up from the Valle de la Guadalupe, said a sad goodbye to Mexico as we slowly made our way through Tecate and to the border…there was NO ONE there! Always makes me nervous, what is wrong, bomb scare? Someone shot? Why so quiet? We literally drove up to the Customs booth with one car in front of us…unheard of, but now the new normal the lovely border patrol guard informed us!
I hate borders…my mother made clearing Customs an absolute nightmare for us as kids with hidden guns and drugs at times, we were forced to look at our shoes not into anyones eyes and DON’T glance at the secret compartment she kept the 12 gauge shotgun and the .357 magnum in…sigh. I find them very stressful to this day. This young woman could not have been nicer. She told us she was moving to Toronto at the end of the week, driving, to work for US Customs at Pearson Airport. She had more questions for us then vice a versa! OK, I’m always smuggling in an extra bottle of wine, or the last container of cat food but I did get rid off all the eggs! She said she had to look into the trailer, checking for people I think with a quick glance she said we were free to go and we told her, “Get really warm boots!” Ha! Already done she laughed. What a pleasant experience that was…now to erase the 300 other bad Customs experiences;)
We’d booked a lakeside spot at Santee Lakes for during the week, they are never available over the weekend unless you book months ahead, spaces big enough for us that is so the cats could look out the back window at the Coots and ducks. They did have a spot available a few up and in, which would mean a three minute move for the weekend as well so I signed up for that, a week in San Diego before we leave the cities behind, a chance to visit with family and also, photograph ducks…but that is a whole other story;)
Stay tuned for ducks and waterfowl in all colours and sizes! No rubber ones;)
We drive by a wonderful shop everyday Mike needs tacos, we often stop and just wander around. The owner Raul is lovely, as are the several metal workers busy at the outside and inside booths cutting, forming, bending and painting the amazing pieces of art they are creating. Some have a spark plugs as a body, others another piece or recycled metal. There are birds and things with wings, lizards and bugs, butterflies and cactus. It is just a feast for the eyes. We bought Zophia, the zopilote (vulture) here fifteen years ago, she remains my favourite but these owls…I was contemplating a purchase…”Room!” Mike keeps saying! “We don’t have the room!” I was tempted to try to squeeze one of those six foot Great Blue herons in! I am a master at packing!
Galeria Mexicana, they have a facebook page so can check them out! It is an addictive store. He also has glass and beautiful ceramics as well! Drag me out of here please!!!!
The imagination of the Mexican people never ceases to amaze me. You don’t often hear, it can’t be done, they find a way to do it. They are resourceful! Mike has accused me of being very Mexican-like occasionally, usually when I am doing it the hardest way possible…when there are easier alternatives I have not considered. It comes from making do as a child with what we had, and having to do a few chica nadas, (it translates as a little nothing, known North of the border as a jury rig!) which is a repair done with what you have, probably not properly, but it works. We watched the guys who built our house in the Sierra arrive on the 4×4 only road from the North, one of them sitting on the hood, holding up a liter Coke bottle, to feed gas to the motor, the new fuel pump they laughed, a car on an IV drip…it worked, they arrived..sigh…Quero Mexico. He still wouldn’t let me buy the herons…;( ha!
What will I miss about Mexico when we leave? The life on the street, those easy warm smiles from friendly faces, ALL the TACOS (I can hear Mike yelling!) the attitude, the segundas, the weird and wonderful things I can find in the grocery stores, getting several meals for less than $20 at the corner store…I could go on and on. Speaking Spanish, relearning the big words one speaks with edumacated folks…hahahahaha! I will miss so much. Estero Beach is a bubble though, a clean, safe, people leave things out and they don’t get stolen kind of bubble. We checked out a few RV parks to the North of us. They haven’t been updated since the 50’s by the looks of them and the atmosphere is one more of degeneration and decay than happy tourist spot. We might not be able to come back here we have thought, things change, I hope we can, houses may get built here, everything is changing at times, yet it all remains the same.
What will I miss, our friends, Karla’s amazing carrot cake! Ha! She’ll be getting regular deliveries of hard to find baking supplies from up North! Felipe’s smile and park news. John and his two beautiful dogs. Mike has apparently won Lacey, the three legged blue heeler cross, over, a rare feat we have been told. Mike keeps yelling tacos, he may not recover after leaving, or will simply waste away from starvation. Where lunch at the Rey de tacos costs less than $5. Juan and Caty and all their adventures. I’ll miss the faces I didn’t see this trip. The flower man with the world’s most beautiful smile, the older lady that sold the Vigia newspaper on the corner of Reforma, the older faces here at Estero, gone, retired, replaced. So many photos I didn’t take. The world keeps turning…
What won’t I miss? The potholes! Ha! Ok, there have been some improvements on Reforma, the air pollution, a month was enough for me, the cough has started. Telcel…still expensive and short lived GB. watching people struggle, living with so little. The traffic, the fact that red lights and stop signs are merely suggestions, watch before you give it the gas on the green, chances are the eighteen wheeler in the opposite lane decided to go anyway on the red, or pink light Mike calls it, he’s bigger. The chaos some days when you are just not up to it. Being sick the last week meant we missed some visits and faces, I hope we can catch up another visit. We will be forever grateful to Luis, Alexa and Danny at Estero who made our stay there possible! But…we were ready to leave the city.
Goodbye Punta Banda and Estero Beach
It’s less than an hour drive to Valle de la Guadalupe, Mexico’s wine country. John sent us off with delicious tamales, delivered by Ruffino, made by his sister and paid for with a six pack of beer! We left him some home-made salsa verde for his as well! We wanted to eat them with him but he was called away at the last moment downtown.
Guadalupe RV Park
The growth has been explosive in the valle. New wineries, restaurants, airbnb’s, glamping. I’d emailed Guadalupe RV park run by the school for the deaf, Sordo Mudo across the street, I never heard back so we just went. It has full hook ups and 50 amp…gasp…as well as 30 amp services. Ok, there is one 50 amp plug in with 130 volts, a bit high, probably enough to fry the video card in Mike’s computer…c’est la vie. We took that spot on the ned as it was extra wide, a few other smaller Rv’s there and what looked like some new permanent spots. and there is well water…with 70 psi…0_0….Ok, unheard of! It’s close to the highway, so noisy, but a hop and skip from Juan and Caty’s house, our neighbours in the Sierra for ten years, and a short drive to some of the most interesting food in the Valle. Yes, Food, and NO, I wasn’t going to try to keep up with Mike after my IBS bout, it was a mouthful here and there for me, entire plates for him!
I sat under the shower and tasted the salt from the Estero beach water run over my face and down the drain. Yes, the water was that salty, some days I thought they were simply pumping it out of the estuary. It makes you appreciate little things, like being able to run your toothbrush under the tap, not wiping away salt from the dried dishes, and those showers where you can actually open your mouth without worrying about some microbe you might have just ingested.
We had a wonderful visit with Juan and Caty and one of their project workers, Jacqueline, catching up on news and family, stories and the latest of the world of the Condor Project, always rife with trials and tribulations! We planned an early breakfast at our favourite spot, (Jaqueline had to go to Ensenada at 10 a.m. to have her wisdom teeth removed!) which we thought has closed, but discovered it had moved into a resort type setting inside another restaurant in San Antonio de las Minas! Huevo Republic was as delicious as it had been before, and yes, I did eat the entire plate this time!
We made plans for Deckman’s restaurant the following day for a late lunch and went back to the trailer to digest. That took Mike about an hour….maybe we could go to Fauna he suggested? Yes, I did groan out loud…I’d been reading about Fauna and their multiple course tasting menu…as had Mike, he was ready for lunch, he was going to kill me with food I thought!
Fauna…the menu and chef
I made a reservation at Fauna, located within the luxury boutique hotel Bruma, the only time slot they had was for 1:30-I grabbed it and we drove the less than 2km there from the Rancho Sordo Mudo, Guadalupe RV Park. We entered through a large wrought iron gate, guarded by a very friendly man who asked if we had reservations, we did and we continued on down the road following the signs. The road was rough, engineered by rain and runoff, a true Baja road. It was packed and incredibly busy, ah, Saturdays. They told us it would be a few moments until we were seated so we wandered around, up to a reflection pool with a dead tree in the center, fresas taking selfies with their wine glasses and high heeled platform boots, did we time travel I was thinking? It felt like we’d entered a carnival tent….YES chef!!! We wandered past an outdoor grill and staff making tortillas and roasting and chopping on our way into the communal table. The menu wasn’t exactly descriptive but the plates and smells coming out of the kitchen were impressive! We were seated facing the kitchen. There is an à la carte option, but most parties choose the multi course Feast tasting menu we were told…”14 plates, or more!” the waitress said, “I hope you are hungry!” Mike was grinning from ear to ear. I think I might have audibly groaned out loud.
I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed eating the food more or people watching slyly, it was quite a sight! At one point it felt as if we’d time traveled to the 1970’s and were enjoying a meal at our table (they are all communal dining tables) with a touring rock band, all they needed were peace sign necklaces to go with their paisley, fur coats and hats! Hippy fresas! When they got up to leave another group soon sat down…another decade. 2″ long fingernails, I have this theory that they are status symbols, the longer the nails, the less obvious physical work you can do, no gardening, or diaper changing for these tallonned ladies, they pay people to do this for them! and the hats…straight out of a Clint Eastwood Western, felt with either leopard, feathered or sequined bands. Not that these ladies rode horses, not with those nails! Even the young girls/kids had these hats! They were not terribly friendly either, cold stare kinda ladies, maybe we were just not cool enough Almost more interesting than the food we’re the views and the traffic for the rest rooms going by the other side of the table! The men had these bouffant up draft hairdo’s, they looked like real live actors from the Simpsons! Ha! Great people watching! and the food, some great, the sashimi was heavenly, the grilled broccoli with chiltepin chile delicious, shellfish ceviche tart and perfect, grilled Octopus was fabulous but it was all TOO salty, just a bit heavy handed sadly.
The service was friendly, attentive and fast, too fast, there were so many staff…I had the wine pairing and barely got to look at the bottles that came and went…WAIT, bring that back! The kitchen was hopping, it was wild. Grilled mackerel in grilled romaine leaves, an blue corn empanada with cheese on a molé sauce, beef was chewy, scallops were perfect, best was the crispy grilled skin pork with radishes, but everything was, incredibly salty. Last course was grilled quail, exquisite, and yes Mike ate 75% of it all! I took bites here and there! The best of all was roasted squash, I ate most of that, not overly salted! Yeah! Did I mention the last couple to come and sit opposite us certainly caught Mike’s eye! She had on extremely short shorts, like really SHORT, nylons, but the best was the shorts were covered in shiny black sequins. I just felt so damn underdressed! Ha! or would that be overdressed? I’m surprised Mike didn’t drop his napkin, or a utensil! Hahahahaha! It was fun, if just for the people! We are obviously not quite hip or cool enough for Saturdays out in Valle de la Guadalupe! Ha! Dessert was a drink-bourbon and coffee, a churro with ice cream and a guava based dessert, not salty, yeah! I am surprised Mike could even move….
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing…
It must have been that last dash to stuff everything he loves to eat in Mexico in! Ceviche, octopus, quail… but we were not done! We saved the best for last, a late lunch the next day at Deckman’s in the Mogor Badan Winery, the next day. If I survived…Ha! I did!
Deckman’s at Mogor Badan
We arrived a bit earlier than Juan and Caty and were given a table, listing heavily towards the vineyard exposed to a very cold wind, yes, we are wusses, I just didn’t want to shiver my way listing through a good meal. They did move us after we asked to a more protected spot, at least we were on even ground! Blankets were provided as well! It is a wonderful outdoor area, protected by bales of straw with a view over the vineyards. My phone couldn’t scan the menu, Caty’s could, we are such country mice, they did bring us paper ones as well, my preferred type thanks.
We decided to opt for the tasting menu, again, Mike looked pleased!
Everything was sublime, from the shredded beef amusé-bouche tostada, to the kumamoto oysters, shellfish ceviche, a lobster in an infused butter sauce, to abalón with a carrot puree. The beef marrow bone was served with amazing crusty rolls and a brick of tender shredded lamb was to die for. The desserts were simple and delicious and I was full, but not as Mike would say with the boys “plugged!” Then I needed a nap! We didn’t opt for a wine pairing, I was disappointed at Fauna not only with the quality but also with the rush, no one was interested in explaining to me what I was drinking, or where it was from. Caty and I had a nice Nebbiolo, all I got was the front of the label, but that was it as well. Juan had a wonderful mezcal and Mike a citrus mezcal margarita. I should have taken more pictures! Ha! TOO busy eating! Dya think Mike is full now? Ha!
It was a wonderful way to end our stay here in Baja. Not having to drive the hour back through Ensenada dodging the red light runners to get back to Estero made it all the more enjoyable! If you want to go to the Valle de la Guadalupe to eat with your RV or trailer I really recommend this spot. It’s central to so many wonderful restaurants and wineries, you are minutes away from most of them! Traffic noise dies down after dark as well! Do it!
Good night Valle de la Guadalupe!
Enough food! Ha! Stay tuned for the trip back to “el otro lado”…the other side…i.e. The USA, we’ll be avoiding dance halls, mushroom farms with unhappy employees, schools and well, Walmarts. It’s a crazy country…
…Or maybe just a quiet moment spent with your cat, watching the sunset. Yeah, I know, we are weird. Maybe I can thank my mother for teaching me to really never give a crap about what other people thought. I think she might have saved me from a lifetime of anxiety otherwise! Ha! We as humans seem to worry so much what others might think, to fit in, to be one of them, when it’s really only important truly to be OK with oneself, and your cats;) Ha!
Gamora loves to wander out to the beach, roll in the sand, then continue all the way down to where the RV park used to be, the stomping ground of her youth! She is a brave girl. The boys really don’t want to wander too far from home, the trailer, they look back to make sure it is still there…in sight… safe there, just on the street! Rocket and Groot are sniffers, sniffy pants, going from plant to plant, seeing if hijo de Benito has been wandering into their territory! Groot is very serious about this territory thing, in fact, he’s a mostly serious kinda cat although when he gets silly, it’s really silly! Every day we wander past the same houses, same pots, and for Rocket, past the same clay/porcelain pig on a doorstep. Every day, Rocket is astonished at seeing THE pig, every single day, he jumps and looks surprised there is a PIG there!…every day, then he has to go sniff noses with it…nose bonks it, and moves on…sigh…that boy.
Our cat walking takes a fair bit of time but also, you stop, you look, admire the succulents by Larry’s trailer, say hi to John and his two dogs Lacey and Booty as we wander by, it’s a social thing. We met a pair of Canadians from Alberta in the street there, I wrote out some of our favourite camping spots as they are headed further South, it’s nice to be nice! The Mexican guards and groundskeepers that bicycle by always say hello and smile at the felines, shaking their heads, why not just let them out? one asked. Well, the loose dogs I pointed out, and where we come from bigger threats from coyotes, fishers and bald eagles, OK, they’d have a hard time carrying the boys away, but not Gamora. Besides she’d be halfway across Ensenada chasing the dogs off if loose! Ha!
We didn’t get the torrential rain that hit North in California but we had some nice waves. The surf app said Todo Santos Islands were running 30-40’…yikes! I immediately think on how one would get ashore in the dinghy…Ha! The white blips on the horizon are waves hitting the rocks! A great day to be on land me thinks! A few fishing boats were anchored out lit up like Christmas trees, I was thinking about some of the wild anchorages we’d been in and once again, happy to be in a terrestrial position!
I have to admit I’m a big fan of those flat calm days! The tides were not in my favour this month, low at sunset, there was still some beautiful reflections but when the estuary is at high tide then you get all that calm water! Not complaining:)
Mother Nature’s glory!
The last week in Ensenada Mike spent gorging on tacos, I had to send him off with John for company, chilis finally got to me and my IBS. I spent a day trying to find gas x to keep from dying…ha! météospasmyl, my saviour! A word I will never forget! I was back on my feet in a few days, eating corn tortillas, rice and scrambled eggs, just can’t keep up with Mike!
The stormy days didn’t slow the birds down, they hunkered down on the rocks and waited for the winds to die down!
I spent a few days just hanging around the trailer, watching the Anna’s hummingbirds come and go, juveniles fighting adults, the ladies vs the gents. Mike spied what he thought was a nesting hummingbird across the road so I wandered over one afternoon where the sun was at my back to see where she might be building. Between collecting bugs and eating them she was retrieving bits of seed fluff and feathers, slowly building her nest.
She seemed pretty much oblivious to me, intent on her work! Once you have seen one of these nests you learn to recognize them anywhere! And listen, for the constant coming and going of the mother to be!
I do love just sitting and watching and photographing these quick little birds. It’s given me time to explore more of the settings on the Canon R5, especially the eye tracking portion in focus. I’m nowhere near through the 600 page PDF manual…sigh…so much technology, how did we ever manage without it? I think we did ok:)
Mrs. Anna’s, there are several
Trying it out on birds in flight has been challenging as I can’t see the screen without my glasses, with my glasses on, I can’t see anything but close, ARGHHHHHH, so yeah, this aging thing sucks at times! I want bionic eyes please!
Quite the up do this guy has!
I saw a few groups of photographers wandering around, Mike spoke to one out at the beach, binoculars in hand, Canon people, I can tell by the white lens! Ha! Nice to see others enjoying the birds life here, it is a special spot. I wandered out to the beachside one afternoon, I came across a few Canadians, a Common Merganser fishing in the shallows as the tide went out…
Common Merganser
They are so quick, darting here and there leaving nothing but bubbles behind! Out at the point a Common Loon surprised me, swimming in the heavy tidal currents, not a care in the world as it darted back and forth, snorkeling so to speak for it’s next meal! More snowbirds…literally! Ha! It was interesting to watch it fish from up high on the stone breakwater.
Further North I wandered along the beach, then inland along the property fence. I was wondering where the American Kestrels had gone that nested in the now denuded palms, seems they have moved to the fields, hunting among the succulents that are ground cover along with a shy red tail hawk.
I have not been able to convince the Vermilion Flycatcher to sit on anything pretty, he favours the rusty chain link fence and an old building with peeling paint, just sit on a palm? or a cactus! I asked…not a chance!
I was lucky one afternoon to catch out of the corner of my eye a very very white bird perched on the one dead tree in the old RV park. I held my breath as I tried to walk over as casually as possible, in the shadows, along the treeline, bird photographers know what I’m talking about, stealth mode, be very very quiet and you might, just might get close enough for an infocus shot, and not of their tail as they fly away! It was the White Kite! I have seen it once or twice before but always shy…and not just one white kite, but two! a Pair!
I watched with bated breath as the one took off and joined it’s partner, trying to land in the spindly branches of the eucalyptus tree. Elanio Maromero (Spanish) is their name here. With its body turned toward the wind and wings gently flapping, it hovers above the ground, a behavior that’s so distinctive it’s become known as kiting, thus, White Tailed Kite! They move like a jet fighter in flight! The White-tailed Kite eats mainly small mammals, but it also eats birds, lizards, and insects on rare occasions. It hunts by facing into the wind and hovering up to 80 feet above the ground while it scans the ground for movement. It dives down to grab prey, feet down and wings held up.
I watched them until I was dizzy as they flew overhead from tree to tree and I left them to go back to hunting, not wanting to intrude any longer. Such magnificent flyers but it’s the hovering, or kiting that is spectacular to watch, like a helicopter hovering! Made me smile all day!
I walked back past some some humorous bathing Black Necked Stilts. The rainwater ponds are full and they were enjoying the fresh water!
They lend themselves to humorous commentary….I can hear the cat calls as Alice walks by…and the yoga moves;) or a Greater yellowlegs, or lesser, just trying to be cool and fit in! Ha!
Maybe it’s my outlook on life, you have to laugh! I’ll leave you with the resident Osprey, they are busy repairing the nest, next to the power lines, wish it could get moved. More than one chick has ended up fried there but they seem to like that spot, warmer by the transformer? This lady looked like she was contemplating a trip to the manicurist…
All I can say is I’m glad I’m not a fish! Stay tuned folks, we’ll be looking at some different birds soon, metal ones!
I have to feed Mike, tacos, almost every day. If it’s not tacos, it’s Mexican breakfast or dinner, you’ve heard of Somebody Feed Phil, well, this is somebody feed Mike! Our favourite breakfast place is closed until the 14th (Mike is counting the days, they do fire roasted lamb and pig as well…drool…) so we have explored a few other alternatives, one, walking distance down the road is called Vainilla called to us. We went with our lovely neighbour John and sat in their outdoor patio. we were offered café, or café de olla which is coffee, cinnamon and raw dark sugar, piloncillo. Delicious!
One of the breakfast specials was chilaquiles rojo (red chili sauce on fried tortilla slices, the original nachos) they were still crunchy underneath, perfect, frijoles (refried beans) papa con chorizo (fried potato with chorizo sausage) and an egg. It was very tasty. A trip to the supermarkets and small corner stores here are always an adventure in new spices, dried chilis, familiar and new, all in one! The dried chilis smell so good, we’ve loaded up for friends, as well as whole cinnamon and organic Mexican Vanilla, vainilla ($3.00 the bottle…sigh!) We have a few bottles we’re bringing back, don’t worry! I won’t be bringing back any tiny octopi…0_0….but they are tasty…just saying!
Mexicans make a traditional punch for Christmas, Ponche Navideño, it is made using water, fresh and dried fruits like tamarind, prunes, hibiscus (jamaica), sugar cane sticks, cinnamon sticks, and sweetened with piloncillo (pronounced “pee-lawn-CEE-yoh”) unrefined raw cane sugar made into the form of a cone. Your choice of alcohol can be added as well:) The tejocote are small orange fruits that resemble in size a small crabapple, they are a type of hawthorn (Crataegus mexicana).
There is always something interesting, something different, at times sad, kids juggling on the shoulders of their brothers for a few pesos, but laughing while they do it. There is a man who sells those yellow and blue car cleaning cloths, he has no arms, from the elbow down, he is always out there. Sometimes cartels cut people’s arms off someone told me, a warning if you haven’t towed the line, before they kill you…:(
January 6th was Día de los Reyes. For many Christians in Spain and Latin America, the holiday season officially ends on January 6, which is the 12th day of Christmas known as the Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day. The holiday celebrates the biblical tale in which the Three Kings, or Three Wise Men, visit baby Jesus after his birth. Lot’s of pinatas, and in Mexico, bakers make a “rosca del rey”, a sweet bread meant to represent a King’s crown. There is a baby Jesus doll hidden in there, plastic of course, extra large ones in the US we were told today as someone sued for choking on one! Ha! “Están gigantes al otro lado!” They are giant (the plastic jesus dolls in the cake) on the “other side” i.e USA, the bakery lady laughed. I remember coins as well in the cake as a child. We left our shoes out to have presents put in them, not by Santa, but by the three kings:)
On the street corner after Estero a few guys have been performing for years, if I’m lucky I can catch them at the light! Several are amazing! We had to go back to Tacos de pescado de Lupita, to feed Mike! They are on the way. A new place has opened, almost across the road. Alien tacos? We may have to try. The spaceship made out of recycled tires and the alien eating are good. We’ll let you know!
Our biggest adventure, Mike just rolled his eyes, maybe misadventure, was going in search of a Mexican talavera sink. we cruised the tourist block in Ensenada but most were closed, no cruise ships, no tourists so no one opened except the Happy Pharmacy selling viagra, we didn’t go in but maybe that will be another blog, their mascot is photoworthy;) Ha! So I somehow managed to convince him to drive to my favorite talavera store South of Rosarito. We had bought our sinks and quite a few tiles here for the ranch in the sierra. I did find one luckily, it was a miserable drive in the rain up the toll road which is down to two lanes facing each other (some more of the road perhaps fell into the sea or is sliding that way, actually bridge repair but you never know! Ha!) very narrow lanes with the the plastic sand filled barriers askew from various 18 wheeler collisions with them, or cars. We also ran over a 4X4, at least it was across the road and not front to back, we were not the only ones, several did in front of us and no way to move over…Baja…chaos and beauty. At least no damage, glad we didn’t come down this way with the trailer!
That toilet has a hummingbird on it Mike pointed out, and it’s fine if you are a hobbit I pointed out…they are very, very…smol;) ha! Maybe as a planter I suggested…he had to drag me out of this store! He hadn’t had lunch and was not pleased! He’s been waiting all week for tacos de pescado Johnny to open on Pedro Loyola. They have a shrimp, smoked marlin and cheese one he has been dreaming about;) I stuck with the shrimp myself, still as good as it ever was and the couple working there are lovely people.
I am so full…so what do you do after you stuff yourself with tacos Mike? He makes like cat….
I always wondered if a Phoenix was part dragon but it is a bird. In Chinese fiction they are both known as supernatural spirits. Traveling between the skies and the earth, dragons were considered the heads of heavenly deities and governors of rainfall in Chinese culture. The phoenix was commonly referred to as the “King of Birds.” As sovereign of all birds, it has the head of a golden pheasant, a parrot’s beak, the body of a mandarin duck, the wings of a roc, peacock feathers and the legs of the crane. I had a wonderful sunset a few days ago that made me think of them both, but it was a dragon, an auspicious sign according to many. Fingers crossed, we need all the auspiciousness we can get in life:) That is a long word! I’ll keep my eyes out for a phoenix in the clouds as well!
Dragon in the sky
There are many birds missing this year, the flocks. Of Whimbrel, Godwits and Willets. The beaches are quiet. A biologist friend mentioned that the avian flu could be to blame. It seems so quiet at high tide when the beach used to be covered, every single inch, in birds, now just sand.
There are still whimbrels and willets, but singular birds poking about in the reeds and grasses looking for food. I do miss the flocks and hope they recover. Our world is changing, sometimes I try not to think too much about what I can’t change and try to concentrate on what I can. I noticed there are no plastic shopping bags in many of the big stores, instead they flog their cheap bags of material which may not last much longer than the plastic ones, just a way around a rule.
The wading birds are always somewhat blasé about me wandering around, they look, they go back to foraging. In coastal areas, they probe in the mud with their long bills for shellfish, crabs, and fish. Curlews will also eat other nesting birds. So, omnivores if they can’t get their crustacean fill. The Willets are fond of the crabs, you can find a few under every rock. Gamora loves to chase them and has learned that yes, they do pinch HARD! As did Groot learn in his youth as well. Gamora makes a bee line for the beach each morning. If there is too much noise (construction work on houses at the end of the lane) she hesitates unless we are both walking with her, then it’s a dash to the sand, where she rolls and revels in it like a true beach princess! Lordy lordy if we are tardy getting going in the morning either! There is mad “window swimming” to let us know to get a move on, it’s walk time!
Don’t be late for walktime!
Groot and Rocket have decided the construction is too dangerous and simply want to patrol the street, sniffing out where “hijo de Benito” has been. Benito was a handsome orange cat with a collar and tag with his name that frequented these streets, he lived here somewhere nearby a few years back. Now there is his mini me so we are calling him hijo de Benito. He’s a little shit that rubs up against you, then attacks you when he’s had enough pets. I have claw mark scars…he doesn’t like our troop of gigantic orange cats, freaks he says and wanders away hissing and growling. Groot feels the same way, I think Gamora thinks he’s cute. Girls….He’s decided he is outnumbered and saves his visits for the midnight hours now so thankfully no further confrontations. I tell the mewberries that they are visitors here…so behave!
Our neighbours must think us freaks as well as the guys working here riding by on their bikes…walking cats…yeah, whatever. I explained to one gardener who asked, why not just let them out? Well, loose dogs and in other places coyotes…he just shrugged. Ok, maybe we are helicopter cat parents. Life is short and I really don’t want to watch another coyote or owl fly away with our pets. Way too f*cking painful.
So, we will walk our cats on leashes for as long as we are traveling…back at the cottage the two boys are allowed to wander off leash supervised, the crazy princessa has proved to be a bit too wild and brave for her own good! “Impetuous little thing!” Groot says! Very bad!
Ok, back to birds! Ha! The Mewberries do like to watch the hummingbirds at the feeder. One of the current male Anna’s seems to think buzzing them is a good idea…not I keep telling him!
There are a variety of small and larger birds along the small road here. The House Sparrows and Finches have learned to find the feeder. They are not terribly keen on the giant sunflowers seeds I bought, all I could find, and would like to see more of the small black oilseed ones! We have a beautiful leucistic house sparrow, not albino, it’s a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes (caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin). The Bushtits are hilarious, tiny little birds that are so fast. I stood by a bush for half an hour before I managed to get a few shots even in focus, they move constantly, often hanging upside down to pick at insects or spiders on the undersides of leaves. There are several Say’s Phoebes that hang around as well, swooping down for the occasional insect and chatting away. I stop and watch them as I walk out towards the estuary, I just seem to be drawn there. That late day light and sunsets, just are so beautiful…
I did get sidetracked from birds didn’t I? Ha! Short attention span theater here! The sound of the surf can be heard pretty much 24 hours a day here, that low rumble in the background. I am going to walk out later, such big surf has been reported North of us maybe a few are breaking on the beach here. Many happy surfers, or terrified ones, depending on their skill level! The tide in the morning is high so I wait until later in the day to go visit my Heron and Egret friends. I’ll leave with a few more shots of them and will save our off estuary escapades for another blog;) Saludos amigos! Somebody needs to feed Mike!
I did look up the phrase. The first known written instance of metaphorical use of the flocking behavior of birds is found in the second century BC, where Be Sira uses it in his apocryphal Biblical Book of Ecclesiasticus, written about 180–175 BC. This was translated into Greek sometime after 117 BC (probably), and it is this Greek version that has commonly been used, even in the Septuagint used by diaspora Jews.
The first known use of the idiom in original English writing is 1545, when William Turner used a version of it in his anti-Catholic satire “The Rescuing of the Papist Fox”:
It is easy to know the cawse for as byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together / so the papistes will euer be to gether / that on may euer help another / not only with numbre as sterlynges do when they ar aferde of the hauk / but also to consult & take counsel together how theyr sect myght be best promoted manteyned & set forward.
But this is just about birds;) Ha!
While pursuing the Stilts I happened to step onto what looked like a sand bank, that was not sand , but mud, so what to do, what to do…go to the estuary and wander around in 6″ of water should help clean my shoes off I thought! A flat calm day had still eluded me for Stilt photos. I just love those reflections so I headed across the road, the Stilts hang out in rain water ponds to the North, towards the estuary. I came upon Mr. Vermillion flycatcher, he wasn’t being very cooperative either so I kept wandering towards the water.
I was looking for the American Kestrel pair that made their nests in the palm fronds but the coconut palms had been hacked back so badly, we call them the buzz cut here currently, there was nowhere for them to nest so perhaps they have moved on sadly. I startled a female Pin Tailed duck as I reached the stone retaining wall and she flew off as I waded out in the warm water, just over my ankles. It’s sandy in spots, can be a bit slippery but never deep muck.
A Western Sandpiper ignored my wading about…as did his buddies who were deep in Western Sandpiper conversation;) chatting about the weather no doubt! The Snowy Egret ignored me as well, it was busy hunting for small fish and crabs. Out on the sandbar I spotted a flock of Black Skimmers landing after they did a fly over. Such amazing looking birds with their bright red and black oversized beaks and tremendous underbite! I casually sidled over, not a threat guys, not a threat, let’s just hang out and chat for a bit. They eyed me warily and then decided I wasn’t that scary, strange women with her pants rolled up, dirty shoes and a camera;)
The strange, uneven bill of the skimmer has a purpose: the bird flies low, with the long lower mandible plowing the water, snapping the bill shut when it contacts a fish. Unlike most birds, their eyes have vertical pupils, narrowed to slits to cut the glare of water and white sand. Black Skimmers feed mostly on small fish that live just below surface of water and also eats some small crustaceans. They fish by feel, not sight. How cool is that. They are very odd looking!
Skimmers have a distinctive flight style: usually very low to the water, with long upstrokes but short downstrokes to stay clear of the water. This creates a characteristic bounding or ranging style to the flight. Flocks in flight may turn in unison, with synchronized beats of their long wings. An amazing sight!
The Osprey flew over quite low and spooked the entire flock into flight.
His/her favourite perch is on a telephone pole just North of us, I can catch a glimpse of the landings and wander over under cover of the palms. By now my shoes were looking pretty clean so I shuffled through the weeds and sand and back to the beach. I sat on the retaining wall and watched the tricoloured Heron leaping about gleefully after fish.
The tricolored Heron heron is a mix of blue-gray, lavender, and white. Unlike other dark herons, they have a white belly. The white stripe down the neck is quite distinctive. Tricolored Herons forage for small fish such as topminnows and killifishes in open or semi-open brackish wetlands. They are skilled at stalking, chasing, and standing and waiting to capture small fish. Their foraging style is generally more jittery and active than some other herons, chasing after fish with wings flapping or pirouetting with sharp stops and turns.
♫♪♫ Walk this way…♪♫♪
Such elegant birds, then they do some silly, yet effective movement and you have to smile when they come up with a small fish! Songs sometimes just come to mind as I’m watching theses guys run to and fro…♫♪♫ Walk this way♫♪♫ by Run DMC fits these guys…
The Reddish Egrets have to be one of my favourites, so many here! That long shaggy neck of reddish feathers is like a boa as they dance about, using their wings to block the waters glare and confuse small fish with the shadows, which they then snap at and swallow…whole;) They are busy busy birds! Very theatrical! A fairly large, powerfully built but elegant heron. Reddish Egrets have long, sturdy legs, long necks, and thick, dagger like bills. The feathers of the head and neck are often extended, giving a shaggy appearance. I hear Bach-Toccata and fugue in D minor! Ha!
The American Brown Pelicans…well…they are the diving experts here it seems, they sure know how to make a splash! They are a cross between comical and elegant, that huge bill sweeping up anything that falls into it! Squadrons glide above the surf, rising and falling with the graceful movement of the of the breaking waves. During a dive, the Brown Pelican tucks its head and rotates its body to the left. This maneuver is probably to cushion the trachea and esophagus, which are found on the right side of the neck, from the impact. Maybe the Who, Drowned is a good song for them! Ha!
American Brown Pelican diving
So much life here in these waters. And we haven’t even gotten to the pokey beach birds yet, Curlews, Willets, Whimbrels! Then there are the hummingbirds and LBB’s! Stay tuned! Ha!
2023…sounds almost futuristic to my brain this morning, back in the 1980’s we might have thought we’d have flying cars by now! Ha! But we have those hand held computer devices called cell phones, not sure some days if they are a blessing, or a curse. Sure enough, Mexicans drive and text as much as American and Canadians do! PUT it DOWN! Ha!
The incoming rain seemed to keep the New Years fireworks at bay, or maybe I just fell soundly asleep, it’s good to get all these holidays out of the way, until Easter, we’re good! We had a wonderful washing tub bonfire and tamales with tomatillo salsa with our neighbour John, what a wonderful way to end the year!
Our trip down from Santee was uneventful, always a good thing, I had forgotten how windy highway 94 was to Tecate. Groot looked up at me at one point and burped on one of the really winding sections, I thought about getting the roll of paper towels out from behind the seat but he was just exclaiming his stomach upset, thankfully no more;) Thems tough cats! Why Highway 94 to Tecate and not the Tijuana border you might ask..well, it’s the xray machine. Not that we are smuggling contraband South of the border but as a RV/Trailer you have to go through where the buses go, far right lanes, them disembark after being ushered onto a platform where a large rolling X-ray machine scans for weapons I imagine, ammunition, canons…ha! It means taking the cats out of the truck and into a small area with a shield against the X-ray…53 lbs. of cats. It’s was one thing with the three Burmese brothers that in their totality all together didn’t even hit 18 lbs on the scale. Easy to lift and transport, not our current three, last time I thought the carrier might explode under their weight, and we had to go through twice, my box of triple AAA batteries came up looking like bullets I think. I had to go on, show her, the customs/x-ray operator lady what they were, take them off, and then they put us through the machine again…so, yeah, Tecate.
The border crossing at Tecate is two lanes. The Americans take your picture as you’re leaving, the military waved us over as we approached. A impeccably clad young man in uniform breathed a sigh of relief and smiled widely as we started to speak Spanish to him, his English wasn’t so good he said. He revised our passports, checked the VINS on the truck and trailer. He had me open the door of the trailer and said to accompany him in (maybe so they would not be accused of removing or placing anything there?) he asked if we had any cigars or cigarettes, or alcohol. I told what we had, a bottle of Sake for a gift, he looked in the fridge and asked why it was taped shut. I laughed, to keep everything from falling out, as he opened it he laughed as well, as things fell out, he apologized, I said not to worry “Imagínate el desparrame por todo el suelo después de varias horas de viaje!” (Imagine what it could look like after various hours of traveling!) He laughed as I taped it back up. He looked in the outside compartments, then made sure I locked them and wished us a very good day:) We headed South towards Ensenada. It always feels like I’m going home here. I assured him we were not smuggling Canadians down to Mexico in the front, no matter how hard our friends begged us to, after he asked if he could look up front where the slides are closed. “Not without opening all the slides and stopping traffic!” I told him, “Just a bathroom and bed!” He smiled and chuckled.
The hills were dry, typical this time of year and the new road from a few years ago still in very good shape and we remarked on the new wineries and restaurants as we passed them in Valle de la Guadalupe. Then down the hill to Ensenada and South. The baches, or potholes were much better on the one, a few swerves here and there to avoid the manholes, always an issue and we finally pulled into Estero. The guard at the front knew we were coming and our friend Danny met us and waved us on, go to your spot he laughed, and we did. Mike lined it up perfectly first time and we were set!
People often ask if we are at an RV park in Baja, the answer is yes, and no but sort of. These homes along this small red brick paved road started out as trailers as early as the 50’s, some gradually had homes built around them, others are still a trailer, inside a home, yes, a home built around a trailer, an old 1960’s solid as can be trailer, but the trend is towards bigger spaces. These lots, where the trailers have been removed, or the old covered trailers/small houses taken down, all have water (not potable but no longer salty, it is city water now and thankful we are!) power (110 only) and sewer hookups so we have everything we need and we’re graciously allowed back this Winter by the Estero Beach Hotel and Alexa that runs this area of “permanentes”. There are a few other trailers scattered about the hotel grounds here but they tend to be permanent, we are the only obvious trailer on this little lane, you get to the beach and estuary behind me. So glad we got the chance to spend a month here! It’s busy now with New Years but we’ll be back to quiet next week! It is the low season for themYou can see our trailer nose sticking out at the very end!
…and yes, we went pretty much straight to the hotel restaurant after plugging in, Mike’s hollow leg was calling for food! The new chef/manager in charge has done quite an amazing job, the presentation was spectacular, the food was delicious, not only gringo fare (Ok, there are hamburguesas and club sandwiches for the gruñone gabachos, gruñone being grumpy, gabacho is a slang word with its etymological roots in the Castilian slur for a French national, so old grumpy white guys;) Ha!) Several of the staff recognized us, “What no apples?”they asked. Several years ago we had brought bags and bags of them from the ranch. Best apples they had ever eaten they exclaimed! Me as well! They laughed, ni modo, welcome back!
Most of our time here is spent deciding on what to eat, or most likely what kind of taco does Mike want for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He vowed not to cook for a month but our wonderful neighbour one door down John, bought a lovely Mexican turkey and we agreed to make it an after Christmas feast complete with mashed potatoes, wild rice stuffing, cranberry sauce and the best part…gravy, and cake. Sadly, we dug in so quickly I didn’t think to take any photos of the deliciousness in front of us, a sign it was very tasty, but I do try to get those taco shots!
Tacos El Poblano. This gentleman had been here for well over the fifteen years that we have been coming to Baja. He puts his tacos together with the amazing grace and expertise of a dancer, adding the charcoal grilled meat right off the fire then chopping it on his well worn oak block, adding chopped onions, cilantro, a splash of red salsa as well as guacamole and a drained spoonful of beans simmering on the grill…that is con todo! The tortillas, corn, are rolled and placed on the griddle to cook in front of you. Heaven. I am going to ask if I can video him assembling one because it is so wonderful to watch! Here it is! He said yes!
The taco maestro at work!
Tacos y Mariscos Lupita! https://www.facebook.com/tacosymariscoslupita/ This is our go to fish taco stand on the Carretera a la Bufadora, Maneadero and they have expanded with more seating and the ladies now come to take your order, better distancing that way they said. The fish and shrimp tacos are sublime, they now offer pulpo and marlin (grilled octopus and shredded smoked marlin) as well. Their caldos, especially the camarón (shrimp) soups are so very good and their tostadas are exquisite! All with a smile, so nice to see the same lovely ladies here!
El Rey de Tacos…my favourite taco stand. There is something about the thin little pieces of grilled charred pork, marinated in adobo with a pineapple on top, juices dripping down to flavour the meat that makes my heart sing. It has the best tacos adobada as well asada (beef) cabeza (head meat), tripa (intestine) and buche (pork stomach)…I noticed sesos isn’t offered anymore (brains) zombie tacos;) They are on José Mariá Morelos y Pavón just after the dip on the right:) The tacos are small, three bites, you can eat a few, and not hard on the pocket book at 15 pesos each, 75¢ lunch for two is usually under $5. Also run by a lovely lady who always is ready to smile. But don’t stiff her, I saw her go after a guy who walked out last night without paying, she’s fierce!
The joy of the hotel restaurant is being able to walk home, along the estuary after enjoying a wonderful meal, and watching the sunset, or at lunch, the sea lions on the sand bar and the pelicans flying by, or diving for their own meal. But that is a whole other blog! I have been told it’s lunch time and Mike is scratching his head as to what kind of taco he wants today…I am going to explode before we leave, I’m sure of it! Ha! Saludos amigos, stay tuned for some of the wildlife and other adventures coming very soon!
Did I mention we have hummingbirds as well? A female sat guarding the feeder for a few days, then a guy showed up, doing his wild dance of love which involves flying back and forth in giant swooping moves until she says, Yeah, you’re alright, we’re good!:) Ha! If only life were so easy!
The female has a bit of fluff, or cat hair or something stuck to her bill, I didn’t feel so bad about my cat hair covered sweater, or OK, like all my clothes, truck seat, bath towels, you name it, it has variety of different coloured cat hairs to match, some orange from Rocket, some beige from Gamora, throw in a few white from Groot and we have a lovely mix of well, hair. Even my computer screen seems to be a magnet for it so I don’t mind seeing a small bird with beak fluff! I know how you feel girl!
I set out my feeder as soon as we came and voilà, she owned it. We went out looking for our own food. San Diego has a wonderful selection of niche and ethnic grocery stores. Our favourite is Vine Ripe Foods in La Mesa. If you want the strange and wonderful of what Europe and the far east has to offer, this is your place! Head soup, Fish head soup was the 2nd thing that caught my eye after the dates, I love dates. Mike grabbed a loaf of real German bread, real bread, no dough conditioner. I have never seen that listed on ingredients of Canadian bread so I had to look it up. Avoid it, stable shelf life, more chemicals, more crap…WTF. Trader Joe’s bread is full of it, don’t think we’ll actually be going back there after we wandered around one. Too much packaging and Oh so fucking perky, Vegan Meatless Meat Lovers pizza? Isn’t that an oxymoron? I’ll stick with Sprouts. Then there is Mitsuwa Marketplace in Kearny Mesa, Japan and the Far East. I love their little gift/china store and man, I had no idea how weird toothbrushes can be…I bought some for fun gifts, everyone needs a really weird toothbrush, so if you get one as a gift, I’m not implying you need to brush your teeth more, it’s for a smile and giggle! Ha! Pasta, made with yam and tofu, those were different. I just like to wander the aisles to Mike’s chagrin, he grabbed his sushi, rolls and sashimi and was ready to go. The cats were impressed with lunch that day!
Now, let’s talk coffee…all I wanted was a nice dark roast, Italian, whatever! “Dried cherries, cedar, sandalwood, tar, treacle tart, cinnamon and vanilla. Medium body, fine-grained, bright and transparent acidity and a long, very spicy finish. Like going back in time and touching an ornate tapestry. The texture is mesmerizing”…coffee description or wine? Hahahahaha! Oh dear California! Terroir? Touching an ornate tapestry? OK, that is actually from a bad wine review but what’s up? Star fruit, lemon zest, herbal, buttery and clean? These guys must be smoking WAY too much pot! Ha!
We had the chance to spend a wonderful evening with my cousin, the talented artist Bronle Crosby and her husband Daniel at Costa Brava, a Spanish/Basque Tapas restaurant, I would highly recommend it. We were too busy eating and drinking for pictures, definitely a sign of something good! Bacon wrapped dates…to die for…Fire roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with seafood…I’m drooling thinking of them, so much delicious food and equally amazing company. I am a lucky cousin to have one like her! We also had a fabulous family get together with my brother Shea and his wife Tracey and lovely daughters, and their extended family and siblings! They are contemplating a move to Texas I was told…0_0….Ok, I get that California is crazy expensive, younger family can’t afford homes here, and if you want to retire maybe it’s something you have to do. This from the person that moved from Florida to San Diego, then to Ontario, then to Baja, then back to Ontario, ha! I’ll shut up! I will help with any moving advice I can! Love you Shea! Looking forward to a few more meals before we head back to Ontario again! I confiscated all his photos albums so I could scan some more of our wild and wacky childhood ones and put them all in an album, or four, in order, NO I am not OCD! Ha! I love my younger brother:)
Back at the campground, we’d about had enough of the gray birds…and “Let’s go Brandon” bumper stickers and faded Trump 2020 flags. While spot 137 was spacious and great for walking the cats around, we were flanked by traffic, a busy main road behind, a circular drive past the front and abysmal internet service #Ihatetengointernet…no more to say. I even paid for a higher rate of service, which turned out to be crap as well and cellular service is so weak we had little to choose from. The Tengo internet tech said I was probably too far from the booster…”I’m looking at it out my back window” I told him “Very close!”…oh….My brother keeps suggesting the portable starlink, he has one, but it feels like you are giving into the dark side…Elon Musk as Darth Vader;) Ha! We also couldn’t get another camping spot over Christmas, fully booked that weekend, so it was time to move…South!
I did thoroughly enjoy the birds at the beach, I have always thought of the Egrets as marsh/estuary birds so fun to watch them in the surf fishing, and a few less than friendly interactions by the beach Snowy Egret bully! They darted about in the surf as the waves broke around them, running here and there! Very amusing.
Snowy Egret fishing in the surf
The waves were crest and smash, it’s what I call them anyway! No lingering curl or face to ride if you are a surfer! They wasn’t much surf, just a few beginners on boards and guys goofing around:) The sand felt nice to walk on. A Western Gull juvenile was begging from Mom, Like kids do…”Just one Christmas candy ma! Please!”
But it was time to move on, two weeks in the city was enough! Time to head South, vamos! But that’s another story! It’s Baja time! Stay tuned for Mexico…I’ll give you a quick idea;) ha! Salud amigos!
I was craving a Barbarella’s breakfast, a cafe in La Jollas Shores, my uncle’s favourite with a wonderful outdoor patio. We had to wait as they only opened early, before 4 now, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It took forever for a Friday to come along! Mike was craving their huevos rancheros with a layer of beans on the crispy corn tortilla, me, their eggs benedict are supreme and those roast potatoes, best I have eaten. It also meant a long walk before on the beach at La Jolla Shores, the ocean, the waves, the pier, yes I love this pier. I had to wait awhile for a trio of giggling young women who were trying out their best sultry looks with it in the background…selfie madness. Our first part of the week was wet and stormy so we simply stayed in Santee and rested. It felt delicious not to move. Had forgotten how loud it could be here, but hey, no gunshots, just the planes, helicopters and cars, including one ancient individual who looked like he might be part dwarf from Tolkien, part Hell’s Angel, who rides around on a electric chopper, yes, only in California, with a chihuahua riding between his legs, blasting rap…I am still trying to get the shot! Ha!
We’ve been to Santee Lakes Campground so many times I could find my way around blindfolded I think. It is a wonderful spot for bird watching, so many ducks, so many people on the weekends, but during the week it returns to it’s sleepy lovely self, except for the electric chopper and crazed running fathers pushing baby strollers, OK, one was shirtless, he was very much worth watching! Ha! Down girl! It freaks the cats out..”What ARE they running from?” The incredulous look on Groot’s face as he studies the horizon after they run by expecting some kind of monster that was making them run is priceless! His tail gets big, he prepares for the worst, it doesn’t help that none of them look like they are having a good time! Or even acknowledge you…such a weird Southern California thing. I can walk by and pretend you don’t exist, and you don’t. It feels like you are invisible. Is it fear, you can’t meet someone’s eye? or Can’t be bothered is my bet. either way it’s odd. Perhaps they are automatons going about their robot work;) Groot still gets his fair share of “He is beeeeaaauuuutiful!” remarks, he digs it, I know he does!
Anyway enough frigging humans, ducks, I do hope you like photos of ducks, and birds, and more ducks! Ha!
I was moseying along on the path around the lake at my normal look at everything pace when a couple stopped me, she had binoculars, he had a camera and asked me if I’d seen the woodpecker? I must have looked perplexed as he added, a Lewis Woodpecker? He’d seen it on ebird. I said I had not but would keep my eyes out for it while muttering I wouldn’t know what one looked like anyway! I walked around all the lakes and could see him and his wife on my way back with several other photographers and he waved me over and here it was…a Lewis Woodpecker, a lifer they kept saying pointing to the tree it was in. And yes, my first time seeing one of these beautiful birds and somewhat out of it’s normal range and territory they informed me. These birders! They waylaid me for well over an hour chatting cheerfully, Mike was worrying I’d been kidnapped, he saw a police car come into the campground…city fears, nope, just birders I told him, it was a form of kidnapping I guess! I do feel fairly safe here, am I naive? Nah, after dealing with foreign ports and harbours as a kid I have pretty good spidey senses!
The concentration of water fowl here is remarkable, there must be thousands, literally, of Coots. The Double Crested Cormorants fly over regularly, hunting and fishing in packs at times. They have a favorite sycamore tree they perch in. There is a group of White Pelicans as well as Egrets and Herons. And those reflections with the yellowing sycamore leaves turning the water to gold is priceless, or just a sky reflection. The fact that most of these birds are used to humans makes photographing them a piece of cake. I would have to stalk our wood ducks at Long Lake wearing camo to get close! Ha!
The birdlife isn’t just the waterfowl either. The surrounding trees and shrubs are full of berries and fruit, and bugs! Cedar Waxwings move in flocks from tree to tree, the Cassin’s Kingbird (we called them the “pew” birds, for the sound they made at 5 a.m. in Baja, right..outside..our…window…yup…loud!) sit on the wires waiting for a tasty snack to fly by. California Scrub Jays chat away and I saw a new bird, a Lark Sparrow sitting near a beautiful female Phainopepla, say that three times quickly!
What astounds me are the people out walking, power walking, or pushing their children around in strollers, or groups yacking away that miss all this, they have no idea of what is around them. They are either so involved in talking, my God they can talk, and loudly to each other, or on their phones, yes, walking and looking at their stupid phones, all this beauty nature has to offer doesn’t even register in their sad little minds. Automatons….my word for the day it seems! Even screaming birds have no interest for them! Ha! A pair of Red Shouldered Hawks, perhaps it was an adult and young, sat in a sycamore tree yelling, it took me a few moments to find them but there they were, beautiful birds of prey. Then there are the incredible flocks of Ravens, they chastise the cats and pretty much yell at everybody! Such intelligent birds, at least they notice the humans, not vice a versa, we are doomed you know;)
Maybe I’m just anti-social, Ok, a bit, OK, alot Ha! If they don’t notice the blatant obvious, how can they ever expect to see the sublime beauty in the smallest things? The bushes here, Toyon (yes Karen, I promise to try eating one! Ha!), Jasmine and Natal Plums are covered in fruit. Huge rosemary bushes that flank the fences are full of honey bees, and they have their phones, maybe they are looking at nature photos on them, probably not, most likely Amazon…
The Sycamores are absolutely stunning, the camp hosts and workers here may not agree, that is a lot of leaves but it seems they have an arsenal of leaf blowers from small electric ones, to body backpack ones and a gigantic one a foot and half wide they can aim and tow with their golf carts to clear the leaves off the road, and sites…sigh…if I could go back in time and take care of the guy who invented these…if only…death to leaf blowers…just sayin’. Rocket is terrified of them, smart cat!
Then there is the host of quick LBB’s and LYB’s…little brown birds and little yellow birds! They forage among the fallen sycamore leaves, driving the cats crazy as they flutter from bush to bush, just out of reach! Butter bums! Ha! Yellow rumped Warbler, actually a subspecies Audubon’s Warbler, sparrows and others I haven’t managed to photograph. Parents, teach your children to see the small things. I’m thankful our mother infused us with curiosity:)
I saw an Osprey flying around and watched until he landed in a tree by the lake. The resident Ravens were not pleased, three or four of them swarmed him/her but he was determined to stay, preen a bit among the harassment. It was an amusing encounter. Three people walked by me, not a single one of them looked up, I was flabbergasted at the lack of any interest, maybe part of our cultures sickness. Mike was watching an interview with Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican filmmaker and he said humanity was going through it’s tantrum stage, I’m not getting what I want wailing brat stage I thought but it made me think. Why the lack of interest in our natural world, our world, it is OUR world, nature is everywhere and no one seems to see it here. I guess that is not fair, some do, but so many sadly don’t. Breaks my heart.
Enough ranting, sun has come up, today is a brand new day. I’m not quite done with San Diego so looks like there will be a part three! Stay aware of life around you, be kind (I’m working on that, sarcasm is sooo easy!) Ha! Stay Tuned!
There is something magical about the smell of the sea, wet sand, kelp and seaweed. Like a dark forest floor has it’s wonderful aromas, so does the beach. We did finally get to Southern California and San Diego County. My blog went offline and I was quite perplexed but like the IT guys ask “Did turn it off and on again?” So, I logged out, and logged in, and once again it was fine. duh….Ha! Took me a week to figure that out and lots of google searches when the internet was even working. #Ihateyoutengointernet
After Tucson we spent two nights at Picacho Peak State Park. The park is located between Casa Grande and Tucson near Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of 45 miles. The summit rises to 3,374 feet above mean sea level. It is a beautiful spot, not exactly quiet with I 10 and the trains (OMG that is a busy road!) as I didn’t get into loop A but Loop C. Loop A has a small hill that helps with the traffic noise. But hey, no gunshots! yeah!
It was drizzling when we left Tucson and continued for a few days, it always smells so nice when it rains in the desert. We had a Gila family checking out the saguaro real estate behind the trailer and my first Anna’s hummingbird! Cactus Wrens sat on the truck and trailer and it rained steadily for the first 24 hours.
A Gila spent a great deal of time figuring out the hummingbird feeder, I’m just a big one!
The cats were not amused by the rain! It finally let up and I had a chance to wander around looking at raindrops on cactus spines and all those wonderful spiky plant things!
A Cactus Wren pair were very interested in a saguaro hole, prime real estate their agent said, needed cleaning the Mrs. thought! So funny to watch these amazing birds! “Like I told ya lady, it’s a two entrance nest hole in a nice neighbourhood! Ya couldn’t ask for anything better!” Real Estate Wrens🤣
The clouds and mists were a beautiful break from the sun, I got one excellent Saguaro silhouette and played around in photoshop while it rained, putting a many moons ago Milky Way capture in. I was hoping to get that chance here to do it for real but between the clouds and probably the light pollution it wasn’t going to happen! Maybe one day! But here is a composite of two shots.
While the night skies didn’t cooperate with me in Picacho I did get a wonderful silhouette of the saguaro cactus one afternoon. This is the result of two merged pictures, a Milky Way from a previous dark sky night many moons ago and this beautiful desert scene. A composite:) Hoping one day to capture it all in one shot!
I sat and watched a pair of Anna’s preening after the rain in the morning, swooping in on the Gilas, hey that’s OUR feeder and generally being the small flying menaces that they are!
Staying in Picacho broke up the trip to Yuma so it was only a bit more than three hours, we try to limit our driving to that, because we can. No night driving, no night arrivals means no stress! Near Casa Grande we said goodbye to the I10 and headed West on the I 8…much quieter, much more pleasant driving. Through Gila Bend and past Dateland. We both shed a few tears driving by Gila Bend and the road South to Ajo, we buried Fitzy, our first Burmese brother to pass there, not sure either of us can ever go back, still heart rending. Our go to place in Yuma no longer takes overnighters so we tried out a new park North of the highway in a farming area. Sans End RV Park is actually in California, but they go by Arizona time, cross the Rio Colorado and you are back in Arizona!
Not my favourite place! Ok, so if you’re really, really old, like golf and access to dozens of dentists right across the border in Mexico and are fans of huge buffets at casinos, maybe this is your place…not ours. It always feels a bit depressing to me. Hundreds of acres of RV “resorts” (must mean they have a pool) old trailers with window air conditioners stuck in messily with caulking. People coughing, we heard so many people coughing in the RV park. Dieseled up after we unhooked and stopped at what was advertised as a grocery store, sodas, so much coca cola and other crap, used clothes and a few grocery items, it reeked of despair, hard to describe. I saw a IYuma bumper sticker in Perth once and gasped at the incredulity of it…l can’t imagine ever wanting this.
We did talk to a nice couple next to us with two cats, looking out their windows at our cats looking at them! Ha! They were headed to Painted Petroglyphs State Park, on my list for the way back!
After Yuma, well, it goes from being flat to up and down and up and down a bit, field after field of crops being grown in the desert, that shouldn’t be, factory dairy farms with thousands of animals, more casinos, sandhills, a few Jesus signs. Apparently there are not many souls out here worth saving judging by the lack of Jésus billboards, we always call him Jésus;) ha! Are you prepared to meet Jésus? Ha!
You get to drive by the Center of the World, I was expecting wacky religious people but no! I had to google it, thinking it would be some crazy religious sect but no, worth a read! https://theculturetrip.com/…/everything-you-need-to…/
More flags on eighteen wheelers, dipping well down below sea level and then finally, like light at the end of the tunnel, you get to start going up, the beauty of the Anza Borrego desert starts to shine, those skies and rocks. This road brings back so many memories, good and bad, from childhood to present, approaching the last hurdle to San Diego:) We would, as a child, camp out at the bottom of these hills at a gas station that opened at 6am. We would have left Pinetop, Arizona the evening before, late, to miss the desert heat, the baby puke yellow Volvo had no air conditioning! These piles of rocks mezmorized me as a child, fields of boulders. We would be on our way to visit our grandparents in La Jolla, to the smell of the sea:)
The I 8 splits here, two lanes go up, tow lanes go down, you can occasionally see the other road, as well as the two lane old road I remembered as a kid, probably feeling carsick in the old Volvo. Traffic was backed up by an accident in the opposing lanes, glad we were not going down.
…and then you start the long 6% grade/descent down towards El Cajon, past Alpine and other small towns and we are back into very familiar territory, and we’ll go on with that tomorrow, internet is slowing down, time to stop! Ha! Saludos amigos. Get ready for all those Santee birds, sorry guys, actually birds;) Ha!
It seems very dry, not much life unless you stop and look, a butterfly, a bird in the distance. The saguaros are nice and fat though, their rain has been stored for leaner times:)
It was a short hop from Kartchner State Park, good thing, about five minutes after we got on the highway we could hear a chittering, metal making contact with something sound, even the cats were looking back at the trailer, not a good noise. Mike pulled over on the shoulder, just room for us, barely, I hopped out and saw the left front jack was just about to touch the ground! Yikes, the right side had dropped a bit as well. I carefully unlocked and opened the small side panel while standing under the nose, where the controls for the jacks are by reaching my arm around (I couldn’t stand on the road side without being run down) the big trucks moved over, thank you truckers, when they could, motorists are absolute twits, OK, twats, not a single car tried to move into the next lane as I was trying to lean around and raise the jacks. They went up, that was good, fifteen miles later they were drifting down again, repeat the previous step, several more times until we pulled into the RV park in South Tucson. Stressful. But, we arrived, jacks intact, in fact while I was checking in they’d drifted down again.
New ownership here at the park, things had changed, things remained the same. I’d picked out a spot we knew well, it backed up to mesquite trees and palo verdes, cactus as well. The prices had been hiked substantially for what they call a premium site but at least with the Good Sam discount it wasn’t too bad and we needed a rest, and we had already booked a mobile RV guy we had used before to look at the vanity slide that would only go out a few inches, and now apparently, the front jacks!
People have been coming to this place for decades, the pros, the bike riding paths to the park right behind, miles of trails into the desert. Apparently when the pandemic started the previous owner listed it for sale, took 4.2 million for it and left without even saying goodbye. Two new owners hired folks to run it, the man at the counter said he didn’t know a thing about RV’s, odd, if you are running a RV park. Tough job here keeping several hundred people happy! It used to have a funky old amusement park feel to it, it was an old amusement/water park at one time, now it feels, well different. Half the sites are empty, especially the ones where you are packed in like sardines. They’d removed the beautiful barrier of shrubs and plants behind out site, we now looked out at our neighbours back window, luckily it was an empty trailer. We pulled and set up, hoping the jacks the hold us up, they did, we also pulled out the 5/32 hex wrench and looked at the check valves on the hydraulic system, aha! Two were loose, so hopefully that was our problem! We put the trailer back on the truck before the RV repair guy came, and the jacks didn’t drift down, when he arrived he said that most likely fixed it. I never like those “most likely” statement but hey, we’ll see! Our vanity slide is not repairable here, it needs to come out so looks like we’ll live with it until we get back to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit a DRV dealer there, known for their excellent service. Asi es la vida!
Did I mention I like it here for the birds, a plucky Costa’s hummingbird found my feeder and the array of other neighbours found the sunflower seed as well. The saguaros’ are home to multiple Gila Woodpeckers, a Cooper’s hawk but I noticed the tree they used to nest in, a huge cottonwood over the RV park office was dead, so no cover for the nest now. Our site does have the only flowers I’ve seen though! Bonus! Mother of thousands, Kalanchoe daigremontiana. Toxic if chewed on but lovely for the hummingbirds!
There was a plucky Verdin checking out the hummingbird feeder as well as Cactus Wrens, Curve Billed Thrashers, House Finches, House Sparrows, Tammy Fay Doves and the ever chatty Gila Woodpeckers, it almost sounds like they are laughing, maybe they are!
While the bird sound is music to my ears, I’d forgotten just how noisy civilization is. Yes, we are extremely spoiled to live in a remote, quiet area away from the sounds of, well, everything. There is a Trap and Skeet club just down the road to the South, and a rifle and pistol range to the North. It sounds like a warzone, or what I imagine a warzone might sound like. Low flying jets, in formation, shotguns, rifle and handguns firing, noises…geez! Previously the skeet club was only active Friday, Saturday and Sunday, apparently they are open all week now, letting Americans blow off steam? No Trains, Planes, or Freeways the RV park advertises…they neglected to mention the gunfire and jets 😉 the sound of freedom Mike overheard a man telling his friend once. I didn’t realize there was a 200 site RV park at the Skewet club as well, come and camp and shoot at things…fun for the whole family…I bet you they have stopped to shop here:
What’s the old adage…a fool and his money are soon parted? 🙂 Explains where all the flags came from in this RV park, what is it here with people having to fly a huge flag from your A class or giant 5th wheel, where is my United Federation of Planets flag?? Ha! Did I mention the troupes of barking dogs on nearby properties?
The park manager gave me a piece of paper with four different WiFi networks on them and their codes, none even came up on my search for wifi, so yeah, nonexistent. There are supposed to be food trucks that come in Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Italian, BBQ and Mexican. Only the Bubbaque‘s truck showed up Wednesday which was nice, his smoked pulled pork was tasty! It is a park I feel quite young in! Ha! It used to be a 40+ but I’ve noticed they are taking pretty much anyone now! Although we did see an old sugar daddy walking with at first what I thought might be his granddaughter, no, the thigh high heeled leather boots and miniskirt while they held hands was the sight, whatever floats yer boat! Ha! I enquired when we checked in about leaving a day early but he said he gave me the weekly rate and it would cost more for 6 days than a week, so I left it. A single night is $79, I think they only want week and monthly rentals, less work. As I entered the office a lady was leaving telling him, the manager, to spend some of the rent they give him on wifi… not a good sign! Even though the laundry is only $1.50 a load I don’t think we will be back but dozens do come back to this spot. Lot’s of mountain bikes strapped to bumpers and trailers. I’ll stick with walking! I couldn’t spend months here listening to guns going off.
The trails behind this park, Desert Trails and their neighbour, Diamond J RV Park are a wonderful walk into the desert and Tucson Mountain Park but I think we’ll try for the county park, Gilbert Ray Campground on our way back, then I can walk to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! I look forward to that in February!
Groot had a tough afternoon, a CAT walked by HIS trailer, free, loose! The outrage was evident! He hissed and growled at the perceived intruder, protecting his family from the wild animal outside! Rocket made the mistake of coming up behind him and was on the receiving end of several brutal swats! Back you young impertinent orange! I am protecting you! Look at my BIG TAIL! Watching with incredulity at the intruder go under the trailer a site over from us! Her name is Tiger, a big beautiful mackerel tabby girl, we have been told, she wanders around the park, she is from the trailer across from us and sits on her owners car and surveys her domain! Groot has stalked her every day since, Rocket will only go out for a few minutes, just too scary out there he says. So we are leaving a day early, I managed to book a site for two nights a short hop away, Picacho Peak State Park so hopefully it will be somewhat quieter for us all!
Hopefully I can find some more Gilas there as well! We have a few days of light rain ahead of us, the desert always smells so good after a rain! I’ll leave you with the resident predator here, Mr. or Mrs, Cooper’s hawk, me, looking around, why are there no birds?…Mike…look over on the fence 10′ away….sigh:) Ha! Little birds worst enemy! Hasta la vista Tucson! We’ll be back;)
Little Florida Mountains at sunrise from the campground
It was established in 1966 as the first park in the United States that allowed collecting of rocks and minerals for personal use. Each visitor is allowed to collect as much as 15 lb of rocks and minerals from the 1,100-acre park, mineral dealers are not allowed to collect for sale though. Is that cool or what! Not that I have actually scoured the ravines with a pick and hammer, there are enough cool little rocks on the trail to keep me happy! You are limited to the size of tools you can use, no jackhammers;) The park is located about seven miles South of the I 10. You get to negotiate cattle crossings and vados to get there but no big deal!
The park sits at an elevation of 4250′. It deserves more than the one line on the park website! It’s small, 29 sites in total, 23 with electric, I chose the only uneven pull through as that was the only site available. I’m told there are groups of snowbirds that rotate around in these sites, from Rockhound, to City of Rocks as they are only allowed to stay 14 days at a time, I get it, beautiful spots.
Next time I’d choose one of the outside sites, 15-19 are huge and very level! There are over three miles of trails, some with interpretive signs pointing out different types of plants. After we arrived Mike wanted to go into Deming to refuel, to see if the check engine light would go away so we did that, and a quick stop at Pepper’s, the local grocery store, todos estaban hablando español, I felt right at home!
Back at our site, yeah, the check engine light went off with a new tank of diesel! We took the cats for a quick walk and then settled to leftover turkey! No train whistles or horns, no sirens, no jets and NO lights, not a single friggin’ light. Halle-f-ing-lujiah!
Sunset and crescent moon at Rockhound State Park
I was up early, I could hear the chatter of a Cactus Wren and sure enough, one was building her nest in a clump of opuntia at the front of the trailer. I love Cactus Wrens, they are chatty, bratty and cute as can be, they can wiggle their tail like no other!
She yelled at the cats when they got too close and she might have dive bombed them! The wind was howling, I was hoping it was going to die down but no luck! There were a lot of feathers being blown about! This is a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved park. Gamora froclicked all over, chasing grasshoppers, climbing all over the stone walls, learning what pokey things were again, those chollo cactus!
My best Marilyn Monroe pose, I am just SO classy! Look at those wind blown feathers and weep ladies!
I grabbed my camera and took the hike around the top of the campground, the Thunder Egg Trail. I started at the top of the campground and was immediately surprised to find a few flowers blooming and so many butterflies, small and medium sized, and bugs, so many grasshoppers. A black one, about 3.5″ long was spectacular, when it jumped/flew away it’s wings were bright red!
Scattered along the trail you come upon benches to sit, I did, the wind was cool but I was working getting up the hill. One bench is in front of some kind of cedar, or juniper, I could make out several small birds foraging in there, yellow, fast, flighty and eating bugs, must be Ruby Crowned Kinglet, one did finally show him/herself! As well as a Rock Wren and a small flock of Chipping Sparrows.
There was the coolest little yellow butterfly, Dainty sulphur, when it’s wings opened they were the most incredible shade of yellow, he was uncooperative so no picture of the wings open! There was a tan coloured butterfly as well, this little guy blended right in with the reeds he was sitting on! Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) it’s called. I wasn’t expecting all this beauty in November!
By the time I got back Mike had everything ready to leave, I would have stayed an extra day or two but there were no sites available, Kartchner Caverns State Park awaited us, it will be goodbye to New Mexico and Hello Arizona! Stay tuned!
The KOA lady at the campground asked me if I wanted any of the free sleds they loaned out…
Yes, you can do that. As we checked into the KOA in Alamogordo the very friendly chatty lady at the counter offered free sleds to go riding the dunes at White Sands National Park. I replied saying I had had sand in every crack and crevice of my body previously and was not looking forward to that at any point of my life right now. The guy behind me nearly lost his coffee he was chortling so hard…
We have driven past this National Park on more than one occasion, just never got the chance to stop in, last time they kicked us out of the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park just South of here in the Spring of 2020 as Covid started, all their parks were closing. Not this time!
During the Permian Period, shallow seas covered the area that today forms White Sands National Park. The seas left behind gypsum (calcium sulfate), and subsequent tectonic activity lifted areas of the gypsum-rich seabed to form part of the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. Before the Pleistocene epoch ended about 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, and grasslands.
The mineral that forms the dunes of White Sands National Park is about 98 percent pure gypsum sand. Gypsum sand is considered rare because gypsum is water soluble—it dissolves in water like sugar in iced tea. It is even rarer to find gypsum sand in the form of dunes, which are mounds of sand piled up by wind.
The park’s primary feature is the field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. The gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth. The San Andres Mountains rise beyond the park’s western boundary to the left. The depth of gypsum sand across the entire field is about 30 feet (9.1 m) below the interdunal surface, while the tallest dunes are about 60 feet (18 m) high. By carbon dating seeds embedded in the footprints, the U.S. Geological Survey showed that humans have been living in this region for 23,000 years, whereas previous estimates of human arrival into North American were between 13,000 and 16,000 years ago.
The missile range and air force base were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, with continuing operations after World War II and throughout the Cold War.Errant missiles often fell within the park’s boundaries, occasionally destroying some of the visitor areas…0_0….overflights from Holloman disturbed the tranquility of the area. Flight training missions continue over the dunefield, and the park closes temporarily for several hours during missile tests in the adjacent range and cooperative use area on the west side of the park.
The Dunes Drive leads 8 miles (13 km) into the dunes from the visitor center at the park entrance. Here we are following some Canadians who are “out to pasture”…cute;)
Both the park and U.S. Route 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo are subject to closure for safety reasons when tests are conducted at White Sands Missile Range which completely surrounds the park. Dunes Drive may be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests. Park staff is usually notified two weeks in advance of scheduled tests; however, notifications from White Sands Missile Range may be received as little as 24 hours in advance of a test…
The park’s flora must be tough to live in the nutrient-poor alkaline soil of the dunefield. Drought-tolerant plants are able to survive in temperatures that range from sub-freezing to over 100 °F (38 °C), depending on the season. We saw no birds or bugs but lots of familiar and interesting plants. I can imagine most everything else comes out after dark as I saw lizard or small rodent trails around several shrubs. I read that over the centuries, a number of species of mice, lizards, moths, and other insects that inhabit the dunes have gradually changed color, becoming substantially lighter than their cousins elsewhere. Many of these white species are endemic to White Sands. It helps not to stand out!
The park is completely surrounded by the military installations of White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, and has always had an uneasy relationship with the military. They wanted to make it a UNESCO World Heritage sight but the military pulled their weight, they didn’t want anyone telling them what they could and couldn’t do here.
If you are passing by, this is well worth the $25 per car charge to get in. There are several trails and even a boardwalk to wander upon. There are the to be expected folks leaping up in the air selfie shots and look at me in the desert. We passed a bikini shoot, Mike thought that looked more interesting, as well as a woman in a wind blown flowing red sari being photographed. I imagine it can make a wonderful photographers backdrop.
We stayed in Alamogordo, we wouldn’t again though. The KOA was friendly, clean, typical KOA but the train whistles and sirens going off all night long were not pleasant, no gunfire though;) Ha! We put our small turkey in the oven on Friday, yes, I’d missed a few ingredients, OK, cranberries and you can’t have turkey without fresh cranberries! and just rested, OK, I vacuumed as well, our clothing was beginning to look like everything we owned was a pelt from some kind of wild cat! Rocket was most distressed to see the vacuum monster actually came with us! Mike took him for a walk while I did the dirty deed! Ha! and no, there was not a single grocery store open in Alamogordo on Thanksgiving day, none, zip, nada. Otherwise we would have cooked it then!
After three days we were ready to head West to some quiet, if we pass this way again we’ll take our chances at Oliver Lee Memorial State park just south of here, but as they only have first come, first serve campsites I figured they would be full over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Off we went towards the missile range and then South to our last stop in New Mexico, Rockhound State park. About a third of the way up the hill past the missile range the engine was chattering away like a six year old having consumed three cans of coke-a-cola and the check engine light came on, Mike groaned, I got out the Dodge Book. Bad fuel at the Circle K gas station we stopped at on the main drag was to blame, maybe that is why it was $4.19 a gallon, lowest we’d seen…sigh…Mike had the pedal to the floor the entire way up the pass, and several small ones after. But we did get up the hills…slowly!
We left behind the lawyer billboards and a few other strange ones as we headed out of Alamogordo. The lawyer, Keller, pointing, must have like himself, a lot, there were a half dozen billboards of him in various pointing positions, I guess I get his point now;) Ha! A Cowboys for Trump horse trailer was a bit perplexing, what exactly has Trump done for cowboys? I had to google it: “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin has been booted from his position as Otero County Commissioner by a New Mexico judge over his participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Check out the article here, Cowboys for Trump if you really want to know more…hahahaha!
The truck made it up the hills, barely, chugging along with a lot of clackety clack at 40 mph until we reached the summit and headed down into Las Cruces it evened out a bit, just need to use up this tank of diesel and cut it with a fresh one in Deming! At Las Cruces we got on the Interstate 10 and headed West towards Deming and Rockhound State Park. We did resist the urge to go visit “The Thing” at least the billboards are interesting, the little girl with the ice cream cone looks demented!
According to Wikipedia:
The Thing (aka The Thing Museum) is an Arizona roadside attraction extensively advertised by signs along Interstate 10 between El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. The object, supposedly a mummified mother and child, is believed to have been made by exhibit creator Homer Tate for sideshows.
The Thing was purchased by former lawyer Thomas Binkley Prince in the mid-twentieth century, who quickly based a tourist attraction around the strange object. Although Prince died in 1969, the attraction was run by his wife Janet for many years. Today, the site is under the ownership of Bowlin Travel Centers, Inc. Despite its remoteness, the attraction has been popular; it has appeared in several tourist guides, and has been the subject of several news stories and reports. The step-great-great-grandson of Homer Tate and the curator of the Arizona Historical Society-Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff has said that this was created by Homer Tate. Tate was famous for producing sideshow gaffes. Based out of Phoenix, Tate produced a variety of curiosities like faux shrunken heads. You must go see for yourself;)
We’ll leave it there for today! Stay tuned for Rockhound Park, peace, quiet, no lights, no sirens, no train horns, did I miss anything, oh, and cactus wrens, oh I do love those cactus wrens!:)
My best Marilyn Monroe pose, I am just SO classy! Look at those wind blown feathers and weep ladies!
You have to love a town that embraces it’s inner alieness;) Ha!
We had to get there first. A quick early morning trip to a very friendly Pecos Propane outlet just up the road to get our two 40 lb. propane tanks filled didn’t set us back much $50 for both, $2.99 a gallon, that still confuses me that it isn’t sold by the pound. I had told the attendant filling the tanks how much the new tanks cost in Canada, $300 each as he was looking at the reconditioning stamp on ours, holy sh*t he said, they are $109 each here brand new, then he said he understood why we had reconditioned ones!
Leaving Carlsbad we headed North on the 285 towards Roswell, you go through Artesia, more guns and gods and oil. Comes with the territory.
…then you can’t help but giggle as you come into Roswell, of course there are gun signs and god but there are also little green aliens everywhere welcoming you as well! All because of the the Roswell incident. According to Wikipedia:
The Roswell incident occurred amid the flying saucer craze of 1947. On June 26, media nationwide had reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold‘s story of seeing what became known as “Flying Saucers”. Historians would later chronicle over 800 “copycat” sightings that were reported after the Arnold story was published.
On Saturday night, July 5, 1947, rancher W.W. “Mac” Brazel made a trip from his remote ranch to town, Corona, New Mexico. The ranch had no phone and no radio, leaving Brazel unaware of the flying saucer craze of the prior ten days.
As a result, it was not until Saturday night that Brazel connected debris he’d found three weeks earlier with the flying disks in the news. The debris – tinfoil, rubber, and thin wooden beams – had been scattered across a square mile of the ranch. Brazel previously had gathered it and pushed it under some brush to dispose of it.
When Brazel heard stories of silvery flying discs that Saturday night in Corona, he decided to gather up his prior find. On Sunday, July 6, Brazel dug out the debris and on Monday, July 7, he took it in to the sheriff’s office in Roswell. The sheriff called Roswell Army Air Field, which assigned the matter to Major Jesse Marcel. Brazel took Marcel back to the debris site, and the two gathered up more pieces of rubber and tinfoil. Marcel took the material home on Monday night.
On Tuesday morning, July 8, Marcel took the material to his base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Blanchard reported the finding to General Roger Ramey at Fort Worth Army Air Field (FWAAF). General Ramey ordered the material flown to FWAAF immediately. Marcel boarded a B-29 Superfortress and made the flight to FWAAF.
The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher’s home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters.
Decades later, Roswell radio announcer Frank Joyce recalled contacting Haut by telephone to verify the release. Recalled Joyce: “I said ‘Walter, don’t run this story. If you do, you’re going to be in trouble. They’ll ship you out to Siberia.” I remember mentioning that, that was a common phrase in those days”.
There you have it:) But it never happened right? Ha!
We went through town and then turned right onto Highway 380 towards Bottomless Lakes State Park. We had been here in November of 2017. Everything is so dry, even the live oaks look like they are dying, so did parts of town. Lot’s of closures and boarded up stores, no tourists during the pandemic have been hard on these tourist towns.
After we got settled at the park we drove back to town for a late lunch and went for the prerequisite green chili burger. The Cowboy Cafe was closed already so we found Julie’s Place. It looked abandoned but had a hand written sign that said “drive up” only, we did. The menu board and order area had been smashed to pieces a long time ago so we drove up to the only window left. An older woman, Julie I presume took our order for two burgers. I had to get out as when we made the turn past the smashed order board we spied a horde of cats. Some feral, some not. This was Midnight the older man said. There used to be a dairy behind them but it’s gone now so the cats are here. Mike gave him the last of Groots traveling crunchies, they looked in OK shape. I still want to take all those kittens home..sigh.
Bottomless Lake State Park is about fifteen miles Southeast of town, not super close but it is a lovely spot. We had one night here as we’d decided to add an extra day in Carlsbad so when we checked in before noon (check in time is 4 pm) I didn’t feel bad, I’d already paid for the day, at $18 a night it isn’t a bank breaker! No one on duty, go find your spot and set up. It said reservations only on the sign, we saw a few campers turn away but you know what, it has free wifi, good wifi at that! They maybe could have stopped and made reservations on their phone. Lots of empty spots. The park takes its name from nine small, deep lakes located along the eastern escarpment of the Pecos River valley. It was very quiet as the main area is closed for remodeling, bathrooms, docks, so hardly a soul to be seen. Perfect! Just the alien at the front of the camp hosts spot;)
First of all, a state park with good wifi? Wow! But not the reason we came…this….
Lea Lake
The campground is quiet, small only 32 total campsites with hook-ups (6 full hook-up campsites, 26 sites with water/electric hook-ups) the cats were very interested in the airstream trailer across from us, a dachshund and a peregrine falcon lived there. There is a falconers club nearby. Not an everyday sighting!
The unique lakes at this park are sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. The greenish- blue color created by aquatic plants is what gives the lakes the illusion of great depth. I’m a sucker for reflections.
The park consists of approximately 1,611 acres and includes eight of nine lakes; the Fin and Feather Club owns Dimmitt Lake, the southernmost lake. Vaqueros (cowboys) who could not find the bottom of the lakes reportedly gave them their name. They would tie two or three ropes together and drop them into the lakes to try to reach the bottom. The ropes were not long enough, so the vaqueros thought the lakes were bottomless! Silly cowboys, but it gets better…other tall tales and folklore abound. One tells of a horse that fell into one of the Figure Eight lakes, drowned, and was pulled out of the other. Numerous objects reportedly have been lost in the lakes, only to be retrieved later from Carlsbad Caverns or even the Gulf of Mexico. How about the stories of strong underground currents that suck divers and swimmers deep into the bowels of the Earth, never to be seen again! And of course every lake has its monster; the Bottomless Lakes monsters are fictitious giant turtles that lurk in the deep, murky waters! Ha!
Panorama of Lea Lake
Lea Lake is the most popular lake and the only lake where swimming is allowed. Most of the developed facilities are at Lea Lake. It was named after Captain Joseph C. Lea, a rancher, veteran of the Civil War, and early settler of Roswell. Lea rode with Clark Quantrill and Frank and Jesse James during the Civil War and was a friend of William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid. Three sinkholes, 40, 60, and 90 ft deep, form the lake. A mesa overlook provides a bird’s eye view of the park.
Check out wasn’t until two so I walked around Lea Lake before we headed out. The wetland path was mostly dry with a shy Kingfisher and a few coots swimming around. Reluctantly we left as the campground was booked for Thanksgiving, I did manage to find a spot for three days in Alamogordo, busy holiday weekend, we often forget these holiday things! We sadly drove away.
Our way out took as back through town, past the bullet riddled stop sign, the welcome and thanks for visiting signs, the green lives matter was fabulous but someone would give me the gears if I wore it me thinks! We stayed on the 380 past the towering Capitan Mountains in the distance, a peak of 10,300 feet. Elevation in Roswell was 3570′. We went up in elevation to a high plateau before cutting through a beautiful valley near Hondo.
Didn’t see any God billboards, a few for ammunition…you already have the gun right? and goods, what the hell are goods? Guns-Antiques…would those be antique guns? and Mike wouldn’t stop and let me buy an alien! Only $29! a steal, which he said is what would happen to it if I put it at the end of Bula Lane…sad face here….I may get one on the way back! Ha! I’ll chain it down!
We followed the Ruidoso River as we wound our way through the valley and then climbed to a summit of 7500′. There was snow on the northern faces of the hills! After we entered into the Mescalero Apache Reservation, there were casinos, several casinos and a horse race track…and a castle. The castle was odd, and suddenly we were in the pines! So many landscape changes in two hours.
We finally started to go down, over three thousand feet and the white sands became visible in front of us. We turned South and headed to Alamogordo and the White Sands National Park. But that, will be another story…I’ll be starting a petition for that carved $29 carved alien to convince Mike! Saludos amigos, are there aliens or not? I want to believe….
The Caverns are located about twenty miles South of the town of Carlsbad. I’d made an appointment to walk in at 12:30 as I’d read they only allow a certain amount of people down at once. The parking lot was full, crap, it was Sunday but most of the plates were from out of state, and out of country, I saw a few Sonoran and Chihuahuan plates as well as Alaska, that’s out of country! ha! And a poor soul from Manitoba! We’d stopped at the entrance where there is a large RV park and gas/gift store, they had propane, yeah! But…they were closed, boo, don’t run out of propane in Carlsbad on a Sunday, no one is open, not even the stores that say they have propane, Tractor Supply Store…does not. The park road goes in seven miles after you leave the highway and you wind your way through canyons and up onto the mesa where the entrance is.
Our last time here, yikes, twenty years ago, we rode the elevator down and back up again, we really wanted the experience of walking down this time. Sadly the bats here have all flown South to Mexico, smart bats, so there was no bat flight but the walk down was quite the trip! Now, it did say it was strenuous and steep, I believe the steep, really only strenuous if you decide to walk back up…:) It’s a two km 750 foot drop to get down. It was cold on the surface and actually warmed up quite nicely as we went down!
Well lit it is not but your eyes do adjust as you go down. There are spots to stop and rest if you need to, or to let the running children go by…0_0…large family groups did tend to block the pathway but you could also stop and let them by:)
Altogether over thirty miles of passages have been discovered. The deepest chamber is at 1037 feet below the surface. An estimated 250 million years ago, the area surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park served as the coastline for an inland sea. Present in the sea was a plethora of marine life, whose remains formed a reef. Carlsbad Caverns National Park is situated in a bed of limestone above groundwater level. During cavern development, it was within the groundwater zone. Deep below the limestones are petroleum reserves (part of the Mid-Continent Oil Field). At a time near the end of the Cenozoic, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) began to seep upwards from the petroleum into the groundwater. The combination of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen from the water formed sulfuric acid: H2S + 2O2 → H2SO4. The sulfuric acid then continued upward, aggressively dissolving the limestone deposits to form caverns. The presence of gypsum within the cave is a confirmation of the occurrence of this process, as it is a byproduct of the reaction between sulfuric acid and limestone.
The most difficult thing to capture is the immense scale of the caverns. Not having a flash proved to make things difficult! Things on my wish list, flash, and lightning trigger! I had to push the ISO and deal with the noise but mostly it was just about looking. Such beauty and SO many people with so few manners. Nothing wrong with taking a selfie but when you block the entire path over and over again, at every formation for everyone else as your stare and grin dumbly into you phone, or try to arrange your family of seven into one shot (Have you heard of birth control?) do people want to see your ugly mug there, or the beauty of the caves. Ha! Curmudgeon am I. Twenty years ago there were no f*cking phones, it was lovely! Ha! Rant over! Maybe…hahahahaha!
“Carlsbad Cavern is one of over 300 limestone caves in a fossil reef laid down by an inland sea about 265 million years ago. Twelve-to-fourteen thousand years ago, American Indians lived in the Guadalupe Mountains. Some of their cooking ring sites and pictographs have been found within the present day boundaries of the park. By the 1500s, Spanish explorers were passing through present-day west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Spain claimed the southwest until 1821 when Mexico revolted against her and claimed independence. Mexico, fighting the westward expansionist United States in the late 1840s, lost the southwest to the US. In 1850, New Mexico Territory was created, and or the next 30 years the cultural conflict between American Indians and the US government continued. Eddy, New Mexico, the future Carlsbad, was established in 1888 and New Mexico became a state in 1912.” from the park website.
By the time we hit the big room I was tired of people. It’s not as if people are inherently stupid, well, maybe but they just seem unaware of others around them. Just a tiny bit of courtesy, being aware that stopping with your entire family in one spot, over and over again and not seeing that if you all just lined up single file everyone could get by, or see as well. The sun had come out when we rode the elevator to the surface, I admit to needing to distance myself from the crowds, it was overwhelming at times, maybe I have Anthropophobia, fear of people or Enochlophobia which refers to a fear of crowds. Your new words for the day! Ha!
Map of the caverns
I think we’ll be avoiding large crowds for awhile, it was certainly somewhere we wanted to wear a mask. It was warm and humid with little air flow and lot’s of coughing sneezing homo sapiens:)
As the American’s say “Stay Safe” after the latest mass shooting this week, maybe they are right, or perhaps it should be..stay aware and try not to piss anyone off, no matter how hard that is!! Saludos amigos, hasta pronto! Get ready for a bit of an alien experience;) Roswell!
We tried to hit the Dallas/Fort Worth complex of highways at midday, luckily no traffic as we headed to the Western side of this large metropolis, Tyler State Park, in Tyler, Texas:) A new stop for us. Ranger wasn’t that helpful or enthused but shoved a map our way and pointed to the Cedar Point camping area. I asked if we had to go in any particular way to get backed into the site, he said no. He was wrong. Inside sites you need to enter one way, outside sites the other. We had to continue around on the park road to find a spot to turn around without wiping something out on an oak branch before coming in on the angle we needed to back in. Tight with the oak trees but doable. Not always the best way to end the day when you’re tired. It was gloomy as well so added to the melancholy. I’d had news the night before my wonderful stepmother has liver cancer, three months maybe to live. Her dementia has so overpowered her life she isn’t the person she used to be but made me incredibly sad.
In the morning after the cats were walked about I decided to go check out the bird blind on the park map, it couldn’t be that far right? Also nice to check out the other camping areas, another reservoir here. No mile markers/feet on the campground map. Sigh…I got a work out I wasn’t planning on. By the time I got to the bird blind I said screw it! There were a lot of steep hills and no way was I planning on going back the way I’d come. At least it was quiet, I encountered two other walkers, so many American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) alongside the road but not a single bird sound, it was eerily quiet.
It was almost 10 km the whole way around the park road, Mike was getting worried by the time I got back but as I get sidetracked with the camera he hadn’t decided to go out looking for me yet! Ha! we packed up and hit the road to go further West. We had read great things about Lake Mineral Wells State Park. As we got there we both looked at each other…we’ve been here before! 2016, those blogs come in handy to look back on things. It had been in November as well, but the temperature was close to 100° and our first travel trailer with one air conditioning unit was not cutting it! Not today! Both the heaters were needed!
Apparently the concrete causeway makes some campers feel uncomfortable. In 2016 water had been running over the side and down the spillway, not today. On the way to the park a church had a sign out in front that said “Pray for Rain”. We had to go a fair bit North of the I 20 to get to this spot but it was going to be a two day rest, needed by all!
Of course, there was a plethora of billboards…and of course, many more lawyers…the IRS problems lawyer has scam in his name, ha! Car Wreck Cowboy Sadat is not what I envision when I hear cowboy, where’s Clint when you need him, maybe he’s helping Jim, a lawyer and why does he have a sledgehammer in his hand????? Perhaps he takes the heavy handed approach! Ha! Also why just english, hay abogados por todos! There was also your GOD for the day, yes even the churches in Texas are BIG! The “Stop slavery, end socialism/communism” was a new one, they have another billboard that reads “stop marxist teachers” I didn’t get a shot of that one. They want to “Take America Back” perhaps to the middle ages I’m thinking! The “Going to Heaven?” one, well, it’s as if you had a choice? Hahaha. None of my friends will be there I did call upon his name when I stubbed my toe this week and then just the plain friggin’ weird! Guns, Mickey d’s having a “dining” room is an oxymoron. The “I MAKE SEXY TEETH” guy was a dentist who wanted his beautiful picture and winning smile on a huge billboard, arsehole no doubt;) and would you send your kid to a school/academy called Barrel of Monkeys? Perhaps it’s true but….ha!
Just such a strange country…
The view to the reservoir is blocked by mesquite and oaks but there is a great trail the cats discovered! We were in site 21 of the Live Oak camping area where they had 50 amp service, it was getting cold! Sites 29-30 and 31 have a view of the lake and are relatively flat, some sites are very short, when and if we come back I’ll aim for those with a view:) The town’s “Crazy Water” tagline goes back to the 1880s when, according to local legend, a woman was relieved of a mental affliction by continued quaffs at the “crazy well.” As the alkaline water was found to be generally beneficial, the growing town became known as the spot “Where America Drinks Its Way to Health.” Folks bathed their way to health, as well. It appears the water had lithium in it! I should have taken my five gallon container down to fill it;)
and the birds…you could hear them as soon as we stopped, chirps and tweets and cardinal calls. I cleaned the back window off with a rag and put the stick on feeder for the cats up, and hung my other two feeders on an oak and mesquite tree.
This is also a Groot, Gamora and Rocket approved park. With trees to climb and small paths that led down to a path that meandered around the reservoir, they were very happy, a few puffed tail moments…danger, coyote, or a killer rabbit! Ha!
Speaking of killer rabbits, I was trying to figure out where I’d heard of Antioch, there was a road sign exclaiming it’s presence. Mike laughed, the holy grenade of Antioch he proclaimed!
The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch was a weapon in Brother Maynard’s keeping. According to the Book of Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one, it was consecrated by Saint Attila.
“And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, ‘O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.’ And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chulapas. And the Lord spake, saying, ‘First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it!” all said in a pleasing British accent please…..Ah, Monty Python:) Thank you Monty Python Fandom!
Things we learn along the road, the town has a population of 25…in 2000, maybe 27 now? Unless the grenade went off….
Our two day stop gave us the chance to call a Mobile RV guy I looked up on Google the morning after we arrived. You have to realize that half the population here seems to live in RV Parks, oil workers, you name it, there are dozens of all straight in a line sand and gravel RV parks dotting the exits of I20. How many Sleepy Hollow Campgrounds can there be? I dare not google that one! “No problem!” Burson’s RV repair said,”I have a furnace to fix then I’ll drop by!” He removed the offending ten year old leaking propane hose from under the slide, popped off into town, found a replacement, abit longer but it worked and yeah, we have our hot water, furnace and stove back! Quite the character. A camp host motoring by in his cart asked for his card. “Can I call you next week?” he asked. “Yup, you sure can, as many times as you want but I won’t pick up!” He laughed. “I’m off fishing for sharks in the gulf! Call me the week after!”
I got to sit and watch the birds at the feeders, as well as a very plump squirrel who didn’t look like he needed any extra seed! We wandered into town before the RV guy came out to the local Metro grocery store and then to the Dollorama to find a squirt bottle, for Gamora;) ha! Mike was a bit worried after I went in he said, some truly scary people were going in and out, I agreed when I came out, but the older lady clerk was helpful and cheerful and together we found a wee cosmetic spray bottle to remind Miss Guardian of the Galaxy Gamora that we can only take so much jabbering and meowing at times! I did say that it made Giant Tiger in Perth look like Saks 5th Avenue;)
I had remembered the Black Vultures from our last visit, maybe not the most attractive birds but beautiful flyers and a part of our ecosystem. We packed up after the 2nd morning reluctantly and planned out next stop at Lake Colorado City State Park. It was a three hour hop, as soon as we turned off the I 20 Mike looked at me and said “We’ve been here before too!” It’s a few miles South of the freeway, past a huge electric plant. The town looked no better than it had in 2018, somewhat desolate, old empty brick buildings five and six stories tall, windows gone, not even boarded up. The freeway maybe took away it’s livelihood? Lake Colorado City is an unincorporated community in Mitchel County, Texas, United States. Its population was 588 as of the 2010 census. That was it in Wikipedia….
The entrance to the park isn’t promising but once in the sites are nice in the Rolling Hills camping area, well spaced and longer than the Mesquite loop, never made it to the Lakeview loop. It’s very open in places with mesquite and low oaks, not a bird sound to be heard.
Gamora said it was fine and dandy, paths and open areas and no dogs, Groot and Rocket were not as impressed. Every morning and afternoon when they climb out, it looks as if they are maybe expecting to be somewhere else and there is a look of shock on their faces most days. I keep telling them they will get to go back to the lake!
The sunrise was spectacular, the clouds rolled in and after the cat walk we set off. A couple in a trailer from Alamogordo stopped to chat on their way out, she was a pyjama/bathrobe dog walker, me, a pyjama/bathrobe photographer, we gave each other the salutary nod, comfortable in our skins, and pyjamas. We got off the I20 and headed North towards Lamesa and state road 180 to Seminole. This is oil country, gas tankers, pumps, blazing stacks in the middle of plowed fields, with lots of signs of Water for Sale. Not exactly scenic, the cats were thrilled, to sleep, and the roads were smooth. Mike called the RV park in Carlsbad and the owners son told him the 180 was the road to take as it’s not somewhere we have been before, always good to know if there are low bridges or really bumpy county roads!
We headed North out of the park on a different state road back to the I 20. Mike held way back as we approached a railroad crossing. The train came by blaring it’s horn, it was too much for Groot who slithered behind Mike’s seat and stayed a while until all the blaring and railroad crossing dinging stopped!
Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea….had me humming the Beverly Hillbillies theme song…not exactly a lot to take pictures of out here. This is the Permian basin. The basin contains the Mid-continent oil field province. Oil, lots of oil and potash. You can smell it at times. We took a round about to miss Lamesa and headed for Seminole and Hobbs on a brand new road, smooth as silk, I could have fallen asleep. The cats all did. No semi’s passing, little traffic, the towns weren’t too bumpy and we rolled into Carlsbad before three, we gained another hour…sigh. I’m never going to be able to sleep in again!
We made this a two day stop. One day to rest, grocery shop and repair, recoup and rejoice, one day to go to the famous Carlsbad Caverns South of here and then we’ll be off to check out the aliens in Roswell;) Stay tuned for the Carlsbad Caverns amigos, the truth is out there!
Entering Louisiana will be remembered for drive-through daiquiris. The shops have been a fixture in the state for four decades. In 1981 Louisiana was one of 24 states that did not prohibit drinking alcohol and driving. That was when the drive through daiquiri was born. Daiquiri shops use tape to close the lid. Legally, if the tape over the straw hold is on the lid, the drink is not considered to be an open container. If the tape is removed or broken, it is considered an open container and subject to open container laws.
Drive through daiquiris? and dens of iniquity?
Welcome to Louisiana! We’d just left all the lawyer billboards behind in Mississippi to get these! Ha! From choosing a lawyer of any shape or colour you may decide, to having a frozen daiquiri after stopping at the den of iniquity! What a country!
Lawyers, lawyers everywhere!
We left Roosevelt State Park headed for Lincoln Parish County Park in Ruston, Louisiana for the night. It was cold when I got up, damn time change and into central time as well has me wide awake at 5, OK, 4, but I stayed in bed until 5. It was 31° out, just below freezing. I wandered out for some pyjama photography with my winter jacket on! I didn’t last long! Damn it was cold!
I went back in and waited for it to warm up. We had our electric heater going in front and the electric fireplace going all night. With the propane leak we can’t use the furnace! Bundle up! The sun did help once it was up!
Early mornings hold magic, the light, the mists, the quiet, all combine to create a wonderful way to start the day. We took the cats out for a stoll, hoping it would wear Gamora out so she would sleep while we were driving. Ha! I looked unsuccessfully for the spray bottle. It had been nice stopping for a day, the only driving was out to the Exxon station at the park entrance to diesel up.
If anyone can explain the top billboard to me that would be great, an AK 47 or M4? What exactly does it mean, is it code? WTF? What was noticeable along that stretch of the I 20 was the many empty billboards, or faded signs that hadn’t been replaced for a very long time. I’m not too worried about being shackled by lust, interesting choice of words there, I do wonder about their grammar…Jesus sets free, doesn’t quite sound right, who wrote this crap? Ha! I guess I need to talk to James…
Guns and God
We did cross over the mighty Mississippi River, it looked drained, with beaches running towards the center for hundreds of feet, drought is real here, hard to deny.
We’d read about Lincoln Parish County Park, Louisiana Campground of the year 2022, we were not disappointed. It was a lovely park, many of the sites backed up onto a small lake, full hookups, cement pads, balconies and picnic tables. I can imagine it would be full over the weekend. The man I spoke to the night before laughed and said we’d have the choice of many spots on a Sunday night and not to worry, pay when I get there, it is all first come first serve. Its famous for it’s mountain bike paths. I read on a sign by the lake it had been the mission of one man to get this park done, it was Ruston’s Fredrick Hoogland. Sale of the water in the lake to an oil drilling company subsidized much of the construction. There was a small waterfall but turns out the stream is now just a trickle, we saw a sign coming in that said “Pray for Rain” in front a church.
All I saw were birds in the lake when we backed up…short attention span! Ha! Mike had read that the last site was the most private so we took that one. We were a bit low in front but better than having the jacks all the way up, the front wobbles about then when Groot and Rocket jump off the bed!
We did take the cats for a walk before I wandered down with my camera! Seemed we were parked at the end where the fish were, and ducks, muscovies, cats were not fond of their very loud quacking! Some kind of aquatic monsters Rocket said! Ha! Very friendly wandering people, amazed we’d come all the way from Canada to their little park, very pleasant spot! I lost the sun so decided to get up early to walk the lake and look for birds:)
Sorry about the bird overload, it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten to spend much time with cooperative Egrets and Herons. After a walk around the lake in the morning I realized they were it, for the lake wildlife:) Right in our backyard. After the morning cat walk I wandered the paved path around Hoogland Lake, found an uncooperative Kinglet, and a Hairy woodpecker.
I went back and sat on the bench and watched the two grumpy old men of the lake, the Heron and Egret interact, all while being chastised by two very loud Belted Kingfishers.
Get out of my backyard the Belted Kingfishers were yelling at them! Ha! This is my nemesis bird, they usually are very shy and I get pictures of their ruffled bums! Love that crest!
We made a quick trip into town, Mike was sorely disappointed to find that Ben Christmas’s Crawfish shack was closed, out of season thought the young girl at the grocery store we stopped in at after refueling. Instead we bought a pound of possibly the largest shrimp I have seen in awhile. Groot thought he might have died and gone to heaven when we got back to the trailer, we’d eaten the last of our Canadian frozen shrimp the night before…and shrimp AGAIN? This was just TOO good to be true! All the cats each had a feast of two whole raw shrimp each and then Rocket begged for the cooked ones as well. These guys:) Spoiled rotten!
The next day, well, we were headed to Texas. Tyler State State Park, but that is a whole other state, a big one, well, not that big actually, we could fit several into Ontario, but don’t tell the Texans that. We were reminded why we didn’t come back this way in the Spring of 2020…Shreveport, my God please let someone scream in my ear before we decide to drive the I 20 through here again. The worst roads of the trip. no concept of joining their bridges and overpasses to the actual highway as both truck and trailer lept and bounced over wild cracks and joins. White knuckle for the driver and Gamora voiced her complete displeasure but at least the rain held off until we passed the hideousness of that part of I 20 and we settled into a calmer remainder of the drive. I was feeling very melancholy, the rain, maybe the miles catching up and I managed to get the small front trailer door to the hydraulic system smushed by the truck tailgate when we were hitching up, I thought it would clear but Mike had to come in on an angle. Mike used his foot to push it back in place after I bashed on it with the blocks of wood we use for the jacks…sigh…one more thing to fix. I’ll try and take it off at our next two nighter to see if the hinge can be salvaged, if not, it’s locked and closed for now, lesson learned, I just hate breaking stuff that could have been avoided. Bye bye Louisiana, see you in the Spring, just NOT Shreveport! Sorry about the novel today;) Saludos amigos, hope you are not shoveling snow my Northern comrades!
Looking across the park at Fort Patrick Henry Lake, a reservoir.
We’d looked at pictures of Warriors Path State Park in Tennessee, it was a three hour jump from Natural Bridge in Virginia, about the most we like to do, yes, we are not in a hurry, first time ever. Warriors Path State Park is a 950-acre Tennessee State Park in Sullivan County, Tennessee. It is named for the Great Indian Warpath that was used by the Iroquois in war raids with the Cherokee and other tribes. We’d read it was an older park and sites were tight to get into with a bigger 5th wheel on some of the RV forums. I usually go to campsitephotos.com to get a look at the sites but there wasn’t any pictures for this particular park. I took an educated guess with pad length, 40′ and the fact it angled away from the road in a way we could back in according to the park map and made a reservation for one night. It was also fairly close to the I 81 and not miles and miles from the freeway.
Tons of traffic in this corridor and it seems no one ever gets trained in how to merge! Pedal to the metal. It must drive truck drivers crazy as motorists reach the end of the yield lane, are still not up to speed and force the semis to move over or they’ll smush the cars…I’d be an evil truck driver and let them figure it out on their own…some do…ha! How hard is it? Get up to speed and move into the lane smoothly, sounds easy enough…not. Mike had a special German vocabulary for the drivers too busy looking at their phones, or who are simply put, idiots. He did come up with a new slogan, drive like there’s a buffet at the end fat boy, he yelled at one particular man in a vehicle that realized at the last moment he had to merge…not PC I know, it’s a vicious world out there. Sometimes you can’t move over to accommodate these fools…
There was no one at the park entrance store when we got there. A hand written note in the window said they were sick, to call the main park office if there were any questions or proceed to your site, we toodled off on the narrow paved roads and yes, many of the sites were really small, it’s an older park, but oh so beautiful. The campground is up on a heavily treed point that juts out into the reservoir. We followed the arrows to our site and backed in with a few back and forths to get lined up. The camp host came by to see if we needed any help, not a problem we said and settled in.
What was obvious was there had been a significant wind/storm event here in the last year or two. Whoever had been in our spot would have been smushed (my word of the week) by a 2 and half foot in diameter 80′ tall tree. Half of it would have been in the campsite, right where we parked, the other half, root ball and all lay pointing towards us. These downed trees were everywhere. It was a bit shocking, all were pointing in the same direction. I went out for quick wander, I didn’t have a map so I scurried down the steep hill behind us to the lakeside where I discovered a trail. I followed it along the lake and eventually it turned and went back up to the B campsites, which were all closed, only the C campsites stay open all Winter.
The nights are still chilly, it was 43° flintstone scale at dawn. The cats were all on the back of the sofa catching the first morning rays until a squirrel ran under the trailer! I had planned on getting up to see the eclipse but it would be too low to the horizon and blocked by the trees so decided to snuggle with Rocket instead. He has become a bed boy. He has taken the whole moving thing the hardest, the youngest with the least experience and given the fact that he is a huge baby huey to begin with, he needs extra attention.
I wandered off to the park office to see if there was anyone there in the morning after following the path the other way, towards the boat launch to look at the campsites on top of another hill. There was one there we could get in, in a pinch. I write down the spots and keep them on hand, we are coming back, not sure if we’ll take the same path but we’ll see, always good to know!
On one of the many trees fallen into the lake I came across had oyster mushrooms growing on it! It was slick, I wasn’t ready to play log rolling on the lake. I’d nearly fallen in earlier, the path around the lake has been worn away in many places with iffy footing along the edges. In some places only the tree roots are holding the path in place. I walked up the boat launch to look at the campsites in the 2nd circle. A man was leaf blowing using what sounded like a redneck’s truck exhaust, you know the ones I mean with the F*ck Trudeau bumper stickers and oversized flags, here they might be flying confederate flags, I didn’t actually know what was making the horrendous noise until I was quite close, f*cking leaf blowers. It was 8 a.m! I found another site we could get into, in a pinch, if everything else is booked. I’d like to come back here if we are taking this way back in the Spring! I’m working on the leaf blower ban petition!;) ha!
There was an abundance of fungi, the ones with the little white knobs, Panellus stipticus is one of several dozen species of fungi that are bioluminescent. Strains from eastern North America are typically bioluminescent, but those from the Pacific coast regions of North America and from other continents are not. I need to go back after dark! Ha! I could have stayed a few days here to explore, and another chance to go back to Broad Street BBQ in Kingsport…I should have taken pictures, we got a family pack to go with pulled pork and brisket, added ribs, beans, slaw and potato salad (I was thinking a few meals here plus pulled pork sandwiches for the road!) We devoured it. The owner was chatting with an old man from NY, telling him how he’d traveled all over the world and the food in America was CRAP! I laughed under my mask, he smiled. You buy a tomato at a market in Italy he said, It tastes like TOMATO! Here, they taste like cardboard! He has a point. I don’t put crap in my BBQ or beans or slaw, all natural! he proclaimed and I thanked him for that. Man, was it tasty, we sat in the trailer and ate until I had to go lie down, damn it was good! The smokiness (Hickory he said) of the meats, the sauce with just the right amount of sweet and sour of the vinegar, my mouth is watering just thinking of it…all gone now! It was Rocket approved pulled pork and ribs said the cat licking his chops!
Oak Mountain was a six hour jump so we chose a KOA in North Chattanooga for a one night stopover. Good for laundry, $2 wash or dry but man it was noisy right beside the interstate. I’d hoped the trees would block some noise but no, we won’t go back, but we do have clean clothes now:)
I got out to stretch my legs after we checked in and got situated, down to the lake, the familiar path around it and was shocked by the devastation of what appeared to be a large wind event. The path meandered now around huge fallen pines, sometimes I had to scramble over them. Trees were toppled at the roots, some snapped off a few feet from the ground. In the sunny clearings new Southern yellow pines had sprouted, new life returning, a cycle, but so sad to see so many spectacular trees snapped off and ripped from the ground.
I asked an older man, a camp host who was leaf blowing around the bathrooms. Said he was happy to chat and stop work for a moment, smiling with his soft Alabama drawl. He’d been working here for a decade or more and I asked him about the trees and destruction. This March he explained, a tornado came down the valley along the lake and did incredible damage. “We are in tornado alley!”he exclaimed “but this was a doozy!” It flattened the park pavillions on the other end of the lake, as if nothing was ever there. That same storm front hit Warriors Path, several states he said. His son lost the roof off his house. Angry nature.
A North American Spur-throated Grasshopper hitched a ride on my pant leg for part of my walk before I set him down in the leaves. I wandered towards a swampy area, usually good for birds but it was remarkably quiet. I spotted a Red Bellied Woodpecker high in the canopy, their chatty call is unmistakable, a few American Goldfinches fluttered away but not very busy bird wise.
At the end of a point was a fruit tree, common native persimmon species found throughout the eastern United States. The fruit makes delicious persimmon bread, cookies, cake, and pudding once mushy ripe, but is inedible (too astringent) prior to being mushy ripe. It can also be fermented into persimmon beer. Yum! I hope you found some perfectly ripe fruit to eat! Not ripe=not good I was told in a comment on iNaturalist. It is a wonderful source of information! The other two berries, American Bittersweet and Strawberry bush are toxic so sometimes bright red has its purpose! Ha! Careful Karen!
The best birding was at the picnic table at the empty tent site next to us below this American Bittersweet bush. The forest was full of robins trying to perch and feed on it. The branches were quite spindly and some of the juvenile Robins found it challenging to get a perch to feed. It was amusing to watch, sorry about the Robin overload but they were so beautiful!
We had to de some rearranging on our schedule. We wanted to stop at several parks in New Mexico but they were dry camping with very limited first come first serve water/electric camping spots so it would be hit it miss to find a spot with power. We have a propane leak somewhere we haven’t been able to diagnosis so we have turned the tanks off, we think it’s the fitting going to the refrigerator, no problem, as it runs on electric as well but the stove, no. I found a cheapy two burner electric hot plate at at Walmart that we have been using, it works, and the water heater is propane/or electric so no problem there, but we need power, the generator won’t cut it. So we are still going to Carlsbad, but then North to Roswell, then West to Alamogordo to see the White Sands National park. We have a mobile RV guy set up to come see the trailer in Tucson:) All is well, oh, and the bedroom vanity slide will only go out an inch or two so we’ve stopped trying with that, cables are all ok, nothing binding so maybe the gearbox, always something on a wiggling, bouncing, moving home! We can work around it, just a bit cosier in the bedroom!
Elephant’s foot? Ha! American beech tree:)
We’ll be back to this park, especially mid week, so quiet here AND I just discovered, after leaving, there is a waterfall here in the park, Peavine Falls! Argh! Lost photo op! Hahahaha! The old camp host told me the entire campground is closing in May for a makeover. New pavement, it’s fine here he told me, in the A area, but the contractor underbid way back when and by the time he got to the other main loop it was only an inch thick he laughed, breaking up all over the place! New 50 amp service for all the sites and new water lines he said. “Come back before May!” he chuckled! I let him get back to work, I think he might have stood there and talked all afternoon if given the chance:) Nice man.
We finally completed the last of our errands, finding a phone that we can use as a hotspot. The Best Buy close to the park had the one we wanted, we went, but it seems their security system had shut down the room where all the electronics are safely kept and they couldn’t get in there. They didn’t look like they were having a great day, let’s say unenthused was the key word here! We had to drive to another Best Buy South of us after a trip to the Verizon store, they had the same phone, but it was $200 more…so that would be a no. Off we went again, a simple errand of course turns into an adventure, Mike was groaning, enough driving on our rest day! We did buy one here and then went to Sprouts to refill on food and of course, vino, before returning to the park, but we did stop to diesel up…much easier when you are NOT pulling the trailer. The Exxon, with a talking TV, adds, football games, scores pump, was blaring out sound at a volume a deaf person might just hear. Thankfully, a nerd had included a MUTE button. What is America’s obsession with TV’s? Argh! They are in cafes and diners, often several, they are on gas pumps now and if you look at RV’s they have three sometimes! One in the living room, one in the bedroom and for Christ sakes, one outside??? You have to go to your state park and sit outside making a racket watching your TV? WTF is all I can say! Ha! Rant over;)
WTF?
We headed out Friday morning, it was 78°, wowza. We have finally turned West, into Mississippi, sorry if I break out in song! ♫♪♫ M-I-double SS-I-double SS-I, double PP-I, right in the middle of the Cotton Belt down in the Mississippi Delta, wearin’ last year’s possum belt smack dab in the Mississippi Delta! ♫♪♫
I think I might have overplayed my Bobby Gentry, Ode to Billy Joe eight track as a kid;) Ha! Another state, here we come! The roads were not too bad, no major cities but a few bumps on the bridges through Tuscaloosa had Mike resorting to curious German swear words aimed at road engineers. We have taken to duct taping our fridge lock shut for these roads, it seems to jiggle open, revealing a cascade of fresh and frozen food products all over the table and floor, and even hiding under the chairs at a few previous stops! Rving is SO much fun I keep telling Mike:)
Stay tuned folks as we drive past Chunky, Mississippi and arrive at Roosevelt State Park:) That would be a fine address, I’m from Chunky. We did also drive past Cuba today as well:) Saludos amigos!
It was wonderful to see blue sky in the morning at Natural Bridge. I was up at an unheard hour, 5:30, Mike groaned and went back to sleep but I wanted to upload some of my pictures while no one was using the internet! You do what ya gotta do! Groot and Rocket were thrilled for the 2nd morning in the row to get an early snack!
I do love goats, so beautiful, so smart, soooo much trouble! Look at those innocent eyes…Ha! They are in with the chickens, whose coop says “No cooking!” outside. Something to cluck about. This KOA has had free run chickens but the owner told me they were on a time out after tearing up the rubber footings at several of the patio sites…bad girls! I went back to the pond where I’d seen the cedar wax wings hoping they were still there, it was humid, I was sweating, on the plus side I get all my hair curls back, I can see!
The day before, late, I’d wandered up the hill beside the trailer, looking for anything interesting, mushrooms, birds, dead bodies, whatever! Ha! It was a steep climb, it feels go to move around after you sit half the day in the truck.
Yes, I was the only one tromping about under the pines, no bodies to be found, today;) I kept following the call of a bird, sometimes I hear something that sounds familiar, and it is, when I finally see it! I should put the app on the phone that goes by sound! I often trip when I’m staring up at the trees, need to look where I’m walking more! I slowly descended the hill, it was slippery, covered in leaves to a small pond where all the chatter was coming from. A Pileated Woodpecker flew over, as did a Red Bellied but they were too fast for me. I stood by the pond and watched who came and went, bird wise, no humans around:) Little grey birds, chickadees, then that call, the cardinal! Knew it!
There is something about water, and in this case several Eastern Red Cedars (iNaturalist guy let me know!) that had the birds a buzz! Cardinals, Waxwings, Bluebirds and everything in between were having a feast! On the other side of the pond the goats were watching me from their fenced enclosure, and the giant gray squirrels, so much food here, so many oaks. Oaks. My achilles tendon, love them, but allergic to pretty much all of them, cough sputter, no acorns for me! The squirrels were enjoying them though.
I couldn’t dawdle all morning, we did have a few things to do but I decided to walk around the far side of the campground and up a hill where we once stayed before. It was a bit quieter than our present spot but not available for our stay. I saw a Red Bellied Woodpecker and Northern Flicker chasing away a smaller woodpecker I couldn’t ID…must investigate, and better than hanging around listening to a couple argue as to what needed to be done first for them to leave their site….runaway!!!!
I followed the woodpecker around for quite awhile on top of the hill, then I saw his red feathers just starting to come in. He was a sad pimply teenage Red Headed Woodpecker, no wonder they were picking on him, poor guy! There was a certain tree the birds were flocking too, even a few cedar waxwings were there with the bluebirds, jays and robins. Then some areshole stepped out of his RV and was having a loud unpleasant conversation with someone, could you not have simply stayed inside to puff out your fucking chest and rant on and on…bite tongue…all the birds flew away. I wandered back, managed to lose my $3 Giant Tiger reading glasses but walked down the hill past a woman in the process of giving an online yoga class, she smiled, I smiled back, no need to yell this early in the morning! Namaste!
Take those damn cats back with you!
It was time to get going anyway. Almost 11, check out time. The squirrels were glad to see Gamora go! The traveling mewberries said it was an OK park but too much traffic and those noisy $800,000 diesel pushers irritated them, me too. So no stars from them. I gave it a good rating anyway. Rocket did go out, sit on the picnic table, then come in. I knew how he felt, time for something a bit wilder, even if it’s only for a night. Warriors Path State Park here we come Tennessee! Saludos amigos!
We had a big fancy diesel pusher pull in next to us yesterday, gleaming and clean (no, we are not, covered in road dirt from the last Pennsylvania rain) maybe it has a self cleaning system, ha! Mike googled it, as we do, out of curiosity, up to $800,000 he told me…WHHHHAAAT TF was my first reaction, then he showed me some pictures of what looked like a glitzy Las Vegas hotel suite, chandeliers and cathedral ceilings, all shiny and gleaming, like the outside, all ridiculously ostentatious in an RV. OMG was next reaction, really? It is just a bit obscene!
The London Aire offers style and grace for the discerning traveler who wants accommodating luxury wherever they go. With the latest tech advancements—from Apple Car Play to all-electric kitchen appliances—and the utmost in functional style, you can stay in the lap of comfort.
We Fill it with Fuel
Give it a Professional Detail Inside and Out
Include up to 3 Hours of Technical Demonstration with a Professional RV Technician
It comes in a range of styles from shiny, to not so shiny, depending on the year and the personal taste of the purchaser! Ha! Plus:
We Fill it with Fuel
Give it a Professional Detail Inside and Out
Include up to 3 Hours of Technical Demonstration with a Professional RV Technician ( only three hours? I’d need that just to learn to use the TV remote!)
Of course it would be apple. I suppose like some yachts, these are RV park queens. Needing 50 amps to run everything electric inside. I bet it has a self flushing toilet! It weighs 54,000 lbs. forty four feet long, 604 H.P with 1950 lbs of torque, for those hills. I noticed there wasn’t a miles per gallon. If you have to ask you can’t afford it right? It does have two bathrooms and a fuel capacity of 150 gallons, I guess you need that to drive around the block in this puppy. You do get leather seats for that price as well:)
OMG. I must be bored today! I can watch no more! Go away rain! I need to go photograph some birds!
I’m not sure this fabric carrier (cat litter below them) was meant to hold 50 plus pounds of cats! It was wobbly!😂🤣😅 Groot, Rocket and Gamora #thetravelingmewberries riding down the I 81☺️
Today is day six heading South, we do take our time. It’s less shocking filling up the diesel tank going slowly…gulp. Less than North of the border but it ranges from $6.49 to $5.29 US a gallon. Not a litre but not an imperial gallon, is there such a thing? yes! according to Wikipedia:
the US gallon (US gal), defined as 3.785411784 L,[1] (231 cubic inches) which is used in the US and some Latin American and Caribbean countries; and
the US dry gallon (“usdrygal”), defined as 1⁄8 US bushel (exactly 4.40488377086 L).
There are two pints in a quart and four quarts in a gallon. Different sizes of pints account for the different sizes of the imperial and US gallons.
What would they say here if I asked for an imp gallon? Ha!
Either way the price is definite sticker shock. Our grocery store prices don’t look too bad either, they seem the same dollar amount, yet our dollar is worth less and the US more. I wasn’t expecting that.
Recycling. What is shocking is I have to empty our garbage today. KOA is very civilized as you only need to put your bag at the end of your site and one of the army of yellow shirted golf cart brigade will whisk it away to the dumpster for you all while smiling, what are they really thinking? Three wine bottles, crazy woman with a camera must be an alcoholic! Ha! I’ll probably take it there myself. We usually have a bag of garbage every two weeks, this is my 2nd emptying. Five RV parks, no recycling. It feels criminal to me putting glass, plastic and aluminum cans into the dumpster. It isn’t Mexico. There isn’t an old man who lives in a shack on the edge of the dump and picks through it to recycle it here is there?
I feel sad that so little is being done here or is it all a farce. Are my Canadian recyclables going in shipping containers to Indonesia or Thailand to be burned? Looking forward to heading West where we have seen recycling but I think I need to delve deeper into this for my own peace of mind.
Internet. Some days it seems like a dirty word. Our current civilization runs on it. I both curse and love it. Tips for getting a signal and being able to use RV park WIFI. Get up very very early. Downsize your pictures to postage stamps or wait until everyone is checking out. 11 am to 1 pm you can surf away! Our Canadian phone plan is a joke, sorry Koodoo, you suck. I could get roaming, handy for google maps ( to find that damn wine store!) for $15.20 a day, Canadian at least. Or, I could tuck your wee Koodoo sim chip into my wallet, exchange it for a Verizon pay as you go plan, no contract, and for $50 get a months worth of internet and calling. Sadly it seems my ancient Pixel 2 phone, along with all the newer ones as well won’t function as a hotspot with Verizon, so damn you Pixel. I CAN’T go back to google Fi! NOOOOO!
First world problems I know. You don’t realize how much you tap into the net, until you don’t have it. It’s our worst addiction and no cure in sight, until mind reading becomes possible, then I’m sure someone will off me, just for a thought, testicles I was thinking…hahahahaha! Yes, I’m up way too early…but there’s internet, I thought it was 6, it’s actually 5…time change today. I just got sniffed by Rocket as he sits and watches me type. We both had a long shower last night, hot water, luxury. Mike and I, not Rocket and I! I must smell better, do cats care? I may have to tackle the pay laundry today but I haven’t quite run out of shirts and underwear yet!
It’s what I miss the most, silly eh? aye? ye gads, don’t let me start saying huh? The fabulous washing machine. The ability to plunk smelly items in, pull clean ones out twenty minutes later and artificially heat them until they can be put back in the closet! I’m not a fan of the laundromat, the strangers, all looking at your underwear and sad bras…having to make small talk, ugh, yes, I am a misanthrope!
Oops, there goes my internet connection, I tried to do two things at once. Time to sign off, those eager happy faced campers must be getting up, and it’s raining. they all just turned on their smart phones;)
I felt sad last night. It’s been tougher acclimating than I thought and Mike is tired. That corridor is busy, he worries. I just navigate. Our next stop Monday is in Tennessee, hoping we can get INTO the spot. Mike read the state park was old and the turns tight. We’ll ask when we get there. Hopefully the sun will come out later and we can do some walking at Natural Bridge, it’s a beautiful spot. Even with people! Saludos amigos!
The leaves are still hanging on some of the oaks and sycamores in Virginia. We passed through four states in the last few days. The I 81 corridor takes you from Pennsylvania to Maryland, through a corner of West Virginia and then Virginia to those pillared mansions (they remind me of funeral homes!) and perfect four board horse fences that seem like they are out of a movie. It’s a busy corridor but the cats are becoming more accustomed to the traveling. They liked Chambersburg, Rocket even went out and sat on the picnic table for a few moments before slinking back inside. Brave, brave Sir Rocket we are calling him.
The traveling mewberries soaking up the first rays of sun
I wasn’t sure if the new cat tree would survive without tipping over but so far has been very steady and a place of refuge for Gamora from the wild boys, ok, Rocket, he’s the Loki, the mischief maker. I wandered around the nearly empty campground in the morning, listening to the new bird sounds. We were out in a big open area but many of the campsites were under the beautiful sycamore trees.
I approached a young woman changing the lit sign out front by the road, closed for the season, see you April 1st. She had plain clothes on and a bonnet, I thought perhaps the campground was run by Mennonites, she had the bonnet, but drove a golf cart, not Amish and later I read this is a big Mennonite farming area, why not run a campground, they espoused family values. I’d spoken to her on the phone she said. I was asking about an alternative route South to the I 81 to avoid Chambersburg but she shook her head and explained there were two one lane only bridges with humps that trailers got hooked up on, not to go that way, good thing we asked, no one likes getting stuck on a small bridge! Did you know there are websites for US cities that rate their livability and crime? Here’s Chambersburg! That was new to me, I was looking for more information on the Mennonites in the area. Their church was built in 1804 so they have been here awhile!
We have stopped at this campground, Twin Bridge, before but it was sold in 2017 and the new owners here have made significant improvements. I forgot to ask if they would take an overnighter going North in March but I can call them in the Spring. I had a long conversation with some colourful locals down at the creek, just a lot of quackery, you can groan now…
Our next stop was in Virginia, Endless Caverns RV resort, resort usually means more expensive…Ha! Our longest jump yet, three and a half hours, we were hoping the Mewberries were up to it. They were champs, only a bit of complaining as I broke out lunch, outraged no doubt that were were not stopping! Located off the I 81 in New Market I’d booked two nights here, we were ready for a non traveling day. Mike had to get his telescope mirror packed up and returned to Zambuto Optical in Washington State to be recoated so we thought we’d do that here, and send a big box off for Michael’s cousin’s son who was studying acting in L.A. and didn’t want to pack the 60 lbs (I KNEW it was heavy!) back to Germany, then back to Los Angeles. The trailer is now significantly lighter!
Mike wasn’t impressed by my rendition of Country Roads by John Denver, wrong state he said, but Shenandoah I replied! Ok, this is the Shenandoah Valley, not river, whatever! Very polite check in, camp host took us to our site, we back up to the forest, nothing could be nicer except a ban on leaf blowers;) Ok, people have to work but…cats don’t like them! Rocket went and hid under the covers, very scary noise! But he did finally go out once the clean up crews were done for his first walk! Nervous, but we got him out. Groot and Gamora were waiting at the door with glee and trotted back into the forest on their leashes to sniff everything, now this was a good spot they said! Chipmunks, squirrels the size of small dogs and birds!
Berries, berries, everywhere! A bird paradise!
It was nice to hear the familiar sounds of Red Bellied and Pileated woodpeckers. Even a Downy was foraging at a popular tree with seed pods. A Cardinal and Mockingbird flew past into the berry bushes and white throated sparrows flitted about in the berries as well. It was camera time! The sun was out after our trip into Harrisonburg to the UPS store, Kroger groceries (the carts are enormous! No small ones, I could fit a pony into one!) Lowes (looking for a single electric burner, left ours at home by mistake, I’ll get into that later) then Walmart, ugh, but found the burner, Verizon for a sim chip then home, to photograph the birds! Time ran out to see the caverns, but as we’re going to Carlsbad in New Mexico, hey, I’ll survive!
Yes, I really love these Red Bellied Woodpeckers. I was so sad when the pair didn’t come back to Long Lake. Maybe this Spring. Such striking birds and they really talk! I ventured out on one of the “nature” trails that runs around the campground. Most people we saw were driving around in golf carts, yes, this nation is WALL-E! Have you seen the movie? It reminds me of when the cruise/spaceship arrives back at Earth carrying all of the humans who evacuated Earth 700 years earlier. The people of Earth ride around this space resort on hovering chairs which give them a constant feed of TV and video chatting. They drink all of their meals through a straw out of laziness and/or bone loss, and are all so fat that they can barely move. Yup…the golf cart gangs of earth USA are here, and they are real! I discovered why I didn’t run into anyone on the nature path, no motorized vehicles allowed and it was rough. I don’t think anyone has been back there walking for awhile. It was actually a good workout, lots of steep uphill climbing in the carpet of oak leaves, lot’s of stumbling on my part, I shouldn’t walk looking up into the trees. I came across a beautiful Pileated woodpecker, I heard him first but the best birding was right behind the trailer. It felt good to move after sitting for four days!
Walking through the oak and sycamore forest it is apparent there has been a big wind event in the last few months. Trees are down everywhere, upturned root balls and broken branches, trees snapped off mid way. It wouldn’t be the best spot to be in storm! I sat behind the trailer after my walk and caught a glimpse of red in the berry bushes, a male Cardinal was foraging there. I followed him about, trying to get him in a patch of sun, he did finally sit still for a few moments!
Our time is changing this Sunday, tomorrow, a Facebook friend posted Don’t forget to set your clocks from sunshine and happiness back to misery and despair this weekend, made me laugh, thanks Debra. It was dark at 7:30 this morning here still so maybe it’s not a bad thing. Rocket was curled up in bed with us, he says he likes the King size bed, good for him to stretch out between us! Big Baby! As I sat watching the birds some movement caught my eye, another oak leaf falling I thought, but no, a butterfly landed on the cedar close to me, a butterfly in November I thought, pretty special. Find the small bits of beauty around you my friends and hopefully don’t despair too much with the time change! Saludos amigos!
So you read about him, or her in the news, the intolerant, the self righteous, all knowing American. Brandishing their weapons at the perceived trampling of their rights. We have them in Canada too. Angry people, just plain angry, sometimes they think they are funny, but they aren’t, they’re simply assholes.
A bit of beauty from a few days ago to counteract our first ugly American. Morning mists and early colour
We knew we’d get commented on for mask wearing just didn’t expect it at the first stop. Ran into a small corner grocery/gas store to get some fresh things we couldn’t take across the border when a greasy looking forty year old clerk/delivery driver told me he wanted to rip my mask off and give me a big kiss after holding his hands up in the shape of a cross asking if I had covid, where is my vomit emoji? I wanted to tell him I wasn’t the one he should fear, well, maybe not…It is a good thing humans are not mind readers. I was thinking if I could rip off his testicles, as he shouldn’t breed anyway, and shove them down his throat until he choked I might enjoy that. But as this is America, we passed our first gun store on the way in, I told him I wasn’t interested in acquiring his germs and said fuck you quietly under my mask. The Indian couple who were running the store seemed a bit taken aback by his comment, she was very nice. What IS it about some Americans, not all by any means, that want you to conform to what they do, their beliefs, yet blather on and on about their rights, land of the free. It doesn’t add up, shouldn’t everybody have the right to do what they need to do to protect themselves, without a gun? It is as if a certain segment have become the Borg…you will assimilate or be assimilated…nope. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no misandrist, man hater (yes,I had to google that!) just the stress of leaving and two carsick cats, Gamora drooling, rocket panting for three hours had me in a less than tolerant mood, I generally don’t think about eviscerating men;) Ha!
Mike was wondering why we came at this point shaking his head. He worries down here. Maybe after the initial shock of returning to the US in my teens has just never left me. I have always been wary. Maybe the wild west mentality never quite fizzled out. I’m wondering how it will go state by state. Upstate New Yawrk wasn’t the best start but there are nice, polite reasonable people everywhere, they just don’t stand out like the assholes do. Day four and we haven’t been shot at:) isn’t that reassuring, ha!
I’m looking at the sunrise outside Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the RV park here is pretty much empty, closed for the season the owner said yesterday, except to a few stopping overnighters. The water is still on, he said it had been so nice they’d been doing other work before getting to that, late freezes were holding off, there are still leaves on the trees in many places. A nice man, yeah!
I went into a grocery store, had a few odd looks, the teenage checkout boys looked at my Mexican shopping bag as if they’d never seen a reusable bag but everyone was polite about the mask. There were 874 deaths from covid in the US yesterday, a total of 1.07 million deaths overall from Covid in the US, that is massive. I stopped at what looked like it might be a liquor store, we are heading South, dry counties are worrisome so a bottle or two of wine might be nice, it might be medicine! Ha! I’d forgotten Pennsylvania’s liquor laws are as archaic as Ontario. Their complex alcohol laws can be traced back to the prohibition era. Spirits can only be purchased in the state liquor stores, but not beer, you can get that a bit easier, maybe not the best beer, but beer. The woman at the store selling beer looked stunned when I asked her where I could buy wine, like I was stupid, she warbled off a few names then dismissed me with her hand, she had work to do. OK. Now our archaic Canadian phone plans data had run out and I wasn’t really interested in purchasing more at $15 a day, damn you Koodo, so we resorted to searching the truck GPS, there was no liquor store listing so our search was hit and miss until we came upon PA Wine and Spirits.
We were tired, our jump had been a bit over three and a half hours, we’re working our way up here, cats were not too bad this trip, no drooling or howling from Gamora, Rocket slept on top of the carrier on his plushy asking for pieces of cheese at snack time, Groot usually rides shotgun between us but the traffic along the I 81 by Wilkes-Barre is heavy, a steady line of eighteen wheelers in the right lane and one with plastic flapping out the back of it’s open trailer that passed us was too much and he slunk behind the drivers seat for some peace and quiet, enough stimuli he said. How do parents do it?
Heavy traffic is stressful, so many idiots out there that never learned the fine art of merging! The big rigs are pretty damn polite as you watch them move over, then move back, maybe it’s just avoiding idiots who haven’t learned pedal to the metal when merging onto a 65 mph highway. We only have had one quick stop and four ways on when a car braked late at an accident and everyone got on their brakes. Mike was hoping the big truck behind us had good brakes too, day two had been drizzling, it was greasy out there, a few tense moments but he got stopped as well. So yes, tired. Mike dropped me off in front of where I thought you could buy spirits, a Giant grocery store, that was its name, and yes, it was a big grocery store. I was thinking I might need something a bit stronger than wine, maybe tequila at this point. Had I opened my eyes I might have seen the PA liquor store beside the grocery store, it seems minimal signs are a requirement for liquor sales here. I wandered about the grocery store, one can always use some cheese and I was thinking a rotisserie chicken might be a quick easy dinner I looked high and low before the young deli clerk pointed to bags, at the bottom of a heated counter, ah, roast chickens come in plastic bags here, so much to learn I told the kid, he didn’t smile, just looked stunned.
I found the liquor aisle, well, beer and wine anyway, sigh, found a few bottles of what was passable enough and a couple cans of Lagunitas beer for Mike, he would need one today and I pushed my small cart up to the cash. The cashier was standing out on the customer side, hands on her hips, as if waiting. She watched me place the bottles of wine, chicken and beer on the the rubber rolling belt before going back around to her cash and telling me “You can’t pay for those here…” motioning to the wine and beer. Then it was free I was thinking, that would be nice, knowing it was not. I had to take it back to the deli to buy it she proclaimed. Now, maybe as you had watched me place it on the rolling rubber conveyer belt you might have mentioned it sooner, no, she wasn’t very nice. At least there was not a lineup of people behind me waiting, thinking what was this ignorant Canadian doing, trying to check out with wine, what a fool! So back to the deli I ambled after reloading my cart and leaving smiley the cashier behind.
I waited in line, ID please, how nice I thought, I’m sixty plus and obviously don’t look a day over 20. You have to take it out of your wallet the cashier said, serious stuff, she punched in my birth date in her register. She scanned the three cans of beer, and then started on the wine, three bottles of wine and then said, you’ve reached your limit. But I haven’t even started drinking yet I thought! No, there is a limit on how much you can buy she replied as I must have looked like a stunned fish out of water, limit I repeated, yes, she said, choose what you want but only three bottles. Sigh…now I am holding up the line as people clutched at their choice of liquor. I made my choice, paid, and wandered out, and yes, I was the only one wearing a mask.
I had to google PA liquor laws when I came back to the trailer. It appears that grocery stores can only sell beer and wine if they have a seating area. I’d noticed five or six booths by the deli, thinking, ah, that’s nice, you could sit here and eat your bagged rotisserie chicken. It was, I presume used to circumvent the liquor laws as the deli was now an eating establishment…able to sell wine. I could have popped the cork right there and had a glass before shopping. Maybe it would have put me in a better mood!
Mike pointed out the PA liquor store when I got back out to the truck, sigh, I was OK with my three bottles of wine, I could get more tomorrow I laughed if I drank it all tonight! He did notice two other ladies coming out and going into the grocery store wearing masks, yeah! So much to learn.
1000 Islands Bridge to the USA over the Saint Lawrence River
I had been dreading the border crossing, I always do, force of habit, my mother was always smuggling something on the boat, pot or the guns, we were always on edge as kids. The two ladies at the US Customs booth were charming and delightful, I think the cats helped. They asked us the usual array of questions, weapons? No, fresh produce? No (Ok, so I did smuggle in two beautiful sweet potatoes and a 10 lb.bag of Munsen Farms red ones, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree) How many cats? Three Vaccinated? Yes, us and the cats, and she and her trainee wished us a pleasant journey and off we went, but, they have installed huge orange crash barriers at the exits. Mike managed to zig and zag around them but do people really run the border? Into the US? Makes you think. It was nice to encounter a smiling Customs and border agent.
Our first night we nearly made it to Mexico, Mexico New York that is! We wanted a short hop to acclimate the the traveling Mewberries to voyaging again and this was the only RV park I could find open. It was a seasonal campground, most of the rigs were closed up for the Winter. The owner showed us to our spot in his tractor and it was easy to get into, and out of. The wifi sadly was ineffective, don’t give me the code if it doesn’t work. I should have known by the list of personal wifi networks available in the area. We tried to get our US Verizon chip to work in our set up but gave up, even after the expert help of my brother, something isn’t working, we ate, and I was asleep by 7:30. Such a wimp.
Our next stop we’d been to before. They are open year round as there is a ski resort close by, Shady Rest Campground in Union Dale, PA. It’s lovely and wooded with full hook ups, I’d called ahead, self registration is at the door the lovely lady said, take spot 27 and you’re good! She had always been very nice! See! Nice people! The internet was fabulous until all the permanents came home later in the day, but at least it worked! The cats went out for a quick wander in the morning but the duck dynasty look alike next door fiddling around with his front jack had the them on edge. Rocket hasn’t gone out yet, big pollo, he does stare out the screen door, not pushing him, when he’s ready he’ll wander out on his leash. Gamora the warrior princess has no issues except with loud traffic, Groot had to sniff his truck and do a quick walk around our site, man in charge! The sun came out in the morning and we headed South again through the rolling hills, the ups and downs that are Pennsylvania.
The first two jumps were short but we opted for a bit longer one to Chambersburg, mostly based on where we can find a spot to camp this time of year. The state parks almost all close the middle of October so we’re obliged to seek refuge in RV parks, not always our favourite, but usually quiet this time of year.
The traffic was gnarly but after winding our way through the narrow streets of Chambersburg, always a thrill we arrived and settled in. The rest you know. We’ve been here before as well, I just don’t always remember, the parks tend to blend together after a few years of going back and forth to Mexico.The outstanding ones I recall, the rest, as I said, tend to blend together, I sometimes remember them from how difficult they are to access. Chambersburg is one of those. I’ll leave with this morning’s sunrise over the ridge. There are a lot more leaves still here, nice to see, and rolling farm country. Next stop-Endless Caverns, a new spot! Saludos amigos!
I could dig my shorts back out of the bottom drawer! Always a wonderful gift a few days of heat. The clouds have moved back in today but they’ll be gone again soon, no snow, no freezing temperatures, I think everything in nature is doing a little happy dance. I could do without the ticks, when I find one crawling on me I literally feel things for hours, crawling on me…yikes! Welcome to Canada! Land of bugs!
I’m not a bug-a-phobe by any means. I find them fascinating but I was surprised to learn these ladybugs, the hundreds of ladybugs invading the house and trailer currently, bite. So much for my ill conceived notions of the goodness of all those red and black spotted beetles. Its scientific name is Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) multicolored Asian lady beetle. The beetle is native to Asia (e.g. China, Russia, Korea, Japan), where it dwells in trees and fields, preying on aphids and scale insects. But these guys bite and secrete a stinky liquid ((volatile compounds used in defense against bird and other vertebrate predators) but are not dangerous, according to the news…not dangerous, holy fuck, a killer ladybug, is that what someone thought? and no, they don’t predict the weather or what kind of winter we’re going to have they are simply looking for some warmth and protection. Aren’t we all? and why are they here? During the 1960s to 1990s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture attempted to establish the Asian lady beetle to control agricultural pests, especially for pecans and apples. Large numbers of the beetles were released in several states including Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland. Someone it seemed had a “great idea”.
In Baja in November they would gather in the oak forests along the creek in the sun, hundreds and hundreds, clinging to the branches and rocks, looking as well, for that last bit of warmth. I’m no Buddhist but as long as you’re not crawling around in my bra, you might be a tick, I’ll keep putting you back outside when I can, if you start to bite, you’ll be staring Mr. Vacuum down soon!
If that is our only worry in life, I think we got off lucky!
Apparently my bird population prefers sunflowers seeds to ladybugs, something about that stinky liquid they excrete, like eating liver…I totally get it! Ha! They are madly taking seed, eating and storing it, I warned them, profit now or wait until March!
The November browns and grays have arrived as the leaves litter the forest floor. They are starting to crunch under foot. I don’t rake my lawn, we leave the leaf litter to decompose and provide shelter for the the many bugs that use it to overwinter. It makes soil as it slowly decomposes, it happens so quickly. Throw in a bit of moisture and we have the makings of new earth! There are one or two trees that are climate deniers…just kidding, they just are not ready to let go of their fabulous coats of leaves. I can see a stubborn paper birch down the lake flaunting it’s colour. There’s one in every crowd! The oaks are the last holdouts as well, especially the younger ones sprouting from the forest floor, they are bright red, the older oaks have now all turned brown as the forest fades away. The late day sun makes them more colourful than they are, everyday there are a few less leaves.
If you’ve got it, flaunt it! This yellow guy is outstanding in the crowds of browns!
Most ladybugs enter diapause over winter, a state similar to hibernation. They overwinter as adults, becoming active when the weather warms in spring so throwing them out the door probably isn’t the nicest thing to do but I’m not nice today, I just picked another one out of my bra, yes it’s a warm spot, no you are not welcome to spend the winter there. Even the cats ignore them now, yeah, red bug, whatever. I feel guilty, somewhat about leaving the longest winter months behind us but I have missed my brother. I don’t have a lot of family left so I am looking forward to seeing them again, maybe I should have asked if they want to see me! Ha! I will shower them with ladybugs in diapause if they are cranky!
I will miss this view, I’m already looking forward to coming home:) Saludos amigos!
Early morning mists winding their way through the pines
Some days you just know it might materialize, if only for a moment. I woke up with the 20.4 lb cat sitting on my chest, it’s hard to breathe when he does that, he still thinks he is little. He was gazing out the window, I saw the high clouds, they mean possible color and reflections on the lake surface. I moved him off me, he erfed, he doesn’t meow, he erfs (that is exactly what it sounds like! It may not be a word, it is now!) it’s like talking, he’s an orange cat, he’s weird!
I went down to the dock, picking my way over the heavily leaf covered stairs, the wind last night was howling sending the leaves flying in flocks across the sky. I sat down on the steps, I’d put a hoodie over my pyjamas, it was 4° celcius, a bit chilly, but not a breath of wind, so quiet, a distant honking goose occasionally broke the silence…and I waited. It was gray at first, with a tinge of apricot on the horizon, ha, apricot, OK, orange for you citrus lovers! And then I saw the sun start to hit the lower clouds, in a few moments it had worked its way up and a few minutes later, it was done. I sat for awhile as it became lighter and lighter, just enjoying the quiet. Mother nature is such an amazing artist!
Just before the colour hit the top clouds
They say patience is a virtue, I’d have to agree. Sometimes it is worth just sitting and waiting for the show to unfold, the plot to thicken, even if you are in your pyjamas. I don’t think I’ll get arrested at a state park if I rush out to do this as we go South. Sometimes there is no time, you just grab the camera and go! I suppose I could plan, make coffee, that would be very civilized but I was so warm and comfy, in the process of being smothered by Rocket!
If you haven’t ever owned a large orange cat, you should. There are entire Facebook pages devoted to them and their quirks. Some are cuddly, some are spicey, most of them are boys although there are orange girls, they are often quite large. Maybe we should have slowed down on the raw food, who knew we’d get a tiger cub instead of a cat. He used to be so brave as a kitten, forging friendships with everyone he met, dogs and even, gasp, toddlers! Maybe he’s going through his phase of being scared of everybody and everything, the Amazon driver is obviously here to pick him and return him to Pet Valu he thinks! I’m hoping he doesn’t get too freaked out as we go back to traveling, time will tell. Yes, he’s my boy! And weighing in at close to 20 lbs. is Groot in the right corner…now he, well is developing a certain pear shape that sometimes dictates a diet may be called for soon in the future! I made the mistake of giving them a few, 10 or 12 crunchies (they only get them as a treat) when I went to photograph the sunrise…once…it seems now they come to check every morning, just in case I might be getting up. Groot will also stand on you, staring, imploring you to wake up, those small pokey white feet with twenty pounds of orange and white tabby behind them…I think I have bruises!
Driving down those cottage lanes, that colour late in the day, the leaves glow, it never ceases to take my breath away. I’m not sure I’m going to get a calm sunny day, or even calm cloudy, no rain please day, for a paddle before all the leaves have settled on the ground, or water. A brave soul was out in their green canoe in the howling winds the day before yesterday, there were waves! I don’t do waves in the little red canoe! Wakes yes, waves no! The great mariner;) ha! I’m not ready to commit my remains to the bottom of Long Lake in a fall storm, you’ve heard the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald right!?! The winds were howling over the hill from the West, a good 35-40 knots in gusts, maybe more, one day I’ll get a wind speed meter thingamajig, when the gusts hit the water at the bottom, they actually disperse in two directions, I need to video it, absolutely fascinating how currents and obstacles work! All viewed from the safety and comfort of my chair!
The farm stands are full of pumpkins and other aliens, squash, gourds, nubby creatures from a possessed farmers field, they are weird and enchanting and well, alien, I’ll stick with that! We stopped to buy some straw bales to put over our water line from the well, it’s over rock, not that deep so something we do each year to keep it from freezing, it’s Canada…Minnesotans would understand!
OK, I get the pumpkins, I see a pie in my near future covered in whipping cream, the buttercups, butternuts and acorns roasted with butter and maple syrup…but the aliens? the gourds or squash or nubbly whatever they are called, can I eat them? (I’m a pragmatist) The bumpy oddly shaped and coloured ones lying about in the fields…are they simply alien decorations for Halloween and Día de los Muertos…or could they could be used as projectiles, fired at small children wearing Disney costumes? Only time will tell;) Ha!
We called Canadian Tire this morning, to inquire about our tires being replaced under warranty, no sign of them yet, it will dictate our departure date. They have doubled in price, shocked look, we do have six of them, at least only the front ones seem to be having a wear issue, actually, just one. The alignment was checked, it’s spot on, so it’s the tire. I am thankful Canadian Tire is so good and grand as to replace them free of charge. The trailer’s been checked. We have a gem of a service department at The RV Place on Highway 7…five star google reviews are rare and these guys are the cat’s meow, absolutely wonderful, that is a rare compliment from people who have full timed! I can count on one hand the places I’d ever go back to so thank you Blair, Selina and your techs, you guys are wonderful! If you need anything done to your trailer or rig, pay these people a visit! Our furnace now fires and runs, our cable on the bedroom slide cabinets is replaced and that weird do hickey that turns the gas off when you lower the cover/or open it for the stove is now functioning without me getting into the pot cupboard and jiggling it about while swearing at it. Pamela fixes…Ha!
We replaced one hub cover on the trailer suspension, it was leaking. They are oil bath hubs, used on big rigs and heavy duty commercial trailers. I made the mistake of posing a question on my DRV fixes Facebook group asking about part numbers, I always like to have a spare or two. The drama and fear, sigh, they are no good, they’ll lock up and tear your trailer apart and on and on and on…I actually removed the post the answers were so irritating, yes, you have to check them, and fill with oil as needed…nothing is truly maintenance free or are they all too old and lazy to actually get down on their knees and check them is my thought;) Watch us lose a bearing this trip! Ha! Hopefully didn’t just jinx us! Turns out the o ring was split in the one that was leaking, easy fix. No offense to old people but why all the fear? It’s one thing I don’t enjoy about our traveling South, no one down there says have a good time or enjoy yourselves have fun!…it’s BE careful!
Pretty in the colors, wind blew all these leaves away yesterday
It was raining this morning, cats are stubborn, wanted to go out. They sat in the alcove for a few minutes then one by one dashed and ran out to the trailer, home #2. Time to go sit and check out the US Customs website to see what and what we can’t bring across the border. Obviously no fresh food, but one trip they confiscated our rice, was it fried rice day at the customs house? No worries, go take some from a rv’er, they’ll have some! It had been imported and packaged in the US I pointed out politely, to no avail, they WANTED our basmati rice come hell or high water…enjoy! We’ll see what new items online I should not bring aboard!
I shall keep you posted, when you see pictures of highways, or people, I don’t generally do people, my brother and I are confirmed misanthropes, or leaves that are green you’ll know we’ve entered the realm of the yankees. Stay tuned, saludos y abrazos!
I’d hoped the wind would hold off on this sunny day but it looks like it’s raining leaves as I look out the window. Some trees are bare this morning where yesterday they were covered in red maple leaves. I just want a moment of sun, calm and colour, together, for one last fall paddle down the lake. I’ll even take cloudy, calm and colour at this point!
Our kilometer road in is a kaleidoscope of Fall colours. The swamps have the reds and burgundies, the paper birch are the bright yellows, the maples range from green to orange, yellow and red, absolute wonder at the striking variety and shades of Autumn. But it all fades so quickly. Damn! We have a friend, who loves to walk quickly, for exercise, I just can’t do it, how could you not look up and marvel at the beauty. You miss so much by not slowing down and savoring this season.
Looking up and marveling
Walking out to get the mail takes me awhile! Ha! All the curves in the road, there are swamp edges to tromp off into, if tromp is a word, if not, it’s one now! Trying to get that perfect angle with the all the reds and not falling into the rather odiferous swamp, wow, they amaze me. There is one maple every year that bursts out in yellow with red edges, astounding! Worth wet toes any day!
The colour, astounding!
Is it so special because it is so short a time we get to see this or is it simply mind bogglingly beautiful, or all of the above. I feel the same way about the various greens in the Spring. It isn’t just green, it’s a myriad of shades of green from bright lime new green to older dark shades and everything in between. I love colour. How they mix, or clash, how they harmoniously dance together in a waltz or hit you over the head with head banging hard rock tones! Ha! Colour and music, go together, but out in the forest now it’s very very quiet. The rustle of leaves in the breeze, and occasional chickadee, everyone else has headed South, just the stalwart black and whites, the tuxedo birds remain!
So there are a few shades of beige there as well! The Goldfinches have vanished but they’ll be back, and the red polls will also arrive. I may miss them!
It doesn’t mean I haven’t been out on the lake, I did get a spin in the bay before the clouds moved in late one afternoon. The reflections were so beautiful, and again, that quiet. I heard the Barred Owl way in the distance and we had a single Loon swimming about, he/she gave a few sad wails before sunset and then it flew off, flapping its wings for what seemed forever as the webbed feet look like they are doing a Fred Flintstone car acceleration!
The lone Loon, stretch that foot out!
I missed the Loon family, maybe next year we’ll have a successful couple start a family. It is disheartening reading the World Wildlife report this week: Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions. Unsustainable human activity is pushing the planet’s natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge. As a result, global populations of vertebrate species have declined by an average of 60 per cent in less than 50 years. I had to stop reading at one point I felt so very sad and powerless. I keep thinking if just a few people see these pictures of this beauty it can change minds, buy less, recycle more, want less. We can be happy with less. Enjoy the tiniest things in life, a bug, a mushroom, stop and look and marvel. Cherish every smile, every hug, these cost the world nothing. Think before you HAVE to have a new this, or a new that, can you make do with what you have? We are seeing the end of an era and I hope for the sake of the following generations we have not already started it down a disaterous path it can’t return from. Humans don’t learn from their mistakes, it seems we are fated to make the same errors over and over, until we are gone. I hope something remains other than old concrete blocks and a discarded cell phone found petrified in a piece of rock…Ha! Think about it…
My grandfather once told me there was no shame in getting your hands dirty to make a living. I worked retail at first. Long hours, often seven days a week. I wanted to do well. As manager I unloaded trucks alongside everyone else in my crew. My goal was never to ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t. I did get a bit grimy, not like the farming we did later in life where you had hay in every crack in your body, every crack, I swear to you, I crapped hay after loading and unloading those hay wagons. Never has bathing been such a luxury! Now it seems no one can find anyone to do these jobs. Their Grandfathers obviously didn’t tell them what mine told me.
Mike is a bit worried how the Traveling Mewberries will take to riding the roads once again. It’s been two years and more since they’ve sat in the truck overseeing their servants. I think they’ll be fine, a new feliway has been purchased and rescue remedy is at hand so hopefully we can keep the first day carsickness to a minimum, and wait until breakfast has settled before we leave on that tiny windy road! Maybe I should wear a giant plastic rainsheet, the roll of paper towels will be on hand. Just like when I was a kid, first day at sea was always the worst after being in port for awhile! Lurp…..
I have thought of every conceivable way to take the little red canoe with me, everyone deserves a vacation but it just won’t fit! It will get a good polish, pat and wax though before hibernation! The red bench will miss it but they’ll be reunited in the early Spring! For now, as we wait for tires, our last necessity, I’ll enjoy those early foggy mornings and wisps of pastel colours coloring the sky but it isn’t goodbye, it is see you later. Saludos amigos!
Mystical magical misty mornings-that’s a lot of m’s
How does it all creep up so fast, the golden leaves, the reds, oranges and yellows, interspersed with the green still hanging on. We had our first sign of frost this morning as I went down to watch the mists drifting across the the flat surface of the water, as if propelled by themselves, as there wasn’t a hint of wind. How do they do that? Maybe they are the mist fairies, Tuatha Dé Danann are an elvish supernatural race from Irish mythology. Féth fíada, this word is used to describe a kind of mist that ensures that the Tuatha Dé Danann are invisible to the human race. I knew it!
Are there fairy people hiding under this? ha!
It has become very quiet, no sound of hummingbird wings, they went South nearly a month ago. I miss the constant bickering of the Orioles as well. The chitter of chickadees and the occasional raucous squawk of a bluejay surrounds the feeder. The White Breasted Nuthatches are fighting among themselves for their social position in their world. The forest seems so empty, but it’s not. With the rains have come the miracles that spring from the ground, mushrooms! Everywhere you step there is another yellow, or red cap, sometimes gold, they have their fall colours on as well.
It truly has only been Fall for, let’s see, eleven days now. September 22 at 9:24 p.m was Fall equinox. Seems longer! I haven’t been poking around much, too busy writing, even ignoring my blog, sigh, it’s time to get back outside exploring, the bugs are gone, no deer flies to terrorize me and I’m pretty much done sailing ’round the world, proofreading still to come, then what, well, one step at a time!
Those little things in life are often the most interesting, not saying a spectacular sunrise isn’t fabulous as well but we so often miss what is not obvious. Our Dark Fishing spider moved out of the cucumber plant, just in time, frost got it last night. She’s been there all Summer, raising her brood, I checked on her from time to time, raising the leaf she was behind. In the morning her babies would all be in a ball, if disturbed, they’d scatter, a defense mechanism no doubt. Fascinating our world.
We’ve had a few crazy storms, one had rain and lake water sailing cross the horizon like a hurricane, memories from old for me but it only lasted a few moments. We sat and watched, feeling safe and warm, behind our window, marveling at the power of nature. We are lucky, I’m sure some aren’t feeling too good about the powers of nature recently. We need to respect it, maybe we have forgotten just how powerful it is.
Wicked winds in a thunderstorm-this is not speeded up!
Our view changes so quickly, from clouds to sun, reflections to haze in a never ending slide show. Absolutely amazing. I look out every morning at dawn, I have but to lift my head, is it spectacular enough to get up for? This particular morning even Mike nudged me and said, yup, I think you’ll want to get up for this one!
Now which month in the Calendar shall it be, maybe the cover as well! Little Red Canoe 2023! I have to admit to feeling a bit restless this Fall. Two years of staying put perhaps is itching at my gypsy soul. To wander, or not to wander, this is the question. I was cold last night, I climbed into the tub to soak. I felt so fortunate, hot water, hot fresh water, I’m still grateful after decades for this marvel. Maybe it’s been reliving my experiences as a child and young adult that has me feeling so grateful for the life I lead and maybe it poked the wanderlust flowing through my veins, I’m thinking, it probably never left!
Summer to Fall. I’m waiting for that windless day to paddle the lake, catch the last of the dragonflies, there are a few Autumn Meadowhawks still around, they aren’t lining the trees but closer to the ground. An occasional butterfly passes by, it seemed to a quiet Summer for them, maybe I need to plant more flowers! Or the Orioles ate them all! Ha! I missed our gray tree frog family in the cushion bin this year. I saw a few very small babies on the windows catching bugs, the cats watch them intensely, and as I sat on the steps looking out at the lake I noticed this beauty on the rock, perfectly camouflaged!
Those small things…which are not our cats by the way. Mike bought a scale, ugh, I refuse to climb on it, vicious hideous lying thing, but we did weigh the large orange boys, Groot weighed in at 19.7 lbs, before breakfast, Rocket was close to 21…ye gads, we must stop feeding these creatures! Just kidding. Rocket is three now, there is no fat there, he is a BLOB…big long orange boy, Groot, well, we may have to start to watch his waistline, he’s getting a wee bit pear shaped, evident in the way he looks like a raccoon when he runs, Gamora seems tiny at 10.6 lbs.
They do run around outside, supervised, mostly chased by Mike, the cat eating human they say when he runs at them. Groot has taken to running back at him, I will attack hooman! He’s brave, Rocket, well, brave isn’t in his vocabulary, big is, nose biting is, just not brave. Gamora, she’ll take on the world without giving it a 2nd thought most of the time, unless she smells bear…inside, now! Smart girl. We wonder how they’ll take to traveling again, maybe a few trial runs around the block first! They were raised doing it, so it will remain to be seen.
Here is my bird round up, a goodbye to some, and hello to others. The woodpeckers are back from the forest, both Hairy and Downy. The Pileated I’ve seen but not close, and sadly no sign of the Red Bellied either, maybe another year a pair will find these woods.
The American Goldfinches are changing colours, they’ve cleaned out all my sunflowers, I actually didn’t plant any, they sprouted from uneaten seed, buried by mice and chipmunks no doubt, or maybe it fell from last years plants. Next year I’ll plant some, especially for them.
So that is it for today, I have some rambunctious cats that need to run around for a bit outside. Rocket has been sprayed about a hundred times so far this morning. Mike is having a wheel sensor repaired on the truck, hopefully he’ll be back soon before more fur flies. These guys, like thoroughbreds, those of you that have owned them know exactly what I mean…DO NOT DEVIATE from my set schedule…ever!
Stay warm and we’ll keep you apprised of the future travels of the Astrogypsies! Abrazos amigos, yeah, I really do think I need a taco al pastor soon!
I went down early thinking it would be cool, it was not, warm mists over the lake
We wait all year then it’s here, why do we always forget about the bugs though! Ha! and sweating, I could fill the lake after the last few weeks, you know it’s been hot when 65° or 18° celsius feels cold! Just when the last remnants of my tick bites have disappeared I battle the deer flies. Now, my husband and I can walk out at the same time and there isn’t a single bug around him, they are ALL surrounding me…waiting to land and take out a chunk of flesh that leaves huge welts and itchiness for weeks. ARGH!!!! I love dragonflies…they eat deer flies, they are my friends, now and forever!
The variety and colours are never ending, ladies and gents of the same species are often quite different! I’m on a hunt for the cyclops dragonfly, also known as the Common Green Darner, one eye, I am not kidding, stay tuned! I’m just not quite ready to venture near the swamp, deer fly territory! Maybe I can find one alongside the lake!
It’s been a very quiet Summer for us for butterfly wise, they have flitted through without much stopping, I heard they have seemed to be quite late this year. I’ll check at the barn at the end of the week, the swallowtails love the manure pile/ponds after the rains, full of nutrients!
Our mangled beak Ruby Throated Hummingbird has truly taken over the yard, I can’t call him scarface so Captain Crookedbeak it is! He has a nice harem and lots of juveniles are showing up. Did you know that adult Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, are sexually dimorphic i.e. the adult male and adult female are different in external appearance. However, young males “masquerade” as females until their first winter, at which time they attain adult male plumage. This can make ageing and sexing difficult during summer and fall after young of the year have fledged. So, boy or girl, take a wild guess! They say it makes the young males lives easier, pretending to be females in the beginning. Captain Crookedbeak does NOT care, everyone but his select ladies is “outta here!”
You can tell the juveniles, they try every flower, no matter how difficult the landing, it’s worth exploring until Captain Crookedbeak comes and chases them off, then they wait, and come back when he is busy chasing someone else in the other direction, he exhausts me just watching him!
The first batch of Baltimore Orioles have come and gone. They are pretty silly to watch. Dad seemed to feed them mostly at first them Mom would occasionally bring one by the jam jar. It was teaching them how to get to that jam jar themselves that Dad was having issues with…”NO! I’m TOO scared Dad!” you could see them saying…”Have kids they said! It will be fun they said!” you could see him thinking that, sarcastically! Ha! Mom is back on the nest again I think, or gone to Florida on vacation with the kids! Dad still comes frequently to the jam, he’s let me know, raspberry jam only, don’t try and foist that orange marmalade nasty rindy stuff (which he loved last year) on him, yuck, and no strawberry either! President’s choice raspberry mostly fruit for him he says! Yes sir!
Like an Oriole soap opera, “As the Jam turns, Oriole Place, A day in the life of an oriole, Oriole Abbey…I could go on. I won’t ha! Yes, I’m easily amused!
Not everything has been flying by, but mostly! Sometimes things also flap, out of water. Groot’s special treat is getting to go down to dock, all alone, well, with us, just not his other “baby” siblings that don’t know how to behave, have no decorum and frankly he says, are embarrassing! He has rules, it just seems the other two are not inclined to follow them. Rocket has no concept of personal space, we all have a friend like that right? Even after repeatedly getting whacked for encroaching in Groot’s personal space he looks so hurt and confused “Why he no like me?” Should have called Groot Les, Les Nessman. Some of you will know what I’m talking about, lines drawn around office desk…knock before crossing that line! Ha!
Meanwhile…back at the ranch, house…Orange cats are special! Ed.
This cat lies in the sun when it’s 85° out, he was raised by a Burmese cat that is obvious! The only thing that alarms him is delivery guys who knock (or the sound of tires on gravel), Mike did say he was going to give him away when he was a bad kitten, he hasn’t forgotten, today could be the day, and the vacuum. He hides under the comforter on the bed. I feel endlessly guilty for terrorizing him once a week, OK, once every ten days! He’s my boy! We just weighed him…20.6 pounds, no fat. What did we do to deserve a tiger in our midst?
This is summertime. We fixed a hydraulic hose on the trailer, found the front jacks all the way down one morning and tracked down the suspect fitting, a pool of hydraulic fluid is always a dead giveaway. Took it into town to our tractor hose guy, $60 later and a hose that’s three times as strong we now have it leveled back up, you do have to spend the prerequisite amount of time gossiping with the hose guy as well, part of doing business! Better than the $250 mobile call to examine the problem, and the $250 call to fix it after it has been diagnosed. That seemed pricey but I suppose they charge what they have to. We’ll save that for the serious stuff! Still have to fix the wire on the small bedroom slide (one broke) and figure out where the mattress is leaking (It’s an air one) and then there are the ants……small potatoes! We’ll get it done!
This is also summertime…
That late day light and storm clouds
Best time to swim, or take a paddle around, so calm you can see the fish under the canoe. Soon enough the heat will dissipate and those first chilly mornings will bring the fog across the lake, like tomorrow night, they are calling for 7° celcius (44°!!!!) Whaaaatttt? Sigh. Canada. In the meantime we will enjoy that heat and bugs and chipmunks, these three will anyway, the survivor chipmunks of this year are smart and savvy, that’s not to say that cats don’t dream though!
The early morning rodentia torture squad is hard at work…
Saludos amigos and stay tuned for a trip around the lake-hasta pronto!
It arrived with the solstice on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 5:14 a.m. Summer. Cold beer, canoe paddling, mosquitos, more of them anyway, did I mention this has been a horrendous year for those biting cretins! Mike can stand in the same spot as I can and they fly right by him, it’s like I am glowing a bright red for them, just not fair.
Get out those non deet sprays. Summer storms, summer rains, summer babies. It’s all coming! It’s here!
Lightning from a passing thunderstorm
It’s been awhile since I’ve been sick, with the mask wearing and being careful, no one wants covid. I didn’t get that but another virus had me sweating in the middle of the night, then teeth chattering with the chills for days on end, not fun at all, there went the bottle of Ibuprofen:) It’s set me back more than I thought, lack of energy but hey, if I’m going to sit I mind as well photograph dragonflies and hummingbirds right?
We have a couple of male Ruby Throated guys guarding the feeders, one in front, one in back. When I looked carefully I realized the guy out back was here last year. His bill is deformed, from perhaps an accident, or dueling for a lady no doubt, these are macho little birds. I’ll be calling him Scarface, or a suitable pirate name maybe, Errol perhaps, it has a sophisticated ring to it! Ha! The ladies have been shy, I see them but they zip away when I bring the lens up, the boys, no.
It is a great place to check names of bugs and flowers, everything really. They are not always 100% correct but someone will usually let you know if you get it wrong!
What gets me with the dragonflies is the males and females can look completely different, I’m learning who’s who, little by little! The Bright Green Pondhawk showed up for the first time this morning, will have to make a trip to the swamp when the sun comes back out! Have to love bugs with racing stripes!
The slower moving visitors have been the snapping turtle ladies, looking for a spot to lay their eggs. One lady turtle tore apart one of the rock gardens, goodbye flowers, for now, but I didn’t see it until the masked bandits dug up the eggs and feasted on them. Then two more ladies decided it was a lovely spot, premium real estate, nice view, soft dirt to deposit their brood so I now have the eggs covered up to keep them out of the raccoons hands!
We had a little painted turtle wandering around as well so maybe there are some wee eggs deposited somewhere else as well. Baby painted turtles are about the cutest thing EVER! We found one a few years back making it’s way to the lake.
Today doesn’t feel like Summer, I have a sweater on, it’s drizzling. We’ve been bouncing from very very warm days to ones like this, I guess it is normal, somewhere in-between would be nice! Hey, at least it’s not snowing right? No hard frost so far in June:) You can tell when you’re Canadian! Ha! No hard frost in June, or flurries! I admit the garden work has gotten away from me, we’re working on the all natural weeds and wildflowers look! What is wrong with that? The head flew off the weed whacker last week into the yonder tangle of bushes, I looked but the black raspberries tearing me to shreds had other ideas so the new one I ordered just showed up, we’ll tackle that another day, I’m beginning to enjoy my collection of daisies and milkweed! Keep checking for Monarch caterpillars!
As I read about these wildflowers and the ways they have been used for centuries by indigenous people it is truly remarkable what can heal us, and they are all around us! Well, not all certainly! The Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris) for instance is a beautiful wildflower but the juice of the plant is semi-poisonous to livestock, causing blistering. So, don’t eat this one! Oils in the plant, probably present in the leaves and stems, can cause abdominal pains if consumed. When eaten by animals, the buttercups have caused diarrhea and blindness. Nasty! Yellow Salsify (Tragopogon dubius) flowers open in the morning and close by mid afternoon. The basal leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Native Americans ate the roots, which are best cooked, and are said to taste like oysters! Pilosella caespitosa or Meadow Hawkweed has, in the past, been used for healing eyesight and Bladder Campion, the young shoots and the leaves may be eaten raw in salads. The older leaves are usually eaten boiled or fried. Who knew! A whole salad bar awaits us!
Bugs wise, there have been a few bumblebees, a tricoloured and three lined potato beatles having a rave/orgy on my tomatillo plants! They were removed and asked to get a room elsewhere please! The Little Wood Satyrs are flitting about, they do dance in the woods but not sure if they are a class of lustful, drunken woodland gods. A few Swallowtails and one Luna moth. One thing missing, hundreds of Gypsy Moth/LDD Caterpillars, looks like their three year cycle is over, for now. Will have to do a bug crawl soon as well as a search for mushrooms. The ticks have been bad this year, hate picking those buggers off me! The inevitable here if you are poking about in the bush!
The Ink caps are growing in their normal spot by the base of the old maple and a ring of Golden Waxy Cap (Hygrocybe flavescens) are forming around another old maple. I thought I’d found a new mushroom but it turned out to be a type of lichen, Many-fruited Pelt Lichen, growing on the rocks, very cool. The Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata) or Sheathed Woodtuft (Kuehneromyces marginellus) behind the woodshed had a very odd olive green sheen to them, we won’t be trying those ones;) and not a single morel to be seen…sigh…one day again we’ll find some!
This Gray Rat Snake was almost six feet long when it stretched out across the lawn! It scared the crap out of Groot as he was sniffing in the rocks, he must have touched it’s tail, as it rattles it like a rattlesnake and Groot leapt up about two feet and backwards simultaneously! Missed that shot! She sunbathes regularly on the rocks, I always say hello and move on so not to disturb her. A few garter snakes have been rescued from Rocket’s jaws, as well as a frog but it has been quiet reptile wise. Once again, it was a rough cold Winter so not sure how that affects all these beautiful creatures. I’m waiting for my tree frog family to show up, I hear them, as well as the bullfrogs down at the lakes edge once it is dark. So much life.
We have a Beaver pair that come out late in the day, swim around in front of the dock having a tête-à-tête before helping themselves to some nice juicy weeds. The muskrat occasionally buzzes them before diving. I’m surprised the Kingbird pair that have built their nest on the old cedar overhanging the lake haven’t chased them off, they do pretty much that to everything else from dragonflies to grackles even the Osprey gets the gears! A new bird showed up as well, maybe it’s always been here but I just saw it, a beautiful Great Crested Flycatcher, bug eaters are always welcome around me!
Time to get paddling, waiting for a nice calm day to go explore and see if the Loons and the Osprey are nesting. No sign of the Bald Eagle but the water babies/food are not out yet. We’ll see. Working on restoring the energy levels to where they were two weeks ago. Con tiempo! I missed a few doozy sunrises while sweating away with a fever but captured this one before I got sick, Mike nudged me and said “You might want to get up for this one!” I did and then he rolled over and went back to sleep, it was spectacular. Looking forward to many more of these. Saludos amigos-hope you enjoyed the novel;) ha!
It seems like it takes about four days from the first little maple leaf unfurling to the greening of the countryside. It is mind boggling how quickly it happens. After driving by bare trees for months, damn, it seems longer, it finally is green! It’s a blow to the senses in many ways. So much is happening, the return of the snow birds (migrants, lucky birds!) the first hummingbird, the first oriole, the first swallow…and on and on. The air is thick with song, absolutely joyful!
It’s hard to believe it was snowing five weeks ago, yes, snowing. We could still get a freeze, or a flurry, right until the end of May…Winter is lurking! NO! Nests! Everywhere, the blue eggs of Robins, small squawking blue jays, they are already the size of their parents, they a head start though!
Some birds have become very quiet, other not so. The Orioles in particular are quite loud and bossy. Trilling at me if I’m sitting too close to the feeder. We have a whole gang of them, perhaps last years babies are back as well!
The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are always a delight to see. We have three males vying for one lady it seems. Their song is so sweet! You can listen on All About Birds here!Beautiful music! And that colour! The Mrs. is so many shades of delightful brown and cream but the boys are the lookers! They are fun to watch, they bicker a bit but not to the extent that many males do. It’s have a seed at the feeder, and share!
The there is the slew of LBB’s, little brown birds! I do love the return of the Chipping Sparrow, I used to call they chirping sparrows, get your glasses on Pamela! The combination of grays and browns is so striking! We’d get these guys in Baja only in the Winter!
…and how do they go from eggs to babies to flying so fast? These robin eggs were on top of an old electrical box at Jennifer’s barn less than three weeks ago….and now this! They are flying, oddly, upside down and backwards, but doing their best to both impress, and distress mother!
Mother Nature works quickly in the Spring it seems! The woodpeckers have become very quiet…except…for the rather impressive pummeling on the wood siding by a very handsome Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker, sometimes he drums on the steel roof as well, what is he, a Calypso steel drum player? They are enjoying the maple sap, they have a little line of holes drilled that the butterflies feed at as well! There has sadly been no sign of the Red Bellied Woodpecker, maybe they took advantage of the hot real estate market and moved away! The Downys and Hairys are bickering with each other, guess it’s time the kids moved out, maybe the nest hole needs remodeling, I dunno! Ha!
The rest of the supporting cast are busy. The American Goldfinches are in breeding colours, the Chickadees are regulars as well at the feeder, not quite as busy as in the Winter but there is so much more to eat now, start with the mosquitos please! Never seen them so bad as this Spring.
The goons are nearly gone, yes, The Common Grackles, Count Gracula and his flock of greedy seed eating relatives. My seed bill has gone down by half now! There are a few Red Winged Blackbirds about, I do love the ladies so, those tones of brown and black are stunning! Most of the boys are off in the swamp singing their hearts out but a few stop by to visit.
No sign yet of the resident Bald Eagle, I may have to paddle down the lake and explore their haunts there, as well as the Osprey nest. The Osprey is a regular at sunset. The Eastern Kingbird pair chased him away yesterday, ballsy little birds!
Osprey on a rainy day
I can hear the Barred Owls hooting away to each other and the Whippoorwills are back as well, such beautiful evening serenades! One day I’ll get a shot of those owls! It has been quiet predator bird wise, a few cries from a Red Tailed Hawk last week but I think everyone is busy nesting!
A few new guys have shown up, or maybe I have just not noticed them before! I listen for the different songs and wonder, who was that? A fabulous Yellow Warbler caught my eye out the window the other day, and I was sitting, forever, waiting for the Kingbirds to return to a nest they are building on an overhanging cedar at the lakeshore and a Red Eyed Vireo sat on a branch right beside, almost too close to get a shot! What a beautiful bird! The Eastern phoebes are on bug patrol…they are my friends! Get those damn mosquitos!
…and then there are the beautiful Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. These little flying wonders are what sparked my interest in photography many years ago in Baja. Although we only have the one variety here, they are gorgeous when the light is just right! I’ve called the resident male Dirty Harry, he’s always giving me the look…like…piss off lady and quit moving the feeders around! He has reason, I did move the feeder to beside the lilac and it worked, he took a look, and also beside the new hanging basket…ha! Got you you little rascal…and this is the look I get! Even though I keep those feeders fresh and filled!
Dirty Harry look or what? Is that green or is that GREEN!
I’m still working on getting a shot of the Mrs. She is about but busy I am sure building her nest. They are single working mothers, the boys do their fun business then buzz off to protect their territory, the hell with raising kids! There are several boys about, one is definitely quite a bit smaller than Dirty Harry. I’ll keep that camera pointed on those sunny mornings, nothing like coffee and hummingbirds to start your day. I’ll leave you here, there are still wildflowers and dragonflies and lake mists, eclipses, thunderstorms and, well…much more! Also, very weird mushrooms, still looking for morels! Ha! and Samoa, Fiji and the Cook and Tongas. I’m busy writing about those childhood adventures as well but too much sitting makes Pamela crabby!
Funny my last blog was “What is it we really need to live?” Ha! Power is nice! We lived off grid for over a decade in Baja. When you are responsible for your own power and water you can get quite creative! We lost power on Saturday afternoon after a line of severe thunderstorms passed over us. It was the first time I have heard a warning come over the cell phone, something new. It came on quickly, howled like hell, and was over in an hour for us. All limbs intact, all maple tree limbs intact, yes some storm pruning (next Winters kindling!) but nothing large came down. The storms a month ago took care of most of those “I’m dead and ready to fall” trees! We had “storm light” compared to those a bit further North of us where the radar colours were in the truly scary savage range! and so, out went the power, on went the thinking caps when the update to power returning started to loom further and further ahead.
Settled into a camping spot in British Columbia-Our rolling home!
We have our trailer, aka, the rolling house! Yeah! I just realized I don’t take many pictures of it! With batteries and an inverter my wonderful brother installed for us! GO “Offshore Outfitters” and we have our trusty little two decade old Honda generator….and we had gasoline! What we didn’t have, was propane, well, we did, but it was at about 1% and lasted an hour, before running out, and we had a propane leak.
The first day we were not too worried, surely Ontario Hydro would get things up and running, until we realized the extent of the damage. The cell towers were out so we resorted to the local radio station, Lake 88.1 FM for updates, it sounded grim.
Then we looked at the two 40 lb. tanks, something in the back of mind remembered they were close to their expiration date…yup…they actually expired at the end of 2020 and we’d filled them just before that. I looked online, gasped at the price ($350 each!) said a few choice words about RV dealers and got on the phone while Mike waited at Canadian Tire for the small BBQ tank to be filled. There was a line up in fact, at the propane refill, the large Superior propane truck was pulling away as we arrived having just filled Canadian Tire’s up! There was also a line up for gasoline. All the stations with no power, well, weren’t pumping gas so people came to Perth from Carleton Place and even Ottawa to fill up. That’s when we realized how extensive the power outages were! Now, back to those tanks! I had read they can be reconditioned so I started calling around to the various propane suppliers and asking. Yes, one very lady said at Dicola’s where we get our diesel, we can send them away, it could take a week, or six weeks, and with shipping, it may cost more than a new one…sigh…OK…called LeVac Propane in town. They could send them away she said, but, they just had a shipment of 40 lb. reconditioned tanks arrive and would we like one? for $65…YES! TWO Please! Plus they would give us $5 each for the old tanks! So off we went, bought the tanks, had them filled at a bargain price and now we had to take care of the leak. We had known the switch valve had been acting up as when you unhooked one tank, you could still smell propane coming out of the unhooked line, even though the switch was on the other tank. Levac had a switch, but the lines were the wrong size. Just go to “Golden Triangle Plumbing” in Smiths Falls the lovely lady said, that is where we get our fittings! The thought of avoiding an RV dealer made my day! Off to Smiths falls we went, bought the valve, had a nice pulled pork sandwich at Hanks Fries (he makes his own and will add fried onions if you ask! Yum!) and came home. Took the lines off the old valve, applied leftover from Baja yellow propane tape and we were up and running! After a bit of running around, but it had to be done. We were propane powered!
We left our freezer in the basement alone, it’s fairly new and seals well. After removing everything from the house fridge/freezer and placing it in the trailer we realized the trailer fridge is about the same size as our house one, just a different shape! And we turned the inverter on, ran the generator to charge the batteries, then took the generator to outside the crawlspace/basement door plugged the freezer into the generator and ran it for an hour a day to keep things nicely frozen.
Now water, the pressure lasted the first day then it turned into the bucket brigade up all those steps from the lake. Who needs a gym when you do this! Ha! Two buckets at a time, for washing up and toilets. Now drinking water we had some of so we were fine, we have wine! Wait, I can’t brush my teeth in that, maybe white wine? All kidding aside, I function on my morning coffee! We begged and borrowed drinking water from those fortunate enough to have power, lucky sods! Problem solved. A friend even sent a link to a hand pump you can install on your well head-something to think about in the future! Back to basics! Keeping it simple!
Steps up to the house…a workout!
Lights…well, nothing like a oil burning lamp and a gallon of lamp oil to keep you from running into things as it got dark! Candles, surely the cats won’t burn down the house? What more can you do?! Flashlight! Check! LED lights! Check! We are good to go!
Cooking…nothing like having a burner on your BBQ! Also, the trailer has a three burner stove and a oven if needed! Time to eat things out of the fridge! Inventive eating as well! One pot meals:) Get cooking Mike!
Bath time!
Cleaning, well, back to the bucket brigade and nothing like a bracing swim to wash your hair! It’s like having a giant bathtub! A giant COLD bathtub! OK, it’s lake, even better, pet fish to talk to! The Rock Bass is currently guarding her nest by the swim ladder!
No internet! Ha! What are those funny rectangular things with pages called again? Yes! Books! We did get minimal service back once the cell towers got their power back! Everything runs on power! Always nice to have for an emergency! My computer actually has a back up battery, it’s an all in one, so I could down load my photo files to look at. All that time to photograph things! Woohoo! I did some hummingbird stalking! Placing the feeder by the lilac blooms worked brilliantly!
Stalking hummingbirds! Hanging the feeder by the Lilac bloom worked well!
The bad thing about no power is we have no time pieces, except the phone! Our toaster oven and microwave are our timepieces! So, at light, I wake up, at dark, go to bed. Cats were ecstatic! Food earlier! At dawn! Yeah! No sunrises missed this week! I guess Mother Nature decided to throw me a few real doozies for all that waking up early! What a treat! So, looks like I’ll be getting up early for the next few months! At least the coffee is easy to make now and I’ll be fueled for the day! Saludos y abrazos amigos! I have a nice bird blog coming soon and an update on my childhood travels! Stay tuned!
When Mother Nature puts on a show! Those clouds and reflections and mosquitos! Ha!
Gray days seem to make it easier to write. The outside isn’t calling me quite as strongly as a beautiful sunshine filled one. Spring seems late this year but the small hepatica flowers tells me it is about to explode in a wave of freshly unrolled leaves and black flies! ha! Where is the face net that goes over my hat?
I’ve been exploring my youth, as I’ve said and writing, with the help of my daily diaries I kept for over a decade while we were sailing around the world, about our adventures and misadventures. We are just about to arrive in Tahiti and I stopped today to proof read the Galapagos, the Pacific crossing, the Marquesas and Tuamotu Islands. Something has been nagging at me all week and it just won’t leave me in peace. How much we have in our current world, and how little of it we need to survive and be happy.
To the many local people we met along our travels we must have seemed quite wealthy, sailboat equaled money to many but we had no home to go home to, that sailboat was our home. We had minimal conveniences, no television, just a radio. Most nights we had no lights other than a kerosene lantern to read by as our batteries were always in need of charging, or water, or replacing. The radio took us places, sometimes as far away as the West coast of Oregon to listen to a nightly music show, that was a treat when you were in rough anchorage in the Marquesas with the wind howling outside.
No devices, no phones, no computers, no GPS, no Google maps! HOW did we survive? Hahahahaha! We DID have typewriter (!) and pens, and paper and we wrote. To myself in the diary and to the many people we met along the way and kept in touch with. We did have a calculator! ha! We were happy. We met people who had little but everyone shared what they could. In Hanaiapa Bay on the island of Hiva’Oa we helped clear a field for planting and went hunting with a local farmer for wild pig and goat. We shared meals, laughs, gaffs in languages we didn’t understand, we played the guitar and ukelele and danced. No one had a phone at any meal, no one needed that badly to talk to anyone that wasn’t seated near them, we were independent of all of that “convenience”. Maybe it isn’t all that convenient after all?
My mother didn’t call her mother or father in California. She would write them, as we did. In an emergency, a telegram was sent, anything else would seem extravagant! Have we become a society of instant gratification? I think so. In doing this we have lost our tolerance to slow down to enjoy some of the finer things in life that take time. Everything must be faster, speedier, arrive more quickly. That equates good, slow seems to equate bad. You understand my ill at ease feeling now?
I might add we had no shower or bath, our running water was from a foot pump in the kitchen, only used for cooking and drinking, and no hot water as well. We bathed on deck with a bucket of sea water or if the opportunity arose and a squall came by we all had a fresh water shower! So yes, we were in the tropics and some folks shouldn’t try this at home in January!
Is it every generation looks back and wonders how the current generation would survive if it all went away? A family member once couldn’t figure out why they could not fill the gas tank of their car at the gas station when the power was out. What happens when there is huge solar coronal mass ejection? It will happen one day, not if, just when and we will kiss our satellite systems goodbye along with communications, navigation, banking, internet (ye gads! NO internet!).
The largest known solar flare took place on August 28, 1859. It was observed and recorded by Richard C. Carrington, and so it’s sometimes called the Carrington Event. The accompanying coronal mass ejection traveled to Earth in only 17 hours, rather than the usual three or four days. The largest recorded geomagnetic storm occurred. Aurorae, or northern lights, were seen in many parts of the world. Telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America failed.
I know who will survive all this, people who slow down. People who understand that there are so many things you don’t actually need to survive and be happy. Do you need a new phone every year? A new car? A huge closet full of new clothes because a magazine dictates what looks right and what doesn’t? Do you need your Siri or Netflix that transfix you in front of a screen day and night? Do you really need access to shopping 24 hours a day and get irritated when it doesn’t show up in 48 hours delivered by a guy earning a $1 a package to do so? Ok, take away my computer you haters! I can still write, and it might still be here in another hundred years. Will this digitally recorded work be? The photos? The words? I don’t think so. The technology will be obsolete…
I was raised without “marketing” other than what I saw in stores or on signs. I never knew I was supposed to “buy” this cereal because I saw it on TV or look a certain way because a women in a magazine did selling products you were supposed to apply to your face to be beautiful, then just wash off? Where was the sense in that? The ladies pictures in National Geographic seemed just fine to me, maybe topless sometimes, but I guess I was used to that! ha!
It’s not the lawyers we have to kill Mr. Shakespeare but the marketers! hahahahaha!
I think of all the mediums of music and film I have seen in the last 50 years than now languish in peoples garages and in boxes in storage, or in dumps and landfills. Imagine the pile of this stuff you have tossed out if it was all in one place, film, 16mm and 35 mm, records, cassette tapes, eight track tapes, Beta, VHS, CD’s, DVD’s, Bluerays. That’s just the pictures and music, where does it stop? It seems we are gluttons for the latest invention, supposed to be better, quicker (yup that again) finer, more “convenient” damn I hate that word.
I’ve had friends tell me their kids don’t want their stuff, or their grandparents stuff, they want NEW stuff. More marketing at work? Why did I treasure what once belonged to my family? I’m not sure, why would I throw it away or sell it if I needed a couch, or dinnerware, a rug, or a bookcase? Am I a pragmatist?
You know what really got us excited as kids. Food. Butter, jam, peanut butter, flour, things we could make cookies out of…and sharks. Well yes! Sharks were always exciting!
and wrecks to explore, tikis to find in the jungle and moray eels were always a cool find. I was more worried about them than sharks. A local man once told me they could hold you down with their incredibly strong jaws until you drowned, you stood a better chance if you were just bitten by a shark.
I wrote down every meal we were invited to and exactly what it was. From our first goat stew, then dog stew (yup! Yikes! Why ya running away Spot?) to fried breadfruit, poisson cru (ceviche made with coconut milk) all the fruit. We ate so many mangoes we developed rashes around our mouths from the urushiol in them! Did you know: mangoes are part of the Anacardiaceae, or sumac/cashew family, which produces a liquid called urushiol when the skin of the tree, or the fruit rind, is broken. Contact with urushiol can cause contact dermatitis! We still ate them, just more carefully, not shoving them in our mouths and letting the juicy juicy mango run everywhere but careful nibbles!
Was my childhood idyllic? No, it was often stressful, full of calamity, stupid ideas, like letting your kids swim with shark researchers while they are chumming for sharks in ten feet of water? OK, that was really cool. It was full of problem solving, it made you aware of how and why things worked. It made you think and question many things, often the so called “grown ups” decisions! ha! It made us think. Not book think, memorizing things for a good grade think but actual think. Does that make sense? Reasoning maybe is a better word.
My husband hates it when I reason…hahahahaha!
I just blame my upbringing on how things should make sense:) In the last few weeks I have wondered what have become of the three guys that sailed from Panama to Tahiti with us. We did look up to them, fought with them, were comforted by them. To my brother and me they WERE family! I have kept in contact with quite a few who graced our decks but the first three, well, maybe one day I’ll find them. Dave was in Hawaii, Tim was from Santa Monica and the last I heard of Lindsay he was working in the oil industry in Canada, his family were from Fergus, Ontario.
So, food and people, that is what is the most important. Not a clean house (add cats and dogs, it’s solves both those things! Really want a lot of hair around, add horses as well) not a new phone, or car, a new experience maybe! A shared meal, a glass of wine, or several;) ha!
Remember, we really have no one to impress except ourselves. There are no Jones to keep up with, and even if there were, why would you even care to? If your friends judge you solely by what you have, find new friends. We have a finite amount of time here on this gorgeous amazing planet with so many kind, interesting, caring people, and of course…the marketers. Avoid them, eat well, live long and prosper. I have to tackle the Tahiti diaries starting tomorrow which involves a tremendous amount of change and of course, lots more irresponsible adults…stay tuned!
I think we were so busy battling the remains of Winter we just never saw it slip by! Funny how that is. We go from freezing, snowing, howling winds to 22° Celsius, how IS that possible. The cats fought for window seats to smell the smell of Spring and feel the sunshine on their fur. I had to go to town, somehow back in January I forgot to register the truck for 2022. I’d heard our premier Doug Ford had called for refunds for all vehicle fees this year, I just didn’t ever see the fine print, light trucks and cars only, thanks for nothing Doug. A refund really can cheer a girl up…arse. Ha!
Better to be like a cat and simply enjoy every day, registered or not! Windows were open for the first time this morning-always a delectable moment for the felines! They get to go out on their leashes and escorted but this, is window time, salivating over little birdies they now can smell, watching bugs! Yes bugs! Ah, the simple pleasures in life are often the most enjoyable!
We go from snow storms, to tonight, a weather watch for thunder storms, we do need a good rinse still! The one thing about the less than stellar weather has been the down time to write, just not the blog! I had to sit and catch up today! The book is coming along. A month has gotten me as far as the Galapagos, and about to make the Pacific crossing…we have stopped running aground every day and now just are doing it weekly, or trying to run over other boats as neither our motor or generator ever seemed to function as we slowly learned the fine art of maintenance…battery water must be checked and refilled periodically, the engine overheats if the radiator is dry and two anchors keep one from colliding with rocks at times! It has me thinking about the wonderful crew we had over the years and what they are doing now. So far my searches have been futile for the first bunch but we’ll keep looking!
The writing has gone well, the picture and slide cleaning and restoration has been the most time consuming. They were stored where pipes broke in San Diego, in a century old barn and surrounded by herds of cats after being sent in from half way across the globe by mail, hand carried by cruise ship passengers we cornered and anyone we could cajole into saving us postage. It has been a wild ride the recollections, both good and bad but I am approaching everything with a sense of humor given the fact we did somehow manage to survive! Ha! Am I getting it all right? Not sure, these are a twelve year old recollections so far, although written down daily, they were from a unique child’s perspective. Stay tuned…it will one day be published! All I can say is good thing no one told my mother you could eat sea lions because we did eat about everything else out there swimming around, except penguins, there were no BBQed penguins! I promise!
Spring here is a combination of watching the ice melt and depart, at times quite quickly, to seeing the amazing return of reflections in the water to not being able to see the water at all for the snow flurries…ah, Spring in Canada! At least no plowing bills! February was brutal, beautiful, but brutal:)
We’ve lost our Winter visitors, no I didn’t bury anyone, the birds! The Northern Redpolls have left for their Arctic breeding grounds, the Blue Jays have become very quiet and the Red Winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles have invaded. The bruisers are back in town. Even the squirrels are intimidated!
I need to buy stock in a sunflower seed company…these guys can eat! Between the birds and the squirrels they are eating me out of house and home! They are on half rations, time to forage in the forest kids! Looks like we have baby red squirrels already. Mama is looking like Dolly Parton right now, she, the squirrel, not Dolly, was NOT impressed by our latest snow squall. We went to bed, it was nice, we woke up in the morning to 4″ of snow…not nice at all!
Just when it was going so nicely! ha! The wonderful thing was that by 6pm it had all melted and we were back to thinking, Spring really has arrived! The little resident porcupine has been out and sunning in it’s favorite tree and mother deer and baby have been keeping the compost well cleaned, she really loves the cantaloupe rinds! No more signs of the fisher marten on the wildlife camera but we have picked up a small mink down at the dock as well as several raccoons, one had no tail…I’ll be on the eye out for stumpy! Check out Mom and baby munching the cantaloupe here: Deer who love cantaloupe rinds!
As the ice was going the otter was taking full advantage of all the new holes to pop up in and the numerous icy shelves upon which to sit and devour the perch he had so handily caught! Those hands! He thoroughly enjoyed chomping on this Bluegill as he attempted on multiple occasions to swallow it whole before deciding it needed to be tenderized a bit first.
We even had some socializing this month! Un milagro! Mike’s cousin and wonderful family visiting from Germany got us off our tushes, away from the lake to do some sight seeing, I mean, eat pancakes, as well as enjoy several delicious meals together. We have not quite forgotten the art of talking to other people…in person!
We enjoyed a lovely pancake lunch at Wheelers Pancake House, explored a road creche, that is an experiment in building with reeds and rushes, suffering from a biblical flood at the moment, visited the horses and donkeys, started cooking a turkey, lost power in the howling winds (for almost 24 hours) and cooked it on a BBQ. All in one long run on sentence! ha! Also, if we do much canoe paddling in the early spring a dry suit might be a good idea;)
Grammar is a dirty word I am learning, after not having perhaps learned as much as I should of as a child. It seems I was prone to run on sentences, or maybe just the use of commas and periods wasn’t always necessary I thought as a child. I’ve spent the last three days rereading the 80 or so pages of my young life sailing around the globe, correcting the glaringly bad grammar, glossing past the less than perfect syntax, and thinking…this sounds like a twelve year old wrote it…sigh…it was written by a twelve year old, until we get as far as Tahiti, then it will be written by a thirteen year old! A teenager! It is simply being translated by myself right now!
I may be wishing for some more gloomy weather to batten down and tackle the next leg of the journey! Sunshine always screams “Please go outside and look for wildflowers and garter snakes eating little frogs!” Right?
So, I did that, went outside, I couldn’t stay in yesterday. I didn’t find any cool snakes eating frogs, but our first Hepatica wildflowers and Redshank, which is the coolest moss ever! The forest is tinged red with all the maple blossoms and we have seen our first mushrooms already as well! Now warmth, and rain…it is going to explode, the bug population anyway! I did get to chase a few butterflies and I could have sworn I saw a dragonfly…will go look again tomorrow! One more reason to put off vacuuming…again….I could build a spare cat out of the fur on the carpet alone!
So April, almost gone but oh so beautiful! From the last of the lake ice and otters perched eating their supper to rainbows and reflections. Time to sit and watch the world go by, it does indeed seem to be speeding up. Today I count my lucky stars and am thankful for friends and family, food on my table and several cats, one that just stole my shoe, what a rat! Bring it back! Love them all! Saludos amigos and Happy Spring!
I am fascinated by these creatures. This youngster hung out on the same branch for about 36 hours, mostly basking in the sun with an occasional yawn and nod and gnaw on the branch. Who doesn’t love a rodent with spines, it would make a great superhero! More often than not in this area they end up with a bullet through them sadly. I think they are often misunderstood. Just because they are vegan is not an excuse to hate on them guys! Do they eat trees, yes, the bark, will they strip a forest clean, no. They eat leaves, herbs, twigs, and green plants such as clover. In the winter, it may eat bark as well. They are mostly nocturnal but I’ve seen them waddling about in the daylight as well, and they can move, we’re not talking cheetah speed here but I have seen them stride out at a good pace as I was trying to photograph one late in the day.
Baby Porcupine! Actually a porcupette!
….and who could resist a baby? Adults can reach up tp 35 lbs. and no, they can’t throw their quills at people or animals when threatened. You have to come in contact with the porcupine quills to have them stick you. If only they could…Take that you farmer with a gun! I’ve been told they eat tires and outhouse seats looking for salt but so far we have had no gnawing porcupines in our driveway touting the benefits of rubber or wooden toilet seats.
Would they break into a cottage for your salt shaker? Not sure there but I will ask this fellow next time I see him if he is prone to illegal acts in the name of salt. If you see wood-handled tools or canoe paddles knawed on, it just might be a porcupine though.
Did you know a porcupine group is called a prickle? How apropos! Also, their quills are hollow which enable them to swim and float! I haven’t ever seen one taking a dip but I’m sure many a swamp has been crossed in that way!
We as humans, thinking somehow we have this higher intellect (not really appearing that way recently, anyway) forget sometimes that everything has it’s place in nature, including us weird bipedal mammals. When the wolves were almost killed off by farmers blaming them for their livestock losses (ye gads, or I’ve been told by the fearful many moons ago “They’ll take your children!” What rubbish!) raccoons and porcupines lost a natural enemy, we upset the balance of nature that we seem to be so very good at. Remember that next time you hate on something living, anything living, in this natural world with us. We must coexist if we are to survive….word for the day:) Saludos y abrazos amigos.
Will it ever arrive I have been saying to myself the last few weeks. Maybe I was getting ahead of Mother Nature, but today, we could see the gravel all the way out the laneway. A stark contrast to a week ago when it felt we might be mired in Winter forever! And while I appreciate the beauty of that snow covered lane and the banks of clean white snow, well, I’m very over it;) ha! Come on Spring!
I decided it was the time to peer back through my old diaries I had kept from the age of 11, right into my 20’s. This is the time we spent sailing around the globe with mother, siblings and a wide and varied cast of marvelous, colorful crew. It’s the first time I have sat down and seriously put pen to paper so to speak, fingers to the keys, and it has taken it’s toll in a way I hadn’t expected. Today I gave myself the day off to relax, visit some lovely friends for lunch (isn’t that a treat we can do that now) and deliver a birthday coconut cream pie. It has been weirdly stressful reliving the angst and chaos as we started the sailing trip. We were not prepared in any way to start this trip, what my mother thought might be her skills at sailinh and navigating turned out to be woefully naïve. So many things forgotten, memories jogged by these very detailed writings of how an eleven year old saw the world, astonishing actually that we survived, and…turned out OK, at least one friend of our mother’s family thought so anyway…see we are OK! Ha! I won’t ask my sibling what he thinks…
My letters back to my grandmother must have been quite colorful, if I wrote them in the same way my diary was scripted. I learned she had tea, or maybe something a bit stronger, invited her lady friends over and read them aloud…if only I’d known…ha! Maybe better I only found out many decades later.
The photos also need going through, they are scattered in many books, some need to be tossed, the aroma of mildew and cat urine from the decades of my mother’s hoarding isn’t something I need to live with anymore. It would be nice to have some chronological order to them all, for me anyway. We have no kids, they will probably go to the dump when I am gone but for the time being, it is my life. But enough of the past, today was supposed to be my day off from that, seems I’ve been clenching my teeth reliving it, so far, just to Panama, so I’ll leave it there but I will keep you updated as I get along with the adventures.
The squirrels are out in full force, their snow tunnels are rapidly melting and it has been exciting for the Traveling Mewberries to stalk them, no casualties yet, and even an esteemed chipmunk has been seen, out from it’s long Winter’s sleep poking about in the grass! Gamora has come off the deck as the snow has receded, it is now fit for princess paws:) I may even be able to see the dock and canoe in the morning!
Walking is now a treat. No ice in which to slip and slide on, and no snowshoes needed! I check our mail every day, it’s a kilometer walk out and another back, sometimes I wander down the Long Lake Road for a few kilometers, watching what is emerging from the banks of snow. The tiny birds nests have me wondering just who they belonged to and the spent American Bittersweet husks a colorful reminder of what will grow back. Every Paper Birch along the road is a unique individual, like us.
I was sad to find out a younger barn friend from our past had unfriended us, and blocked us as we disagreed on the current events it seems, truck convoys, school closures and who knows what else. Perhaps this pandemic has made us all a bit more thin skinned than we might have been. I respect others opinions, ideology, religion or whatever groove it is that you choose to follow. It doesn’t mean I won’t add what I believe though, silence is not something that sits well with me;) It seems to be happening the world over, instead of agreeing to disagree, families are torn apart by ideologies that differ. Will humans ever be able to coexist peacefully? I’m not sure they can some days, when it becomes too dark a cloud, I try to remind myself of the amazing gracious people I have encountered in my life and I am always thankful for getting to share a bit of their life, or a place and a time because our lives are not infinite.
All this walking gives you too much time to think! Ha!
Better to sit and photograph the birds:) Things are starting to change! The Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds have arrived and what the symphony they create in the morning! Squeaks and grunts and well, grackling, like raucous cymbals in the hands of a two year old, well, let’s call it bird jazz! Hahahahaha!
It’s a welcome noise, a sign the land is waking up, so far no ladies, but the gentleman birds know they’ll eventually show up, this is the dress rehearsal!
If we all stopped to smell the rich earthy odor that is the ground emerging from it’s cover of snow, we’d all be a bit better off most days. Slow down, listen more, less me, more us, this world would certainly be an even more spectacular place to live than it currently is. Saludos y abrazos amigos, I’ll post a picture of the canoe and dock when I can recognize it! For now, just the joyous reflection of the sky on the surface water as all that ice below slowly melts, maybe it is Spring after all:)
I am not making any predictions…So far in the week we have had temperatures ranging from -22° Celsius to a predicted plus 13°…snow, rain, freezing rain and yes, some sun. We don’t want another plowing bill like Februarys please! So, occasionally you have to laugh out loud. Never knew Maya was a comedian but those ears had us all rolling, she was the only one, with snow covered ears after a wild snow squall that dumped multiple inches in less than an hour…no donkeys with snow on them, or any of the others felt it was necessary to stick their heads out into the squall from the run in shed to see what was going on, but she’s a nosy mare, and there might, just might have been some carrots to dole out she figured;) This time of year we need laughs. I’ve had a beak full, nose full, snoot full, whatever, of Winter. We were deceived last year! Sunday will be a challenge, freezing rain warnings, we won’t be going anywhere, thankfully there is still sand and salt in our barrels if we have to venture out in some emergency…not likely, hopefully:) but then, hey, it’s supposed to snow more on top of it Monday….
Driving down to the visit the horses takes us across the Narrows Lock. There is always some open water in places and sometimes we get to see something special. This beautiful Mute swan for one. I stopped to take a picture of a Mallard pair that flew off, saw a piece of floating ice and was quite surprised when it moved! Holy cow, er, holy swan! This is a LARGE bird, they weigh up to 26 lbs…I’m thinking ginormous turkey in comparison:) The next week I was excited to see two, so had Mike stop the truck and pull over in the howling wind (it was snow squall Maya snow ears day) I could barely get the truck door open as the wind was blowing down the lake but these lovely birds had found some peace and quiet in the lee of the rock wall that supports the road…and they weren’t the same swan either! Trumpeter swans!
I didn’t stay long in the wind but maybe they’ll be here next week as well:) Always a beautiful drive and something new. The Snow Buntings were gathering in the almost clear corn fields feasting as well. Such amazing aerial acrobatics as their flock soars and dives, everyone in perfect precision:) The almost clear corn fields…that was last week. We’ve had some amazing days that made you smile and think…Spring may just arrive, ah Mother Natures cruel sense of humour;)
A bit of rain leveled the rather large pile of snow on the lake so much you could casually walk across it! I’m sure the deer were overjoyed after trudging through the drifts. Mom was out front, waited for baby to get near before picking up canter all the way to the other side. I went down to poke about, and yes, there were parts of the red canoe emerging and the most beautiful ice feathers had formed on the bare surface areas. They are a delicate structure of crystals of ice that build on the windward side of objects. Lots of air moisture helped out with temperatures, gasp…above freezing!
And such happy cats! The steps and stairs to the lake were bare and hallelujah! It was time to practice for the “Winter Catolympics!” Stair rail balancing beam is always a tricky act! The mounts and dismounts can be quite spectacular;)
The descending stairway to the lake can be a tricky event! Especially when one is interrupted by the current champion Rocket!
of course they made up and went back down for a good sniff under the mysterious recesses of the dock! Who knows what strange beats wander under there?!
They do keep us amused these three Traveling Mewberries:) Gamora trots down occasionally but usually races back up, her favourite ploy is to take off down the driveway with one of us following, we have learned, if we don’t run after her, she usually turns around and comes back, it took a few tries of following her all the way to our neighbours porch before we figured this out…who owns who here I ask?;)
No wonder I need to sit outside and watch/photograph the birds to catch my breath! Raising head strong young cats is a full time job;) Actually cleaning up after them is more like it;)
We have a few newcomers at the bird feeders. Pine Siskins showed up and even a few more Common Redpolls from the great White North! Such bright splashes of colour!
Our usual cast of characters have been excellent models! Even in the snow, which is always a challenge but so pretty when you get it right!
They have their routines, as we all seem to. Certain birds show up at the feeders at certain times. Everyone leaves when the Jays descend, or when the mafia (squirrels) show up:)
We certainly have a large flock of Goldfinches, they seem so cheerful. There is the occasional bicker with the Nuthatches but everyone seems to share and share alike. It’s nice to watch. We are living in troubled times. Now that the Freedom Convoy were routed out of Ottawa, that was satisfying, our world is experiencing a huge bully. Seems they like to get their way regardless of the cost, but at what point is the cost too much, that is the question we are asking ourselves. I only hope that if we plan of destroying one another, we leave some of this glorious planet to rebuild without us, we are the infestation sadly, once saw a great comic-Earth has a thermometer in her mouth and Saturn tells her “I’m afraid you have humans”….I’m not sure if we can, or will involve, but I can hope…Springs eternal…ha! Just like waiting for it! Hold your friends and loved ones close, tell them you love them. Our time here is but a blink in the eye of the universe, use it wisely:) Now can someone tell me where my view went? 16 days until Spring…Let’s hope I don’t see it like this anytime again soon…am I jinxing us? Saludos y abrazos amigos! I need to go pet donkeys tomorrow…it’s therapy!
Well, it wasn’t much of a February thaw yet…we always get one, it’s natures way of gently reminding you Spring will eventually arrive, but she has a wicked sense of humour and then throws in a few -23° nights to keep you on your toes. Cats didn’t last long outside this morning. While I filled the bird feeders they wandered about for a few minutes before deciding the front of the fireplace was where they really wanted to be;)…smart cookies:) Yesterdays brief snow squalls were enough to remind them about that cold white stuff!
That’s two doozy mornings in a row;) Yesterday we had snow squalls and high winds but warm temperatures, now today sunny and “freeze your ass off” temperatures…we did have a very very brief thaw…ha! Just enough for some nice ice patches, I’m laughing with you mother nature…not;) Gamora had the good sense yesterday morning to poke her head out the door 6″…then abruptly turn around and run back inside…the girl has smarts! The boys…still searching for the elusive brain cell;)
“What snow Groot?” we are beginning to think Rocket lacks any form of sensors in his body;) he IS a mutant!
But , hey, we’re halfway through the month and I couldn’t wish nicer weather on the protesters in our neck of the woods:) How many of us are a bit ashamed to be Canadian right now…the majority. Why is it that there is a generation that can’t seem to grasp what a democracy is, or what is an elected government by the majority, and wah, fucking, wah, you don’t always get your way, stomp your little tantrum feet and go the f@ck home arses. 🙂 There…off my chest:)
I nearly ran into the Hydro truck coming down the laneway last we week. We don’t exactly have any passing lanes so it would have been ugly, I would have made them back up;) They were actually very kind as I was just running down the road for a few minutes and they waited for me to come back before heading in with this behemoth! I like that word-
“a huge or monstrous creature. “behemoths like the brontosaurus” or giant tractor with lift bucket and chains:)
Rocket was convinced the devils in orange wielding loud chainsaws and flying through the air in the bucket were cat demons designed to attack him for being so mean to his sister…he hid under the bed covers until they had finished their limb cleaning and moved on…”Whew!” he said ” I’ve evaded certain death again!” Never a dull moment around here;)
The cold temperatures have kept our deer family close by snacking on the leftover bird seed and cracked corn I leave out for them. You know they are hungry when you can walk out the door, and they just look at you from 15′ away, open the truck door, start the diesel, and drive away…and they don’t budge….:) The fawn drains the heated dog water bowl I keep out on the picnic table for the birds on a daily basis…nice yummy warm water!
Mother deer keeps an eye on baby but no longer stamps her feet at us. We have deep philosophical conversations about humanity today and how it relates to the world in general, they are excellent listeners;) The bribery of corn seems to have worked! It is fascinating watching these two interact and when they are done wander down the hill to other snack stands no doubt:)
Yesterdays snow squalls and large snowflakes were too good an opportunity to pass up at photographing birds and snow. I try to find a protected spot to try to sit quietly but the wind couldn’t make up it’s mind and the snow was going in every which way. I didn’t last more than 20 minutes but enjoyed every bit of it! It’s tricky, I keep a towel to cover the long lens from too much moisture and then watch the settings to try to capture the snow flakes. Too slow, 1/200th sec. and they are streaks like rain and the birds are often blurred, too fast and they disappear. I stuck with 1/400 sec at F6.3 ISO 400. The lack of light on cloudy days is a challenge as well. I didn’t stop to look at the shots too much other than to check for exposure with the snow covering me!
The squalls didn’t last, the sun came out, the flash freeze warning was appropriate as the the temperatures dropped to -6° in the period of an hour or so. The Blue jays came back to scavenge peanuts from the table. Greedy little guys, one stayed for an extended period of time trying to stuff two in his mouth, he could have flown back and forth several times in the time he spent wrangling the nuts!
I tend to make up little dialogues with these guys when I’m out shooting. Everyone of them is a comic! Just look at this Dark eyed Junco’s neck! ha! The Robin’s bum (YES! We have 5 Robins hanging about digging through the grass where the plow cleared the snow!) and I watched a Hairy Woodpecker trying to reach an itch for a good five minutes…it was not pretty;) ha!
We had a day last week of several inches of very light fluffy snow. It truly turns into a Winter Wonderland when that happens. The plow guys were right on it! Thank you All-Weather! I walked out the road and marveled at the layers on every branch. As much as I wish an end to Winter there are moments you just have to give in to it:)
I should make a catalog of animal tracks we see. The deer are easy to distinguish, squirrels as well. The fox prints I have come to know, as well as the coyotes on the road out as we walk to check the mail but we had a new one in the laneway last week and the cats puffed up their tails and growled and decided to head back to the house after a sniff…it looked like a large kitty track! I do know what those look like and this was a supersized version! cats are an inch across, this one was three inches across…time to invest in a wildlife camera I think to determine our mystery visitor!
The squirrel union is protesting…no large cats allowed they say! It’s enough work running away from the fox and those ginger cats! We’ll keep you posted! A large, very short tailed visitor was spotted crossing the lake last week:)
The wonderful thing of being up on a hill is the view, not just for spying animals! These interesting holes have opened up all along a path down the lake. They are called ice spider holes. Sounds like something I would make up right? “They are usually in bays, but they can be found anywhere on the lake. Having a central hole with irregular fingers radiating outward, they look like a wet area surrounded by snow. The irregular fingers serve as drainage channels through which water on the surface drains back into the hole. Perhaps they are created when warmer lake water is pushed upward through a crack in the ice and floods the lake surface. The initial flaw in the ice could be a small crack, an animal access point likely used by an otter, or even trapped air bubbles that weaken the ice in that spot. Regardless of how they form, spider holes are dangerous and should be avoided. They are sometimes formed by the weight of the snow actually pushing the ice down!”…google can be very helpful:) I won’t be walking out too close to examine them until another -20° night. The snow should be packed down from this weeks light rain and crisp enough to walk on top of. Thrashing through 2′ of snow is not on my itinerary. I may have to invest in some snow shoes!
Now that we are halfway through the month I hope we can start to see a few more inklings of Spring:) In the meantime, there are bird species to document, ebird lists to fill out and wondering when we will see some our snow birds return:) We had two days with a Common Redpoll before he disappeared, probably wasn’t cold enough here;) they ARE from the tundra after all, along with the Pine Grosbeaks. Two juvenile males were busy under one of the feeders, they are pokey birds, spending time looking for food on the ground. These two were like a pair of teenagers at an “all you can eat” buffet. They were not bothered by me getting a few feet from them to marvel at their intricate feather patterns.. Priceless.
So today is going to be an inside day…our high is going to be -17°. I’ll take a cue from the cats and maybe sit in front of the fire for a bit with them! Another day of this and we are back to another heatwave;) It might even rise above zero again! Ojalá mis amigos! Stay warm and let’s keep try to avoid the pitfalls of being ashamed of the Nationalist flag waving and wearing Canadians right now honking their horns because they have nothing better to do as the pandemic slowly wanes….as George Carlin once said “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups” Abrazos friends.
Like George Carlin said Vern “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups!”
It won’t be so bad we thought, we’re not working outside on a daily basis…what were we thinking? ha! We were treated with kid gloves last Winter, this one, we’re getting the feel, literally of a an old fashioned cold snowy Winter. So far we’ve hit -34° Celsius 4 times, in three weeks…damn that’s cold. Glad we invested this year in some solid winter boots! Such whimps…yes sir! It’s when those daytime highs don’t break -20° though…
Where oh where is my little red canoe?
The 21″ of snow we weren’t quite expecting:) We managed to shovel around the truck, a path to the bird feeders and eventually a cat race course around the house before All Weather and their very large tractor and blade got to our cottage road and created an escape path for us a few days after the snow! They had their hands full, the pickup and blade couldn’t make a dent in it they said.
The cats were quite appalled before their race track was created, Rocket had to be fetched out of several snow holes he found himself in after leaping into the drifts and off the porch railing…”Mom! I can’t see out!” ha! The cold has taken it’s toll too, a few minutes outside for Groot and Gamora is enough, Rocket seems to be lacking nerve sensors;) I keep him out a bit longer to wear off that excess energy! Mike has kept the woodstove going full tilt except for quick clean outs, everyone has enjoyed that;)
So here we are, three quarters of the way through January…how much longer does Winter go on for they ask? They have spent a great deal of time looking out the windows. We have had quite a few visitors as well, not the human variety but the lovely forest type:) Gamora running back and forth from window to window usually alerts me to something going on out there, she is a daytime girl while the other two loafs sleep. The local fox has been active at the compost pile, I try to separate the good bits for him/her, so fluffy, hard to tell! The cats smelled her in the alcove yesterday and Groot spent the morning growling at everything he came upon outside…his territory, no foxes he says!
She was stalking a black squirrel half heartedly, not much effort on the stalking bit but she may have filled up earlier! Last week Rocket saw her sunbathing on some rocks after she had wandered by in the morning and he gave chase…little sh*t…what was he thinking? He probably outweighs her by a few pounds but had my heart racing as I crashed through the bush down to the lake following him, following her, her legs are much longer, lost him by the neighbours…I got my exercise. Rocket looked quite pleased with himself chasing away the other red head, or he simply wanted to chat her up, no raccoons around to befriend:) Some people have dogs, I have an attack cat;) He’s pretty sure he could take down the fawn as well….
At least that is what he keeps telling me, he did run into them outside the other day as they approached the feeder and his neck grew like a giraffes…he wasn’t so sure then, I had no idea his neck could get that long! Ha! When we start hitting these horrible lows of -30’s° I don’t mind giving these two a bit of corn to keep them warm. After hunting season they are the only two regulars about, a mother and this years fawn. Those fluffy ears and long eyelashes are so beautiful! They were pretty hungry, the bolder they are, the more their stomachs are growling, they would stand their ground this week, or only move off 30 feet if we went out, even when we started the truck so the corn is there for them!
The energy they use just getting through the deep snow would be significant. I see baby jumped across the lake, couldn’t walk, you could see their prints coming from the other side. Now THAT is work!
The best CTV ( Cat TV) is simply looking out the sliding glass door. I always leave an offering to the squirrel gods there;) It’s been frozen shut most of the week but I managed to get it open yesterday with liberal application of the hair dryer on full…ah, Canada:) Hair dryers should come with defrost times printed on the box!
♫♪♫ I want my CTV! ♪♫♪
I swear this gang of black squirrels are the local mafia, there are about nine of them, shaking down chipmunks and red squirrels for seed. Terrorizing the chickadees, this morning they took the threat to a new level and pushed my blue pitcher off the outside picnic table, breaking it, “Fill it up or else lady!”…I get the hint! I did feel bad in that snow storm for them, they all reappeared the next morning looking as confused as the cats as why they couldn’t just march across the snow!
We’ve kept the feeders full, especially in the cold, it is amazing how the level of consumption is correlated with the cold! Feeders I fill every few days, or once a week are being emptied during the daylight hours. We have our cast of regulars, and some newbies showed up a few days ago-Pine Grosbeaks- we are on the southern tip of their range! Such beautiful delicate colours!
I’ve tried to keep the woodpeckers in the fashion to which they have become accustomed, homemade suet in several feeders:) They are by far the crankiest birds right now. I see a lot of territorial displays between both male and females, maybe last years kids are being told to get a job and move out!
Mrs. Red-Bellied has been quite scarce since the record lows hit, still no sign of the Mr. Maybe he will appear later in the Spring perhaps he’s a long distance Woodpecker, flying the trade routes;) The Pileated has made a few brief appearances but not like last year, I think that one was a juvenile male making it alone in the wide wide world with the help of the suet feeder!
Mr. Pileated Woodpecker
Then there are the bazillion Goldfinches, I swear it’s true, I gave up counting yesterday….Between them and the Black Capped Chickadees they rule here in sheer numbers! They are very co-operative models but it’s been so cold, after about 15 minutes I’m ready to head back inside! They have been pretty puffed up as well! They truly have great down coats, I may need an upgrade next year…if we’re here;) I’ve heard more Baja rumblings as Mike has battled keeping the stove going, kind of like A Christmas Story’s father battling the furnace in the basement, the new level and the configuration of swear words and obscenities in multiple languages has been astonishing (The old man fights a never-ending battle with the malfunctioning furnace in the Parker home. His frustrations cause him to swear quite often, including one profanity-laden rant (heard as gibberish) that the adult Ralphie says “is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.) some of you will know what I mean;) I want to cover the cat’s ears at times;)
After the black squirrel mafia tipped my pretty blue pitcher off the table and smashing it into many pieces in a fit of rage for it being empty, I got the hint, keeping a different one full now, and I have invested a whole $2 in some newly acquired heart mugs and dishes to spice up our January/February season! Does it keep me out of trouble? Mostly;)
“Come here often?”…and other awkward interspecies questions…😉“Ya know Verne, she puts on a pretty good spread for a human!”“Try a dried mealworm dear! They are delicious!”
It’s nice when they all get along, sometimes though three IS a crowd;)
“Three can be a crowd!”
Between these guys, a few days helping at the barn (that kind of cold calls for help! Remembering frozen water buckets that soak you when you try to bash the ice out? Ha!) and shoveling it has been a mostly inside kind of time. Another good dump of snow and the canoe and bench will disappear altogether! Let’s hope we don’t get that. One record snow fall in a season is sufficient thank you! Not to mention those temperatures….Just not something you want to see on the thermometer every morning:)
I am beginning to believe Weather Canada’s “extreme cold” warnings! In the meantime, we have cats to amuse us, food to eat, wine to drink…good company all the way round and we’ll wait with some patience, ok, impatiently for the cold to break when we can go outside and not think “this sucks”….:) and hopefully no more -50,000° weather as a friend put…it was a perfect way to describe how I felt! And just one last thing, bacteria farts…it’s a thing…before the snow covered up the lake there were large white bubbles in the ice everywhere. They are created in lakes and ponds when water-dwelling bacteria feed on decaying organic matter and expel methane gas. When the water freezes, the bubbles are suspended in the ice. Methane Bubbles! Bacteria farts! Need to work on a 3D version of this, it looks flat here but looking through the many inches of ice are so many different layers of bubbles! Very cool!
I’ve had a lot of time to google things;) Not just any farts;) Stay warm my friends! Saludos y abrazos!
Way back when we could SEE the little red canoe! 10 days ago…..
I have to admit, even -16° can’t stop me with this kind of colour! I missed the peak by the time my brain got revving up and I donned several layers of clothing over my pyjamas and the winter boots hats and gloves….absolutely magical:) The shiny ice was reflecting the pinks, like a psychedelic cotton candy dream;) ha!…the otters looked like they had a wild drunken otter party on the dock, footprints, er, otterprints and snow pushed all about and rolled in…guys really! What about my pristine snow shots! C’mon! And when I came back to the house this was my greeter…he doesn’t ever look pleased when I go out alone…not that he ever gets to come with me this early but I sense disapproval here! ha!
I do not approve! Come inside immediately and bribe me with treats!
As we watch December slip away, Omicron is starting to make headway into our little part of the world. Numbers as high as they have ever been, friends and their family in contact with ones who are sick, then worried and not wanting to pass it on, to anybody! Strange times we live in. I don’t think we can allow ourselves to live in fear, but we don’t have to be dumb asses about it either…limit your gatherings, wear a mask, get your booster, live long and prosper people! Our neighbouring Airbnb clients weren’t too worried this morning, an entire family was cavorting out on the ice, it was water 10 days ago. Was wondering if I was going to have to call 911 at any point, now they…are being dumb asses…..;) Don’t be a dumb ass;)
The reason Rocket has his leash on…he’s a dumbass;) at least if he goes out on the ice I can reel him in like floppy fish if he falls through! These shots were 10 days ago…lots of open water, and some ice on our shallow bay. He changed his mind, then the ice cracked and he’s sure it’s a cthulhu cat killer out there groaning;)
He might be a dumb ass but hey, would you want to face a groaning ice demon wearing a snazzy plaid suit…I thought not;) It was breakfast time anyway:)
We have continued our yoyo weather pattern, from -16° to well above freezing, from snow to freezing rain…just lovely…not;) We’ve salt and sanded the icy spots on the hills but you aren’t going to go tearing around the corners at any speed, anytime soon;) It’s a wee bit slippy out there, love my new strap ons, ha! Rubber boot bottoms with spikes, get your mind out of the gutter! Makes for some carefree walking on otherwise treacherous roads! They said Winter would be fun…the jury is still out!
I have had some fun with my sole martini glass and Bond, Blue Jay Bond. He is quite co-operative, very handsome, I think we have the next Bond for the films;) The Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Mrs, only, has been around a fair bit as well Mr. Pileated. Always impressive seeing him:) and we have had flocks of beautiful American Goldfinches! I posted a picture of them on one of our wonderful Brome Bird Feeders that I had won in a contest a few years ago, and a wonderful person from Brome sent me one for free! It is a beautiful feeder! If you are looking for bird feeders I really recommend them, they are well built, they stand behind their products and are wonderful to work with, check out their great bird photography contests as well! We packed them around for four years in the 5th wheel and the only mishap was when I left my favourite one at a New Mexico State Park! I called them and they said they would use it in their bird feeder area! It lives on!
We have had our usual cast of characters at the feeders. No sign of any Redpolls yet. I did wake up one morning squinting out the window, what are all those white heads? Three Bald eagles were on the edge of the ice, two adults and a juvenile. When I slipped out to take a picture two flew away but one stayed and finished eating it’s breakfast. Always amazing to see these huge birds. We had a quiet morning a few days ago, looked up and saw why, a Sharp Shinned Hawk was waiting for the buffet to open;) Not a squirrel to be seen;)
The Pileated Woodpecker has put in a few appearances. Too bad they don’t eat squirrels;) Am I mean? They are porculas of their weird rat like race. They have become quite large! It has been my mandate to put them all on a diet this coming year. Rerigging bird feeders and creating areas they can not access…mwahahahahaha! Now they can clean up everything they have tossed about! Clean up your room!
We caught glimpse of the fox the other evening. Gamora the cat, was racing from window to window, very excited, tail very big, and there was the beautiful fluffy tailed fox when I turned on the outside lights helping itself to the remnants of the chicken carcass I put in the compost. Nothing wasted here! It was great CAT TV. The porcupine is back as well, I haven’t seen him/her in person but the chewed on white pine branches lying on the gravel road are a good indication it has been up there snacking!
When your tail becomes a snow shelter!
…and there is that ever changing lake. From open water, to thin ice, to snow and back to ice, it never ceases to take my breath away:)
Every morning is a different view, well it was dumb asses this morning, hopefully they might think twice before they leave and stick to the shore, or they can check the water temperature for me;) Just after they got off the ice it went through a serious lake ice singing and groaning as the sun hit it…impressive audio!
I’ll leave you with a shot of the full moon rising last week. Damn it was cold, that wet, damp, cold cold;) The reflections were just too beautiful not to go out, even if I didn’t last too long!
Saludos and abrazos amigos, stay warm and remember…don’t be dumb asses;) See you next year…or maybe sooner;)
Never did get that last paddle in, had to pull the little red canoe out of the ice and flip it over on the dock for a nice wipe down! Whew, just in time! Where has half of December gone? Holy guacamole batman….! The muscrats have been busy under the floating dock, stuffing the cracks with weeds and grasses…making themselves a winter home. Rocket and Groot have had fun sniffing the entire dock until the lake ice started groaning a few days ago…”Them theres monsters out in that lake now!” says Rocket and he is not going near it…”Cat eaters for sure!” he says!
It does change the whole dynamic of the lake that ice. It grows, and recedes with the temperatures, rain and snow, or all of the above! Howling winds this week as well, no tornadoes like our Southern neighbours but it was a wild ride none the less. Takes care of the those weak and dead trees-one travels our road with the chainsaw! it feels like we’ve been riding a weather yoyo!
Ah, that first white fluffy snow…the cats all come to a skidding stop in the alcove…and look…that stuff again! Both Groot and Gamora, a cause of their wise age and experience let Rocket shoot out into the snow and gambol around while they watch….”Fool of a Took” I can hear the whispering under their breath! Ah, youth and energy…:) Rocket modeled his new coat, we didn’t tell him it was a hand-me-down from a D-O-G….can’t spoil the fun. He thought it was a bit uptown for his tough guy act but we know better…big soft boy:)
The snow was the perfect backdrop to my collection of fancy pants bird feeders and it gave it a wonderful Holiday feel:) The Jays are shameless! Anything for a peanut! The Chickadees are so much more polite…The Woodpeckers have their pecking order, no pun intended;) Hairys at the top, followed by the Downy woodpeckers and last but not least the Nuthatches swoop in for a bite…
Until the Bald Eagle does a fly over…then the yard gets “Wery, wery quiet” said in my best Elmer Fudd voice. Only the Otter out on the ice finishing up his morning fish went “Meh….leave me alone, I’m going to finish my meal!” The Mergansers all very quickly dove…and disappeared, prime eagle food I can imagine.
The yard birds are quiet until it starts to snow then flocks of American Goldfinches descend on the feeders and we had a beautiful purple finch as well, not that common for us here way back in the woods. The Juncos pop by in small flocks to clean up the mess everyone else makes;) It’s those Woodpeckers. We had eight Downys, like a large family gathering if the squabbles between them were any measure, and five Hairy woodpeckers. Another family unit I’m sure. Will keep an eye on them for the next bird count!
…and the weather…up and down and all around! I thought we might lose the ice at one point but so far it has stuck around…glad we pulled the canoe up. With the horrendous winds this week our neighbour’s canoe blew off their dock and was headed down the lake. I trotted over and dragged it back a few meters across the ice…it was solid…! I tied it on for them! ah December. It’s given us a whole month to plan and put anything away that might get blown away!
We spent a few days helping out at the barn, mucking and feeding for our friend Jennifer who went in for surgery, just like old times;) It was a group effort of many involved to cover all the shifts, what wonderful people! I didn’t take advantage of the snow to take any new donkey pictures but hopefully in the next week or so I can manage to get a festive looking donkey! “No Eeyore eyes guys! Look FOOD!” works every time;) But will they wear a wreath, and for exactly how many seconds;) Inquiring minds want to know, they may turn out to be New Years pictures! ha!
I’ll leave you with an interesting look at what I call lake veins, Ok, Ok, cracks..ha! They are so interesting, like veins to me! The reflections on the ice have gotten me out of my warm bed and slip sliding down the stairs on a few occasions in the last two weeks. Not just for the sun, but snow and rain and everything else in-between!
Stay warm my Northern and mountain friends…I could have sworn I heard a fish taco calling my name but no…;) ha!
It has been a beautiful Fall-warmer temperatures have left us maybe not quite prepared for the arrival of Winter. Unlike our comrades on the West, and East coast, we have not been subject to atmospheric rivers of moisture raining down upon us. We are very lucky. There has been some light snow today, just a dusting, a reminder of what is to come. The corner of the bay had a thin sheet of ice on it this morning. The flocks of Mergansers have arrived, very different from last year when I watched them from the dock, this year they are jittery, flying away as soon as I open the sliding door. Can’t help but feel humanity has not been kind to this group. I snuck down and waited and had a few shots hiding behind the wicker chairs…neighbors must be” What is she doing now?” ha!
Every day above zero and wind free is a bonus. The trailer is closed up, water drained, slides in…Gamora keeps going to the folded up steps and mewing! “Let me in my trailer!” Still home for her, and me, I do miss it, the smaller space, SO much easier to keep clean! ha! Next year. We have plans to see the East coast, and hopefully in the Fall, a trip South to family in California, and dear friends in Baja…I can taste the tacos adobada already:) With news of a new variant, who knows what our future holds, best to live fully one day at a time:)
Our daily morning walks with the cats are always a blast, but they are “Loki’s” ( Norse trickster God) through and through. Just when you think they are going to sit quietly and watch a patch of grass for mice, their tail straightens, it vibrates and off they run but, look back at you, a twinkle in their eye, as if to say! “HA! Catch me if you can!” They usually head down to the lake, or dock, with me or Mike trotting behind, great exercise going up and down those stairs, or scrambling across the rocks…never a dull moment. After seeing the fisher Marten this Spring I am a worried cat mother;) Gamora never goes off the leash, learned our lesson once as Mike sprinted after her in an Arizona State Park for a very long ways! She is from the tribe of free folk, wildlings;)
We have a male nocturnal Fox visitor who regularly leaves his scent, OK, he pees on things, branches etc and Groot has to sniff them all. Seems he must of left a nasty message as there was a great deal of hissing that went on at one particular bush! He sniffs it every day, without fail, and his entire trailer. His real joy, other than fresh fish, is me going into the basement and checking the mouse traps. I try to sneak down but to no avail, he comes galloping at the sight of me headed that way. Nothing better than a fresh caught mouse you didn’t have to catch yourself it seems, like take out for us;) They are very careful with the voles they catch, they bite! Best just to visit with them and find out the happenings of the underworld:) They usually escape unscathed, with a little help from us! All voles speak in Monty Python French taunter accents here by the way;)
Time well spent;) They are not good helpers for photographing birds although they say they are;) Speaking of birds, we are down to a few Fall regulars. I do miss the migrants and hummingbirds but this is where we live now:) No sight sadly of the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, I usually hear them first but the regular crew is around to feed every morning. I have had great fun photographing these guys while I wait for them to land near the cups, glasses and small creamers I got at the dollar store:) After the cats have returned inside!
We did have a dry Fall so I am always thrilled to see new and interesting fungi, my husband pointed out that I have been saying that word wrong all my life after we watched “Fascinating Fungi” a few nights ago…English was never my first language, or second it seems either;) That is what happens when everything you learned as a child came from a book you quietly read on your own! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! My biggest relief came today when I managed to get my spellcheck working again on my browser…whew…saved! Now back to fungi! Pink fungi! Who knew, but it turned out to be a single cell amoeba called Wolfs milk (…0_0…) or a lichen parasite such as llosporiopsis christiansenii or Illosporium corallinum…those are big words;) Why not stunning Pink parasite? I love my Facebook Mushroom Foragers of Ontario page! So much knowledge there, and an upload to inaturalist helps as well!
So much to learn about our world of fungi, and lichen parasites now here locally! Time for a wander in the woods, with hunting season over it should be a bit nicer! I totally forgot to post the picture I took of the eclipse Friday the 19th of November! It was cold, 4am, pre-caffeine (always a bad move…;) ha!) and extremely windy! I hid in the alcove to try to keep the tripod from swaying about and it wasn’t a half bad shot! I love these mutes red/orange tones-so much beauty-then quickly back inside! I whimped out and only got up for the “almost” totality! 97% anyway;)
At least I am getting to practice some early evening photography. Why is it we forgot so quickly exactly what we need to accomplish things sometimes? Where is the flashlight? Trip 6 back to the house to get something I forgot in my excitement of what was going on, glasses? Oh crap…hahahahaha! The series of moonrises we have had in the last week have been simply stunning, looking out the window at the moon peeking through the clouds, reflected in the water. I don’t mind clouds (astronomers everywhere just gasped in disbelief!) they always add so much beauty, except to eclipses! ha! Then they just hide it! So it’s been a few, damn, I have to go out there and get that moment, hat on, gloves on, winter coat over bathrobe (yes I KNOW, it’s not THAT cold yet, but all the same…warmth is wonderful! So worth it, then you find your self humming ♫♪♫ Harvest Moon ♪♫♪ by Neil Young you know it’s good! with your glasses;)
♫♪♫ Because I’m still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon ♪♫♪ ~Neil Young~
Happy Weekend amigos and stay tuned for some snow! Maybe;)
Am I waiting for snow, I have to guiltily admit yes, after the leaves go the grey gets to me and that first fresh layer of snow is so bright and beautiful, then I have to shovel it and I’m over it ha! Not really! The photo opportunities start! Yeah! My collection of thrift store mugs, candle holders and miscellaneous items are begging to be used in the snow!
Just a little bit of snow please;) ha! I guess it is the process of taking these images I enjoy so much and also the smile it can put on anyone’s face! The Blue Jays are a real crowd pleaser.
We have here the reflective, polite one…who hops over casually, inspects the peanuts for the nicest specimen and selects one, before flying off to a branch to eat it…then there are the piggies…
This guy tried to stuff every last peanut in the jar into his gob, it was most amusing to watch, especially the dropping of one peanut out of his mouth as he tried for another one…maybe I’m just easily amused but watching nature at work is truly delightful!
A trip to the Real Deal Store in Smiths Falls is always fun! Just the amazing recycled artwork at the front is worth a visit! The time and effort in these pieces is amazing! Inside they have loads of treasure and even building materials and a tool lending library! https://www.realaction.ca/real-deal/
In Smiths Falls the Real Deal Store opposite the railway museum is always fun! Love this wall art they have there as well! So much wonderful imagination of what can be done with everyday objects and other people’s junk☺️
Their free table has many wonderful finds if you are looking to be creative! I’m now the proud owner of one martini glass! Yeah! Or for 50¢ you can feel like a big spender! If anyone sees an elf, hand outstretched to put seed in it, let me know!!!! Maybe a garden gnome…ideas, ideas!!!
It keeps me out of trouble…mostly;) That and getting up way too early to photograph the Little Red Canoe:) Saludos amigos, remember, it is mostly the little things in life that bring us the most pleasure…keep it simple! Abrazos! More frosty pictures soon to come! ha!
Our first hard frost and mists, just so very beautiful!
I can’t find the cats out there! They match, they blend in! Good thing Groot has some white patches, and Rocket has a bright turquoise suit/leash…Gamora, well, the colour of dried grass she is!
Their morning walk is the highlight of their day, sometimes mine;) I’m sure they spend the afternoons bragging to each other and disseminating their hunting information (isn’t that a great word!). We keep pretty close tabs on all three when they are out but occaisonally have to rescue a chipmunk, we have several with bits of their tail missing, battle wounds. Yesterday I had to rescue a shrew, or vole, it was rearing up on it’s hind end, spitting and hissing at them with such bravery I made sure it found a hole in the rock wall to escape into…they are well fed…don’t need any supplemental mouse meat;) Not that I like them in the trailer though. The traps are set, we catch a few and donate them to the compost after being tossed around by the cats, where they are all gone in the morning, whether by racoon, coyote or the fox, they are being eaten:) They spend a great deal of time by what we call the chipmunk well (never ending chipmunks seem to emerge) looking in the cracks of the rocks, up at the blue jays and chickadees, it is a high entertainment area. I’m not sure the chipmunks share that feeling….
The chipmunks certainly know when it’s just me watching and photographing the birds, they are quite bold, but certainly have a good look around before going far! They are just too cute:) Now the black squirrels, Rocket has decided they have big nasty teeth and he is going to avoid them, at least it is a standoff, then they race off and up the trees. So far the red squirrels haven’t moved back from the bush, but they’ll show up sooner or later, hopefully with the Red Bellied Woodpecker. No sign yet! I usually hear them well before I see them, such a distinctive call. The Blue Jays are in feeding frenzy mode-didnt manage to convince one to sit long enough on the bright red sumacs before all the leaves fell but at least the chickadees co-operated!
Going into November we expect the gray days bit there still is so much colour about. I’m always surprised by that one tree hanging onto all it’s glorious leaves in the midst of the grays. I took a long paddle along the entire shore of the lake a few days ago, hunting season was starting the next day so I left my antler hat at home and headed out for a slow and quiet voyage, exploring every nook and cranny. It was fairly windy but if you kept close to the shore it wasn’t bad. At the far end of the lake, baby Loon, now teenager/juvenile Loon popped up right beside me scaring the crap out of me as I poodled along…typical teenager! ha! I hung about trying to keep the nose of the canoe into the wind waiting for him/her to reappear after the dive, and it did, with a rather large perch. It proceeded to bash it against the surface of the water several times, diving and repeating before it glugged it down! It’s eyes have finally turned the ruby red of it’s parents! Gorgeous!
I thought for sure it would have started South by now. I read my mid November they should be gone, I will try and paddle down and check on junior later this week, I need to round up something bright orange to wear so I’m not shot at;) I ran into a tiny doe, this years baby no doubt as I paddled along the shore, she must have wondered why the red canoe was talking to her;)
I hope our little buck survives this hunting season-I heard 8 shots in a row yesterday…really? You didn’t get it with the first one and you have to follow up with 7 more? Get new glasses, or get glasses, try some target practice, or hang up your gun old timer….sigh…It’s only two weeks of gunshots…can’t be over fast enough for me. I don’t particularily feel safe wandering around on the roads this time of year. Yup…humans worry me more than any wild animal…wait, we are animals, so homo sapiens worry me more than any other class of animal! I know there are ethical, respectful hunters out there but if your listen to a few property owner woes you realize there are also, a lot of assholes as well:)
We did get to make our way down a few of the beautiful cottage roads before all the leaves fell. This one road I am trying to capture in all 4 seasons. Two more seasons to go!
You would think the wildflowers would be done, but no, even though we have had several light frosts, flowers in November! What a treat! The Rock Harlequin I have only seen growing under the steps down to the lake, just one plant, but such beautiful blooms! The Orange Hawkweed is just a brilliant reminder how glorious Fall can be!
….and just the leaves themselves! Well, wow! The last few maples hanging on are so red. The first year Mullein leaves are very fuzzy and the raindrops stick to them. The Trumpet Lichen are starting to bloom-tiny light green trumpets blaring out their lichen song! Only the elves, fairies and gnomes really know;)
With the plentiful rain has come the mushrooms, out first Black Trumpets, Witches Caps, Agorics and more. They are popping out of tree trunks and the ground, from bright reds and yellow to pale shades of beige. Such a variety, and we’ve just started it seems! Some I do know, others I’m not sure what exactly they are! Astounding fungi in the forest!
It never ceases to amaze me the astounding variety of living organisms we share this planet with. You just have to look to find them, some people just can’t see it seems, or maybe their brains are concentrating on too many other things, they don’t know how to turn off the noise and listen and watch the forest. And such fear. The unknown? What? I can’t really say what drives so many people’s fears but if they could learn to overcome some of them, what a marvelous Earth they would find. My goal every day is to find something that makes me smile…not too hard here. That’s not counting orange cats either;) Rocket is underage, so no drugs;) ha! Just wine and coffee!
We have many gray and dull days ahead of us! I am so excited my “Color Chase Challenge” color is grey this month! Should not be hard to come by a few gray shots;) We are ready, the trailer was winterized yesterday-antifreeze in the lines, all bedding removed and washed, waiting to be put back in the Spring (those MICE!!!), steps and locks greased, underside checked for holes ( love that black extra wide duct tape!) again for…those MICE!!! I didn’t think I’d get shot under the trailer crawling about like a hermit crab but when I had to walk on the roof to clean off the slides before we pulled them in I did don my bright red jacket…”Not a deer up here!!!”…sigh…if their eyesight is that bad will it matter? 😉
Hopefully next year the Traveling Mewberries and Astrogypsies will be able to venture out, Canada’s East coast is calling…seafood…ocean smell…yes! But in the mean time, the canoe is still in the water, time for a few more paddles around the lake to check on that baby Loon! I’ll leave you with the morning mists, not too gray, yet…I keep pinching myself, I’m not in Kansas….wait, no Toto…;) Saludos amigos-are you still buzzing from all that candy? ha!
Light is such an everchanging beautiful visitor. In the morning, the soft colours promise tranquility and peace before the caffeine in the coffee lets my brain get wilder;) Light, water and reflections…sigh, this is my dream and here I get to live in it. I have so much to learn about photography. I know the basics, how to set my camera (well, most of the time, the disasters get deleted! Ha! You never get to see those!) I shoot usually in manual, RAW files, that allow me to correct my many mistakes, but sometimes they just come out of the camera just as I see them and then I get that “Wow!” feeling…not often! hahahahaha! I keep an eye on the white balance, too blue and things look cold, too orange and things look like they came out of a forest fire, it can be a delicate back and forth to find just how it looks to your eye. My goal is to try to capture what I see.
A few years back I joined a photo group called Color Chase Challenge on Facebook and Instagram-each month we have a colour and we have to try to photograph it. A lovely lady posted this colour wheel and as I looked back on the photos I really liked, they had some of this in them. You can deviate back and forth a few slices but it really is a great tool when you go to look. I admit most of the time I get lucky, I didn’t plan the steel blue sky and orange leaves, but they were there for me and I thought of this wheel!
The wind and rain have since come, and gone, and we are looking at a lot less leaves. I wanted to revisit a road with a friend who had come to stay a few days and the canopy was gone:( too late, but we saw so many other beautiful scenes, mostly in our back yard.
The morning after Joanne arrived, it was calm, warm and we couldn’t pass up a chance at a paddle around the lake. Yes, T-shirt weather mid October, we left our jackets on the dock! The reflections were beautiful, some areas had a light breeze, others in the wind shadow were glass like, a fabulous bit of Fall scenery. It is not a big lake, just under 3km long and 600 meters at it’s widest, it is fed by a number of small tributaries, what comes in, flows out at the other end:) The boat launch is car top and canoe only, for those that can read, which isn’t always the case, but for the most part it is pretty darn quiet. We ran into two other canoes…frig, a traffic jam!;)
There are 5 islands on the lake-we saw the bald eagle in the distance, his white head visible in a pine tree, as we paddled down the east side of the lake. When we came around the corner on our way back and spotted him he flew off to another tree to resume his fishing after we paddled by. It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours. Mike got to tail us like a bodyguard, ha! He said next time he’d trade me for the sit on kayak! Seems it is a lot more work than the canoe to paddle;)
They went out paddling in the canoe! All of them! Are they going to come back and feed us?
Covid has been hard, family and many friends live so far away. It was such a treat to see a wonderful friend, British Columbia isn’t half way around the world but it is more than a few days drive;) I think some days we have forgotten how to socialize, but no, I think we still can do that:) I hope it won’t be a few years between our next visit! I know it won’t! It was wonderful to spend time with an old friend, we have known each other since our childhood sailing about the globe…who knew, 45 or more years later we would get a chance to paddle around this lake together:) No gravol or dramamine needed;) Be safe my friend, and until our next visit! We’ll keep that canoe bailed out;) Abrazos!
Good morning Long lake! The Little Red canoe is waiting for it’s next adventure:)
There is something about that late day light, the water turns glassy smooth and the reflections make you wonder what is up, and what is down and the colours glow! Fall is a glorious time and we have been lucky, no snow, no frost or freezing temperatures yet, not the Canada I left 14 years ago;) ha! I have enjoyed this weather, these early Fall swims in the morning fog, and afternoon glow. It is hard not to just jump into the canoe and paddle away down the lake every time it is like this! We need to get Groot out for some Fall fishing and a tour!
Whether it is completely clear, or scattered clouds, each has it’s own beauty. Where the golds and reds intersect with the green of the pines the colours seem to pop even more. What wonder nature bestows upon us! As Summer fades into Fall, the days start getting shorter and there is less sunlight. This is the signal for the leaf to prepare for winter and to stop making chlorophyll. Once this happens, the green color starts to fade and the reds, oranges, and yellows become visible. Shutting down until Spring:) Magical!
Some friends have recently toted the benefits of cold water therapy so given my joints and bones are not as supple and springy as they once were a bit of anti-inflammation soaking seemed in order! I also decided to clean the entire 5th wheel trailer, all 38′ both sides, slides and windows, it was in a dusty state, a cloudy warm day seemed to be the best day to get this done, maybe I overdid it, but it is shiny now;) ha! It’s those first few steps down the ladder, breathe in, exhale slowly, take another step down, repeat…now this particular day, the water was warmer than the ambient outside temperature which made it that much easier! I was going somewhere warmer, at least I told myself that. Water temperature 15° C ( 59°F) that is a wee bit chilly…air temperature 12°C (53°F)…a wee bit bracing unless you kept swimming! The Muskrat popped up to see who the hell was in here with him but dove before I managed a shot…
The beaver slapped his tail across the bay at me as well, seems they don’t approve of my infiltrating their territory this late in the year;) Thought they had gotten rid of us humans…ha! not yet! I think I will keep this up, the dash up the stairs certainly warms you up but I haven’t felt cold yet, not sure how long I will do this, perhaps until I turn too blue, not sure if I fancy ice chipping for a dip…I’ll keep you posted!
Walking down the road, or even across the rocks, you can’t help but step on mushrooms. The rain and fog have given rise to these amazing displays. The yellow patches and blue indigo milkcap were out of this world! Those colours! Hard to miss on the forest floor! They dot the roadside, some hiding under ferns, others out in the open, others growing out of trees and stumps. The wonderful world of fungi! Our Spring was so dry we missed this glorious display of shape and colour bursting out! I call these my Fall flowers;) Other than a few Dahlias still going strong the wildflowers are fading quickly, a few bits of goldenrod and late lilac coloured asters are providing food for the bees. A bumblebee spent a few rainy days curled up in a dahlia flower for an umbrella as it was downturned. The remaining flowers are busy! Feeding frenzy before hibernation sets in, or a demise…0_0
Bumblebees do not maintain colonies throughout the winter I have read. Instead, the last brood of the summer colony will contain a number of queens. Each of these queens will mate and then find a safe nesting place in which to spend the winter. This is usually just a small hole in the ground or another protected spot just big enough for her. Only the queen bumble bees hibernate until spring arrives. The rest of the colony dies….:( goodbye all my little hardworking bumblebee boys….We’ll await the queens in the Spring!
Time for another paddle, or maybe a walk…what to do, what to do? Holiday Mondays! I hope this weather sticks around for a few more weeks. The leaves are starting to Fall, they cover the road like a soft brown and gold blanket. Time to get out and try to catch a few more colours, those darn Blue Jays never land where I want them to! Maybe the Chickadees will be more cooperative;) I hope all my Canadian friends got to spend some time with friends and family and those they love enjoying some harvest feasting. We have much to be thankful for in our very privileged part of the world…we need to remember that:) Hug those you love often and long:) Saludos amigos, abrazos, the outdoors is calling my name, I think I just saw the Blue Jays landing on the bright red sumac tree….
I’m sure there will be more than three parts but I’m easing into Fall!
Those mornings, flat calm windless mornings, where the reflections look real and real looks like a reflection. These are the glorious days of Fall. The colours are just starting, a bit of red sumac here, an orange coloured maple branch over there…what vibrant shades!
So far we can’t complain, no frost, no flurries and here we sit approaching the end of September. We have been fortunate. I’ve seen flurries and frost the first week of September, getting ready for the Perth Fair Horse Show, shivering, not this year! No Fair, and no frost…yet…I’m probably jinxing us as I speak! Ha!
We seem to have to late babies this year. The American Goldfinches are still busy feeding a very vocal pair that beg constantly:) “Mooooommmmm! I’m HUNGRY!” both parents take turns with these two little beggars:) They will eventually figure out the bird feeder themselves. They try, but so handy to have attentive parents.
The Grackles have stopped pandering to the young ones. They come to the feeder while an adult hangs out nearby…puffing, I call it. They sit on the branch…look around, “There must be a audience somewhere!” you can hear them thinking, they are performers you know! So, they sit…look around…squawk loudly…puff (look at my wingspan!)…and repeat as often as they feel the need to:)
Isn’t nature grand:) We have had an interesting guest for the last few weeks. At first I thought it was a very brown Hairy Woodpecker when it fact it is a juvenile Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. Now, I’m not sure where the term yellow bellied comes from for being a coward. “This idiom originated in England as a nickname for people from the Lincolnshire Fens. This area of England is marshy, and contains eels. People say that both the eels and the people have yellow bellies. It is not clear what literal connection, if any, there is between yellow bellies and cowards. The color yellow has long been associated with cowardice, and perhaps yellow bellow refers to the way some animals roll over and play dead when they give up.” who knew…This young Sapsucker, although a yellow bellied variety, is quite brave and shows up daily for some sunflower seed!
I used to think The Blue Jays ran the show but we must be seeing the youngsters, the Hairy Woodpecker and the Sapsucker chase them from the feeder. Maybe it takes them awhile to learn that “bad ass” approach to life;) The unique sunflower I had is done flowering but the both the Chickadees and Goldfinches have slowly been removing the seed. They are very photogenic up there! The Goldfinches are losing their bright yellow colour to be replaced with the somewhat more olive drab coat they wear all Winter;)
Now we wait for the Winter residents! I saw a pair of Juncos this morning:) Hopefully the Red Bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers will be back. The Pileated are currently deeper in the woods-I have heard and seen them along the road out so they are here…just busy looking for those last few ants before taking up suet as a main course!
I have harvested the last of the tomatoes and cucumbers-a few tomatillos bushes, although sad, have fruit on them so I am hopeful I will get a few more and absolutely no one wants to eat them! Isn’t that grand! I have been covering the remains of my chard, lettuce and peppers (Yes, someone was munching on the habanero plant, not the fruit!) with a white tarp each evening to keep the snacking deer from mowing them down….all going according to plan, until the little buck figured he would come in for a early bird feast!
I was walking back up the driveway from a mushroom hunt walk ( the recent rain has them going wild!) when lo and behold my little horned friend was standing in the middle of my sad lettuce and rainbow chard chowing down…he grabbed a few apple leaves as he spotted me and hopped down out of the garden and stared at me as if to say “Who me?”…”Are you Alfred E Neuman? ” I asked, now scat! He wandered off slowly, not in the least bit perturbed. I think Mom was out front enjoying the echinacea’s and the view when I got in the house.
At one point the little buck was looking right into the window-Groot was ready to protect us all he said! “Honk the truck horn! That should scare him away!” The lady enjoying the view and her organic repast in front sauntered away when I opened the door…”We’re surrounded!” I told Groot! Resistance is futile;)
I don’t mind donating a few plants for the well being of these beautiful creatures, but there is a limit…some fencing maybe in order next Spring…I have a cunning plan…OK enough Star Trek, Mad magazine and Black Adder puns! One must share:) Life is too short not to:) We’re off to the dock for some leisure time;) Stay tuned and saludos amigos!
Deer? What deer! I don’t work! I have hoomans! Where’s the fishing rod?
A few days ago I woke up early, (the cats who wanted nothing more than a treat soon retreated back to the bed after getting their early morning crunchie snack to keep Mike company;) ha!) to some serious fog. I couldn’t see past the deck at first but then the clouds slowly started to lift. I grabbed my camera, canoe seat ( the padded one is SO nice!) and headed down to the water.
Fall fog creeping in…
I have wanted to paddle around in the fog for awhile, trying to capture the sun breaking through, how it mysteriously shrouds the trees and water slowly giving way to the rising sun. As I pushed off I couldn’t see much further than the front of the canoe. An eerie feeling but hard to get lost on this lake!
I made my way along the South side of the lake, slowly paddling among lily pads, it was SO still, not a breathe of wind. I went and checked out Gustav the beaver’s house, no one apparently home, or he was ignoring me as usual, so drifted back across the bay as the sun was doing it’s best to push away the fog. And as I looked across the bay up popped baby Loon with a minnow in his bill! Good job!
Hello Baby Loon!
Talk about a bonus to a spectacular morning! So I sat and watched. I only paddled occasionally to keep the sun at my back and the Loon between us. Mother/Father appeared, although I’m leaning towards father after reading a survey of Wisconsin and Minnesota Loons that are tagged and have been watched for decades! Mothers leave first there, Fathers follow once baby Loon is deemed to be able to take care of him/herself! This one is a beggar as well. Poking and prodding, Dad! I’m so hungry-poke some more-it has it’s desired effect when once again the adult dives down to look for a minnow.
The parent dove and looked, sometimes coming up empty handed, most of the time with a small minnow in his mouth for junior. When he came up empty handed junior would poke some more, sometimes pulling out a small feather! Once he came up with a minnow and some nice lake salad, a well rounded meal! Keep that kid healthy, he may make it to 35, so far the oldest banded Loon, a female, they know of! Wow!
What a delightful nature show! The colours on the adult are starting to change. Only a faint blue/green band around his neck glimmering in the sun and under his beak is turning white. What a spectacular pair of birds. I was hoping for a nice wing flap or stretch but it was fish, fish fish! Such affection between the two as well, and the noises! Another lake dweller called them wheezes which is good explanation of the sound. It sounds like a cross between a wheeze and a squeak every time Dad resurfaced. So soft yet such a subtle communication between the two. As the sun lifted I decided to leave them to their fishing. They had been so quiet. The parent never made a sign he was worried or threatened, he never moved off. Baby once popped up a few feet in front of the canoe and quickly swam to the parent but not in a worried manner. It is amazing how much you can see if you sit quietly and watch:)
A sweet moment between these two. Check out that feather in his beak!
The LoonProject.org website is definitely an interesting read if you’d like to learn more about these stunning birds. They now have decades worth of research on just about all you would like to know about them, from territory selection, fights to the death, breeding ages, when and where they return to…so many fascinating facts! I will miss that wail come Winter, it is the definitive eerie sound of the North. Sadly, as with many studies they are learning the population is in decline. Part of their research is focusing in on the changes happening in the populations. Think about donating if you want to help!
Hope you enjoyed my morning with the Loons-Stay tuned for the rest of the feathery adventures around the place soon! Saludos amigos!
It is not as if someone flips a switch and suddenly it’s Fall. It creeps in on us slowly, stealthily…the nasty bighting bugs start to disappear, there is a wee chill to the air after dark, the Hummingbirds are all gone, Whippoorwills have become quiet and suddenly the rains come and the fire gets started in the woodstove…
Our last Hummingbird was sighted a bit more than two weeks ago-been pretty quiet except for the usual gang of troublemakers;) I enjoyed their last few days with us by sitting with my morning coffee and watching their antics. I am going to miss them. It was all juveniles-adults had the good sense to head South awhile back, basking in the Mexican sun already no doubt;) I’m feeling a bit wistful watching all these creatures head South to Mexico for the Winter…maybe I’m prewired to keep moving, some days I think so! A wonderful friend gave me an English children’s book I had never read before “The Wind in the Willows” written in 1908 by Kenneth Grahame. It is a delightful tale of mole, water rat, a boastful toad and a badger and their adventures, or misadventures in a pastoral version of Edwardian England. I have to admit when I came upon the chapter “Wayfarers All” of a visiting wandering sea rat telling his sea going shanty stories of the great sights to the South it could have been me, that is what my friend thought when she read it:) sigh…not this Winter. I broke it to the traveling Mewberries that there would be no beaches this Winter but more lovely fluffy snow…they didn’t seem to care as long as they could go out and stalk the chipmunk they said;)
As the seasons change the flowers and shrubs along the road out to the mail box are changing as well. The purple of the Asters and Yellow of the Goldenrod dominates the landscape with Purple Loosestrife dotting the swamps as well. Along the marshy areas and roadsides wild grapes, known as Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia) wind their way up the trees. I’m going to take some cuttings this Winter and plant them around the house for the birds, and us, if we manage to get any;) they make a wonderful jelly but copious quantities are needed as it is mostly seed and little fruit, but what a flavour! Winterberry Holly and Red Oiser Dogwood also provide many berries for the birds as well as Common Buckthorn which is imported from Europe, another edible invasive:)
..and the leaves, they are starting, a bright red branch on a maple here and there, some yellowing from trees stressed by the Gypsy Moth caterpillars, and some by the drought. In the swamp I encountered a lovely fat Muskrat chewing on some tasty reed before he/she wobbled off…ready for Winter I could see;)
The bumblebees are all still very busy as are the wasps it seems this time of year. A few butterflies have crossed my path in the last week but they are getting rarer as the nights cool. We have had some fabulous caterpillars grace our yard though! A giant green 4 inch long caterpillar curled up as I got too close, it will turn into a beautiful Io Moth. But don’t touch it, the caterpillars are known for their painful sting. Virtually the entire body is protected by venomous spines. A beautiful White Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar was exclaiming “What to do, what to do…????” as it reached the edge of the deck chair-I relocated him/her to somewhere less precarious;) They also can cause some serious sting so I moved it with a leaf as a taxi 😉
A few Monarchs have fluttered by, as well as Clouded Sulphurs and a few skippers as well. A very tattered Swallowtail found a moment to rest out front before carrying on. I will look at some more late flowering shrubs and plants for next year.
The frog family is still on the screen every night much to Rocket’s delight as they are just too interesting to not watch, or try to catch through the screen. I removed my “anti-deer” tarp the other morning, placed over what seems to be the very tasty chard and lettuce, that protects it from being mowed down by our resident doe and I encountered a gorgeous small green frog no larger than my thumbnail! I relocated him to the rosemary bush on the deck where all the bugs are! What a beautiful little creature! The rest of my Gray tree frog family is thriving-Mom and Dad Bubba jump are getting large, and baby jump, well, he still seems small, not sure how fast these little guys grow! They are quite used to being moved around now as I put the chair cushions out, and bring them in. They favour the lip of the box so I move them when I open and close it for fear of squishing them, no big deal now they say;)
Arachnophobes look away now;) ha! Down at the barn and in Jennifer’s shed are the most amazing Barn Orb Weavers I have ever seen. One was slightly blue shaded, one orange and yellow, and those webs! Oh my! What a delight! I have been looking for one outside, covered with dew they are a sight to see but none so far, I think I need to wander in the fields for that! Jennifer said they reminded her of Harry Potter’s Aragog when she sees them wrapping up their next dinner, I am thankful they are only a few inches long;) We get an occasional Dock spider crossing our paths. One stopped in the alcove, as if looking at itself in the mirror, “Damn I’m fine!” I could hear it exclaim!
The only other bugs still about in any number are the beautiful Autumn Meadhawks and the grasshoppers that delight the traveling Mewberries so much in the morning! Great fun to leap and give chase, and occasionally add one as a snack to their diet. Yum…not, especially when they come back up, on the carpet, why is it always on the carpet?
And now that the rains have come, we have fungus, among us! It has been such a dry year our usual Black Trumpets and Morels spent their year underground but now we have tiny little mushrooms appearing everywhere! A beautiful Chicken of the woods appeared as well! Those colours! Puff balls erupting from the lawn and wee little parasols on tree stumps! Simply delightful! The moss has all sprung back as well, turning from brown to bright green!
It is a glorious time of year:) I am trying not to think like the seafaring water rat, reminiscing about the warmer climes and adventures. I am reveling in the moment. The mornings are calm and windless, the baby Loon is being fattened for his trip South by his father, the goldfinch babies are almost grown as well, but that, is another story. Stay tuned and for now, enjoy a canoe trip to the clouds;) Saludos amigos, abrazos!
If only everyone would be so easy to please:) Groot runs down to the dock as soon as you shake the rod and reel, like music to his ears. Every cast has him on the edge of the dock watching, waiting, weed or fish….I’ve never seen a happier cat. The other two, well, meh, it’s the whole water thing Gamora says, spoils her perfectly soft fur if she falls in, not that she ever gets close enough to…Rocket, well, we’re waiting for the day he tumbles off the dock looking at something underwater:)
It’s those last days of Summer, picture perfect weather, calm water, no wind, a few fluffy clouds that puts everything in life into perspective, for Groot anyway:) Fall officially starts September 22 so we do have some Summer left! The Bald eagle has been doing some fishing as well across the bay. Over 900 feet out and heavily cropped, at the limit for the telephoto lens but not too bad a shot of him snagging a bass I think and taking off to the tree for a snack. I saw his/her shadow fly over and looked up from hummingbird stalking to see it dive down on the opposite side of the bay from us:) Such amazing flyers these raptors. The 150-600G2 Tamron Lens never ceases to amaze me. These are all hand held, in the VR3 mode for panning that I use for the hummingbirds.
I loved how the hummingbird saw it go over before I did:) It wouldn’t be much of snack and actually hummingbirds are known to build their nests near raptors, safer against other predators that way…smart little cookies!
Happy this is the last big Summer weekend as well-hopefully the jet skies-seadoos will be put away soon, only a few on the lake, and at an Airbnb rental. We refer to them as lake lice:) A friend sent me a contest application for invasive species, I was wondering if I could work humans and jet skies into that;) It might get a chuckle;) One lady who used to live on the Rideau said they had a BB gun down at their dock for the repeat 20 feet from shore at 40 mph offenders, Mike was thinking something bigger caliber, tank perhaps;) I am becoming a curmudgeon! Mike just asked winking “Becoming?” ha!
Contrary to public belief I do not spend all day stalking hummingbirds, eagles and bugs and cats, only part of the day;) We had a good garden this Summer, a jungle of tomatoes and tomatillos, which entails a bit of work, somewhat free of pests mostly until last night early while it was still light out, I heard Mike muttering as he flew out the front door, but not before grabbing one of my shoes on the way out to hurl at a young deer eating his hot pepper plants…it took a few minutes to compute in my brain what exactly he was doing;) Hell hath no fury like a man protecting his serranos! That poor deer will be emotionally scared for life after being attacked by a smelly flying sneakerhe chased it all the way down the driveway as it huffed and puffed at him, a juvenile with attitude! It has been enjoying the remnants of the chard and kale as well, which I have been covering up with a tarp so it had moved onto something different, not sure that one will be back;)
I came home yesterday with a monstrous bag of picked off the tree, Ida Red apples. I also scored an entire bag of bruised ones, for the horses, but Jennifer informed me today I had won the title of Supreme and Exalted Forager by the little raccoons in the barn, who ate every last bruised apple in the wee hours of dawn:) Nothing like sharing…I will have to stop by the lovely farm house where I bought the apples again soon! We have been driving by for years and just saw their apples for sale sign so I finally ventured into an immaculately kept old stone home and barnyard. I knocked on the door, heard a little dog bark, some French being spoken. When a lovely older couple answered the door I apologized profusely for my horrible mixture of French and Spanish, explaining I hadn’t spoken it for a great deal of time, we won’t go into how many decades, after living in Mexico for 10 years! “Pas de problème!” the lovely lady said, it will be good for you to practice some, I used to work with Italians and Spaniards so we will get along just fine! Her husband and she showed me through the older carriage part of their magnificent stone home ( we are talking stone arches, amazing craftsmanship here) where they had bushels of apples picked…But “NO! she said ” the ones picked fresh from the tree always taste better!” So off we went to a small orchard and glorious garden with grapes and berries as well and picked apples, the best year they have had since they moved here from Switzerland in the 1982 she exclaimed! All in French, what a lovely way to buy apples! We filled a very large bag to the top, then in the carriage house she filled another bag for the horses and I promised to return with Mike, I believe they speak German as well, for coffee one day! I think I will have to make them an apple cake as thanks! On my way out I loaned a woman who’d just arrived several bags from our bag pile in the truck so she could get some, as she had nothing to put them in, pass the kindness around! Life is short…Mangez du gâteau aux pommes! Groot says cake is fine, as long as it’s fish cakes HOOMAN! Looks like I better get back down to the dock and get to work!
Saludos amigos, hasta pronto!
Not everything red is a flower! Juveniles have to try everything!
Summer appears quickly at these latitudes, and seems to leave just as quickly once September rolls around:) We have leaves changing colour and falling already, much to do with the LDD caterpillar and moth problems, but also the long spell of heat and dry here, and heat and rain in other places. The swamps are even getting crispy! 40 km south of us it has rained almost every day-go figure-at least we are not being flooded or deluged…maybe I should bite my tongue;) Our climate has certainly had it’s share of extremes recently.
Warm water and cooler air forming beautiful mists
The crisp morning air has all the juvenile hummingbirds scrambling in competition for feeders and flowers, even the lowly petunias were being poked and prodded for some nectar! The adults have already all gone, just a few 2nd years around, flexing their little hummingbird might and a ton of juveniles. Some have been molting, we’re talking hummingbird ugly but thankfully that is nearly done;) What we think are females could be males as they are practically indistinguishable at this stage of their early lives! We do know they are trying to pack on the weight through for that long trip to Mexico!
The yard birds are changing as well, a female Rose Breasted Grosbeak appeared this morning and the young blue jays are getting sassy! The Chickadees and White Breasted Nuthatches are in a frenzy to stash seeds, I keep telling them the eves troughs are a bad idea but they don’t listen;) The Hairy’s and Downy’s are becoming more vocal and I think I heard the Red-Bellied! The Goldfinch babies have finished their molt and are looking very fresh and bright, their colour fades to a much drabber shade over the winter but always a welcome splash of yellow in a pale landscape. A few juvenile Eastern Phoebes have been feasting on the plentiful grasshoppers, not just the cats chasing them! I’ve even glimpsed a warbler or two high in the maples! Always exciting to see the changing of the guard of seasons:)
These beautiful yard birds make up the bulk of our population:) Throw in a Chickadee and a Red Breasted Nuthatch and these are the guys that will be here all Winter. I nearly put the Baltimore oriole feeder away but lo and behold, I spotted one early this morning during the ritual coffee savouring event, this morning with a blanket. Believe it or not, two days ago I had sweat dripping into my eyes! I’m thinking it’s time to start making some suet up and into the freezer for the cold dark days to come…sigh…I’m never ready for that.
We’ve also gone from being devoured by deer flies to only mildly nibbled on;) I did kill a couple attempting to extract blood this morning. We are down to just a few dragonflies, the Autumn Meadowhawks are very cool as the male and female are different colours! The male is a beautiful red, the female, a stunning gold! A few Bumblebees are still out and busy, covered in pollen and the wasps are looking for Winter nourishment well. A bright Green Northern Bush Katydid spent the night on the Dahlia-wow is it ever green! A few Monarchs have fluttered by and an occasional Swallowtail but they don’t seem to stop-headed South I would guess. Will need to work on some plantings for late summer food for them next year! My monarch caterpillar disappeared, I would think he filled up some lucky birds stomach or he went somewhere to pupate(?)…
The cats are enjoying the cooler mornings, less panting, and a lot of running about after the grasshoppers, great leaps and aerial maneuvers, chasing frogs and snakes and anything that moves:) They come in after their time outside and face plant into the sofa/bed/chair back, wherever as cats do, after a meal;) kids…hahahaha!
I think the felines and I will be happier with the cooler temperatures. Not constantly seeking some kind of shade, I can actually sit in the sun and watch the world go by;) I will be back at the hummingbird feeders for this last week or so they are here. Then it will be a long wait until their return in Spring, but then, so many other creatures will wander by to amaze us! The traveling Mewberries are sure to corner another chipmunk, although the ones that have survived this Spring and Summer are now pretty savvy little guys!
Intense concentration-we are sure there is a chipmunk under there!
So we’ll wait-amazes me how these three can actually work together when they put their mind to it;) Gives me hope;) ha! Saludos amigos-hasta pronto! I think I may wander the road to check out those late Summer flowers:)
I have to admit, I’m a hummingbird stalker;) I can sit outside for hours, waiting, well, ok, sometimes I get up and go photograph dragonflies and bumblebees, any pretty flower, but mostly, I lay in wait for these little flying brats! They can try your patience, hiding behind the feeder ( turn it so they can’t quite do that;) ha!) zipping in and out without a drink, blasted little birds;) They are what got me started in photography a decade ago. Do I have the perfect camera, no, frame rate isn’t the best, so I have to plan with the Canon 6D, one day I’ll go mirrorless with a faster frame rate…sigh, in the meantime I need lots of sun, to the side or behind me, fast shutter speed ( 1/3200-1/4000 sec) to freeze those wings, and lots and lots of shots and luck:) I do cheat though…”Ha! You say! I knew it!” Not only do I stalk these birds, I move their feeders around to just where I want them. I had one hanging by the sunflower, it makes them curious and go “Hey, maybe I’ll try that yellow flower, or that pink dahlia.” They do go to those flowers, I’m just trying to raise my chances!
They do get to know you though! The new juveniles coming out are much more skittish than the Spring regulars, who I can sadly say have headed South already leaving the territorial battles to the molting and not so glamourous girls and boys:) On a planning note, I will actually plant sunflowers next year, they come in so many beautiful shades, the red ones would be quite interesting to these little guys! This beautiful plant comes compliments of a chipmunk that hid the seed in my flower pot. I just watered it, that is why I call it my volunteer! The one flower I don’t have to tempt them with are the beautiful Canna Lilies that are starting to bloom! They love them and check every flower for a delicious meal it seems! Thanks Pam and Graham for those amazing bulbs! I will over winter them and plan next year where to put them, just where the light is perfect!
I currently have three feeders, one is actually an oriole feeder but the female Ruby Throated seems to prefer it. One is a traditional feeder, the other two are flat. They are great as you can unscrew the hanging part and place them on any flat surface-nothing for those little guys to hide behind..mwahahahaha!;)
You have to get inventive sometimes to get the shot! Luring them over with the feeder to check out a new flower often works. My dahlias are in a pot I can move around, looking for the best light, the hanging baskets can be placed on the picnic table as well…my seat in the shade-their flowers in the sun-Perfect! You have to use your imagination! I enjoy every bit of it! Sometimes it is just catching them in a different pose. When I put the feeder on the picnic table one little female had to come in and explore the entire area before settling down to a long drink:) I guess you just have to be careful what kind of bar you drink at right?;)
Watching their day to day behaviour is always eye opening. Who knew they could get into so many odd contortions;) Cirque de Soleil birds:) I do love the flower shots but sometimes it is just fun trying to capture the weird and wonderful poses they get themselves into!
I was sad we didn’t have a nest nearby this year, maybe next year! It disintegrated over the winter and I read they don’t reuse them. Today I haven’t seen a single older adult. There are a lot of rough looking juveniles around right now, feathers sticking out at odd angles, no feathers, mid molt and damn they are fuggly. Hard to say that about a hummingbird but these boys and girls are going through their gawky stage:) There are three battling constantly over small bits of territory. Front of the house, middle, and back-all depending on where a feeder is, they also fly off to our neighbours, I see them zip down by the powerline clearing to their feeders! One sad little guy has finally regrown some feathers-I promised not to publish his really ugly shots, he has his pride;) His little bits of ruby throat are starting to grown in!
Last year some of these juveniles stayed around until mid-September. I will miss them when they go! We were spoiled in Baja being on the migration path and some little Anna’s would even overwinter in the snow! Amazing little birds, I am envious of them getting to go to Mexico this Winter! Winter has crossed my mind in the last few days with the temperatures into the mid 30’s Celsius, higher with the humidex…that is sweating when you blink weather:) And NO-I’m not wishing for it to arrive early:) Just going to enjoy the time we have left with these little flying jewels!
I’ll leave you with our resident male and his little scarred beak. I’ll be able to tell next year if it is him when they arrive back-I hope so-it is a long journey-Hasta la vista baby y buen viaje:)
We’ve discussed the bees, now how about the birds, sorry no sex education here today;) All I can show you is the results of those actions;) ha! I am so glad I’m not a Grackle parent…those kids are tough! A lot of carrying on and screaming, all for a sunflower seed….”Feed yourself kid! You’re bothering me;)”
These parents work hard! It is odd, as in July it starts to get a bit quiet. Everyone is busy nesting and feeding, the woodpeckers get a bit secretive, or are simply running away from their demanding young ones. The Blue Jays vanish, except for an occasional feather beneath the feeder, then August rolls in and all the juveniles start coming out of the wood work, er, trees, whatever!
It is amazing how quickly they grow these babies! A paddle to the North end of the lake got us the chance to see the debut of the baby Loon! So small! Such calm, protective parents. We always keep a respectful distance and just sit and observe. It was a windy day and the little one was doing just fine!
They were not the only ones paddling about the lake. Down here at the South end the Bald Eagle has come and gone. With no Loon pair here, no babies to eat, it hasn’t made many appearances, but you know when it does, the entire bird population puts out the alarm. Those ballsy Red-winged Blackbirds give chase in the tall pine, or should we call them fool hardy;) We have had a single Loon moping about, I wonder if it lost it’s mate. Hopefully next year it will find some company. The Herons have been busy flying from one side of the lake to the other, often with a few juveniles, that look full size, in tow!
A few new birds have surfaced. What at first I thought was a seagull from a quick glance turned out to be a Tern, A Caspian Tern. That amazing orange bill and black head. It is a prolific fisher as well! The Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world, easily recognized by its brilliant red fish-knife of a bill and deep, raspy call. Found all over the world, the Caspian favors both freshwater and saltwater environments. It feeds mostly on fish, captured in nimble aerial dives. Still trying to catch a dive before it heads South for the Winter! I have seen it pluck a perch out of the water without getting it’s feet wet, yet it will also plunge right in! Stunning. The first time I heard it squawk, I jumped!
I have been keeping an eye on the Osprey babies at the Beveridge Locks-during the hot spell last week they were having a hard time keeping cool. Mother covered them with her wings but they are getting so large it is getting difficult.
I returned last week to only find the babies in the nest waiting patiently-I watched for awhile-it was HOT! They became quite upset when a giant low flying military Hercules aircraft flew over and circled. What could have they been thinking! That’s one big mofo bird of prey! I tell ya! I had to give up because of the heat, will have to make another trip to see them starting to fly!
We have an Osprey pair here at the lake as well. I paddled down one quiet afternoon to have a look-they were calling, so thought they were babies, but their eye colour looked more adult. So must take a canoe ride back down on a sunny morning to see them again unless they were early babies and have flown the coop/nest/pile of sticks! It looked like it was leaning in a precarious way!
There must certainly be enough fish out here for them…Groot says he is not happy about sharing but what can he do;) Another youngster woke me up at dawn last week. The crying was pitiful…it went on and on, right outside the window, even the cats had a look out to see what the ruckus was about. I went outside when it became a bit lighter and looked in the tree tops above the roof but the maples are so dense I couldn’t see a thing but I must have rattled it as it flew off to a neighboring tree, a young Red Tailed Hawk. We don’t see them often here, mostly open field birds so a real treat. He/she has been hanging around, I occasionally hear it cry. On the deck were the remnants of a Hairy Woodpecker and a Blue Jay so the parent had been feeding it a late night/early morning snack.
We don’t tend to get many birds of prey other than the local Bald Eagle. It is always a treat to see a Coopers (although I can tell you the yard birds don’t share my enthusiasm, for that!) Sometimes high up I see something I can’t quite ID. We have a regular flock of Turkey Vultures that soar the thermals here on the hill off the lake- Such amazing flyers with a face only a mother could love…happens when you a carrion eater, face feathers would get in the way;) My hats off to natures clean up crew!
When I went looking for the Osprey nest I paddled around and came across the not so wee Loon baby and mother. Only 10 days ago it was tiny! Father was off fishing so I spent a few minutes drifting by this beautiful pair. Their cry is such a haunting melody, I can tell you whether they are just greeting each other, issuing a warning call, staking out their territory or simply telling their significant other where they are, no cell phones needed:) Yeah! Will make another trek down to check out his/her progress this week! It won’t be a fluff ball anymore!
Common Loons for me are one of the most graceful birds on the water I have seen. The elegant neck, their diving and swimming ability underwater is astounding but have you ever watched one land or take off? They look like complete klutzes! It’s as if Goofy has been crossed with Inspector Clouseau, then recrossed with Mr. Magoo…you get the drift…um, er landing and take off, anyway…pretty funny to watch! Landing results in a large splash after a dicey descent and take off involves a lot of flapping, and flapping, and flapping….I could swear those feet are working overtime underneath like a Fred Flintstone car to get them airbourne;) I suppose everything has it’s ying and yang:)
…and then there are the incredibly sad looking juvenile Hummingbirds that really look like someone/something has caught them, chewed on for a bit, then spat them back out, not much to eat there…but that, is for tomorrow, along with some gorgeous examples of them in their prime. While they are incredibly beautiful little birds, they also get to go through their geeky stage…stay tuned for them and some of our faithful yard birds. I leave you with the local swamp juvenile Wood Duck, she is a beauty! Saludos amigos…
We have known there has been a family of Wood Ducks close by. I have seen both the male and the female flying over, usually just get a glance of their rear ends;) This is a juvenile, we caught a glimpse of Mom and quite a few babies sunning on a rock, but they were gone when I returned. This maybe last years baby as the other were much much smaller! Lovely!
Bumblebees-are just bumblebees right? NOT! Who knew there were so many different species? It has been amazing to watch and try to document what I have seen so far. 4 species out of approximately 15 varieties in central Ontario. I’m still on the lookout for more!
There has been a lot of activity on the catnip, who knew that not only did cats get a great buzz out of it but our little fuzzy flying friends as well! From what I can see these amazing little creatures called Bumblebees have been our main pollinators so far this year. When we think of bees, we often picture honey bees, and honey bees aren’t even a native species. In fact they were an agricultural import, brought to North America for honey production and crop pollination.
There are over 400 species of bees in Ontario. Bumblebees, Carpenter bees, Leaf cutter bees, Mining bees, Sweat bees…whew! Then there is the wasps…a whole other story! And Spiders. Our dock spiders are quite active but the one in the bird feeder box has had an excellent time wrapping Gypsy Moth caterpillars up for snacking on afterwards! I can’t possibly ask her to move out! The other cool spider nest is in my green beans. I think they are Nursery web spiders. Never seen the Mom but the babies form a tight ball until they see motion and scatter in all directions-survival technique no doubt. OK, enough crawlies for now, dock spider babies haven’t been born yet;) I’m still looking for that perfect dew/rain dropped spiderweb, actually, any spider web only found one orb weaver so far, 30′ up in a tree…:(
I was hoping for a trove of butterflies this year but they have been fluttering by, but not stopping much. I’ve given chase to the swallowtails, a few Monarchs have stopped, but it is maybe too soon! I did discover a real beauty of a Monarch caterpillar in the garden. Hope to get to watch it cocoon and emerge! A few new moths have flitted by including the incredible Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth, an apt description for once;)
To be honest, I haven’t wandered far from home. The onslaught of deer flies is enough to drive one mad, running back, waving your hands and arms over your head in a vain attempt not to have chunks of flesh removed. They bite through my pants and shirt, they are simply the most wicked bug ever. I have the welts to prove it;) I have been yearning to check out the swamp and see any new dragonflies emerging but even driving by, the truck is surrounded by these blood thirty winged devils;) Down at the waters edge the blue damselflies have been entertaining. They sit on my legs as I wait for the Caspian Tern to come flying around, too close for me to photograph them:) I did paddle out into the lake one day chasing the Blue Dashers-they are stunning landing on blooming water plants, and in the goldenrod and blackberry bushes small golden dragonflies are emerging. Autumn Meadowhawks I think:)
That buzz of nature-even if you don’t love bugs, you have to marvel at their amazing beauty and variety, and the fact when we’re all gone, some of them will most likely rule the earth;) ha! Probably the Cicadas. The Northern Dog Day Cicadas are emerging, associated with the dog days of Summer;) Only the males sing, making a loud high pitched song similar to a circular saw and lasting about 15 seconds. Their singing is associated with hot summer days and the arrival of Sirius in the night sky someone pointed out, astronomer bugs;) It starts out soft, gets louder and then fades away. They crawl out of the ground as mature nymphs then climb up tree trunks, split open and emerge as long winged, bug eyed adults that will live for only a few weeks. Unlike the black and orange periodical cicadas, which emerge in overwhelming numbers every 13 or 17 years, the larger, greenish dog-day cicadas are with us every summer. Males do the droning , which is generated by a pair of ribbed membranes at the base of the cicada’s hollow abdomen. Muscles distort these tymbals to make pulses of sound that resonate in the insect’s abdomen. The vibrations from a single cicada can reach 100 decibels and be heard a quarter-mile away….Love that sound, talk about buzz, well buzz saw anyway;)
Guess I have bugged you enough, lots more to come. We’ve done the bees, next maybe the birds…who knows what we may learn;) Stay tuned amigos, and if you don’t like birds, well…ha! You know;)
Where does the time go? Is there a direct correlation between age and how fast time flies? Ha! I’ll be on the bullet train soon at this rate;) All kidding aside, no train rides for me. I’ve just felt confident enough to go for a meal outside without a mask, and that may not last;) In my Facebook feed, I see a world acting as though nothing has happened, thrown their hats up into the breeze and exclaimed “We’re all free, we won’t vaccinate, we’re woke!” Is it wrong for me to mutter “Most likely dead sooner than later…” under my breath? I dunno. I am astounded at how many we do meet that haven’t been vaccinated. I get the rhetoric, they don’t know the long term side effects (although we DO know the long term side effects of Covid and it isn’t pretty folks), it was rushed, big pharma is out to get you (now, maybe your pocket book but they can’t expect to kill off the human race with a vaccine and then stay profitable people!) yadda, yadda, yadda….sigh…We are not surrounded by these people I see in my feed, just to make that clear. Most people we know really want to get back to having friends over, socializing without fear of killing someone else down the line, in fact Lanark, Leeds, Grenville has one of the highest vaccination rates in Ontario. I will go back to the bugs, and birds and other crawling critters that seem to have far more sense than most humans. In my lifetime I fear I will the see the end of many natural things, if I’m lucky to live that long. Human stupidity amazes me, saddens me, absolutely astonishes me, not usually in a good way that is. I don’t have any children to leave the future to, but many have, and I’ve come to the conclusion that most will give anything lip service as long as they can go to the store and buy a box of Fruit Loops, or Rice Crispies;) Ha! Don’t forget the marshmallows;)
This beautiful little female Ruby Throated Hummingbird image resonated with a lot of people. Maybe it is the colours, or the stance, maybe just a beautiful little bird in someone’s feed that wasn’t having a good day. If it brought a smile to anyone’s face I am glad. It makes you think that sometimes it is the small things in our lives that bring the most happiness. I think the one thing we need to do is look outside ourselves and our situations. Many have struggled, many have continued to valiantly work on, because they have to. Many are essential workers in the medical world, many are simply ringing cash registers. At the end of the day, they need to pay their rent, taxes, food, electric. Those lucky enough to work from home have had other issues, getting undressed in front of their still running computer was an unfortunate one, please, don’t play with yourself while doing this;). Perhaps the cat crashed their zoom meeting, I would have thought that would be welcome relief in these odd times;) As Ontario slowly reopens we hear the same complaints from employers, there is NO one to hire, even at increased salaries. Cafes and restaurants are running understaffed, plumbers and carpenters are turning down work as they don’t have the employees to do the work. When the CERB benefit transferred to unemployment many wondered why anyone would go back to work, if they were still being paid by the government. Would I? Turn down a 40 hour week of standing on your feet and running in any understaffed, store, restaurant or bar for a few dollars more…not sure:) Just glad we don’t have to see Randy Hillier’s ugly smug mug shaking hands with one more store owner/employee idiot protesting more lockdowns. Life goes on, for us today, but not for the many that did not survive their encounter with Covid….Enough of that.
Tomorrow we will go on to explore the weird and wonderful world of nature in our little neck of the woods…did you know there were 16 different species of bumblebees in Ontario alone? (so far I have only seen four but the Summer is not over yet!) Stay tuned…if your don’t like bugs, well, fuck off, no need to tune in;) hahahahahaha!
Canada day came and went, as did the 4th of July-these are the fireworks the morning of the first that mean something. That amazing colour mother nature creates, spreads across the sky with her brush that leaves us in awe….and it’s ever changing tones and shades. I usually have a peak every morning, it consists of lifting my head off the pillow and looking out the window, often through a large orange cat but he doesn’t block everything, tough right? Not….
When it looks like this, I motivate and get my butt out of bed! 5 a.m. isn’t my favourite time, I think of horse shows and medical emergencies;) I leave my tripod down at the small dock for mornings like these, wind still, reflections, colours. It’s a photographer dream! The view down the lake is priceless. It was what pretty much blew us away and sold us on this lovely log cottage as we wound our way in on a rather rough road. (Wasn’t sure I was up for another 4×4 road just yet!) You can update, modernize, paint and stain your way to something you like if you want, but you can’t change your ambient surroundings. Maybe the ten years in Baja spoiled us for needing something like this. When you live somewhere and your closest neighbours are kilometers away, and you like that, it’s hard to come back to humanity. It was my one worry leaving that mountain paradise, however could we find something that lovely, that we could afford?
Now our small garden is in, and producing this year thanks to copious quantities of Maya, Dusty and Phoenix poop, and donkeys;) All the lettuce and radishes you can eat, kale and swiss chard. Tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers of all sorts are coming soon. It was one thing we truly missed being on the road, that little patch of garden. Being able to go out and get fresh dill and basil, a handful of oregano, chives or cilantro, little luxuries you just can’t carry with you on a 5th wheel trailer. And water, fresh water, cold out of the tap, no smell, no chlorine, I think that is the biggest luxury of all-potable water. Something many in Canada and the US maybe never think about. Much is taken for granted in these countries of plenty. So we are thankful, incredibly so. There were a few days over the Winter I did long for that dry air, and mild climate, but not having to farm outside certainly made those cold days less unpleasant:)
I worry about our weather, about my family and friends in the SW, and now the NW. Fires and blistering heat in areas where that shouldn’t be. Change is here, it has always been inevitable, life is really mostly about change. We are born, we are taught and learn, we change, we adapt, we travel, and learn more. Many fear change, they brace themselves against it, it doesn’t have to be fearful. We are all constantly changing, look at our bodies age, our minds wander…this is what we are. In generations our civilization will be gone. Maybe not the art or the poetry, homo sapiens seem to treasure those, but the weapons and machinery will rust and fade away, a new religion will arise, Christianity and all the different gods and goddesses will fade away as Zeus and Apollo did, maybe it already has arrived, a new religion called “Cellphonism” haha! I shouldn’t laugh, it’s true. Check out this link to deities…so cool! I see people glued to their devices as if it were an appendage. I cherish the reunions with phoneless friends:) How did we ever survive?:) hahahaha, I think we turned out OK, and maybe a bit more independent than those who are enslaved to technology today, myself included as I type on a small thin keyboard to a lit screen connected wirelessly to an unseen internet…I started with the clack of a typewriter…Damn, this is turning too philosophical;) ha! I guess my point is we are in constant change and we need to live our lives, we need to laugh and we need to love. We are mortal and short lived. I came across this by Walt Whitman and it struck me a something to think about:
“Song of myself
I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuff’d with the stuff that is coarse and stuff’d with the stuff that is fine,
One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the
largest the same,
A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant and
hospitable down by the Oconee I live,
A Yankee bound my own way ready for trade, my joints the limberest
joints on earth and the sternest joints on earth,
A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin
leggings, a Louisianian or Georgian,
A boatman over lakes or bays or along coasts, a Hoosier, Badger, Buckeye;
At home on Kanadian snow-shoes or up in the bush, or with fishermen
off Newfoundland,
At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and tacking,
At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the
Texan ranch,
Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners, (loving
their big proportions,)
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands
and welcome to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion,
A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker,
Ha! A few will just have to look after seeing the fornicating;) It comes up on google as “verb *humorous (really?) of two people not married to each other- having sexual intercourse.” It is that time of year! Horny moths and butterflies;) I told them to get a room this morning, I don’t want to watch while drinking my coffee! Hahahahaha! They don’t get married as far as I know but it did say “people” so, maybe not the best word but…they sure looked like they were having a fluttering good time, so yes, I did look, and even take pictures…what does that make me, google…a voyeur 😉
Back to the yelling birds…don’t worry we’ll get back to the butterflies later;) While sitting, a loud commotion started from the maple bush and moved to the nearby telephone/hydro pole. The young Pileated Woodpecker male was yelling like a hungry grumpy child for his parents…
This went on for awhile until “Dad” swooped onto the pole and proceeded to feed this famished, almost fully grown youngster…They eat insects but will also eat wild fruits and nuts, including blackberries, sumac berries, poison ivy, holly, dogwood, and elderberry.
I can just imagine in the poor Pileated father Woodpecker’s head hearing his wife/mate say ” Take junior, GO! Go bond, It will be fun she said!!! Ha!
Watching the interaction between these two was very amusing, maybe not for Dad, mini me was getting a good feed of something, ground up carpenter ants, some of the numerous gypsy moth caterpillars, a few beetles and sunflower seeds thrown in perhaps for dessert;) What a patient parent:)
“Dad, you’re the best🙂” I have to hand it to this father Pileated-he was doing a great job but eventually just flew off into the forest…mini me following him…..hahahahahaha! What a lovely sight!
Ah, problems parents have the world over, n’est ce pas? And we thought hungry cats were trying;)
So here you go…fornicating Northern Crescent Butterflies. I have a vision of some bad televangelical saying “Interpersonal activity involving sex organs that does not conform to God’s revealed laws governing sexuality! FOR-NI-CA-TION!!! Evil demons come out!!!” The “Bakers Evangelical Dictionary” can help you out in times like these…yes, there is such a thing….let’s not go there today;) hahahahahahaha! and yes, the earth is flat…hahahahaha! It can’t be-Cats would have knocked everything off it by now;)…and if fornicating butterflies is bad, imagine what these guys would say about interspecies love????
Rocket has it bad…for the little raccoon. Every night he follows her from window to window, straining for a view, pressing against the screen, just a glimpse of that beautiful mask and ringed tail….sigh (Haven’t you ever felt like this?♥)…Love is grand….Groot, on the other hand, guards the front door screen, hisses at Rocket if he comes too close and yells those familiar words “You SHALL not pass!!!” to the raccoon, in his best Gandalf the gray impression, it’s pretty good;) Life is just so much fun with cats:)
Now I’m worried his chasing of the little bunny may have more to it;) I’ll leave you here, things got a bit long yesterday so stay tuned-we have a runaway, or is that running away bunny, according to Groot and Rocket! Clouds are moving in and we are ready for some welcome rain! Saludos y abrazos amigos! Love, live, laugh!
Summertime, so many hours in the day, today the sun comes up at 5:24 but it actually starts to get light at 4 am and the sun sets at 8:54 but there is still some light until 11:21…welcome to the Northern hemisphere! Astronomers hate Summer;) ha! What to do with all that daylight? Sit and watch the world go by!
The bugs are other worldly! Dragonflies with racing stripes, or bright green, or called widow skimmers…ominous sounding isn’t that! Butterflies named after admirals and crescents and then their is the Little Wood Satyr…who thought to name them after a class of lustful, drunken woodland gods? In Greek art they were represented as a man with a horse’s ears and tail, but in Roman representations as a man with a goat’s ears, tail, legs, and horns. Now…seems to be the naturalist was likely drunk;) But then who wouldn’t want to be named after a lustful drunken woodland god, there are worse things;)
When you sit and watch, it is amazing what happens by as well. Creatures that might slip under your radar slither across your path;)
I had a visitor from House Slytherin this afternoon as I was waiting for un-co-operative hummingbirds…you never know who you might meet if you sit and wait. He/she sniffed me out (the tongue thing) and decided I wasn’t a threat so slithered past me across the driveway and lawn to where I was sitting. Hello Grey Rat Snake:) This is the shiniest snake I have ever seen! Had I brushed up on my parseltongue this morning I could have asked her/him if it was the lovely creature that deposited it’s eggs in our compost last year, it did come from that direction:) Are we going to be snake god parents again??!! Yeah! It was longer than I am tall so almost 6′ I’d say and and some small rodent was in that bulge I would imagine;) These endangered snakes are very docile and always a joy to see!
And why the tongue thing? She is smelling you! The snake’s tongue has a fork on the end of it, because it captures little pieces of smell-odor particles-that are floating in the air. The fork in the tongue that holds this smelly air is brought back into the snake’s mouth and pressed against the roof of the mouth. The snake has an organ called the Jacobson’s organ inside its head. When the snake’s tongue goes back inside its mouth, it is put into two pits in the roof of its mouth. Those two pits are the entrance to the Jacobson’s organ. The two pits in the roof of the mouth is why snakes have to have that forked tongue. The air particles that are pressed into the two pits in the roof of the mouth have information that is sent into the Jacobson’s organ. This special organ reads the information about the air’s scent and then sends that information to the snake’s brain. That is how a snake’s tongue is used to smell! How cool is that?!
I did finally get some shots of the lovely Mrs. Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Patience, moving the feeder to an area with more plants worked out. I can sit in the shade and have her in the sun! I thought I caught a shot of her with cobwebs on her beak, nest building, but they must have gotten washed out in the light:) She has been busy! Mr. hangs about bossing everyone around but she no longer takes any guff from him!
A foray out from the lake to replenish the cupboards brought us past an Osprey nest. I had Mike pull over and I jumped out to take some shots. The road is under construction but from the bridge you can look straight at the nest versus putting a kink in your neck looking up! Such amazing flyers these wonderful aguila pescadors-fish eagles in Spanish! They do fish in the lake and we get an occasional flyby but not this close! Hope to see one diving for dinner one day while we are canoeing!
We have had some other late day visitors to the house as well….Rocket has fallen in love…with a little raccoon:) He follows her from window to window craning his neck for a view as she dismissively looks at him and keeps searching for a tasty snack. She cleans out the compost of any edibles and then searches for dropped bird seed. I caught her swinging from the oriole feeder so that has to be put away before sunset now! Now, it could be a he, can’t see anything other than that fluffy tail! She/he is quite bold so am thinking it is one of last years babies that was about:)
They have been hard on the Canna Lilies-between her and the chipmunks they are in tatters! Digging looking for seed and someone has been gnawing on them as well…sigh…sharing with the neighbours;)
When I walk out to check the mail…or run, deerflies in pursuit, there is so much life in the swamps and along the road. I check the progress of my Goldenrod Crab Spider on her milkweed plant-have to check this week to see if she has laid her eggs! How cool is a white and pink spider! Barbie Spider;) The new dragonflies flitter about, I’m slowly getting to know who’s who but new ones keep appearing! Wildflowers are in full swing, daisies, salsify and a small patch of beautiful Purple Flowered raspberries in an old mica mine hole! The laneway seems to be getting narrower and narrower as the plants grow! Beautiful!
Yellow-horned Flower Longhorn Beetle (Strangalia luteicornis), that is a mouthful! What do we call him for short?;) He/she had a friend to share the rugosa rose with:) It’s all those little marvels that can make your day. Funny how there is so much time to gaze at these amazing creatures, but not to do the dishes or laundry;) ha! We HAVE to have priorities! Take the time to smell the flowers, and greet the bugs my friends-I’m off to find that pot of gold across the lake, make that a double pot of gold, if I can beat the wee leprechauns to it;) Saludos amigos!
As the flowers have begun blooming the insects have been enjoying every bite of nectar, and those caterpillars are making delicious snacks for the birds. Everything in nature finds it’s balance, except humans it seems:( While watching the dragonflies has been a challenge figuring out what and who they are, the butterflies give more clues with their colours. Our sad little lilacs have stopped blooming already but a friends are in full swing-Preston lilacs, developed by the Experimental Farm in Ottawa she said, especially for colder climates and late bloom to escape any frosts-I’ll be looking those up!
Spectacular bush full of blooms and butterflies! there was also a nest full of baby robins ( third set she said!) nearby! Isn’t nature amazing!
While I have only spotted one nest of Phoebes under our front step (which I really need to go peak at quietly!) we have had a steady stream of less than baby size Hairy Woodpeckers coming to the suet feeder. Mother was feeding one HUGE baby boy, and the next day Dad was busy feeding his daughter:) Made me think of my father, I miss him:(
Sadly no sign of the hummingbird nest in the big Maple. The female is very shy, she seems to only feed at the orange coloured oriole feeder-I see her flying North so maybe she has a nest not too far away. Mr. big pants hummingbird has claimed all three feeders, including the oriole one as his…no questions, no arguments, they are his:) He is kind of funny, and very bold. He flies under the sprinkle of the watering can when I am watering. I bought a small solar water pump but so far he hasn’t been inclined to bathe there, he wants “personal” attention it seems! Ha! Glad he is eating all those nasty little biting gnats! He can have a bathe anytime on me!
and speaking of bugs…sigh…I think I lost a pint of blood venturing into the forest after a brightly colored butterfly. There was also some Echium blooming in a small selected spot covered with Northern Cloudywings and Indian Skippers…who makes up these names?
There are still new species of dragonflies appearing, I’m trying to catalogue them and remember what they are. Sometimes the males and females are very different, sometimes not, juveniles look different than adults, dragonfly ID is a full time job! Thank goodness for the insects and arachnids of Ontario page on Facebook, they come to my rescue regularly!
I was going to wander off and look for the Eastern Towhees but the bugs chased me back. I think you need full body armour with the deerflies! I can handle the mosquitos but when those vicious chunk of flesh eating deerflies start to hover and buzz I run like Groot, except I can’t dive under the safety of the truck!
We have seen in glimpses a beautiful pair of Scarlet Tanagers! The male is bright red with black and the female a yellowish colour. A few days ago I caught a glimpse of deep orange and decided to wander over and look at what I thought was the Oriole, but no! It was him. He was high up singing and posed for a split second! Beautiful! Not that I don’t appreciate our local Oriole, he is still coming for the orange marmalade. The kids are being fed Gypsy Moth Caterpillars as I have seen him grab one, beat it on a branch, obviously until it is senseless, then fly off to his brood!
All that expense for bird seed is now justified as my army of small feathered friends are devouring the caterpillars. These are an invasive species that the natural world with eventually take care of, they come in cycles, but they do so much damage, the young oaks are getting stripped of their leaves, I hope they survive:) time will tell.
I do love all the wildflowers, and after taking the pictures you notice all their little bug friends! It’s a wild wild world out there!
Gamora says she would like to stay out all the time to catch and play ping-pong with all the young chipmunks emerging from the rocks (her play method of batting small furry creatures back and forth in her paws leaving them dazed and stunned-she doesn’t know how to kill, either does Rocket-only Groot is the master dispatcher of small furry rodents) The chipmunks are abysmally stupid at this young age, often running right into the mouth of a waiting, leashed cat, only to be pried out of, or held up until they are let go…I recognize some catches by the fur missing from their tails, Rockets preferred method of proudly carrying them around, or backsides. They are like small Al Pacino “scarfaces” scuttling among the rocks when the cats go out wearing their battle scars! It’s war zone out there I tell you! The Barred Owl has taken a few as I have seen some owl down feathers about the yard as well.
I think I am caught up as we move closer to Summer! Lockdowns are slowly being lifted, 10 people can gather outside now, although after today and the twin race boats running up and down the lake I’d happily go back to 5….asshats….There are days any semblance of respect for homo sapiens I have goes down the drain, but then, I do know some lovely wonderful people and I try to remind myself of them. Mis amigos! Saludos, and does anyone know where to buy a MG42? Mike wanted to know;) hahahahahaha!
The alarm went at 4:35am: “cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo” why I picked that, or the time for the alarm escapes me, it just seemed about right. The cats were like “WTF is that? Is there a bird inside?” Then they came to the kitchen to beg. Groot has a routine, a few crunchies or you will be hounded, stepped in front of, head butted..etc…Humans are SO hard to train he keeps telling his friends, sigh…and there was coffee to be made, an essential ingredient in early morning photography for myself, not Mike. The thought of operating the camera in an un-caffeinated state is a bit frightening;)
Mike had set his Lundt 152 solar scope up the previous afternoon and covered it in case of dew. He wasn’t planning on doing any photography, just visual as the eclipse would be so close to the horizon the seeing (Atilla Danko’s explanation is far better than mine for newbies to “seeing” ) “Excellent seeing means at high magnification you will see fine detail on planets. In bad seeing, planets might look like they are under a layer of rippling water and show little detail at any magnification, but the view of galaxies is probably undiminished. Bad seeing is caused by turbulence combined with temperature differences in the atmosphere.” When you are looking at objects close to the horizon you are also looking through much more atmosphere than what you would be when looking straight up-about 250 miles of atmosphere straight up, much more looking out over the earth:) Hope that makes sense! So, no, Mike wasn’t going to photograph anything! But I was going to try! It’s just a sunrise with a moon in front of it? Right? ha!
The sunrise was beautiful! It gave me time to focus on the furthest away trees on the camera live view, which I can also zoom in 10x to be extra sure of focus. The horizon was a wobbling mass of unsteadiness…ie, bad seeing, as Mike had predicted. It looks like a mirage on a hot road when it is really wobby, not the best conditions for photography either but what the heck! It’s now or wait until 2024!
Beautiful view in Mike’s solar scope, he looked, I went back to work with the Canon6D and Tamron 150-600G2! At first all we could see was a glow then slowly the sun, and moon made their way higher above the first band of clouds. Camera settings ended up being ISO 100-F40-1/1250 sec at 600mm. Trying to cut that light out! Me experimenting!
We kept hoping the fast moving clouds would move away and we did get a few breaks as the sun continued to rise! Mike has a solar white filter, for use on smaller telescopes that can also fit over the end of my Tamron lens so we gave that a try! It took a few adjustments on manual mode ISO 250-1/50 sec-F6.3 at 600mm:)
That was pretty cool, so we went back and forth, telescope, camera, telescope, what a beautiful way to spend the early morning! We truly had the perfect seat to watch it rise at the far end of the lake from a beautiful sunrise to eclipse!
Rocket then said it was time to go back to bed, he couldn’t see a thing with the glasses on and was going to sleep! Crazy humans;) Saludos amigos! Hope you enjoyed the show!
How is that, we seem to go from cold and snow to scorching heat and humidity!:) No complaints, it’s busy out there. It seems everything explodes at once, plants growing wildly, that lawn, out of control, bugs appearing out of the wood work, literally hundreds of gypsy moth caterpillars descending from the trees like Tom Cruise Commandos ready to take over the world…sorry Tom, I have a handy broom, my weapon of mass destruction for wiping out as many as I can as I see the poor young oaks being devoured. Some people at the lake sprayed, it would only hit the tops of the trees, done by helicopter, the next day it poured rain all day…washed it all away, it’s a sugar base…seems like an expensive waste sadly…I’ll stick with my broom;)
If my last blog was bird centric, this will be bug centric! All Winter, only an occasional spider peeks out of a crack, now the world is swarming with all kinds of insect life! I belong to a wonderful group on Facebook-Insects and Arachnids of Ontario-If I don’t know what it is, someone here will! There are dragonfly experts, boy, do I need one of those! The first dragonfly appeared May 3-early I was told, a “Teneral” American Emerald, followed up by a host of others! Oh my, there are SO many! I’m actually starting to kind of know a few of them! I did have to look teneral up: of, relating to, or constituting a state of the imago of an insect immediately after molting during which it is soft and immature in coloring-juvenile:)
So, just a few different kinds of dragonflies, and I thought bird ID was hard at times! The good news is they are eating the mosquitos and gnats that so like to bite me, Mike no, he must taste bad, I seem to be a buffet to them! Long sleeves, pants, socks, and they bite right through the material. I had to wear my mosquito hat a fair bit in the last few weeks, just have to be careful not to scare Gamora, she thinks I am the creature from the black lagoon when I wear it, the ONLY thing she is scared of! She tried to attack a snapping turtle yesterday morning….I looked out the screen door at 6, pre-coffee, ie, in a daze, and thought, how could a cow have pooped on our driveway…logical, or not, that is what it looked like….I forgave her the four holes she had dug in the driveway and garden! She was covered in my vegetable garden dirt! I was able to rescue the two hot pepper plants she displaced and relocate them and now we wait…60-90 days for baby turtles! We’re stepparents again!!;) ha! In Ontario, females do not begin to breed until they are 17 to 19 years old!!! Isn’t that wild!
“Do you want a chipmunk to eat?” asked Rocket “You look tired and hungry after all that digging and egg laying!” Let me reiterate: no chipmunk was actually hurt in the making of this photo, but in the confusion to keep Gamora from getting too close and leaping on the turtle, Rocket dashed off and reappeared 20 seconds later with a young chipmunk. It was promptly removed, missing a bit of butt hair (rocket does not know how to kill, he just carries them around by the behind, or tail) to a safe rocky area away from the turtle and Rocket…Rocket said he was just being polite but we said live offerings/sacrifices were not allowed at this time;) These traveling Mewberries, always into trouble! When the younger two were bored our lovely lady Snapping Turtle made her way across the lawn and down into the leaves all the way to the lake. Groot lay on the lawn and watched, to make sure she was gone!
She was a lovely coffee companion, and most certainly the same lady turtle as last year, but we had two, so will be watching for the next one! The Snapping Turtle is Canada’s largest freshwater turtle, reaching an average length of 20-36 cm ( 7-14″) and a weight of 4.5-16.0 kg ( 10-35 lbs) so she was on the small to medium size I’d say:) and they live up to 100 years old! Now we wait 60-90 days to see if anything hatches and hopefully no predators will dig the eggs up. I still haven’t seen any information if they lay in multiple nests so will watch all 4 areas she was digging in! We’re going to be stepparents! There have been some birds by the way! Ha! Didn’t think you’d get out without a few feathery friends did you?
Went to visit a lovely lady and her husband and her beautiful cats near Westport (We met on a Facebook page I was asking about US tax accountants…ugh!) She said they had a Heron Rookery at the back of their farm and did I want to come and see it! Social distancing of course! Not just Herons we discovered after taking a few shots! A least six Great Blue Heron nests, and one beautiful pair of baby Great Horned Owls! Absolutely beautiful! It was such a treat to walk back to these amazing birds and such pleasant people! Nice to make new friends this way!
So not backyard birding for a change! Am I lazy, or lucky to have so many amazing yard birds, stay tuned for more babies next week! I do work hard at photography, but sometimes I just get lucky! I didn’t much get to many blooms and butterflies but we’ll save that for next time! I’ll leave you with the little red canoe! Saludos amigos, see you soon! Hoping our weather will be clear for tomorrows solar eclipse!
From near frost to 88° flintstone scale, 32°Celcius for us…that’s warm. The horses and donkeys have not even shed out their Winter coats completely…it is a time to sweat! and speaking of sweat, did you know there is a bright Green Bee called a Sweat Bee! They were clamoring all over the very first chive blossom that dared to open!
Life is exploding all around us! The grass needs to be mown! Yikes, all this work to do! ha! Wonderful outdoors battling the legions of black flies and mosquitos…ah, Canada:) It is cacophony of sounds and smells we have missed all Winter. Did I mention the Hummingbirds are back:) I think I was doing a little happy dance, good thing the neighbours weren’t about…”Who is that crazed person leaping up and down?”
The young lad he has decided all the feeders are his and flies back and forth over the roof from front to back, guarding from the phone line in the back, to a low tree branch in the front. He is quite bold as well. I was watering a newly acquired rose (thank you Jennifer) when he sat in the puddle beside the plant cheerfully flapping his wings as I sprinkled him with the watering can. When it was empty he looked up at me as if to say “That’s all? I was just getting started!” I think we are going to have a wonderful friendship! The lady is quite shy, she comes to the feeder in the shade and quickly zips off towards the maples, her beak had some cobwebs on it one morning so nest building she is doing! Yeah! Not right overhead in the large maple like last year but somewhere not too far away!
Out on the rocks under the Junipers the eastern Towhee’s are foraging and looking for love! You can hear them rustling in the leaf litter and occasionally they climb to a branch and belt out quite the tune! “The classic Eastern Towhee song, given by males, is a loud drink-your-tea! lasting about 1 second. The first note (drink) is sharp and metallic, and the final note (tea) is a musical trill. Sometimes the song will start with more than one drink” Thanks Cornell Birds! I didn’t catch the female, she is a lovely rust colour all over but I know where to go back to look now! Mosquito hat net and full body armour ready;) hahahahaha! And there are brighter splashes of colour at the feeders!
The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are back as well! The handsome male with his bright pink/red chest and the beautifully streaked brown female. They are vying at the feeders with the cowbirds. I learned that the Brown-headed Cowbird is North America’s most common “brood parasite.” A female cowbird makes no nest of her own, but instead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds. It seems Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are often target nests, she will push out a few of their eggs and lay her own, what would you rather do all Summer? Raise babies or eat and fly around…hhhmmmm….she’s a slacker! Recent genetic analyses have shown that most individual females specialize on one particular host species…Look out Mrs. Rose Breasted Grosbeak! Mr. Brown Headed cowbird says he has no say in what the lady does;) The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks build such flimsy nests that eggs are often visible from below through the nest bottom. Maybe a good way to tip out those Cowbird eggs;) The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak takes a turn incubating the eggs for several hours during the day, while the female incubates the rest of the day and all night long. Both sexes sing quietly to each other when they exchange places. The male sometimes sings his normal song at full volume from inside the nest! Just so happy to have that splash of beautiful colour back! and not just Grosbeaks…last year, the orioles were so shy I never saw them except for brief glimpses in the bush…not NOW! Seems we have an Baltimore Oriole Fan Club! Males, juveniles and a lady!
I was scratching my head on how to make a jelly feeder after I saw him, and after some online searching came up with this. A small masons jar with the ring, some fishing line, why fishing line you might ask? Ants don’t like to climb down it ( I use it for my hummingbird feeders as well) and squirrels don’t either! bread twisty ties to keep the three strands in place for now:)
These Hairy and Red Bellied Woodpeckers have an air of discontent and disgust for the latest arrivals. Here they are, having spent the entire Winter fighting it out to survive, and who shows up, the snow birds, Grosbeaks and Orioles, sporting an orange tan, or pink sunburn from their times in the tropics! I’d be irritated too;) ha!
So, it’s pretty busy and loud around the house right now. The Oriole gets mouthy if I’m too close to the feeder and is not shy about telling me so;) You’d think I was a birder;) I just love all the life that that passes through where we live and the surrounding countryside. We had a beautiful Ruffed Grouse saunter across the Long Lake Road the other day, usually all I ever see is a backside and whir of wings as they leave me thinking, I’ll never get a picture of one of those…she stopped and posed on the rail fence like a runway model!
Ruffed Grouse
Things are slithering around as well! Down at the water we heard a rustling on the waters edge, a snake was shedding it’s skin I think, couldn’t quite make it out, but someone else had. A Fisher Marten was standing 15′ away, also staring at the snake, back at us, then at the snake as if to say…”That is mine, back off!” As we had the cats on the leashes we decided to retreat and leave him/her to it’s meal was the best course of action, when I dashed back a few minutes later, both snake, and Marten were gone. It was beautiful! Smaller than some we have seen but that amazing tail! Those are probably the footprints I saw on the stairs in the snow.
Back in the woods as I followed the Towhee song I had a few other encounters:) “What did I do to deserve the raspberry?” I asked the beautiful doe that kept me company while I was looking for the Eastern Towhees. She nibbled away quietly as I wandered about. They often take off running but her, nope, dohdeedoh…my forest:) Several Garter snakes crossed my path and I nearly stepped on the fellow enjoying the tree frog for lunch…always good to look down as well as up for wildlife! Herpetologists rarely get bitten by rattlesnakes our friend Bob once told me, ornithologist, yup….ha! Then there are all the flying things! Dragonflies, moths and butterflies, but that will have to wait for a few days! Dinner will not make itself tonight so I shall sign off and send abrazos your way. Keep enjoying the amazing diversity of wildlife returning to our neck of the woods (not talking about the drunk guy on the jet ski here, or the other forms of humanity that are not quite sure how to coexist with the rest of the world, other humans included..;)
Saludos amigos! Stay safe, get vaccinated, we may just survive after all:)
At least in the morning it was sunny after flurries and snow blanketed the ground all night! It was a glorious day despite Winters last laugh! Spring will come regardless of the last tantrums of the Winter Gods;) By noon it was gone! Already wildflowers are poking their heads through the piles of last years leaves, yellow trout lilies and their beautiful patterned leaves, trilliums as well as a few new ones to me, field pussytoes, now there is an apt name for flowers near us! The Serviceberry bushes are all blooming as well, the bees must be happy!
…and we have bugs! Blue and green bugs, brown intricately patterned bugs, flying bugs, nasty blackfly biting bugs, recognizable bugs where I’m not scratching my head going…”What the heck is that?” If you are ever scratching your head on a a regular basis, and you don’t have fleas but need information iNaturalist is a great go to place to post photos for possible ID’s.
It seems as so many changes happen in the matter of hours, or overnight! Buds sprouting form the seemingly dead branches, bits of grass and wildflowers poking their way towards the sun…that sun…it is high enough now to make a difference. In a protected spot it is downright warm,. a few days, I might add hot;)
The ladies are out as well. We hadn’t seen the female Red-Bellied Woodpecker for weeks but she is back! This lovely lady is remarkably shy but she will land on the trees about 20′ away, as long as I keep that distance she says all is fine:) Here you can see why she is called Red-Bellied, just a tinge of colour on her undersides, vs Red-Headed (that must have already been taken;)..) What a beauty-the yellow around her beak/bill seems more intense, maybe because of breeding season? Their territory is much smaller than I expected .016 to .16 of a square kilometer! and to all of those preoccupied with the banging on antennas and siding, it should settle down soon unless you have termites or carpenter ants. A Pileated picked all the ants off our logs last summer, we should welcome them as free pest removal;) They are partial to oranges as well to anyone trying to attract these beautiful birds to their feeders. The boys all seemed to have stopped banging their chest for now and arguing, busy feeding babies I would think!
All matter of creatures have paid us a visit this week. We have known about the fox as it likes to pee on a certain tree that the cats feel obliged to sniff every morning:) It was a treat to see it in person. It grabbed something under a black tarp I have covering our future vegetable garden and ran off a ways to eat it. I snuck outside quietly and was surprised when it trotted back to finish it’s snack. A few expressed worry for the cats. A typical adult cat is almost the same size as a fox and has a well-deserved reputation for self-defense, so foxes are generally not interested in taking on cats, unless they are elderly or very young, I think Groot and Rocket outweigh our local little bushy tailed fox easily!
Porky, well, he/she hangs about, climbs a few trees, sunbathes, yes, sunbathes, wouldn’t you after a cold Winter, and waddles about in a rather ridiculous way:) Like the comic relief at the circus:) These are truly fascinating, much maligned creatures. They don’t throw their quills and run when they can. According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation: “Porcupines are strict herbivores, but their diet changes with the seasons. In winter, they feed on the inner bark of trees such as fir, cedar, and hemlock. In spring, their favorite is maple bark as well as the catkins and leaves of willow, poplar, and alder. In summer, they eat the leaves of herbs and shrubs including clover, thorn apple, and currant, as well as water lily, and arrowhead. In fall, they switch to acorns and beechnuts. Porcupines also love salt.” I’ve heard the rumors of them eating car tires (most likely nice salty Winter Michelins), breaking into cottages to get at salty tool handles, toilet seats ( Yes, there goes that nasty old sweaty toilet seat, what a loss…) If a porcupine breaks into your cottage and you are crying the blues, me thinks your front door needed replacing anyway, suck it up! For every tree they damage, which is generally minimal, you, as a human being have consumed a hundred fold more just building a deck, or some miscellaneous project, so put away your gun and learn to live with nature…we ARE an eco-system, although the animal population may be looking for a “humanicide” to get rid of us…wait…maybe they did;) Rant done:)
The henchmen and thugs around the bird feeders have tapered off. I’m referring to the Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown Headed Cowbirds. I stopped their daily ration of corn with the nicer weather and they are off to the swamps and grassy areas to feed on bugs. They did make a re-appearance during the snow much to the chagrin of the Woodpeckers and Blue jays, as they are chased off without a kind word. The little birds figure it out and dash in when the bird mafia is otherwise predisposed or arguing amongst themselves;) Life goes on…
At the end of the day I am thankful for our dear friends and family, and for many less fortunate than ourselves. The wind may be howling today, and there are whitecaps on the lake but the calm will return, “Along with the bugs!” Mike just yelled. I nearly gave Gamora heart failure when I came around the corner of the house donned with my hat and bug netting. I’d left her sitting in the catnip bush enjoying some cat mind altering substance, while I checked on some plants sprouting, I must have looked like the creature from the Black Lagoon as I ambled happily around the corner, she lefty skid marks in the gravel running away, leash flapping behind her, her velocity was so great…she could have been a racehorse! Note to self…get her used to the bug mask slowly, carry cat treats, try not to look like a Halloween horror creature:)
We have our appointment for our vaccines! Very excited! Things seem to be looking up here in Ontario, it’s slow going but in the Eastern portion of Ontario covid cases seem to be gradually returning from what looked like the pathway to hell. Our hearts are with our doctor and nurse friends who are on the front lines of this pandemic. Anyone who chooses to naysay, go spend a day in their shoes…I doubt they would have the fortitude to do so. Maybe by the end of Summer we can enjoy the company of our friends at fish taco feast, or a birria bustout! Yum! Wear a mask, keep a good distance, and for gods sake is it too hard to follow the arrows on the grocery store floors??? It’s not like you can say..duh, I can’t read?!” hahahahah…pendejos! Virtual hugs to all of our friends out there…love ya! Saludos y abrazos.
You always hope when you get those late storm warnings that maybe the weather people are lying, bad, or simply incompetents! Not so, woke up to a bit of snow and it continued most of the morning…the cats were not amused. “What the f@#k!” was the look we got when we let them out;) ha! Only Rocket took off through the snow spinning around and digging, the other two were not even sure getting off the porch was a good idea;) Things you learn with age;) To be honest I thought, hey, this is really pretty out, light snowflakes falling, really windy as well but let’s see if we can take some pictures anyway! Off to the truck I went, found an umbrella, dragged my folding beach chair to a protected spot and settled down, sort of, I felt like Mary Poppins, at any point I might just lift off with the umbrella and tour the lake, it was howling, and of course it scared all the birds off a few times until they went “Meh…need food!”
It was fascinating to see some returning Spring birds as well. A Chipping Sparrow, first of the year sat puffed up on a branch, a female Red-Winged Blackbird made an appearance as well. The Sumac bush was being invaded by a Robin when a beautiful Northern Flicker landed for a berry or two as well! I lasted about 45 minutes before my toes started to freeze and headed back into the warmth by the fire. Overall, we really can not complain about this Spring, it is extremely early and I am happy to see the green shoots poking up through the ground!
All along the road small wildflowers are emerging-Hepaticas. A wonderful photographer friend on Facebook sent me the location of some amazing wildflowers called Dutchman’s Breeches. I had never seen these fabulous flowers. We drove over the day before the snow and found a road with thousands on either side! It was stunning! Mother Nature…she never ceases to amaze me.
So, a day of snow is just a small glitch, it’s not as if we have 4 more months of it! Ha! We visited the horses and donkeys this week as well. The daffodils were blooming in their field and they were simply irresistibly cute this bunch! Jennifer, their owner and fabulous caretaker of our equine family, said if we thought they were cute, a 20lb baby donkey is off the cuteness scale! (Don’t show one to Mike, he’ll bring it home! ) Mike gave everyone a scratch and some snacks and we just sat and watched:) a few moments with these guys and your troubles disappear!
So, this is Spring, the ups and downs, the grass and wildflowers, furry donkey ears and shedding horses. Rebirth, and birth, the lambs and calves are in farmer’s fields. You can tell the very new ones as they are so bright and clean! The geese are getting territorial, chasing off any new comers to their spots, and the Loons have started to cry, that haunting, melodic cry…
As we enter another lockdown I have to be thankful for the opportunity to share not only the wild animals and birds we encounter, but the domestic ones as well with everyone. Virtually. They make me smile, they make me laugh. Rocket was eating his breakfast the other day lying down…ha! Why can’t I have breakfast in bed I wanted to know??!! One nice sunny morning they flaked out on the canoe…cat poster boys;) We are well trained cat slaves I have to admit;)…”Let me lightly sauté that catnip in sardine oil sir!”…NOT! Ha! Maybe;)
So, with the next month of lockdown, honestly our lives are not going to change much. Wear a mask, keep our distance, shop once a week (we try!) Life goes on. Just what we have been doing for the last year. As more and more friends get their vaccine there seems to be a tiny ray of hope for limited gatherings, for hugs, we miss those hugs, but in the meantime we have our animal friends, we have zoom and the wonderful voices of family and friends over the phone, and some mornings I get to wake up with the Loons and sit and watch the lake….
It seemed just over a week ago the lake was covered in a sheet of ice, how time flies! It was 8 days ago actually. I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. At first small holes started to open, then along the edges free spots slowly began to widen into small pools. In the late morning the otter was catching fish, sliding into the small holes and reappearing on the ice with some nice bass to lunch on. The muskrat that has been living under the floating dock appeared, dragging bits of weeds and sticks back to spot neat the lake edge, a nest in a cavity there perhaps? By late afternoon it was gone…the ice, just like that, the wind was howling and off it was pushed down the lake and it seemed to slowly sink! We have our lake back!! Celebration time!
Across at our neighbours the stream by their bunkie is roaring. Between the rise in temperatures and the warmth of the sun the snow and ice was disappearing before our eyes. The swamps were filling up and overflowing into the small creek that runs along the road and down into the lake, when it is still you could hear it rumbling! Water is magical!
A Hooded Merganser male glided across the still water between the ice and lake side with his perfect reflection. What a stunning bird, my first time seeing one so close. He seemed unperturbed by my presence and continued to explore the open area. The big predators have returned as well. As I sat at the table I glanced behind me out the window at what I thought was a big ass Red-tailed Hawk. I quietly made my way out onto the front deck and realized it was a juvenile Bald Eagle, perhaps three years old. What an amazing beak that creature has!
He/she looked a bit wet, maybe missed a fish and came up to the branch to sit and wait for something else to catch it’s eye. Bald eagles are strong, aggressive birds but like everything that flies they are governed by aerodynamics. The wings of an eagle need to support the eight to 12-pound bird as well as whatever the bird is carrying, and best estimates put the lifting power of an eagle at four or five pounds. But lifting dead weight it very different that coming in at speed, grabbing and going! That is why these Eagles hunt fish, goslings, ducks and other small aquatic birds, a large Canada Goose would just be to much to carry away! They don’t carry away children or dogs, unless you happen to own a very small one, cats, maybe, good thing Groot and Rocket are probably too heavy! Look out Gamora!
Mike caught a large rodent out of the corner of his eye while looking out the kitchen window….”What the…??? Squirrel?” Nope, a large very round looking Groundhog was lumbering about on the rocks outside, the cats were very interested! Our first Groundhog! Yeah! Only the chipmunks and squirrels need to keep a watch out for the sharp fangs and teeth of the felines. We keep them on the leash but they have been known to dart in, grab and run with a furry small creature. Some good Shakespearean insults are hurtled the cats way as they dash for the safety of their rock dens! I think there is a “Cat alert” code they have!
The smell of the ground is intoxicating in the Spring. It is so primal, wet earth, molds, decomposing leaves, it creates an incredible aroma of life coming back from the dead of Winter. The birds are changing as well, the cheerful little Common Redpolls have headed North towards the Artic tundra as of yesterday. In their place the Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived cackling away all day, as well as the Song Sparrows and Juncos. At times I am reminded of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” when their, the grackles and black birds song (can we call it that?) is in full swing and the ground is covered in these feathered hoodlums!
The Juncos and Song Sparrows rummage about on the ground under the feeders, they are very polite. The American Robins were picking what small seeds were left on the Sumac buds, their song is the sound of Spring returning! The Grackles and Red-Winged Blackbirds sound like an out of tune punk rock concert 😉 ha! The American Goldfinches are gradually turning more and more yellow. They stay all year and are a cheerful burst of colour on drab days.
The White and Red breasted Nuthatches go about their day snatching seeds and quickly flying off. I have heard the Pileated Woodpecker but he has been scarce at the suet feeder, as is the Red-Bellied male. Either they are nesting or busy foraging for other foods. The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are still in full force! and as I said, the Blackbirds and Grackles make up for all the lost woodpecker noise…ha! All that puffing and calling and showing off to the ladies, who are, I might add, pretty brutal and picky! All that grandstanding, strutting your stuff, and she just turns and flies away…
The nicest thing about Spring arriving is everything that comes back to life. I often feel quite bird-centric, it’s what we have all Winter to watch and marvel at but Spring brings all kinds of other lovely big and small creatures!
They understand social-distancing as well;) Today we are back onto lock down here in our county. Not a bad thing really, things are getting out of hand again, stupid people, lots and lots of stupid people…sigh…I am glad we are surrounded by something other than homo sapiens most days;)
and yes, the geese are back, sigh, more birds. Someone once asked me if I took anything BUT bird photos…sometimes;) I think she was referring to the fact I don’t really photograph that many people:) Not that I don’t like to, kids are especially fun to photograph, they don’t pose, they just are, guess I don’t like posers much;) hahahahaha! That overhead honk of the Canada Goose is a wonderous sound, that amazing V flying formation in the sky. My husband dreads it, I might burst into song! ♫♪♫ Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wing♫♪♫…you know the song, he hates the Sound of Music…poor man;)
I have a great deal of respect for geese, they can bite;) you just have to make sure you are badder ass than they are in close quarters;) In the swamp between us and the road a pair look like they are maybe nesting, they honked at me profusely as I walked by, I apologized and said I would in the future watch from a distance;)
So, I think we are caught up, enough babbling, can’t make it, this too long or some may not read it;) ha…the short attention span theater group;) To those looking at this on your phone, wait until you can actually see the pictures on a monitor! Put your phone away when you are walking in town, and how on earth can you jog with your phone in your hand? and to those worried about getting the vaccine, that Bill Gates maybe implanting something in you, he doesn’t have to, you “are” your phone already…hahahaha;) My pet peeves from the weekly shopping trip to town! I’ll leave you with yesterdays sunrise, even the little red canoe got to go for a spin…Spring is finally…here! Saludos amigos, can’t wait until we can hug again! In the mean time I’m going out to sniff some more of that Spring dirt!
Let it melt! let it melt! Let it melt! It’s ALMOST Spring-two days away! In January you are still mesmerized by the beautiful snow, February comes and you know it’s still Winter, expect a few snow storms still, sometimes you get lucky and there is a February thaw, not this year, but March, March holds promises of warmer days, and sun-glorious sun, the snow slips away almost overnight, well, sort of…maybe tomorrow? Ha! I think the Canadian weather forecasters are somewhat sadistic, they love to post those days…15°…sunny, you get your hopes up and suddenly the day approaches and it gets downgraded…to a high of 3°…what job could you be so consistently bad at and not get fired, I don’t know;) So, tomorrow, yes, we have a forcast for 15°. I will not hold my breath but if it does arrive I will do a little hobbling happy dance (plantar fasciitis is flaring up) and watch the rest of the snow recede into the ground! Halle-f-ing lujah!
Mike has been watching the entire collection of “The Sopranos”…It is beginning to show up in my vocabulary on a regular basis;) oh dear, we need to work on this! I can’t keep swearing like Tony Soprano! So, bring on Spring! We had our one last big dump of snow this month, the laneway was so narrow the dually was having a hard time squeezing through! After the big dump, of snow, the wonderful plow guy was stuck, again, I am beginning to think we didn’t make him any profit this year with the amount of times the tow truck came to haul him out, no amount of raspberry muffins will lure him back…sigh, we’ll cross that bridge this coming Fall:)
The good thing is the deer have stopped walking on the ice, must be a sign! The local porcupine has been out sunning him/herself ( however do you tell???) I know how nice that feels! We Canadians love to chat about the weather, probably as it plays a huge part in our mental health! ha! I’m just excited by the little things! The emergence of our gravel laneway is one of them! Who knew I would be so happy to see gray gravel again! And this was a mild Winter, A “good one” to break you back in folks keep telling us, “It went easy on you!”…no ice is all I keep hearing, and we were so well prepared with barrels of sand and salt! It will be here for next year, or, I’m not counting out any sudden ice storms or freezing rain just yet! Call me a pessimist right now and I’ll agree, no surprises please!
The Common Redpolls are still here in great abundance…shouldn’t they be headed to the Tundra? I keep worrying, a sign Winter hasn’t had it’s last laugh! Both the Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been scarce this week. I think they are nest building, or they didn’t like the beef suet? I’m back to pork and peanut butter this week! We’ll see! Babies would be a real treat! They are always a welcome blast of colour!
It’s time to start cleaning up…no snow to hide last years leaves and dead plants. Little piles of tree struggles, dead branches and enormous quantities of sunflower seed husks! The rake is waiting…and the wheelbarrow…It will feel good to breathe in that moist Spring air. We had a few minutes of rain this week, we opened the sliding door and sat with the cats sniffing the air, it was delicious! Earth, the beautiful smell of dirt and decay…
…and we can see the little red canoe! yeah! Break out the bubbly! I don’t need much encouragement to celebrate these days;) The lake has gone back to burbling and groaning, think of a giant, with stomach indigestion, no farts, just grumbling! With the quantity of water rolling in, and nowhere for it to go I half expect a blow hole to form in the middle of the lake to let off stream like a pressure cooker! Have you every had one explode? I have…
The traveling Mewberries have gone back to leashes…sadly….with the lake ice melting and sudden Spring fever they are wild! As the snow melted and they discovered they could go anywhere it was time for them to play “Catch me if you can!” with the underneath of our neighbour’s cabin being the first place they pranced off to on the lake ice…flipping their tails around in great amusement as they scampered off…bad kittens! I liked those tall snow paths they couldn’t see over, but not enough to wish for more! NOOOO!!!!:)
Down at the Narrows Lock where the lake is opening up the geese are being very cranky, must be that long trip up from Florida, and the lack of social distancing…some people just don’t get it, sadly…I would love to “sic” this gander on a few of them…he voiced what I feel when I go to the store and see people’s masks hanging around their chins…No vaccine in sight for our age group here yet. Glad to see so many friends and family South of the border with both their shots! We’ll get there, and then hopefully we can go back to exploring, our neck of the woods for now, but yes, a few more adventures for the traveling Mewberries and their faithful servants! Until then, I’m out to visit our latest arrivals, the Red-Winged Blackbirds are back with their friends the Grackles! Stay safe amigos, or you might find that goose chasing you down;) ha!
Captains log-star date 02062021 in the Milky Way galaxy… Meet Captain Picard (or Captain Kirk with that great hair!) here (although some might say a Bald Eagle or a California Condor would be more appropriate, none came by today;)…He takes life slowly, thoughtfully, savoring it, with some suet tea, hot…The rest of humanity out there could do with a bit of slowing down as well. I think perhaps the pandemic currently sitting on our shoulders has forced us in many ways to do so but I still shake my head in wonder at those that travel at a pace they see nothing on either side of them, just a small dot in the future, your life is today…
The log cottage below us went up for sale, American owners that can’t visit during the border closures decided to put it up for sale. The realtor fails to mention this is a one kilometer long lane, snow piled up on either side, very small country road that at a few times this week requires 4×4 or very careful driving to get in and out, one car at a time. There are no turn outs or places for two vehicles to pass, you have to back ALL the way out if you encounter another car…most people can’t do this on a slippery snow covered one lane road. It has been a three ring circus of comings and goings, when I thought we were supposed to be in lockdown? Here are people traipsing about the country side in minivans and small low clearance cars that have no clue where they are going, or what will meet them at the end. How have humans lived as long as they have if this represents a large segment of our population, maybe Darwin was wrong? ha! Last weekend of showings…we’ll see how many times the tow truck has to arrive, only one 4×4 tow truck around in the vicinity and you can imagine, it is busy at the best of times. Anyone have a Romulan disrupter out there I could borrow? 😉
So, we are not exactly stranded here, but we have to call the realtor to see when and for how long visitors are coming as we leave, and again as we try to go home, or risk running into someone, over someone;) It has been tempting, and that is not counting the looky-loos who just decide to drive in on their own…We walked out to check our mail and the speed at which drivers were flying in was astounding…they don’t deserve a place in the country if they can’t slow down even enough to take the view in as they drive in…ok, people rant done;)
Humans can learn a lot from cats…they are curious, take their time, sniff a lot of things to see what, and who has been by, they know how to play…They come from the planet Risa, they are Risians;) They don’t understand why we can’t keep the climate purrrfect…;)
and definitely know how to relax;)
They even get involved with my bird watching….Although I think Gamora may be a changeling…
I have to admit, they are not always helpful for bird photography;) Good thing they are easily distracted, food, warm fireplace etc….damn, what am I thinking sitting out there in the snow?
It pays just to sit quietly and observe, the behaviors of each of the birds are distinct, their attitudes and how they interact with each other is always fascinating. The small little birds, Goldfinches, Redpolls and Chickadees all seem to interact rather amiably with each other. Fluttering off at the first sight of danger, and just as quick to fly back to the feeders, and under the where they pick about for seeds thrown down from above. Could they be the Tribbles?
The Woodpeckers round out the top echelon, Pileated is in charge of the ship, We’ll call him Picard, the Red-Bellied is his Number 1. In line at the feeder, the Hairys are the Science officers, they battle back and forth with the Blue Jays, I think they are Romulans. The Downys fall in as the lowly red shirts;)
The next step up in the hierarchy involves the Nuthatches, White boss about the Red Breasted, they are the engineers of the Star ship! The Red breasted might be the counselors;)
The Blue Jays aka the Romulans, they don’t like anybody really and stay in the neutral zone the rest of you! The Black Squirrels, well, Ferengis, (Do you know the name Ferengi was coined based on the Persian term Ferenghi, used throughout Asia, meaning “foreigners” or “Europeans”) They don’t work well with others:) and the lone red squirrel, maybe he’s Data, never without food, all by himself…smart cookie, he might even be Vulcan;) Isn’t birding fun!!
I shall sign off for today, the crew, I mean Risians are waking up, it shall soon be play time, hoomans must amuse them;) Stay warm, stay safe, and can you stay off our road this week?! hahahahahaha!
Whenever one of these rather large Woodpeckers lands close by, or flies over, their size is what usually surprises me. We have been graced with the presence of a male Pileated Woodpecker for the last few days. I’m hoping he is going to stay and have high hopes as I see a rather large new nest cavity being excavated in a fabulous large dead tree very close by. “What does Pileated mean?” I asked Mike, he’s my go-to Buddha for all questions;) “I dunno!” was the reply, so off to the dictionary. “Did you know?”. It means crested…makes sense, especially when you see him/ and or a her head on! In French, I think I like it better, Pic Grand, or Large Peak, or is that beak? I like that, in Spanish Pájaro carpintero, Carpenter bird:)
I can’t help but hear the Woody Woodpecker voice in my head whenever I see one of these guys! Listen hear if you are not familiar with it: Woody.
According to Wikipedia, the inspiration for the character came during the producer’s honeymoon with his wife, Grace, in California in 1941. A noisy Acorn Woodpecker outside their cabin kept the couple awake at night, and when a heavy rain started, they learned that the bird had bored holes in their cabin’s roof. As both Walter and Gracie told Dallas attorney Rod Phelps during a visit, Walter wanted to shoot the bird, but Gracie suggested that her husband make a cartoon about the bird, and thus Woody was born. Woody shares many characteristics in common with the Pileated Woodpecker in terms of both physical appearance as well as his characteristic laugh, which resembles the call of the pileated woodpecker…..That’s all Folks!
Check out their actual calls: here! These are non-migratory birds. They range all over North America from Central California to British Columbia, all across Canada and the Northern States to the East coast, down to Florida and into Eastern Texas.
Map is from Cornell Lab-All about birds, my go to ID and information site.
We had a pair here this Summer with one youngster, maybe this is him!
The yellow feathers around his beak are beautiful! Groot said that dagger he had on his face was impressive and he’d look from afar, but didn’t actually want to get very close thank you…smart cat:) This fellow seems to be very very fond of the suet block I put out. I make them, rendering pork fat in the slow cooker in the outside entrance (it can be quite odiferous!) then adding peanut butter and safflower/and or sunflower seeds. He says it is very tasty, along with the dozen or more Hairy’s and Downy Woodpeckers we have about, as well as our lady Red-Bellied and the mob of Blue Jays;)
We had a fabulous burst of sunshine this morning, welcome light in an otherwise gloomy week, tonight the snow is supposed to start and not stop until Sunday. I can’t complain, my thinned Mexican blood was expecting a January from hell, -30° Celsius, howling winds…but no…last few days have been above zero, practically unheard of here where the average temperature in January is -10°…a sign of our times? or are the weather Gods being generous and breaking us in slowly…we still have February! Ha…we’ll see!
Some new visitors to our feeders have been a flock of Common Redpolls, now these birds do Winter! About the size of a small finch their bright red poll and streaky red chest (males) make them a standout in the white snow.
These small birds can withstand temperatures to -65°, they tunnel into the snow to stay warm during the night. Tunnels may be more than a foot long and 4 inches under the insulating snow. They breed around the world in the lands that ring the Arctic Ocean and can eat 42% of their body mass a day! They would need it in those temperatures! and they are SMART! Animal behaviorists commonly test an animal’s intelligence by seeing if it can pull in a string to get at a hanging piece of food. Common Redpolls pass this test with no trouble. They are a delight to have around in such large numbers, I’ll miss them when they head North! They seem to interact quite amicably with the Goldfinches and Black-capped Chickadees as well.
It seems the Redpolls are wanderers like us! A few banding records have shown that some Common Redpolls are incredibly wide ranging. Among them, a bird banded in Michigan was recovered in Siberia; others in Alaska have been recovered in the eastern U.S., and a redpoll banded in Belgium was found 2 years later in China. Although I think I’ll stick to below the 49th parallel in Winter!
It hasn’t been much of a landscape photography time for me, the gray skies, they can be beautiful, but a certain melancholy sets in, must kick myself and get out to photograph something other than birds! This morning it was foggy, mists rising with the above zero temperatures. Last week the deer dashed across the lake on the ice and snow and some rather foolhardy snowmobilers as well, there are open spots now in front, like portholes, the deer walk around them, I stick close to the shore, if it breaks, I can hit bottom, not about to wander out there where it is deep! I’d like to continue exploring this amazing planet of ours:) We’ll be digging out tomorrow no doubt, the forecast is for up to 25cm, almost 10″ of snow, may it be light and fluffy:) (my South Westerly and Mexican friends are now rolling with laughter holding their bellies, shoveling? what’s that? I can hardly wait for the comments…)
Saludos y abrazos amigos, stay warm and watch those backs shoveling tomorrow my local friends!
It was a year that we needed a few miracles, some have happened, some perhaps will, but all around us Mother Nature performs these on a daily basis. These flowering bodies of lichen for example. These are the sporophytes, or reproductive bodies of the moss. -16° Celsius. no problem, how do they do that?….
From the newly flowered lichen popping up like small cauliflower heads to the bright orange Witches butter, yup….there aren’t that many mushrooms you can forage year-round, but this orange “witches butter” will pop out of softwood logs any day of the year. That includes -20° days or nights! While it may not taste like much, it is edible (think survival;) hahahahaha!). Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain, golden jelly fungus, yellow trembler, and witches’ butter, it is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina, and wait, it comes in different colours! If that is not a freaking miracle what is;)
A short walk through the woods is a journey to another land. With the small amount of snow cover, different living things pop out of the once busy brown and gray foliage. Trees come to life with lichen and mushrooms, fungus with very odd names, and a plethora of life sometimes we don’t stop to see. We often fixate on the large, the landscape, the tall trees and looming cliffs, sometimes it is good to sit and look for the minute, or more:)
The small stream beside the road offers a marvel of sights. The icicles come and go, change shape, reconfigure themselves to the current temperature, snow and currents in an ever moving, changing world. We are in constant motion, our earth rotates at 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) per hour, our orbital speed around the sun is about 67,000 mph, good thing for gravity or we would be holding on for our lives;) We are in constant motion, nothing stays the same. As nostalgic as we can get as humans, looking forward if far more beneficial that looking back. So, Goodbye 2020, no looking back;) Hello 2021!
How does it always seem to change so quickly, a few nights of this…is now…
THIS!
I can walk on water, actually tried today around the dock, I have now performed a miracle, that’s enough for now! I’m now working on turning the water into wine, if I can keep it unfrozen! The good news is the fireplace insert is working like a charm, the insulation in the basement is keeping all those areas warm and we can stare at the thermostat in disbelief in the early mornings for giggles;) We have had some lovely donations of winter vests and jackets as well! We are READY for Winter!
Cats ARE not amused. The snow was bad enough but this!?!
You expect me to WALK in this?
I’m going to miss my lake reflections for awhile. Right now the snow has blown off most of the ice at this end, leaving trails and cracks as the Northern part of the lake is still open. Yesterday it was gurgling and humming as a strong wind, yup, on top of the -16°, was pushing the water under the ice, at one point it sounded like low sub sonics from helicopter blades, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh (acoustic dispersion Mike just told me! Think Blaster sound, Star Wars, my wonderful geek friends!)…weird enough for Rocket to head down to the dock, only to come racing back up on the handrail chased off by some weird lake monster groaning down there…he wanted in, “Thanks” he said, “none of this monster noise stuff for me! There is a fireplace waiting!” Groot agreed, shivering, in his luxurious fur coat…”Really” I said? After a bald eagle flew over I let him in as well, no use in tempting the eagle with a warm furry meal:)
The birds are always happy to see us! Peanuts for all, refill the feeders and suet, and even sit and try not to freeze and take a few pictures…true madness, it was SUNNY! A rare Ontario phenomenon! Ha! The telephoto gets very slow and stiff at these temperatures! I must have lost my mind, love photographing these amazing flying creatures, OK, huddled, perched cold, can you please move away from the feeder, creatures;)
Slowed the creek and waterfall right down! It is still running all along the road, the swamps are still draining into the lake, just at a much slower rate, and it’s not even Winter, December 21st yet! ha! Who made up these arbitrary dates like solstice anyway? According to Scientific American: “In ancient times, Dec. 25 was the date of the lavish Roman festival of Saturnalia, a sort of bacchanalian ( bac·cha·na·li·an/ˌbäkəˈnālēən,ˌbakəˈnālēən/ adjective characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken)….(Oh yeah!) Thanksgiving. Saturnalia was celebrated around the time of the winter solstice. And in 275 A.D., the Roman Emperor Aurelian commemorated a feast day coinciding with the winter solstice: Die Natalis Invicti Solis (“The birthday of the Unconquered Sun”). The ancient sky watchers had no understanding of the sun’s migration; they thought this celestial machinery might break down someday, and the sun would continue southward, never to return. As such, the lowering of the sun was cause for fear and wonder.” ( I get that!) Doesn’t that beat a baby in the manger, frankincense and myrrh?…yup:) Speaking of Saturnalia, on December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will meet in a “great conjunction,” the closest they could be seen in the sky together for nearly 800 years. Not a Jesus star, just two planets hanging out, no social distancing, shame on them;) Hoping for some clear skies in the next few days to see this! I’ll try to take some shots, our view here from the cottage is too treed in so we’ll drive out on down the road a bit.
In the mean time, we’ll be keeping warm! Finding a sunny branch to hang out on;) Rocket says send more cats treats by the way, he thinks he might be able to take over the photo editing in the future….Stay safe amigos! We thank our lucky stars everyday.
“Where is the “eat and delete ” button?” Rocket asks….
For me, it is preferable to rain, but ask me again in April and I may have changed my mind! Ha! The rain today is currently pitter-pattering on the metal roof. A wonderful muffled silence comes across the land with that layer of snow, the first, a few days ago was heavy and wet, but what followed was a lovely fluffy layer that carpeted everything for a day or two. The sun came out in all it’s glory, the clouds sailed across the lake making beautiful reflections in the still morning air. Perfect Winter picture postcard…
The cats, well, were not amused at all. The look of horror on Groot’s face when he stepped into the white stuff was priceless, Rocket zoomed off through the snow and Gamora, part snow leopard went over to stalk her birds. Each morning we go to the basement crawlspace to check our mouse traps, 12 deer mice so far, they are awarded to the cats (dead) based on seniority, Rocket usually manages to steal someone’s, after they have lost interest or are distracted, but the other day he went off into the grass, and came back with his own…live one, that turned out to be amazing said the others, strangely, theirs didn’t move they said….sigh…hope that is the end of the mice boom, last few days have been very sad for the three as they wait for Mike to go into the basement, get all excited, then nothing….
I would turn the traveling Mewberries into the basement/crawlspace but I’m not sure if I have cleaned up all the rat and insect poison that I have found there, so safer not to let them wander down. Next year we can perhaps pull up all the plastic currently covering the rock we live on, that is on the ground and replace it before they get the run of that area! Another item on the list!
Our lovely snowplow man came with the first snow, he wanted a trial run as he has not plowed this road before! It was like a grader had gone over it! No more bumps. The 2nd light snow we told him not to bother and we did a test run out with the 5″ or so, not sure if we could make it up the first steep hill but it did not prove to be a problem for Hagrid, the truck, 4 wheel drive and 10,000 lbs. of truck helps as well;) Good to know these things! We spent a day last week shoveling out the back of the truck filled with salt and sand and filling barrels at strategic points (hills) along the kilometer road in case things ever get (when they get, what am I thinking!) icy.
We try to walk out and get the mail now that deer hunting season is over, there are still a few booms as ducks are being blown to bits somewhere but not near the road, we hope? Country life. It is pretty quiet our little corner of the lake with the other two cottages closed for the Winter. A Muskrat has been swimming by the dock. Rocket goes down to sniff where he climbs ashore, and a beaver has been busily crossing the lake to his lodge in the swampy area dragging reeds and small branches with him/her. The otter was sitting on a horizontally growing tree by the lake with a fish in hand and chirped his way across the lake as he swam away quickly, complaining of my presence no doubt in his/her private domain;) I had no idea they made a sound like that! It was nice to see them here still! The Mergansers are busy herding fish around the lake, the bald eagle has taken advantage, as well as the seagulls, as the Mergansers chase the small minnows up towards the surface, there is a smorgasbord for all!
The bird feeders are getting cleaned out quickly with the cold and snow, the greedy Blue Jays wait patiently for their peanuts each morning then scarf them down! The Red-Bellied Woodpecker seemed to go into hiding when it snowed, but reappeared after a few days, hiding in a nice nest hole I can imagine:) The goldfinches also made an appearance as the sun came out. The large family of Hairy Woodpeckers were bickering over the suet perches, the Downy’s sweep in when they are distracted for a crumb or two, as well as the White and Red Breasted Nuthatches.
I have been busy experimenting with suet, making it from scratch. Sunflower seeds, oats and corn thrown into a pot with melted peanut butter and pig fat….they say it is delicious! I am so pleased we have such a wonderful variety of bird life as it seemed so quiet when we first came! If you feed them, they will come! Yeah!
The red canoe had to be bailed/scraped out to avoid sinking! But what a sight after the gray days of November it all seems so clean and bright again! I had some practice with snow flakes and with a few wonderful hints from fellow photographers we’ll see what I can capture next snowfall:)
There truly is beauty everywhere, from the streets of Perth with the holiday décor, the shop windows and homes and out to the snow covered fields. I had Mike stop at a bridge so I could take a picture of the Tay River, flat calm, and the reflection of the red Rainbow Bridge was so lovely. I never seemed to notice these things when the horse barn consumed our days and nights, I loved the work we did, but I can take the time to explore just a little but more now, and if I don’t want to go out, I don’t have to! ha! That will be novel!
Stay safe, stay warm amigos.
Next project I think may have to be miniature donkeys, in the snow, with red ribbons and other surprises! Stay tuned!
Ok, it is November 9th and I really should not be able to wander around at dawn in my bathrobe and slippers down to the dock, no frost, no snow, not even a freezing night (THAT will change soon!) but hey, I’m taking it as a sign to get out and enjoy, sorry Mike, that means staining the telescope building, cleaning out the eavestroughs, now what else is on my warm weather list to do again? Funny, he just ran off screaming “NOOO!!!!” 😉
…and now November 15th-it is snowing/ freezing rain/ raining…all of the above…welcome to November;) Ha! We did get that shed stained! What a difference a week makes;)
Last day of hunting season today, glad our neighbour farmer is not shooting up the landscape this week. He scared the crap out of the cats firing off the ridge beside the house, about 250′ feet away from us, and drove off in a huff when we said we weren’t really comfortable with that, “He wasn’t going to shoot us!” he said…so, he can barely hear, I wonder what his eye sight is like? Rocket decided the dryer provided an armored vehicle just in case, and Gamora has stuck near the house all week, not wanting to venture where the gunshots roam…ah, country life. The good old boys probably are not happy we are here fulltime, before they had the run of the property to themselves with the cottages closed down, hey, life is all about change:) I don’t think the property owners would have been happy with them shooting in their backyard if they had been here either, last day today, halle-fucking-lujah, pardon my French;)
A beautiful family of Otters graced us for a few days in the bay before moving on. They would fish and cavort, the two siblings stayed close together as mother went off in her own direction at times! Lots of food here to go around! When they left a squadron of Mergansers moved in like Tie-fighters ( Star Wars fans will get this;) in formation, followed closely by the seagulls picking off little fish that got too close to the surface:)
So, as you can guess, no hiking this week, or walking out to get the mail. Stuck close to home and watched the birds. A beautiful Mrs. Northern Cardinal showed up to add some colour to the lovely Red-Bellied Woodpecker Mrs…where are the guys I want to know? Maybe just as well, these ladies are so polite!
A swarm of Hairy Woodpeckers have arrived much to the chagrin of the local male who is doing his best to keep order but he has not been successful;) Lots of racket from the maple as the newcomers barge in for seed and suet! The Downy family is far more reserved, there is enough for everyone they must think:) A family of Red Breasted Nuthatches that were quite quiet all Fall have also descended, the White Breasted guys are like “Whoa, dudes you move even faster than we do!” Great cat window TV;)
They have been very excited by the quantity of feather balls flying about. The Chickadees get quite bold, Gamora caught one, then let it go, i.e lost it, unharmed save for a a bit of down…ha! She is now a Goddess in the boys eyes! “How she do that?” she is not sharing her secrets to the louts she said;)
When Rocket isn’t racing both down, and up the railing to the stairs to the lake he has discovered a tiny hole under the deck, in which he climbed into…sigh…took two boards off this morning to get him out…we won’t be playing that game tomorrow;)…bad kitty! We should have named him Dennis the menace…;) Looks like we have a new Fall project, fixing all the very small cat squeezable holes to under the deck! He gleefully ran straight there this morning, and laughed, as we had covered up one hole with a large rock, he dashed under the stairs, where he had found a new one…
We’ve had a beautiful Bald Eagle doing flybys in the morning. I’m wondering when they all head South, is there a timetable? Are they WATCHING the weather Canada app? ha! The Great Blue Heron is still fishing in the swamp, and I heard the Kingfisher as well. I’m sure they know when to leave, maybe the squadron of Mergansers will be the telling tale:) In the meantime, I’ve fixed the canoe seat finally:) We have had some stunning mornings and a couple of moonrises on the lake early this week that were spectacular. I may have to name the old red canoe, radio flyer, a friend suggested, like the old wooden hand carts we played with as kids…could work, now to brush up on my fine painting skills, wait! I have a madly talented painting cousin! Maybe we can talk her into a visit next Summer:) it might look better than my wildly third grade handwriting /painting skills;) How does that look? hahahaha!
Maybe I should consider vinyl stick on letters;)…Mrs. Red Canoe is not the final name choice, we’re working on it;) la canoa roja sounds nicer:) I’ll leave you with another glassy look at the lake, my it is a stunning sight for early morning eyes, a long as it goes along with a steaming cup of dark roast coffee…saludos amigos, stay safe, wear your mask, change, it is a coming our dear South of the border friends, it is a coming!!
There will be upcoming days I will stare at this for strength and resilience if we are battered by bad weather and cold, which we will be. 13 years of being Mexican and avoiding truly Canadian North weather has turned me into a cold whimp, I’m not sure I will be taking off my fleecy long underwear anytime soon;) November is a month of climate extremes. Two nights ago the thermometer sat at -6° Celcius (21.2F) the frost covering the trees on the other side of the lake in a swampy spot behind the small island was beautiful. It’s hard to tell it is an island without paddling around it. Mike said he tried to rouse me earlier when it was even frostier, but I think I just mumbled go away, I’m warm;) FYI…the shame of my wretched canoe seat did finally spur me into fixing it;) ha!
I did get up, eventually, and with my coffee watched a flock of Common Mergansers arrive on the flat calm lake. It makes such a difference that wind at times, it can make it brutal when it’s howling, even if the thermometer isn’t below zero!
The leaves are almost all gone, a few stragglers hanging onto the trees here and there. Is it soil, or genetics that dictates how long those leaves hang on? Something to ponder:) In a matter of a week…almost all gone…
Each ensuing rain and wind storm steals a few more leaves. Now we see where the evergreens reside, and that there are hills and rock cuts, previously hidden from view by the trees in the woods. Somewhere in there a bear is entering hibernation. He/she was walking up the driveway towards me last week as I walked out the front door. I must have scared the poor creature half to death judging from the rate of speed it galloped down the driveway and up the hill behind the house, never even turning back to look at me. Cats had great fun sniffing the depressions it made in the driveway gravel as it spun and ran…Groot’s tail even got big;) Makes you realize you could NEVER outrun one;) Food for thought:)
Not sure if the cats are enjoying the temperature change either;) When it is windy they are like wild thoroughbreds on a racetrack, ripping about, pouncing on falling leaves, but when the raindrops start they make a beeline for the door, or any vehicle sound. Rocket is terrified of the neighbour’s 4 wheeler that drives around checking on the other two three season cottages. The bogeyman no doubt of his small cat world. I am wondering how they will react to the snow. There is a small sled in the basement/crawlspace that no doubt will come in handy for pulling cats around in the snow, or sending them shooshing down the driveway hill…ha! Fun times to come! For me anyway;)
We have a few new visitors as well. A beautiful female Red-Bellied Woodpecker showed up this week and seems to come for breakfast and dinner every day. She holds her own with the squadron of of Blue Jays that descend upon the flat feeder, even taking a peck at them, so she’s a tough one! Absolutely spectacular colour, sometimes it looks deep red, at other times a fluorescent orange. Fingers crossed she wants to spend the winter here! I made a suet feeder out of a piece of paper birch, drilling holes for suet and then smaller ones, I used sticks for small perches. It has been popular already!
The range of the Red-Bellied Woodpecker is slowly creeping Northward but they are not that common. The Juncos have shown up as well in the last week, will try to get a picture on a nice sunny day! These small ground pecking birds are a delight. Amazing how they are found all across North America. The Goldfinches are slowly losing their bright yellow colour, the drab olive maybe protects them in the Winter for camouflage (?) or the bright yellow is simply there to attract a lady friend;) and only a handful of Purple Finches remain…I have my fingers crossed a Cardinal may stumble across us. We have some pines nearby so maybe?
The Woodpeckers, Downy and Hairy are very busy stashing seeds this time of year, I keep telling them the feeders will be full, as well as homemade suet on the menu;) No sign of the Pileated but I have heard them from far. The remains of a small male downy tells me we have owls, the Barred for sure, but maybe something smaller nearby, not sure if a raccoon would get a sleeping bird (?) Hope to see the owls! I look for trees with guano to find perches but nothing yet. We’ve heard the Barred Owls all Summer, sometimes right outside our window in the large maples. We had another visitor early in the morning that attracted the cats attention.
Something tells me I will have to fence in our vegetable garden next Spring;) Right now they are welcome to what is left after a few hard frosts! In the mean time a few flowers seem to be holding their own against the weather. It always amazes me what can survive the frosts. The catmint is still in bloom! Must to the delight of our feline friends:) Time to cut some to dry. I think I may try to plant every variety I can find! It is hardy, and, hey, the deer don’t like it, yet;) When the temperature pops up a bit, even a few bugs appear. A wasp was crammed into the basement doorway trying to stay warm!
As the rain pours down today, the forcast for later in the week in sun and warmth…but that can change;) Weather person…Only job you get to keep when you are consistently wrong at it;) hahahahaha! The clouds and intermittent sun have given us some beautiful skies! Mike says this is an Orca eating a lamb…yup…ah Mother Nature:)
Did I mention we have a waterfall now as well? It is going to be pretty amazing come Spring thaw! The recent rain has filled the many swamps between us and the main road and the small cascade beside the cottage road is a lovely trickle that can be heard from quite far away:) Running water is magical!
We may have a few large puddles to drive out in come early Spring;) Oh well, not that we haven’t faced some bad roads in our past;) hahahaha! People remark about “How we are going to survive winter on this kilometer long gravel road?”…hahahaha…go to Baja for 13 years, there are not many roads that shock us, our current one feels like a wonderful super highway here! We still have to place our sand and salt barrels near the hills, they are ready to go, and with all honesty, if there is a storm coming, you prepare…and stay home once it hits! It is not like we do not get weather warnings here!
And how is there are still mushrooms? Bright orange ones! Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, also known as the cinnabar polypore, is a saprophytic, white-rot decomposer. Its fruit body is a bright orange shelf fungus. It is inedible. It produces cinnabarinic acid to protect itself from bacteria and it’s said is quite rare! Also very medicinal for several types of cancer! In the backyard…who knew? The purple striped ones I still don’t know what they are, and the oysters and wood ear mushrooms I brought in on branch were eaten, overnight, by? a raccoon? a deer? It maybe time for a wildlife camera!! Getting correct ID’s is always a challenge-I upload shots to inaturalist-it gives clues to ID’s, as well as others found near you which is helpful. Also some lovely groups on Facebook: for mushrooms and fungi: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ONTARIOMUSHROOMHUNTERSANDFORAGERS and Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ontario.Reptile.and.Amphibian.Atlas/?multi_permalinks=10158753667065751
There is always someone out there that can help!
I hope to keep making discoveries of the weird and wonderful even through Winter, even if it just the hilarious cats! Cats with hats, cats on sleds, cats on their backs, yes, the harbinger of things to come….hahahaha…the fireplace insert is going and I think I might share the sofa with a cup of tea and Rocket! Saludos amigos!
You can see so much, if you slow down and look:) Not just the dazzling array of colours, those yellows, oranges, rusts and reds, but the lingering greens, trees that are hanging on, not willing to give up their leaf cloaks just yet! Just look up! The colours against the blue sky today were mesmorizing!
The reds are slowing receding to burgundies and the rusts and yellows have started to take over the colour canopy. It is as if all the colours of an artists palette have come to life blowing in the breeze:)
I wasn’t prepared for all the flowers blooming! At the edges of the road the bright purple Asters are still in full swing. Bright yellow Clouded Sulphur butterflies were flitting about, had you not heard? Winter is coming! A few Mulleins were making a brave stand next to their shriveled and dead neighbours and a beautiful Queen Anne’s Lace bloom was thriving, with other flower buds about to open. The majority of them are now dried up brown seed heads so these glorious blooms were a welcome surprise! Some red berries I’ve yet to discover their name were also is different states of being, some had leaves on the plants, others were bare. Fascinating how Mother Nature works;)
Most of the mushrooms turned to goo after the frosts but we came across these beautiful little golden brown mushrooms growing on a dying hardwood tree, Flamelina Velutipes/Ennokitake Mushroom-Velvet Foot Mushroom, I think! There are ones that resemble this that are quite poisonous so we won’t eat these little guys, just watch them grow! They are only about 4″ tall in total!
I thought the frogs and bugs had gone into hiding as well but not quite! “She turned me into a Newt!…but I got better!” Mike said as he pointed out a tiny just over an inch long bright red-spotted newt, which did in fact turn out to be just that! ha! Don’t you love it when something resembles it’s name! Mike’s great astronomer eyes picked him out on a rock. We rescued a Woolly Bear caterpillar sauntering down the road, I didn’t want to see him squished like a small snake a few paces before so we moved it to the side:) A few Tussocks caterpillars have been seen wandering about the woods as well. So much life:)
I spent one sunny morning just watching our locals. The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are quite cheeky! No fear! The Blue Jays hide and wait for me to leave to come in for the peanuts;) I hide in the shade to get them! The turkeys are safe, Thanksgiving is gone now, here in Canada anyway! I do love to photograph birds while it is sunny, the colours, especially with the leaves now creates such a beautiful backdrop. I keep trying to prepare myself for the gray days of November. One year I don’t think the sun shone the entire month…I can still shoot these glorious little birds, just higher ISO and shutter speeds! The Chickadees and Nuthatches always bring a smile to my face. The Goldfinches are back to their olive drab uniform of Winter, hardly recognizable from their bright yellow Summer feathers! I’m not sure if the Purple Finches stay or migrate, we’ll wait and see!
The traveling Mewberries have been having a blast in the leaves. Tearing about, chasing one another. Groot and Rocket stick close to us, crying if they can’t see us, Ms. Gamora on the other hand has a wild independent streak and we have discovered best to keep her leashed unless we want to go bush wacking after her! They enjoy their morning walks, especially if it’s windy, they are like a stable of thoroughbreds! 0_0…thoroughbred owners know what happens when it is windy and cool! ha!
We’ve had one quiet afternoon when the wind died down and we decided to go for a quick paddle before sunset. We didn’t get far, ran into our neighbour across from us, on the small island and introduced ourselves and chatted for quite a awhile. He knew many of the same people Mike had grown up with so it was an interesting conversation. He was closing up his cottage, taking the water in and said we might see him in the Winter. He’d walk down our road and cross over the lake once it froze! Hoping that is a ways off yet!
For now, I just want to soak in all this astounding colour and warmth on the days the sun is shining! A walk out to check the mail at the end of the Long Lake road is a real treasure of natures beauty. It keeps me grounded when the news of chaos and division is so great, all this works in some kind of harmony, why can’t we?
You may see me wandering down the road, humming a John Denver or James Taylor tune, wondering how beautiful this will look with snow, or ice, because in all reality, it is simply stunning no matter what the season, it’s just how we choose to look at it! Saludos amigos, stay safe, be kind and don’t forget to find that little bit of beauty in something, everyday!
Where did September go? Suddenly we went from green to red and gold and yellows spattered about the forest. The mushrooms have mostly slunk back into the ground after a light frost early one morning grazed the grass tips. We have been busy in the basement layering rockwool boards against the cement and block walls. Stuffing batting into the rim joists and generally trying to make the house as airtight, draft less and warm as possible!
Why does Fall always seem to take me by surprise? In a normal year we’d be plotting our course South to Baja, wondering when the first snowflakes would fly, but today…we get the opportunity to sit and watch the season change to a golden hue. No thoughts of travel, or routes, State or Provincial parks or campgrounds. It has been nice in a way, not having that mad scramble South, ha! Ask me in February how I feel;)
Moving into a solid house that doesn’t have 4 wheels and wiggles when you walk has been a lovely change. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be itching to explore come Spring but having a place, to unpack all your childhood memories, photo books, treasures from a life lived all over has been very rewarding. Having a washing machine, and OMG, a dryer, hah, either I’ve turned simple or the ability to have these luxuries doesn’t escape me. They are luxuries many people simply take for granted. Having this amazing thing called a well and running water, clean running water, drinkable running water. Putting up the insulation I must have hit the power switch for the well in the basement on the beam above and that moment of terror when I turned on the faucet and nothing came out of the tap…weird, for a moment a second of panic before trying to rationalize why there was no water. Yet I have a billion gallons I’m sure in the lake in front of us! After living off grid, and being responsible for our own power, food at times and water brings a different set of priorities to your life that don’t change I think. As troubled times stretch across our world, and we watch families lose everything in a fire, or flood, or lose their loved ones to the virus rapidly moving across this earth it is necessary to take the time to savour every little thing. Smell, movement, bugs, the flash of a coloured feather on a new bird, the wonder of the sun rising through smoke that has traveled thousands of miles, and a moon that lights the lake, this beauty needs to be celebrated in a time of such ugliness and uncomfortable battles being fought between humans…
Smoke from the West coast fires drifts over Ontario
I don’t watch a lot of news, I take pictures, I explore, I try to focus on the goodness in our lives, the people, animals, and living things surrounding us. For everything else there is wine;) Ha! So much is out of our control, so much isn’t, we need to remember that and do what we can, perhaps not worry about what we can’t…maybe we should adopt another kitten:) Ha! Can barely keep up to the three wild cats!
We can hear the geese as they start to fly South. A few have landed in the bay, what great webbed feet they have to brake their splash landing! An occasional cry of a Loon breaks the quiet lake, and even the Whip-poor-wills have started South. The Barred owls call from here, to others across the lake. I’ll see one eventually! A Bald Eagle has been doing flybys, occasionally swooping and splashing down for a fish. We’ll have the company of the Woodpeckers, small and large and in between, the Bluejays and Finches, and hopefully others will show up at the feeders! Our baby racoons come to clean up the seeds but have turned quite nocturnal now, not venturing out in the light.
The colours I have been told this year are exceptionally bright. Temperatures, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor “anthocyanin” formation producing bright reds in maples. Autumn leaves turn fiery-red in an attempt to store up as much goodness as possible from leaves and soil before the winter. The poorer the quality of soil, the more effort a tree will put in to recovering nutrients from its leaves, and the redder they get. Isn’t mother nature astounding!
Are we at the peak? of colours, I’m not sure, many leaves have fallen in the last few days with rain and wind, a few, still green, are hanging on. It is early this year, but then, maybe Spring will come earlier as well;) ha! That will be wishful thinking in April:) For now, I simply am enjoying the progress into Fall. Cooler nights, not many bugs, lots of frogs! Beautiful green frogs! One jumped onto my hand as I was coiling the hose to put away. The gray treefrog can have green, brown or grey skin with large darker blotches on the back. We have a gray one around the corner by the BBQ:) They overwinter under leaf litter and snow cover. They are freeze tolerant, that is, they freeze solid over the winter and appear completely lifeless, but when they thaw out in spring they become active once again. Wow!!! That is pretty cool! Cryogenic frogs!
Fall means we are also at the last of the outdoor markets. In Crosby on Saturdays, last chance until Thanksgiving to get delicious potatoes, tomatoes and honey and those candles! Too pretty to burn! Support a local farmer!
I’m back off to outside now, the sun has come out, some experimenting with long exposures is needed and wow, that is just too pretty not to go take pictures of! Saludos amigos, stay safe, be kind, if not drink wine;) Actually, just go ahead and drink wine, kind or not! Ha! Support your local winery!
Where ARE my sunglasses! That is bright!
Long Lake
What springs from the ground never ceases to amaze me! With the rains the forest floor has come alive with the fruits of the mycelium. A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus. There are many amongus;) ha! I always liked that! Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony. They can spread for kilometres underground and usually tell you that it is a healthy forest.
I try and get some id’s from iNaturalist. I upload photos and they provide possible id’s and whether others have found the same nearby. It is certainly not foolproof but it gives you a start where you can read from there! The ONTARIO MUSHROOM HUNTERS AND FORAGERS on facebook also is a great guide to what can be, or not eaten! We’ve harvested our fair share of Morels over the years but now are curious about the many other edible ones. We are looking into inoculating several tree trunks that are down to grow chantrelles! Very exciting!
We have a whole new set of families down at the dock as well. They are facing eviction, sorry guys, but I want to use the canoe, but for a few days they can stay and scatter hopefully, arachnophobs avert your eyes! These ladies are quite large, about 3″ across and with all those kids…I sense a few Aragog nightmares coming on;) Maybe Hagrid could come by and collect them;)
I usually think of Fall as things winding down but life seems to be springing up wherever we look. The mosses are putting out new shoots of glorious green, brand new baby frogs leap out of the way of the cats and we are still keeping an eye on our snapping turtle nest, finger crossed, they will hatch and nothing has already feasted on them!
The last of the hummingbirds have headed South, the feeders are still up in case a straggler happens by but it has become quiet after the raucous roar of tiny wings protecting the feeders has ceased. I’m sure I’ll get used to this, I feel I should be preparing to head South, but instead, I will have to prepare for Winter. Wood has been cut, split ( thank goodness for rental splitters!) and the shed is filling for next year as well. The Loons are still chatting and yesterday, the first call of Canadian Geese heading South echoed across the still lake. Winter is coming, but not yet. I plan to thoroughly enjoy Fall, from the most tiny minuscule thing to that which is larger than life!
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. ~Henry Miller~
Hello baby newborn snake! I was expecting turtles!
Keep reading unless you suffer from Ophidiophobia-The word comes from the Greek words “ophis” (ὄφις), snake, and “phobia” (φοβία) meaning fear:) Other wise, read on! Who knew what inhabits your compost bin! Ours is constructed of 4 old pallets, filled with leaves last year/or this Spring from the previous owners. Mike was loading the compost into the wheelbarrow when this fellow, and three of his litter mates popped up in the wheel barrow along with their eggs attached, they were just hatching out! Oh MY! What a beauty! This is an Ontario Gray Rat snake, Pantherophis spiloides. We had a large specimen this Spring in the driveway, mama maybe? They can reach over 2.5 meters long, they get big, but look at this little guy! One of his litter mates was shaking his tail like a rattler and rearing up:) muy bravo, very brave/angry. I guess when you are this small you have to look out for yourself!
These are non-venomous snakes I might add:) It seems they favour hardwood forests near water…bingo! Right here!
The Gray Rat snake is a constrictor and feeds mostly on small mammals and birds. Since it spends some of its time in trees, it is an efficient predator of bird nests….no….look out little hummingbirds next year! During the breeding season, females will mate with multiple males and produce a clutch of eggs sired by different fathers. Females reach sexual maturity at 7–9 years of age and females typically only reproduce every two or three years and they can live for 25–30 years. Gray rat snakes breed in spring, the females laying their eggs, as many as 12 to 16, in rotting logs, under rocks and warm compost bins are a favourite! Multiple females will use the same nest sight as well. The hatchlings, which are 30 to 40 centimetres long ( 11-12 inches), emerge in late summer or early fall. Juveniles prefer a diet of frogs and lizards. In eastern Ontario, they can hibernate communally in rocky outcrops called hibernacula! We could have colonies here!
The size of an average mature Gray Rat snake home rang is approximately 18.5 ha, or 45 acres. Predators include Red-Tailed Hawks as well as Fishers and Raccoons. Juveniles fall prey to Crows and even Turkeys. Glad these eggs didn’t fall into the hands of our Raccoon family! Three more hatched today, we’d unearthed them yesterday and then put them back, covering them carefully, this morning all that was left were the egg shells!
Isn’t Mother Nature amazing! Still waiting for the turtle babies!
♫♪♫ Gone fishin’ ♪♫♪ Nobody sings that better than Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby:) Yeah, I’m not that old but I ended with my grandparents 45’s! It’s been awhile since Groot has had the chance to catch his favourite meal. “Fish! Don’t cook it, master ruin it when he cooks it!” I swear he is half Gollum;) He had to wear his gifted lifejacket, thanks Joanne, on his first trip out into the lake for awhile. He wasn’t too sure about it but when he heard the fishing reel whirl, he was happy enough! He is a wonderful cat! He only goes out when it is calm, no waves he says, no splashing with the paddle…keep up the good work human and get me some dinner!
Great bass fishing, both small and large mouth here. We see the small fishing boats slowly putting around the edges of the lake, stopping, fishing, and moving on, you can hear the laughter and glee when one gets reeled in:) They are very tasty fried in butter:)
The bay out front has a beautiful sandy bottom on the far side. It is full of very small fish as well, minnows, rock bass and yellow perch. The Loon family has been busy stuffing baby Loon with fish. As MANY as he/she can eat! Constant movement of diving, delivering, eating and starting again. Baby is getting BIG!
The eagles seems to have moved on to new fishing, baby loon hunting grounds. They still perch on the big white pine across the lake, watching, but not every day all day. It was a stressful time for Ma and Pa Loon. Lot’s of wailing and carrying on anytime the Eagle did a flyby. Glad that has calmed down! The Osprey is back now fishing as well, I imagine the eagle was protective about it’s territory!
Baby Loon is doing a lot of wing stretching, practice dives and following his/her parents around:) Papa Loon gets protective, I can hear him wailing if a boat or kayak approaches too closely. I always keep my distance, great to have the telephoto, shooting from an unstable watercraft/canoe is a whole new experience! Señor Loon only got excited when Mike reeled in a big bass! “Mine!” I’m sure he was thinking! ha!
Just to sit dead still in the water and watch these birds behavior is such a treat. They are such stunning creatures! The colours in their feathers and the patterns are spectacular. The way the water droplets bead on their feathers after a dive…gorgeous!
I’m not sure when the youngster will attempt to fly. I haven’t seen anything like that yet. It still amazes me how much of a water runway they need to take flight. They always takeoff upwind, just like airplanes try to, at times needing up anywhere form 30 meters to a quarter of a mile to get airborne! That is a lot of flapping and paddling! We’ll see how long it takes and when Ma and Pa go, do they take junior? or is he on his own…we’ll see!
In the meantime, we’ll keep watching the sunrise, taking pictures and do a lot of “Gone fishin” like our Loon family! Be kind, wear a mask and stay safe! Saludos amigos! Hoping for baby snapping turtles this coming week according to my calendar!
Ha! Mother Nature has thrown all kinds of wicked weather our way this week, torrential rain, thunder that had me, and Rocket jumping and lightning I was using as a night light it was so constant, but who turned off the heat? Hello??? hahahaha!
Inquiring minds want to know;) Ha! At least we got to try out the new fireplace insert last night…very nice, that warm tile to sit a cold bottom on is lovely, the cats concur…it will be a very popular place this winter I think, and yes, I am a total whimp, cold being 10° celcius, or 50° flintstone scale…I am really going to be whiney this Winter!!!
With the cooler morning temperatures mists have been rising off the warmer water creating an otherworldly effects with the dance of light. Where the sun rises is steadily moving South, a reminder that the days are getting shorter…
August seems to me to be the month of weird extremes. A week or so ago it was sweltering, over 30° Celsius ( 86°F) with an oppressive humidity. I woke up sweating before even exerting myself;) Mind you, the cats seemed to enjoy that heat a bit;) Makes it hard to get motivated but we do:)
The thunder storms have dropped a significant amount of rain, no watering needed on the new perennials that have started to bloom like crazy. Mushrooms have been sprouting from every possible crevice, all over the lawn and poking up through piles of leaves and out of tree trunks. Stunning variety and colours!
The baby hummingbirds are now all fierce juveniles…lots of buzzing and fighting over the three feeders:) The crocosmia lucifer flowers are in full bloom and very popular! The Purple Finches are molting and look very sad, our equivalent to the gawky spotty teenager stage of life;) There are dozens here. Not sure if they stay or move South for the Winter?
At least the deer flies have decided to wander away to the back woods, or have been eaten. The dragonflies are slowly disappearing as well, only a few skim the lake and in the gardens compared to the hundreds in the early Summer, but now we have grasshoppers and crickets, much to the cats delight. Seems they think they are quite tasty but they belong in the “scarf and barf” (thanks for that eloquent wording Jennifer, I love it!) category of foods and generally come back up still wriggling at times. ARGHHHH, hahahahaha!
Ah, August….it’s a sign when the horses are shedding out their Summer coats and the donkeys are looking sleek and sassy, and round, everyone is very round, Fall is just around the bend. All that amazing grass must be eaten now! Maya is on stall rest after misbehaving with a sore foot, Dusty is rubbing his large belly on the ground, ah, that feels good he says. Phoenix and Quizzie are very round as well:) We had to say goodbye to the beautiful Celestial Bay. Man, it just never ever gets any easier watching our old friends go. She was 28. Such a beauty. May she run with her friend Boots in fields of clover.
Time slips away so quickly, you end up scratching your head wondering where it went. Makes you realize Carpe Diem, the Latin phrase, which literally means “pluck the day,” was used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that we should enjoy life while we can, are words to live by:)
“Can we have more sugar cubes please?”
Saludos amigos, stay safe, turn off the damn TV and news, go outside, watch some birds or bees or butterflies;) and go smell, the hollyhocks;) or roses, or popcorn;) ha! Stay tuned for Groot’s canoe fishing trip and an update on our Loon family!
I’m glad I’m not beating my wings this quickly:) it did feel like I was for awhile….well, maybe not, don’t think I could manage 1260 beats a minute or 21 beats a secound. So, whew…things are coming together, it seemed slowly, now all seems to be falling into place.
Importing and registering the truck and trailer here in Canada…that was a big thing. The dirty looks we get with the South Dakota license plates were real, in parking lots and elsewhere. We wrote “We are Canadian” on the dirty tailgate hoping to avoid any damage to the truck, we’d heard of vehicles that were keyed, people yelled at, told to “Go home”…crazy…those polite Canadians have turned vicious in protecting their border recently! 8 out of 10 want to keep the border closed at least until 2021.
At the border initially when we drove across the Customs agent just looked at us after I said I was a returning Canadian citizen and said “You’re going to have to figure that out later! Our offices are closed and we don’t know when they will reopen!”…okiedokie….After many calls to the CBSA, Canada Border Services Agency and Customs and ridiculous calls to US Customs Brokers we managed with the help of several incredibly nice Canadian Customs agents to deduce we needed to take the truck into Customs at the Ottawa airport. They even called the Ottawa airport and confirmed this for us:) Then we went in with the truck and all the paperwork. Bills of sale, titles, insurance, recall clearances, copies of what other trailers like ours sold for (for a price point as we bought them 4 years ago), red book value of the truck, etc etc etc…lots of paper. The gentleman behind the counter was very nice and apologized profusely but said, that yes, all those papers were exactly what they wanted but they needed to see the trailer as well to verify the V.I.N…OK, we can do that. “Just not Monday or Friday he warned! We are crazy busy those days.”:)
Next trip in, we hauled Myrtle, our 5th wheel home for the last 3 years, the back way into Ottawa to Canada Customs at the airport and I sat and waited my turn. I am always nervous in these places. A decade of worrying what my mother was smuggling, or trying to hide, firearms, pot, ammunition, endangered species, you name it, had us all pretty well conditioned to look down, only offer what was asked and pray to get the hell out without any problems…thanks Mom, you probably smuggled something into the afterlife;) I start to cough when I get anxious so cough drops to the rescue. It couldn’t have been a more pleasant experience, damn, these Canadians are just too nice:) I gave him all my paperwork, he looked out the window at the truck and trailer, typed in the information he needed, set a price for the truck and trailer, then told me what I owed in GST (General Sales Tax) taxes…I thought perhaps he’d made a mistake, was that a duty I asked? No, those are the taxes you owe…it was about a tenth of what I read I should be paying, what I was prepared to pay, and “Hang onto that receipt” he said smiling” You’ll need that as proof of tax payment when you go to get your licence plates so they don’t try to charge you again!” I smiled and paid, and thanked him profusely in Spanish and English and walked back to the truck wide eyed. “Nail it Mike, let’s get out of here before they change their mind!”
First hoop lept through nicely! We took the trailer and parked it back at Mike’s friend Wilson and Jane’s farm. Myrtle has a grand view of the Tay River and lovely black and white milking cows in lush green fields.
Secound hoop…We had to go to Canadian Tire Automotive Service to inquire about the R.I.V inspection. Registrar of Imported Vehicles. We spoke to a lovely lady, Daphne, yup that was her job she said. We’ll make an appointment and you can bring them in for inspection. So we did. Parked the two beside the building on a Sunday and Daphne came out with her pen and paperwork and checked the V.I.N. and weight and stickers, and tires and safety yadda,yadda,yadda…ticked off the boxes. Went upstairs, faxed it off, gave us confirmation, placed her stamps in the appropriate boxes and off we went, thinking, yeah, that is all we need….there is no manual for all of this…yet;)
Third hoop…off we went to Service Ontario ( the Canadian DMV) paperwork in hand, ready to get our Ontario plates, change our address, but…seems we needed a “safety” (wasn’t this covered in our RIV inspection? nope…another $99 for another piece of paper…) for the truck, and they both had to be weighed…sigh…Good thing we never took the hitch out of the truck;) Back to Canadian Tire after setting up an appointment, Safety in hand we headed to Arnott Sand and Gravel, and weighed the truck, the next weekday, we brought back the trailer, and just minused out the truck weight to get that figure…were we done? Finally?
Yes! Sort of, there was one glitch, I didn’t have an Ontario Drivers Licence…”But I used to have one” I told the lovely lady. “Well, that’s fine, that’s all I need!” she proclaimed, looked up my old number and off we went! 10 minutes later I walked out with Ontario plates for Hagrid and Myrtle. I was a bit confused again. I gave her the receipt the Customs man had said to hold onto as proof of taxes paid. She looked at it, wrinkled her brow, “Oh dear” I thought “I’m going to have to pay 8% provincial tax”..big long sad face from me….”You live here?” she asked…”Yes, of course” I answered, “Great” she said” no provincial tax then…” Did I mention I hurried out of there as well with my new found paperwork? hahahaha! So, our wonderful made in mexico truck that became American, now has become Canadian, I congratulated Hagrid on his new found citizenship, and Myrtle, poor dear, made in Indiana, now can claim she is Canadian as well!
So, odd but wonderful feeling to actually be Canadian again:) Saludos amigos, stay safe, be kind…except when you are driving Mike quipped, they can’t see you so you can swear at them…”In three different languages?” I asked..yup, he said…Reminds me of a meme I recently saw ” I don’t curse. I speak fluent trucker with a sailor dialect and a construction accent..” F*@king brilliant!
Esmeralda could still be Elmo! I did not know that!
I have had a passion for hummingbirds for a very long time. When we moved to Baja California, Mexico 13 years ago I was astounded by the variety and quantity of birds that came to our ranch in the Sierra de San Pedro Martir. I spent hours trying to photograph them, document the varieties and the migration time. We ended up changing the footnotes in a few books, we had varieties otherwise undocumented there. It was a wonderful experience. It started me on my path of photography. Coming back to Canada has been fabulous, to revisit the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird has been a joy, and to have a nest and watch a baby grow up has been such a treat. I will miss them when they go South, and I will be looking for them again in the Spring.
I shoot with a 6 year old Canon 6D on an old and now battered gifted Manfrotto tripod (Thanks Juanito!) with a Tamron 150-600 G2 lens. What it lacks at 150, it more than makes up for at 600mm. I have no flash so have to wait for good lighting, and be patient. I shoot a lot of frames, I also delete a lot of frames:) I use spot focus to get at least the head/beak nice and sharp. I used RAW 3200-4000 sec F10 ISO 5000 today with Topaz denoise. I set my feeder on the BBQ so I can look straight at it-today we had Mom, and baby Esmeralda/Elmo I think, the molting one. They seemed to co-exist together so figured they are family:) I had a lot of friendly help over the years figuring out hummingbird photography and one day hope to learn more with flashes, maybe this winter! As we won’t be doing any traveling for a bit! In the meantime, hoping Mr. Ruby-Throated shows up tomorrow morning!
Saludos amigos, stay safe, stay tuned and have fun shooting!
The Province has announced that we can move into Stage 3 of re-opening as of Friday, July 17, 2020. This means that many more Lanark county businesses (things like indoor dining, fitness facilities and libraries) are allowed to re-open or further open while keeping physical distancing, face coverings and other COVID-19 prevention measures in place…this isn’t hard…why all the whinging and whining? This isn’t the US;) ha! It was distressing to see on our last trip to the “big city” of Ottawa that people seemed to think that now everyone is wearing a mask that we need’t keep our distance…WRONG! I need a blow up bubble (images of a rolling bubble person come to mind…hahahaha) around me for future visits, or you know what, we just won’t go to the stores we found to be truly atrocious about it.
We are so privileged in so many ways. I’ve read about the teenage and 20-30 something angst, (I know a few 50-60 somethings having trouble coping, no audience?ha!) yes I get it, you can’t party and meet up with your friends… Are you a Syrian family escaping with nothing but the clothes on your back from a war torn country? That would be angst…Have you, along with another 2.3 million people in India been displaced by floods that have wiped out your home, pets, livestock and in some cases family? That would be angst…think about it. I’m not downplaying your depression but really, you have internet, you have a phone, you can talk and Skype and Facetime and whatever…we need to be thankful we are living in an area that provides us with all those freedoms. One day, life may get back to normal, but I’m not counting on it. We’re not being bombed, invaded, enslaved by an alien race (OK, that IS a bit of a stretch..ha!) Find the joys you can in living….the little things…you are the architect of your own happiness.
You have food, a place to live, your health, family….Hopefully…You have so much:) Remember that…enough preaching…I watched a tiny baby raccoon with his/her sibling and was wondering why it was so much smaller than it’s brother/sister..as I sat and watched carefully, I realized it only had one front leg…wow…and yet here it was, climbing a tree, picking through the bird seed. It was a lot more careful than it’s older, larger sibling though. I hope it makes it through the Winter. Mama Raccoon comes to the compost with the children in tow. I’ll be looking for my little friend each night now. Last night he/she finally decided I was not a threat and if I sat quietly, he went about his business of digging through the fallen bird seed. It brought a smile to my face to be accepted. I wasn’t raised with dozens of friends, and schools, and graduations, and sports, unless swimming in the ocean is one, with sharks! ha! No TV or phone. I wrote my friends, people I had met. I think I turned out OK (I’ve been told so, nyeah, nyeah, nyeah…by real adults hahahaha!)
Saludos amigos, stay safe, stay connected however you can. Feeling fortunate like my new little friend, we both can walk, however wobbly and unbalanced…and I am thankful for everything we have that gives us the ability to communicate, freely, in a free country…Now there is something to ponder…We take too much for granted:)
…and the living is easy…easier? Are we getting used to Covid isolation, or are many losing their minds? I’m not sure. Things in Perth are moving slowly, stores are still limiting the number of people allowed in, restaurants have tables set up outside, the grocery store is full of food, maybe not everything one was used to pre-pandemic but there is food. How lucky are we? We need to ponder that much more. The anti-maskers continue to astound me, wow, such an easy thing to do to protect others, and yourself, yet so much backlash. Makes me wonder how humanity really expects to survive, not just this pandemic, but for generations to come. There is good, so much good, but the press is so full of the sad, bad and downright evil. The Karens (no offense to the lovely Karens we know!), the Qanon, the rude, self entitled asshat presidents worldwide and their proclaimed followers, wow…I have to say the whole social distancing isn’t an issue, being a bit of a misanthrope, I like some people, just not all people, well, maybe not that many actually..ha! I would have made a good astronomer maybe…ha! Lot’s of time outside, no lights, few people, staring at the sky:)
Well, I’ll have to settle for getting up at midnight on a flat calm evening, walking down to the lake and staring at the wonders of nature and our universe…wow…bedazzling what Mother Nature produces. Now, carrying the camera and tripod down the steps with the red headlight and vertigo is a bit challenging, just go slow:) Once set up, wow…a firefly flew past my lens, I always say “Hi Beezil, nice to see you” when I see one…:)
The Milky Way filled the entire sky. It took 6 shots to capture what I could from top to bottom, think it is time I invest in a wide angle lens! I waited for the Comet Neowise to rise but clouds moved in, and so passed the time, two hours under the stars felt like 20 minutes…never ceases to take my breath away…Now to work on that obnoxious green light;) ha!
The Monarchs are fluttering about as well as an evasive Eastern Swallowtail! I’ll get him/her one day! The dragonflies are welcome to eat all the other biting bugs that descend upon you as you approach the woods. Our hummingbird baby has fledged and flown the coop-I saw a youngster poking at the unripe blackberries, must be her/him:) They have to learn what they can, and can’t eat. The Bald Eagle has kept vigil all week distressing the Loon pair, with their one remaining chick…quite the alarm every time the eagle flies in, I know when to go get the camera by the screams. There the eagle sits in the tall white pine…
I check every morning for the baby…still there today:) for now….New babies emerged from the forest a few nights ago…my bird feeder culprit. A mother Raccoon and her two small ones. Oh my they are cute. I explained my bird feeder was not on the menu but she could help herself to the compost any evening:)
The heat wave came, then went, and now it’s back again….Summertime…we need to cherish theses warm nights, softly fading clouds at sunset and calls of the whippoorwills from the forest nearby…no need to be socially distant from these things…no masks required….saludos amigos…stay safe…find your peace in this world in the little things that surround us, astonish us, they are everywhere if we just look a little:)
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) mother to be is indeed! A mother! We thought the nest had been abandoned after a series of torrential thunderstorms but a few days ago I thought I saw what was a wee beak, or a twig, so set up the camera the next day and lo and behold! The females build their nests on a slender, often descending branch, usually of deciduous trees like oak, poplar, birch, or sometimes pine, ours is in a maple right in front of the house!
Mother to be
Information is from:Cornell Lab-all about birds
“The nest is the size of large thimble, built directly on top of the branch rather than in a fork. It’s made of thistle or dandelion down held together with strands of spider silk and sometimes pine resin. The female stamps on the base of the nest to stiffen it, but the walls remain pliable. She shapes the rim of the nest by pressing and smoothing it between her neck and chest. The exterior of the nest is decorated (probably camouflaged) with bits of lichen and moss. The nest takes 6-10 days to finish and measures about 2 inches across and 1 inch deep.”
NESTING FACTS
Clutch Size:
1-3 eggs
Number of Broods:
1-2 broods
Egg Length:
0.5-0.6 in (1.2-1.4 cm)
Egg Width:
0.3-0.3 in (0.8-0.9 cm)
Incubation Period:
12-14 days
Nestling Period:
18-22 days
Egg Description:
Tiny, white, weighting about half a gram, or less than one-fiftieth of an ounce.
Condition at Hatching:
Naked apart from two tracts of gray down along the back, eyes closed, clumsy.
The duties of creating the nest, incubation and feeding the chicks are entirely up to the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird…single mother indeed!
So excited to see this baby grow up! Every few days it seems to double in size! He/she flops about in the nest, preening it’s feathers, stretching it’s wings, sometimes looking like it might fall out and sits and waits for regurgitated gnats…yum…not;)
Sorry for the overload of cuteness. This little fuzz ball is quite the unit!
Mother feeds her chick/chicks with small, protein-rich insects and nectar throughout the day, seems to be about every 20-25 minutes so far! As the chick grows, the nest expands, it is quite pliable/elastic (from the cobweb construction) from watching the kid bouncing around up there! From what I’ve read little missy/mister will be here about three weeks until it can fly on it’s own! We’ll keep you posted on the progress!
Isn’t nature grand!
For those interested-shot with a well weathered Canon 6D-Tamron 150-600 G2 using live view to focus, mirror lockup and a remote as to not wobble everything, much, anyway. I may be in the market for a new tripod!
It has been a scorching week, temperature records have been broken. It has been a time to move slowly, and look for shade. A Common Loon father was feeling the heat as well, but not from temperatures but from a pair of Bald Eagles. It was the screeching from the father Loon that got me running outside with the camera and down to the water. Holy smokes he can yell! This wasn’t the normal hoot, or the haunting wail Loons are so famous for to find each other and announce their presence, this was a screaming yodel/yell!
I have read Loons have four main calls which they use to communicate with their families and other loons. Each call they said has a distinct meaning and serves a unique function. The wail, a haunting call you often hear at night. The hoot, which serves as communication between paired adults and chicks. The “Yodel” which only the males do when they feel threatened, and the tremolo, which is also a response to threats. Our Father Loon was yodel/temolo-ing! https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon/
Father Loon had junior under his wing at one point hiding him. Only after the eagle had flown away he let the youngster off his back to practice a few dives! What a spectacle to watch, we canoed out to look at the eagle and later circled around, keeping a good distance from the father and chick to see if they were alright. 150-600 mm in a moving canoe with vertigo is hell, but I wouldn’t have missed this for the world:) Babies on Loon backs:) Thanks to Mike for roaring me around!
The two eagles had also been calling to each other. I wondered if they were a pair. The head wasn’t completely white on the one in the pine so maybe one was a juvenile. I had no idea they snacked on Loon chicks…:( Thus Father Loons wild response. We paddled over to the white Pine where the Bald Eagle was perched, near the top. He/she preened and did some stretching before flying off in the direction where the other eagle had gone.
It was our first paddle about the shallow lagoon across from the house. The vertigo has kept me a bit wary of the rocking canoe and to admit I wasn’t very comfortable out there but it was so lovely! Not too windy and all those water lillies, sandy bottom, no wonder the fishing guys are always over there! And the Loon!
I could have watched for hours but we wanted to give father some space to see if Mama Loon was going to reappear. The sun came out and it was gorgeous! The day before I had seen a commotion of flapping and bathing so had grabbed the camera and hot footed it down to the dock. The entire family swam by, fishing, preening, keeping an eye on the two kids…magical!
I sat on the edge of the dock, with my friend the dock spider, Mike and his friend Dave (who is NOT a spider fan) and we stared until they had swum off too far for my lens. These are such spectacular birds. They are neither duck, nor geese but their own species. Gavia immer ORDER: Gaviiformes FAMILY: Gaviidae. They are awkward on land. I’ve seen a juvenile try to walk from one spot in the Estero lagoon in Baja to another and it looked like a series of belly flops across the sand. They are also need quite the landing/take off strip like a plane! Over 30 meters to a quarter of a mile to get airborne so they don’t often land on small lakes or ponds, if they do, they can get stranded. The amazing creatures we share this planet with!
I have read that loons have successfully warded off eagles, one even killed one by piercing it with it’s dagger like beak. The rapier vs the broad sword. That would be quite a fight. I’m just hoping in the next few days we see Mother, with the other baby:) Fingers crossed for a happy ending. These birds are long lived and return to the same territories to breed. One female was tagged, and re-caught, she was 29 years old. Most of the juveniles don’t return North until they are three, and don’t start breeding until they are 6. Such a long life span for this world traveler:) For now, I’ll sit my friend the dock spider and keep watch:)
Pretty exciting seeing this comet! For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is named Neowise ((short for Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) for the spacecraft that discovered it in March. The ball of ice and space rock started showing up in the northern sky with it’s tail flared upwards this week after surviving a lap around the sun! Our amazing universe! Note to self, copious quantities of coffee are necessary before attempting to do this early morning;) Rusty at doing night time photography to say the least. Turn off auto focus, check….oops, lens cap, check…yup, make coffee please! 😉 Best view was from the deck, but it wiggled, will look for a spot earlier. 4:15 by the time I was set up and focused 4:30, getting too light, but I stuck around for the sunrise:)
It was well worth it, even without coffee;) Ha! The comet was amazing-with the bifurcated tail (new word for me…Mike is such a smarty pants. Definition of bifurcated: divided into two branches or parts) i.e forked;) hahahaha! I’m thinking devil’s tail 🤪 We don’t get these kind of chances often to witness the astounding beauty and marvels our universe has to show, and right from our doorstep, no need to travel to anywhere except a view to the ENE horizon:)
We want to see that comet Neowise! Last two mornings we have been greeted by spectacular sunrises…but low clouds near the horizon!!! NOOOOO!!!! For those of you who haven’t heard of it, is named Neowise ((short for Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) for the spacecraft that discovered it in March. The ball of ice and space rock started showing up in the northern sky with it’s tail flared upwards this week after surviving a lap around the sun! Our amazing universe!
Did I mention it was hot as well? We passed several Osprey nests on the Port Elmsley Road going down to muck stalls for Jennifer, boy were they warm. Poor little things! Mom was trying to shade them with her wing but everyone was panting up a storm!
Including me. Cooler temperatures would be welcome but I don’t see a break until the end of the week! The cats get to go out early in the morning, the youngster, Rocket, is having a hard time with the heat. Chase a chipmunk…stop and pant…like a little lion cub:) Rocket goes up one side of the tree, the chipmunk comes down the other side:) Fools him almost every time;)
The furred ones are getting used to their new digs. Groot hangs out in the shade under the truck, smarter older cat and stalks his chipmunks from afar. Rocket flies about after everything that moves, Gamora sits on the cool grass and watches, waiting….one of those chipmunks will get careless eventually;)
It is hard to believe we have been here a month. I do miss the smaller space of Myrtle the trailer occasionally, especially at night, doing the check ups on the fur kids, so many places to hide and sleep now.
Outside the explosion of butterflies, dragonflies and bugs is astounding. At night the minuscule firefly’s are lighting up the night. The first fireflies lit up where Beezil was buried, just started to cry…maybe that is his amazing energy:)
I joined a group on Facebook, The Insects and Arachnids of Ontario, wow, I had no idea the amazing variety of creeping, flying and crawling creatures out there, not a good group for anyone with arachnophobia, but fascinating and I’m learning what so many are! Bugs fascinate me! Think we may need to petition for a macro lens! I may learn the names of a few of the locals as well;) We have a huge variety of spiders, after I get through trying to ID the dragonflies I’ll start with them!
On a sad note, after the intense thunderstorms Friday, Mrs. Ruby Throated Hummingbird has left her nest. We’ve seen her back once, just briefly and she is still around, maybe the eggs were washed out in the heavy rain and wind, I hope she sits and lays again! We’ll keep watch! On a positive note, as we sat in the shade late in the day a Bald Eagle flew right by and on down the lake! Time to get that canoe in and do some exploring! Maybe early in the morning after comet hunting!!! 🙂
This little lady was a surprise. I heard the whir of hummingbird wings and looked up to see her landing on her nest! I was ecstatic! In our front yard, right under our noses in the beautiful old maple. I can hardly wait! So far she has been sitting for 12 days, I’ve read gestation is between 16-18 days so looking forward to wee ones soon! Beautiful Ruby Throated Hummingbird.
Not the only mother to visit recently, but these eggs won’t be hatching until the first week of September, so much for moving this garden, it will have to wait, figured snowplowing would wipe the rock wall and flowers out with our first big snow;)
Hatching takes approximately 60 to 90 days, but the hatch date can vary depending on temperature and other environmental conditions. Generally, hatch-lings emerge from their leathery egg in August through October by using a small egg tooth to break open the shell. According to the Ontario Turtle Conservation center, when the female turtle makes it to her nesting site and successfully deposits her eggs, her offspring only have a 1% chance of surviving to breeding age. Odds are that each turtle must nest for several years (or even decades!) before it replaces itself. Wow! We are going to help protect these little guys once they emerge! I guess Raccoons are bad at digging up the nests and eating the eggs! We have not one, but two nests close to each other in the soft soil! Must be a popular spot with all this glacial rock about! We’ll keep an eye on them, and our resident trash, er, compost panda;)
The chipmunks have been stuffing their cheeks from the bird feeders leaving room for a gaggle of Purple Finches and some Goldfinches as well. The Mrs. Downy Woodpecker is quite bold and cracks the seeds on the tree beside the feeder, we’ll wait to see if she eventually brings any offspring by to feed them. A pair, or possibly father/daughter, Pileated Woodpeckers stopped at the maples to feed and poke about in several cavities. Such beautiful birds and so distinctive and loud! The female was really chatting up a storm, or begging for food, wasn’t sure which, the male was ignoring her mostly…really? hahahahaha! Maybe she was scolding him;)
With the rain a few days ago has come an incredible crop of mushrooms. Some in the gardens, others at the base of the old maple, home to so much. They started as little cones and have progressed to what look like little dancers with their skirts twirling in the winds:) Also with the rain have come the deer and horse flies…yikes! Run Lola Run!!!
Hoping the Dragonflies can take care of some of the nasty biting bugs! There have been hundreds of them flitting about! They are most welcome here:) There are so many varieties, hope to try to document them all!
I had no idea that the males and females are completely different in many of the species! Making guessing what they are even harder! The Butterflies are descending as well. The first Monarch appeared yesterday on the Sumac blooms and an evasive Eastern Swallowtail has been teasing me as it flits by, I’ll get the shot, eventually;) In the meantime we are dodging the thunderstorms, watching them grow in front of our eyes, then pass us by and dissipate later in the day…”espectacular”, as we say:)
We are living in a natural wonderland so full of beauty, and we are so thankful…stay tuned, fingers crossed, for hummingbird babies!!!
It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.
John Muir
What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?
The Earth is being turned upside down by a pandemic and protests for what is much needed freedom from tyranny. We are in a state of great flux. The band of full time RVers we know is going through change as well. First everything closed and left many without places to go. With State, National and Provincial parks closed as well as many BLM lands many were feeling lost, and for us, given the rise of the pandemic in the US, a desire to stay put in Canada for awhile until the dust settles, if it ever will, is paramount. The last four Summers we’ve spent at Otty Lake here in Ontario have taught us much. One, we treasure our privacy, it’s not that we don’t like humans, no, that’s a lie, ha! Some people have earned our ire. We love nature more than seadoos, let’s leave it at that. C’est la vie:) Adelante!
We stumbled across this spot by accident. Taking looking for a property into our own hands we started driving about, this day to go see a cottage on a lake to the North of Perth and we took the short cut along the Long Lake Road to get there and a man was pounding in a “Coming Soon” realty sign…we stopped, and called the number of the realtor…the rest is now history. It was a bittersweet closing though, a chapter closed as a new one opened. Our old cat man, Beezil, almost 21, said it was time to go to greet his already gone brothers. I wasn’t sure I could even write this yet, my eyes tear up, 21 years with this amazing, strong, unbreakable little creature that used up every one of his seven lives, then borrowed a few more…there is a giant hole in our hearts, not sure it will ever go away, it will simply become what we are…he came home with us…
There were too many coincidences with this spot and there continue to be. The realtor rode at our barn as a kid, he even remembered the name of the evil white pony, Bilbo. The people who built the cottage, their son rode at the horse barn as well. The land was originally owned by the same couple Mike’s parents bought their farm from in 1961…many ties:) and it is, out of this world beautiful…we gasped as we walked around the log house and looked all the way down Long Lake. The new log house was open, and light, so many windows. Every room has an amazing view, and it is private. We are still pinching ourselves on a regular basis.
The rest of the traveling Mewberries are pretty pleased as well. There is a great deal of tearing and skidding about on the wooden floors, a lot more room for gallivanting kittens. There are chipmunks to chase and wildlife looking in at them, for a change;) We are in paradise I think…
So for now, we will be renaming them, the sedentary Mewberries as we sit and watch what happens in the world around us. We have some work to do here before Fall and Winter comes so there won’t be too much time to “Soak up the sun” (does Sheryl Crow have a song for everything in my life today?) but we’ll fit in a few breaks, after all, everyday is a winding road😉
We have, incredibly, taken the long way home…not an end to the Astrogypsies, but a pause…we’re working on getting Myrtle in here too, not quite yet, a kilometer of old cottage road with some twists and turns and hills will need some work, poco a poco. Stay tuned my friends, we have been welcomed by so much life here…hearts broken, hearts mending ♥
Not only are the Rose Breasted Grosbeak males and females back but a pair of Orioles with last years kids in tow, a juvenile male and female:) arrived as well! At least I think it is their kids, everyone seemed very amiable with one another, ha! Maybe they are NOT related;)
These are such delightful birds with such a glorious song and repertoire of calls. The young male was belting out a song or two happily, looking for a girlfriend no doubt!
As for the red, well, there were five male Grosbeaks all sharing the feeder late yesterday-that incredible red/pink breast is so beautiful! The Mrs. seems a bit drab after them but she is equally beautiful with her stripes and spots!
As the leaves are finally filling in the canopy the colours are changing to warmer tones in the shade. The dragonflies are out, itty bitty ones no longer than an inch, great cat snacks Groot says as he smacks his lips with delight…and as for more red, the male Pileated Woodpecker put in a visit to the tree beside us, and worked his way around it gathering food. They have been quiet, nesting I would think, but now are out in search of food!
Their size is always astounding when you get to see them up close! Dinosaurs indeed! Early Spring has turned into Summer suddenly, the memories of snow flurries seem distant but in reality, they were not long ago! Now it is 80° in Flintstone scale, 27° Celsius…whew…I can hear the steady hum of mosquitoes coming for me…sigh…
Stay tuned amigos-big changes coming on the horizon, will keep you posted!
Not sure who wrote this, I wanted to give credit. I googled Squirrel prayer;) but it made me smile;) hahaha! Life is short…Yesterday there were 5, today there are 4:( “The Squirrels Prayer” Here we have another part of the Book of Squirrel, a tome of knowledge from the ONE TRUE GOD: Soliloquy the creator Squirrel. This is commonly known as “The Squirrels Prayer” and is a poetic form of praise to the Squirrel. This from the Book of Squalms, 5the 23rd Chapter. Squalms 23 The Squirrel is my shepherd; I shall not want. He made me to dwell in the Tree of Life: he leads me beside the full walnuts. He replenishes my nuts: he leads me on the branches of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yes, though I walk through the valley of the fallen Squirrels, I will not fear Squircifer: for you are with me; thy Tail and thy Chatter they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of the squirrels: you anoint my head with walnut oil; my nuts run over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the Tree of the Squirrel forever.
It is usually signaled by an abundance of very, very simple minded chipmunks appearing to be oblivious of the fierce predators we have around the trailer, namely Groot and Gamora. Rocket still just looks at them with awe…How Gamora can zip out the front door, on the leash as I’m struggling to put my shoes on without falling over and catch a chipmunk before I hit the bottom of the steps is astounding…we do catch and release, I take that back, they do catch, I do release…it scrambled up a tree once I convinced her to drop it, she ran up the tree and caught it again…once more, we released it near a deep chipmunk den hole with hopes it would not come back out for awhile…
When will they learn. Rocket is convinced if he sits under the bird feeder he might just get lucky, well, he might, so much for exercise;) But back to Spring…right now, it is snowing…sigh…I was hoping for some sun, the Rose Breasted Grosbeak is back with two male kids in tow from last year I think. My they are stunning. To see all three together is a treat but only have captured one, through the window, my view to the outside world these last few days. The Goldfinches provide a pop of colour along with the Jays and Purple Finches. My hummingbird feeders are out, as well as a few oranges for the Orioles when they arrive, if they arrive, if Spring arrives…sigh…We had some sun but now that is gone…flurries…in May…0_0
The long gray days make for more boredom than usual. Rocket terrorizes Gamora and Groot at times, so much energy from this less than one year old enormous orange kitten. He has taken to climbing up on the valances of the trailer, he jumps…wowza…he is a monkey. Mike found an old fluffy black corsairs hat which he drags about growling, he killed it, it’s his. Hours of entertainment for the whole family…
The cats have their CTV, Cat TV, the bird feeder in the back window. It is visited by a variety of birds and a particularity dastardly red squirrel, I think I’ll call him Maximus, it seems a fitting title to such a nonchalant little red bugger;) “Cat, what cat? I see no cat”….
What do people without pets do nowadays in these times of stay at home? 😉 ha! If the sun comes out again soon I may have to mow the lawn! Certainly rake up the dead tree branches that have been raining down with the wind. Ah, for a flat calm day…soon, I keep telling myself, soon. I have a hankering for a lovely sunset on a flat calm lake. In the mean time I can look out the window here at the Woodpeckers, my goal is to get the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers on the same tree…one needs goals in these times:)
I feel fortunate to have this bounty of nature in the form of feathered creatures around me. I keep seeing new ones, a Wood Thrush today! A White Throated Sparrow down at the water…I tried walking around with the camera for a short while today, amazing how that extra bit of weight of the big lens affected my balance, a bit more wobbly trying to compensate…I’ll get it eventually, perhaps stick to seated bird photography for now! I tried to run off through the bush after a pair of Ospreys nest building a few hundred feet away, that was hilarious! Missed all my camera settings in my hurry but wow! Beautiful! So worth watching a pair bringing twigs and fish to the tree, hoping they’ll stay! Less cottagers=more wildlife:) Please stay Mr. and Mrs. Osprey!
All it takes is a few feeders and some patience to sit and wait for them to arrive. I’m planning an oriole feeder, now just for temperatures where I can go outside without looking for my old down jacket;) Soon my friends, soon! Saludos amigos and stay tuned for something other than birds and cats! My small kingdom for a nice landscape;) ha! Maybe Donkeys, horses and cats;) there is even a young bandit about, otherwise known as a trash panda;) Mike saw him/her climb up one of the old dead pines and disappear into a hole:) or maybe he was just trying to get me to fall down;) “Look over there! Quickly!” does it every time;)
We are fortunate to not be too cooped up (that must come from “chicken coop”, or the difference between a convertible and a coupe? I will have to research this!) except by weather when we are limited to about 350 square feet with four cats;) ha! We have the opportunity to watch Mother Nature go by each day. I can see our bird feeders from where I now sit writing, squirrels scamper up the trailer ladder to a feeder on our large back window, the occasional wing beat of Asgard, our local Raven can be heard as well as he/she circles the compost looking for a snack.
The weather has started to warm up today. I sat near the water listening to the Loons singing, that haunting melody, back and forth from one Loon to another across the lake, I was hoping I’d get lucky and one might pop up nearby:) It did, in all it’s glorious breeding colour! For a bird named a Common Loon, it is uncommonly beautiful. The iridescent neck ring, the black and white striped collar and checkerboard back all are changes that happen during breeding season, putting on their finery so to speak. I saw a Common Loon in Baja one Winter, and didn’t recognize it at first!
Maybe he was just a juvenile chilling in his Winter beachwear wardrobe;) Hard to believe they are the same bird, no tuxedo or fancy ballgown;)
Almost as soon as I’d spotted the beautiful creature in front of me, he/she was gone, my usual Loon photos are usually like this;) Now you see him, now you don’t;)
So if you’re feeling a bit Loony, you’re just Canadian;) Saludos amigos, stay distanced, stay safe and stay tuned:)
It has not been the warmest Spring I can remember but it is coming according to the forecasts…please! The daffodils have started to flower at the entrance to the road, a few Trilliums are just about to bloom and bluets are popping up through the dead leaves as well as a new geranium, Thanks Aaron for the ID!
The chipmunks and squirrels are in in full form much to the delight of the cats:) I am not quite sure just how they manage to evade Groot when he is off leash but the Red Squirrels certainly seem to have a super power to do that, so far no deceased chipmunks either, he hides under the truck and waits…
One red squirrel delights in tormenting Gamora at the back window feeder…it knows it is safe;)
It is a bit of a bitter sweet Spring, this will most likely be our last one here at Otty Lake at this cottage. The partnership has not worked out, much to our disappointment, so we’ll be moving on sometime this Summer, looking for our own digs to call home for awhile.
The birds continue to arrive from the South. A slew of Purple Finches have shown up with their young ones. They are feasting on the emerging tree buds.
The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are busy. They are quite cheeky and one is very bold! I do talk to him from a few feet away and he remains unfazed. There are some sad pines the Pileated Woodpeckers are doing their carpentry job on and a Red Breasted Sap Sucker was hammering on the metal shed roof one afternoon as the local Northern Flicker watched from high above:)
We are looking for a spot on a lake again, hopefully a bit darker where Mike can use his telescope and we can still hear the Loons, they have been calling and their haunting melody carries across the water, such a spine tingling sound. Wherever I put bird feeders, I know birds will come:) So will our astronomy friends, they are all social distancers anyway;)
It is strange times we are living in. I think we may feel less oddness than many, our world has always been slightly isolated for the last decade from the mountains in Baja to finding quiet gems of State and Provincial parks to explore, we have preferred Mother Nature to man-made attractions and the masses of humanity. I’ve always been a bit of a misanthrope, now I’m sure I am;) hahahaha! Buying groceries has taken on a whole new spin, literally, my balance is still off, no quick head turns, I’ve told Mike PLEASE don’t yell “Look over there!” to me in an urgent voice, he calls me “Stumble-ina” love him:)
I try not to immerse myself too much in the any of the news, I find the state of humanity swinging between appalling and enthralling to heartening at times and it’s appalling portions leaves me with a heavy feeling in my gut, the ignorance and self importance of so many make me shudder. Things can not go back to normal, if they do, I think we as a species are doomed. I hope to have the opportunity to explore more of this beautiful Earth before my time comes, it seems almost more urgent now than before.
On a painful note, our old Burmese, the original Traveling Mewberry, Beezil has been having a rough time, mobility and breathing but he just keeps going, and going, and going, but it means every time he coughs I wake up, thinking, well, this is it…how do I deal with this…then he fills his face with a bowl of food and starts to purr and I am left there, speechless, once again, just how many lives does this venerable older gentleman have left? My heart aches at the prospect of losing him but when his time does come, I know he has lived an amazing life, traveled more than some people I know and brought so much joy to our lives…here is to a few more days:)
I long for the green of Spring, it is coming, but on a rainy day such as today, it seems a long way off and my heart is heavy but that rain is helping. I see red buds forming on the trees overhead and the light is changing, longer days and quiet nights…Hurry up Mother Nature! I implore you;) Stay Tuned:)
I believe they were not quite sure what the heck that ugly black dog like looking creature with the long snout was but Rocket’s tail was five times it’s normal size and he knew it wasn’t about to be his play buddy;)
Something about Spring. The little fellow didn’t look in bad shape but seemed young to out and about on his own. Maybe Mom has new cubs and he/she was evicted, Momma bear didn’t get the “No-eviction Covid memo”….
We don’t see bears here often, last year a young Quebecois couple saw a bear at the entrance to the road and it was possibly the most exciting thing he had ever seen he proclaimed! Made me smile, we humans need a lot more of nature on a regular basis. This little tyke shuffled about, sniffed the truck and surrounding area while the cats gaped out the window, then took off at a gallop when he heard something that spooked him.
But, lo and behold, as we were walking the cats a bit later I thought I caught a Black Squirrel out of the corner of my eye but no, into the driveway ambled our little friend. Groot became very big, and took a lunge in his direction on the leash, poor little bear had one look at the fierce Groot and ran away down the driveway at top speed, I think Groot was quite chuffed…love this word…
He had chased away the bear:) Doing his job, protecting the servants from danger he said;) That afternoon everyone crashed out, obviously exhausted from watching and chasing the bear cub, Rocket was hogging Beezil’s bed as normal….these guys:) Never a dull moment;)
Saludos amigos, stay tuned! Someone turned the heat off up here in Ontario and we need Mother Nature to turn it back on, sunshine please…soon! This beautiful bear was from a couple of years back, he/she was about twice as large and yes, I take in the bird feeders at night now;)
This whole vertigo thing makes me feel a bit rudderless, compass askew, gyroscope out of whack, all those wonderful terms we used as kids living on a sailboat, except the gyroscope, maybe there was one in the sat-nav later:) I feel like when I walk I’m on the deck of the boat, heeling over and I have to level my head to get the horizon straight, just like we did as kids:) Who ever thought of balance as a kid, you just did it;) from climbing the rope spinnaker halyard up to the 2nd spreaders, to diving off there as well…not much parental supervision here;)
The things we take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to be able to walk today, not just in a straight line! ha! Your highway patrol nightmare;) Please don’t ask me to touch my nose at the same time, only seen that on TV;) The balance is returning slowly, I do my maneuvers, calling them exercise sounded futile as I lie on my back and tilt my head and ear from side to side for thirty secound intervals to try to get the little bones in there to resettle, not exactly exercise…hahahahaha! I can image being on a healing boat right now…NOT!
I guess we were being prepared for social distancing most of our young lives;) We met few kids in our decade traveling aboard the “My Love” and most of our acquaintances were adults, we grew up quickly. My brother was tearing down the diesel Volvo motor by the time he was 11, and putting it back together, often with the loveliest of help. I remember a Russian guy in Tahiti, married to a lovely Polynesian woman who would come after work to help Shea. My brother is a wizard I think;) Cities and ports were for refueling and repairs, then my mother wanted the hell out, we didn’t, it was our only chance to make friends in these busy gathering places for yachties!
My mother’s passion was diving, and collecting, every shellfish peeking through the sand was in danger. When she had too many of the same we would try to toss them back if they were still alive, the back deck, well, it stank of rotting shells most of the time. We ate fish, a lot of fish, it was free, speared, from the line, you name it, my brother no longer DOES fish, I slowly came to appreciate it again, and no, parrot fish does not taste good and if I hear”grouper”I still get slightly ill feelings.
My mother was not a conservationist, if it swam, or wiggled and looked edible, it was eaten. From lobsters, to fish, conch and turtles, she would try anything, with us being the audience to these different meals. There was no google on how to slaughter a turtle…Yup, I think we could survive about anywhere now come to think of it;) She would have made a good pioneer I think, take no hostages, eat everything else. You can imagine our joy when we got spaghetti! hahahaha!
Were we tough kids? Maybe without knowing it. We could make ourselves understood, no language needed when we went off to play with other kids or communicate with adults, not much fear, always learned a few words of whatever language was being spoken. We crashed cruise ship buffets in search of the desert tables:)
A few winters ago I purchased a slide scanner and went about trying to resurrect our childhood memories from floods and bad storage in old barns. Most of the slides were beyond help but the few that were able to have the mildew wiped off have made for some beautiful memories, as well as some of the harsh reality of being raised in such a different way, perfect training for social distancing as I said! smiling. Our longest trip at sea was a 25 day sail from Bali to Perth, Australia tacking back and forth the entire way, sometimes only making 80 miles in the direction we wanted to go. The motor batteries were dead, and at one point off the Australian coast we were rudderless as well, but we survived, Thanks Shea for being there:) To all the families “couped” up in their spacious homes with internet and television, Facebook, twitter and Instagram, well, we had books, a guitar. letter writing materials and each other on a 50′ boat that you could not just step off of, at sea, you could swim away a distance when it was calm but not much room:) Enjoy your time together, it will bring you some fond memories in the decades to come:)
Saludos amigos, don’t listen to the orange vomit #staysafe we’ll see you on the other side of this;) Just need some warm trade winds and sun on our face:)
The day starts well when they wheel you in a porta-potty and say ” Go for it, are you game?”…am I game, if I never have to pee lying down again I will be happy! Ashley the bubbly nurse shifts stopped at 6 and the Jamie Lee Curtis voice lovely lady was on for the day, she wheeled me in the portable commode, I was ready to try to sit up, regardless of the spinning and have a go;) It was lovely, the commode, the spinning not so good but something about being able to wipe your own bum gives you a sense of accomplishment, however small. A basin of hot water and a few wash clothes also started making me feel slightly more human, less ape creature. I think I had dreadlocks at this point as well;) I was a greasy greasy spot spot….you Black adder fans;) I combed my hair with my fingers after my lovely wash cloth bath and waited for the doc. who could be heard coming down the hall, he is a very cheerful talkative guy:) Great news-NO Stroke!!! Yahoo! “Now, just to work on the inner ear” he proclaimed. He went through some exercises with me, gave me a few sheets of instructions and went on his way…sigh…a day to practice those and I did, and I sat up, spinning, and I used my commode, and I tried to move around as much as I could in my bed, I now wanted OUT!
Maybe it was just a normal Saturday asfternoon on the ward floor but it seemed short staffed, the nurses tempers, especially Nurse Ratched as I called her, were running a bit higher than normal perhaps, and the dementia yeller down the hall was definitely grating on their nerves at shift change. He was yelling, screaming, crying out for “Nancy! Nancy! Nancy Prudhomme where are you?” as well as a bevy of other names, then he started getting mean. I’m not sure if they tied him down or wheeled him to the farthest away room on the floor but his screams were muffled for awhile, I was thinking a ball gag would have been handy about then, he was having a very very bad evening…the two dementia ladies were somewhat easier to deal with Dolores and Phyllis, they just needed to pee a lot and that took supervision on a regular basis, yes, the bathroom was opposite our room. They were sweet and the nurses teased them gently but you could hear the affection in their voices as well.
We had a new roommate, poor Father Jack’s surgery had been postponed again but at least he could eat now! Across from me a man was brought in suffering severe stomach pains, colitis the Doctor had said and he was started on an IV. He had had a bevy of health problems, stroke, angioplasty to both sides of his neck, can’t remember what else but there was a laundry list of maladies…wow…only smoked a half pack of cigarettes a day he said and hadn’t touched a beer in 35 years…go back to the beer buddy I was thinking, and also contemplating how lucky I was. Genetics? Better diet? Who knows but I don’t have a prescription drug in our bathroom, other than for the cats;) Was counting my lucky stars listening to him, he was an ice chewer, OK, I get the irritation now Mike! hahahahaha! and he snored, it was going to be a chorus tonight!
Dinner arrives, another bright red isolation tray…c’mon guys! and yes, another weird Chinese Food concoction…HELP ME!!! I ate the veggies, mother taught me well;)
I can see why meals are the highlights of your day. They define the hours passing and the days, like a sort of clock that you can judge the rhythms of the day, and mark them off as they go by. Beginning to sound like prison isn’t it;) The ladies who delivered them were very nice, always asking if you needed help. At this point I could half way sit up so could actually look at the trays:) A lovely member of the cleaning crew on the day shift had also loaned me her android phone charger so I could keep the phone going, talks with Mike motivated me to do what I could to come home.
Last night in Ashley our bubbly voiced nurse also found me another charger, these ladies and gentlemen really deserve a standing round of applause for what they do in here. The yeller had finally settled down and all we had were the pings of the call buttons and the beeps of the IV’s, the 4 am blood pressure and temperature checks and the pills in their little plastic cups.
Morning came and they finally removed the stint in each arm…freedom to move. A walker had arrived at my bedside the day before but I couldn’t quite get there, standing, shuffling in place 90 degrees to sit on the commode and shuffling back was the most movement I could manage standing up. I did my ear exercises at 5 in the morning, again at 8, could I do too many? and I finally asked JLC nurse” What would it take for me to go home today?”…”You have to walk” she said….Doc came in, said the same thing, I was just double checking;) This was it…I am a pretty determined individual once I set my sights on things, I’d rather fall over trying than not try at all. I stared at the walker for a few moments, tied up the back of my gown as best I could, my goal was the bathroom across the hall, real flush water…up…unsteady, look straight ahead….shuffle shuffle shuffle, the Fred G. Sanford walk it was;) We made it, there and back! “Now go show the Doc!” JLC said and I did the shuffle past the room the Doc was in and back. It was truly a short 100′ shuffle that resembles the antics of a drunken sailor but it happened!
“You can go home now!” were the sweetest words in the world. I texted Mike “Come get me! Drive slowly” as I envisioned him tearing across the countryside like the Cannonball Run. I took my gown off and put my pajama top back on, and my shoes, and I lay there waiting for my chariot to arrive. The nurse faxed my prescription for the anti-dizzy drug into the local Shoppers at Perth and handed me the paperwork. I lay down and clutched the bag with my papers, a vomit bag, health card, and pill cups (I had to bring the cats a new toy!)…Waiting. I was going HOME!
45 minutes from Perth to Brockville. There was a pile of new construction around the hospital so Mike was turned around and he texted he was near the entrance to Emergency. The porter was called, I was helped into the wheel chair and off we sped down the corridors, no elevators, and out into the beautiful fresh cold air and sun. I squinted through my blur and told the porter “That BIG blue truck!” way over there! I pointed! and she wheeled me all the way out to the door of the truck. I stood up, thanked her, and then just held onto Mike like I would never let him go, we were both crying…that beautiful connection with another human being…how sweet it is to be loved by you:) The trip home was a blur I was just so happy to be with the one I love. We arrived at the trailer and Mike helped me up the steps and into my chair, Beezil the old cat immediately settled down on my lap with his heated blanket, he stared at me adoringly. Mike said his whole demeanor changed as soon as I walked in:) My old boy, Beezil, boys Groot and Rocket and my girl Gamora, our fur kids, all so happy to have me home, as well as Mike;)
It is funny how much we appreciate the smallest things in life when we realize we might not see them again for one reason or another. A chair, some warmth, the ones you love. I’ll be shuffling around the trailer here for a few days learning to walk upright while life goes on and hopefully balance improves:) In the meantime I will be the butt of many good jokes and the smiles and laughs from my significant other as he expresses his happiness at having me home. Mine as well. Hug the ones you love and cherish every day. I’ve learned for some they end much sooner than others and while at this point I think the Golden years is a crock of marketing shit I’m determined to live my life to however fullest I can, before I, one day, may be one of those very unfortunate ones on the ward floor permanently:(
Saludos amigos, hugs, abrazos-Hoping to pick up that big lens again very soon;) Here’s the view out the window:) Spring has decided to postpone her arrival today!
It wasn’t what you could call a restful sleep-IV’s, stickers all over my chest and a box monitoring my heart. My phone still had a charge in the morning and I breathed a sigh of relief…still here sweetie! The Doctor came in the morning, looked at the nurse and asked “What side was affected?”-“Neither” I said, Good morning. She had me squeeze her hands and push against them, same with my feet as the other nurses had done when I’d been admitted. Said she couldn’t see what the Smiths Falls Doctor did but they would need to do another catscan with dye to rule anything out..answer, but no answer, my hopes were high that she had really good eyes. They brought me a tray of food, I really couldn’t touch it, still spinning. Another Doctor came in, Dr. Kamal and told me they were moving me, YEAH! out of the isolation ward. I didn’t have any of the symptoms and I was 14 days into quarantine, no fever, no cough no shortness of breath. I can’t tell you how many times I was asked that in 24 hours, but I know they were doing their jobs.
Another stretcher, more corridors, elevators, flashing lights passing by, bumps and turns to a whole new ward to wait for the next cat scan and a chest x-ray they said. So glad to have my old phone and to be able to talk to Mike and text him…a feeling that home wasn’t far, the cats missed me, the old guy Beezil was really depressed he said, my heart was aching, if the old Burmese died while I was in here, how could I forgive myself for not being there:(….
At some point in the morning they came to ferry me to the catscan with dye, that was wild, a whole body flush of warmth, the xray was brutal, I had to sit up..”Barf bag please?” I asked, just a few hiccups and being very very still got me through it and the release of lying down and having some of the wild spinning stop was like a happy drug waving over me…now more waiting, but I could lie down and just listen…
This was a busy ward. The lovely day nurse sounded like Jamie Lee Curtis, JLC from now on, she had a quick laugh and a dark sense of humour that was very comforting:) Sometimes you can tell those that truly like their jobs. It was an extremely odd ward as well, where HAD they taken me? From behind my curtain I could hear dementia patients, and a fellow yelling down the hall, for girls, ladies, until he was screaming “Fire, fire!!!Let me out of here!” Just where was I? One flew over the cuckoos nest came to mind;) There was even a Nurse Ratched😉
FATHER JACK: In the bed beside me, a curtain away, a man, unable to walk, was waiting to go into surgery on his leg. I assumed he was older, mind you, I can’t really see anyone without my glasses or make any facial recognition unless they are very close. He grunted a fair bit, the nurses had to clean soup out of his beard and he said “FECK!” a lot…so I called him Father Jack. You won’t get the reference unless you have seen the delightful British/Irish series Father Ted…if you have you will understand why I wanted to yell “GIRLS! DRINK!” after every time he said it;) I heard him speak on the phone once, he mostly listened and I can understand his frustration as he had been bumped all morning out of surgery for emergency cases, let alone his hunger as he hadn’t been allowed anything to eat since the night before, he was also a diabetic, and was checked frequently, had a passion for anything sweet, “Juice! ginger ale!”he said, and he loved his call button, so much, he used it every 15 minutes…ding, ding, ding, ding….until the nurses disconnected it at one point I think. He put his bed up and down and up and down every 20 minutes as well. It wasn’t a quiet bed, it sounded like a World War II relic grinding it’s gears…he was confused. One night he rang and rang and rang asking for the TV, the TV he yelled! One nurse stormed out telling him to “Shut up! There were no TV’s!” The night nurse, she was a sweetie, she was red headed I think and that voice, if you’ve ever seen Star Trek Discovery she was the bubbly red headed ensign Silvia Tilly. Her name was Ashley 🙂 She approached Father Jack with an altogether different approach, one of kindness and exploring what is was that he wanted exactly. After a few questions, she worked out that it was not a TV, but the remote, but it wasn’t the remote but the buttons on the bed he couldn’t find as another nurse had pulled down the window shade and he couldn’t see where they were…mission accomplished. Father Jack had his window shade opened, could see his bed remote buttons and the ringing stopped for the night…Thanks Ashley, you rock! and yes, there wasn’t a TV to be seen ANYWHERE…isn’t that fantastic! That was Father Jack…
Good Looking guy: kitty corner to my bed in the room, there were 4 beds, a younger man was brought in. I could tell he was young by his voice and word choices, and perhaps quite handsome by the delight in the nurses voices, ha! So funny, it made me smile. They attended to him, fetched his sandals he’d left behind in emergency, oh, you’re a “Cowboys” fan one nurse remarked looking at them, “Aren’t you?” he teased the nurse. When I woke up, he was gone…
The Farmer: When I woke up there was an older gentleman with a good farmers sing songy brogue in that bed. He was speaking to his grand daughter, who was also in the hospital as she’d had an appendicitis attack that they had managed to get under control. I couldn’t see her but she sounded like a no nonsense farm stock woman who was quick to laugh. She reminisced with her grandfather, and spoke about her kids, and how happy she was to have a shower that morning, I envied her just then:) The farmers name was Bryce. He had a broken leg, after his tractor went backwards through several fences. Then his grand daughter started talking about the service for Bryce’s wife, she had just recently died, it was so incredibly sad, and yet this farmer managed happy laughs and tales with his grand daughter. They were postponing the service until Bryce got out of hospital and were talking about songs for the service. ” I like Elvis Presley and I like that Frank Sinatra guy” Bryce proclaimed ” Is he still alive?” His granddaughter shrugged and took out her phone and googled it, “Born 1915, died 1998” she said. “Nine years older than me!”Bryce proclaimed…he was 98 years old….I think I was grinning from ear to ear at this point of the conversation. So much sadness, yet so much laughter and joy as they talked about songs. He spoke with another grand niece on the phone the nurse brought over, who had to remind him who she was, daughter of your favourite younger brother Arthur, Bryce! “Oh, yaah” he said cheerily and they chatted away for awhile…then they took him off to surgery for his broken leg that he had kept walking on…
Top songs at UK funerals, 2019:
My Way – Frank Sinatra (non-mover)
Time To Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (non-mover)
Over The Rainbow – Eva Cassidy (non-mover)
Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler (non-mover)
Angels – Robbie Williams (re-entry)
Supermarket Flowers – Ed Sheeran (new entry)
Unforgettable – Nat King Cole (up three places)
You Raise Me Up – Westlife (new entry)
We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn (down three places)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Eric Idle, from Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ (down two places)
That was interesting:) No Elvis Presley songs in the UK;)
The puppy owner: I’ll call him that as they brought him in opposite me and I could hear him telling the nurse how he’d tripped over his Samoyed puppy three days ago and fell down and his brother had just found him this morning as he couldn’t get up. Wow…laying there for two days at least. His legs were badly swollen he told the nurse, felt like spongy rubber underneath, but he could walk now, but couldn’t get himself up after falling to reach the phone or anything “I probably blacked out” he said. He was on the phone trying to call his brother but couldn’t remember his cell number., The nurse brought him a phone to call a friend who knew his brother’s number so he could speak to his brother to tell him he was OK. His wife was in a home, she kept falling and he couldn’t pick her up anymore at one point. The nurse was trying to go over his history and he seemed cheerful enough to give what information he could remember. The puppy had been taken back to the breeders for safekeeping he’d said. He wanted to make sure the puppy was ok. At one point later he tried to get up to go to the bathroom and amidst a burst of swearing a giant crash transpired…nurses came running, cut on the head, huge bump, ice, back into bed, they took his temperature, he needed to pee he kept saying and the nurse brought a bedpan but what ensued was basically a fountain of urination…all over himself, the bed, the curtain, the nurses were wailing…he’d spiked a fever, they called for a Covid test, and then he was whisked away on a stretcher…
A nurse walked in after her break and exclaimed to her co workers “Have you seen the line of ambulances backed up out in front of emerge?”…”They are getting brave again” said another,”They need to STAY HOME!” Another nurse passed by was sharing what one of the Doctors on the Covid ward was telling his patients, “There is no cure, no medicine, no magic pill I can use. I can give you a shovel and a pile of dirt, and you have to build the dike to keep the water (Covid) at bay, it is up to you! I am only here to help as best I can, it is entirely up to you….wow…poignant words for someone facing this pandemic but also wise, be strong, fight!
They did bring me lunch at one point, an egg salad sandwich on whole wheat wrapped in plastic on the tray. I still couldn’t lift my head but rummaged around with my hand, it tasted like the finest gourmet snack I had ever had, my horse show friends know my affinity for egg salad…comfort food….I managed to eat half before drifting off. I was wondering if there would be any results from my cat scan today, but no, the nurse said, it was Good Friday, not until tomorrow, not such a Good Friday I thought:( Although I finally managed to pee in a bedpan lying down, you’d be surprised just how hard that is…and what a relief…Father Jack had a diaper, it needed regular changing…and large quantities of Febreeze sprayed around the room;) I used my yoga skills, the bridge for that pan to go in, and come out, “Yeah, no rolling you over” JLC said “filled to the brim, you DID have to go!” These ladies are Saints:)
So I waited. They also started me on an anti nausea/spinning drug with the graval (Dramamine) and Tylenol for my tooth grinding, jaw was getting sore, hard not to while lying there semi awake I guess, I’m not aware I do it but must when I’m dozing, those inner demons working away;) Then came dinner, it seems no one got the note I was no longer in isolation so I received the isolation tray. Now, it may be just me, but is serving a really bad take on Chinese Sweet and Sour complete with a mystery meat a bit of a slap in the face to these folks in the Covid ward, Chinese food? Really? sigh….photo evidence:
Yummy glop it was not, picked at the rice, which was also glommy and set it back on the tray….my kingdom for another egg salad sandwich….by now I felt able to document my gastronomic torture;)
As I settled in for my 2nd night I felt relieved to be out of the Covid ward but with no news, still in limbo. Father Jack had settled into his bed up, bed down routine and I listened to the gears grind. The loony down the hall had settled down from yelling and I was happy for the quiet, the dings and bells of nurse calls and Iv’s had started to sound like background music. I could talk to Mike, I could still talk so at this point, all was well in my little world…
Stay tuned, last part I promise tomorrow:) Look at my lovely view;)
Day thirteen did not start out well. The old kitty Beezil got me up at 4 am for his “foursises” feeding as we call them and I noticed I was a bit dizzy, like a bottle of wine dizzy, hahahaha! Took an ibuprofen, thinking it was inner ear and went back to bed. Wasn’t any better the next day so I lay still and rested. Thursday morning, the end of our quarantine, well, not the day I had hoped for. Was looking forward to a trip to the grocery store finally. My list was a mile long and I had high hopes to restock. Instead, everything started to swim, lying down, standing up, sideways. After the first thing I’d eaten in 24 hours, a piece of toast came up the retching was constant with the spinning. Mike had a panicked look on his face as I dry retched into a bowl for half an hour with no breaks. He called the Doctors office, they could see me next week…I think I might have had my first anxiety attack about right then. He said we had to go-Hospital. I wasn’t sure how I could even move but was motivated by the fact I didn’t want to lie in bed dry retching and spinning either for the rest of my life;)
Mike started the truck. “Get the bucket out of the bunkie” I said between retches “health card, phone, blanket” it was cold out. I was in my pajamas, he put shoes on my feet and then I crawled backside down on my rear, like the scene out of the “exorcist” and my head did feel like it was spinning around like that;) the cats were freaking out “What is wrong with her!” Step by step I lay on my back and pushed myself down the steps as Mike Pulled me up and steadied me to the backseat of the truck where I lay, with my wonderful bucket, my glorious bucket and he drove…Slowly I kept telling him, I’m not dead yet;)…my theme this week…
It felt like an eternity the drive in. I recognized some turns, the stops, the lights, where were we now, yet a part of me just could care less at this point. I remember arriving, Mike pulled me by my feet until I could slither out of the back seat, his friend Dave sprayed the wheelchair arms with disinfectant, thanks Dave, appreciated that, and someone wheeled me towards the modified emergency entrance. People in masks, shields, as I retched into the bucket. I can’t really remember all the details except being wheeled into a somewhat familiar emergency room, I’ve been here before, usually standing up, or clutching cracked ribs;) not like this. The floor was laid out with lines and I was wheeled into a taped off spot on the floor, I passed one other chair in a taped off spot and continued to retch, as the nurse was leaving I asked her” Can I just lie on the floor?” I felt like I was pleading…”Geez! No you can’t” was her reply in a heavy Lanark County brogue, think Scottish with a bit of Irish thrown in;)..and I retched.
It may have only been ten or fifteen minutes but felt like an eternity. I was trying to concentrate on not dropping or losing the phone, no pockets, I tucked it under my leg on the wheelchair, my lifeline to Mike. By the time I was wheeled into Triage, I was hyperventilating, the nurse said” Breathe threw your nose and out your mouth slowly” my hands and fingers felt like little electrical shocks were zapping through them down to my toes. History, quarantine, 14th day back from coming across the US I remember mumbling, retching, my head was hanging in the bucket and I never took it out. Blood pressure, temperature taken, I was wheeled into the emergency room and with help got out of the chair and lay on a stretcher…heaven, the spinning slowed slightly, the retching eased but the room was still moving. An IV was inserted, fluids, graval, Dramamine I heard and then I was left to rest, shaking with cold and nerves at this point. “The cold fluids you’re getting” the nurse said “I’ll get you a warm blanket.”
When the very kind soft spoken Doctor came over I can’t recall much of the conversation. He kept looking at my eyes and tilted me backwards a few times before leaving me and I could hear the conversations happening in the background as my head swirled, contact the husband, possible stroke, sending her to Smiths Falls for a Catscan. Not a dog scan I can remember thinking;) The nurse couldn’t reach Mike but he’d called Graham and Pam about no signal out at the lake and they asked if I could give permission to Graham to speak to Mike, I mumbled of course. Then the ambulance drivers and medic arrived…my very first ambulance ride…
Through out, I can not stress enough how kind and considerate these people were. The nausea was slowly dissipating and the medics moved me to their stretcher and I felt like a piece of toast being popped into a horizontal toaster as I was clicked into place in the ambulance, hooked up, strapped in, and warned it would be a bumpy ride with a laugh, “Blame the driver, not me” the medic said from behind his mask. He asked where I was from, we talked about Baja and California, he’d done a road trip there from San Francisco South to San Diego but not Mexico, too scary, I told him he should have, it was a wonderful place, wonderful people, food and wine! He said his parents had panicked trying to get back from Palm Springs as all the flights had been booked but they made it home after 10 days and through quarantine as well, and then we arrived. The bright sunlight and cold temperature felt beautiful on my face as they unloaded me. I might mention, I didn’t have my glasses. I am REALLY short sighted! So as spinning as this was, add a dimension of blur to that as well! ha! I hadn’t had my contacts in for the days I was dizzy and now I was totally blind in my books. I usually only make it from the bed to the bathroom without them or my glasses;)
Then come the corridors, a constant theme in the next few days. I arrived at emergency, I know this one as well after a surgery more than a decade ago, unchanged. more wheeling and corridors, lights, and a stop finally, change of stretcher, more blankets, heated blankets are the best. I felt like I was in a corridor but it was emergency. I could hear a woman coughing in the other corner and her conversation with the doctor, she was a health worker, asthma, couldn’t breathe, sort of breath when she walked, coughed, they did a Covid test right there on her as I lay on my back staring at the ceiling trying to concentrate on the conversations around me, the other humanity present. A nurse pulled my shoes off, after trying to untie them, like Mike did, but they are fake ties;) “Just pull” I remember mumbling at this point and she put them in a bag with my sad pajama shirt, didn’t know I was going out today;)
More corridors, and into a small room, the cat scan room. Close your eyes, flashes of light even with my eyes closed, aligning the lasers I think she said, then more corridors and fluorescent lights flashing by, sometimes I just closed my eyes and felt the rock of the stretcher, the turns, the bumps into doors, the auto door openers being hit and then I was back in emergency.
Thursday 5:25pm I’m looking at the texts. “Hi, emergency wants you to call them.loveuou. In Smith’s Falls, cat scan done, no cats. still can type;) Of course I am totally freaked out!” then “they are taking me to brockville for an MRI.” I didn’t tell him what the doctor told me. He saw something on the cat scan but wanted to have it double checked. They were sending me to the Stroke unit in Brockville….calmate calmate I kept telling myself, secound ambulance drive in my life. The medic and driver put a huge smile on my face as they transferred me over to their stretcher I said” I’m not dead yet!” laughing., they came back with “Bring out your Dead! Bring out your dead!” Monty Python fans get extra special treatment they chimed in chuckling merrily. Humour makes the world go around:) they had an air of maturity to them the first medic didn’t he was young, cute medic I had texted later to Mike;)…more masks, more corridors and a blast of sun and fresh air again, that beautiful feel of nature. Back into the horizontal toaster and clicked in, strapped in, no bondage jokes I thought, warnings about the rough ride, not sure what road it was, he said, but I can’t remember which route they took. He accelerated on the straight stretches and slowed in the curves on the very bumpy road. I lay there being rocked back and forth, it was actually comforting in a way that rocking. I thought for a few moments, I should take a picture, but to be honest I didn’t have the strength or the mental ability to do so, let alone any focusing skills! ha!You could hear every bolt and screw clanking in the ambulance and the ride reminded me of my old 65 corvette, Brut Go. Mike hated it. I loved the harsh ride, you could feel every bump, every piece of gravel, every change in the road, I think I lay there smiling for the 45 minute or so ride in the quiet, they checked my blood pressure and temperature a few times but otherwise it was peaceful. As we left I told him the ride was the same as my old Vette, Tell anyone who is whining about the bumps it’s like a ride in a hot rod, “trade ya,” he chuckled as I was wheeled to another corridor.
This one was different, not just masks but face guards and suits. It was now beginning to feel like a science fiction movie. where’s Ellen Ripley when you need her? (Aliens) as I was wheeled into a private room. One nurse came in at a time and had to fully dress outside before entering. suit, gown, gloves, masks, face shields…gulp…wasn’t expecting to come here but maybe my symptoms were weird Covid ones I started thinking. Like a bit more stress was necessary;) I managed to text Mike””In Brockville, graval helping nausea. room 289 if you want to call” and I can’t remember if he did, but I have vague recollection of talking to him. Nurses explained why they were dressed the way they were, this was the isolation ward and the doctor would be by in the morning. I found the battery saver on the phone and put it on my table tray beside the bed. All I remember is the beeping all night. I think they had a heart monitor on me and the calls from other rooms echoed down the halls. This could be the last place I ever see I thought, and I may never feel Mike’s touch again. An overwhelming feeling of grief and desperation overcame me as I lay there, thinking about the many who had already experienced this separation and I kept telling myself. “I can get better, I will get better!” Those who know me know, I don’t give up on anything without a fight….
Just a note: I’m trying to write this as soon as I can so those little conversations and memories don’t slip away. I’m still very unsteady sitting here at the computer, trying to concentrate on the keyboard as best I can, the room is still moving now, but not spinning wildly;)
Part two later-stay tuned…spoiler…I’m not dead yet;) Have to go lie down!
These little White Breasted Nuthatches are a treat to watch, they are busy, very busy, and they chat a lot to themselves, starting to sound familiar now, well, at least about the chatting to oneself;) they clammer all over the tree trunks, right side up, upside down and every other position in between:) Good for a smile:)
Midweek the sun finally came out in the afternoon and everything seemed right with the world, you just had to avoid reading any news, anywhere:)
We were tasked with filling the water tank on Myrtle, our trailer. Our old pump, the energizer bunny pump, a wee little thing we picked up at Canadian Tire many years ago to transfer water from a 55 gallon barrel to the trailer tank was put to the task. “Operation fill trailer water tank!” This wonderful little pump has traveled the continent with us and manages to keep going and going…slowly, very slowly it filled our water tank of 80 gallons…from the edge of the lake→all the way up here! 230 feet of hose and 20′ of lift! Wow! That is quite the little pump! As the temperatures are still going below freezing we can’t hook up the un-insulated cottage water yet! A new submersible water pump arrived via Purolater later in the day, I was not sure the little pump that could would continue to be the little pump that can and the luxury of water is something we don’t want to do without! ah, the joys of cottage living and lake water! so, like Baja, we have a plan A pump, and a plan B pump! Not a habit we are ever going to get away from I think!
We had a special delivery of food from friends, dropped off at a distance. A lifesaver, fresh fruit, eggs, ( I love eggs!) chips (salt and vinegar, how did they know?) beer and fixings for cat food. We make our own cat food, might explain the giant size of our feline companions;) ha! Thank you Joanne and Trevor! And a wine delivery, and more beer, never hurts, it could be used as an antiseptic right? 😉 Thank you Regan and Sheila:) All with good social distancing and lots of hand washing:) whew…one really has to think constantly about what to touch, how to touch and where to touch, as well as WHO to touch! ha! Settle down Mike!
We’ve watched the ice recede, then come back with nights below freezing but today, the wind is howling and suddenly, it is gone, all pushed down the lake to the South. Small lake icebergs are floating past in the stiff Northerly wind, all piling up at the end, sorry Judy! I hope your end of the lake doesn’t look like Antarctica! I sat and watched the sunset last night, the concrete was a very cold seat but the beauty was a balm to our troubling times:)
Have I mentioned just how happy the traveling Mewberries are? They are ecstatic, not only do they not have to share us with ANYBODY, they get to go out for long walks, Groot gets to run free and there is a tremendous amount of flying up and down trees and gallivanting in the bunkie, racing up and down and general mischief making! How happy they are!
Nights are pretty quiet after all this commotion! The furball kids fall asleep pretty quickly except for Rocket who seems to get a 2nd wind, much to the consternation of his older sister, resulting in a lot of hissing and “can you just piss off”…hahahaha!
Not the clearest shot but so cool to see three bald eagles on a lake berg;)
Waiting for warmer days myself. I did some raking and cleaning, my oregano and lemon thyme have survived the winter:) Happy face! Today the wind is howling and although it is sunny, and we got to see three bald eagles, a parent and two juveniles. The lake berg (a new word: ice lake shelf/floe, not FLOW I just discovered! ha!) that was on the lake this morning where the bald eagles were resting, is going, going, gone! Wowza! That happened fast!
This afternoon, quarantine day 8 is sunny, windy and cold but bye bye ice! Temperature are going to be above zero tonight and by the weekend it will be balmy, for us, for this time of year! Saludos amigos! Only 6 days to go of quarantine! Stay tuned for replacing the water pump “IN” the trailer, things happen in threes, what could be next!…I don’t want to know! hahaha! The Purolator guy knows exactly where we live now:)
Birthday breakfast was in order for my better half, servant Mike to the traveling, I mean, sedentary Mewberries…I wanted to make Eggs Benedict, for Mike as well as myself, this goes both ways these delicious things but lo and behold, no English Muffins in the pantry so off to an amazing book my cousin Bronle gave us about both the history of these baked goods and the recipes over the ages…hilarious and yum!
Something about quarantine brings out the food cravings, you want what you can’t have;) Not sure what he gets for his birthday dinner but for desert-Creme Caramel of course:) The clouds and rain and even a few thunder claps that shook the trailer bring out that comfort food hankering:)
Still some juggling going on with our water system, not yet in place. Our older pump is getting tired so ordered a new pump through Canadian Tire but has not arrived yet, we did get our mailbox back up when no one was around in case it arrives via delivery slip. A series of hoses should get water to the trailer, if not we can pack it in buckets, not the preferred way;)
The mists and fog moved in later in the afternoon, it created a beautiful landscape of appearing and disappearing shorelines. Little by little the ice is fading away, every day there is a bit more water in the bays:) Just waiting for the sun now:) It won’t be long! We are so lucky to have each other in these strange and uncertain times. Our wonderful traveling Mewberries are a constant source of amusement and we have had so many kind offers from friends for anything we need. For now, I am trying to avoid the news and search for hope in our shared humanity and our relationship with this amazing planet. Saludos amigos!
The beeps and warnings are still ringing on our phone, sometimes twice a day, English and French, mandatory quarantine for all those returning from ANYWHERE that is not Canada…how hard is that? Jezzus murphy! Are you stupid you returning Canadians? They must be having a huge problem to have these warnings every day….we know of a few not following the rules, incredibly sad and stupid from people who should know better. Ah, humanity:(
The Canada Customs was polite and to the point, explaining himself clearly, expressing the importance of complete self quarantine for 14 days. After looking at passports, registrations and cats papers we were on our way in less than 5 minutes, it seemed to last forever;)…and just like that, home territory. We waved towards the horses as we passed Plum Hollow!
We did make one stop after the Western Village RV Park in Carlisle, PA. The closest RV park we could find, open, to the border. Sandy is the front lady at Shady Rest Campground in Uniondale, Pennsylvania. She is a delight and gets A+ in distancing and helpfulness. We stopped here on our way South last Fall. Busiest Spring they have ever had she exclaimed from more than 6′ away! All Canadians, fancy that;)
The road into the cottage was clear with a few patches of snow in the shade and a bump where the snow plow had left a pile. Mike powered over it backwards and we wound our way back onto our gravel pad. It was a bit soft but he did as best he could as the ground is still so wet. He gets an A+, not only for the amazing backing ability all the way down Slack Way but for the 5,553 kilometers of driving! Thanks sweetie! You rock!…and here we are…we were unhitched and plugged in, power on in the cottage and bunkie before the first big raindrops began to Fall…perfick…;)
The next morning the sun was shining-the cats were so keen to go out they were lined up at the door after watching the squirrels and birds since light;)
The traveling Mewberries (perhaps renamed the sedentary Mewberries for now;) knew exactly where they were, the tails were trilling and the meows were meowing! Gamora ran straight for the bunkie door after exploring outside! Let me IN! and she climbed up into the rafters and ran back and forth, her favourite game. Groot stalked a few squirrels and Rocket just had a bewildered happy look and couldn’t decide where to go, or what to sniff. Fabulous quarantine companions! Beezil fell fast asleep…the old man needed rest. It was a hard trip on him, glad he didn’t come home in the freezer;) really, that was the option!
We are stocked up on staples from way back, wanting to avoid as much contact with anyone in the US and we’ve had many lovely offers of food deliveries from friends. We have an app we can order food online at the local supermarket so I think we will be fine, and get a bit inventive with what we do have;) The bird feeders are up and the locals are back. A group of three Turkey vultures scared the cats, big tails, especially Rocket. We’ll keep an eye out for Asgard, our Raven as well. I can hear the geese returning and a fabulous flock of Tundra Swans flew over us this morning!
Mike saw a beautiful fat Otter on the edge of the lake who dove in and went under the ice. We’ll keep an eye out for the minks that we saw hanging out under the cottage in the Fall. It is quiet here, not much human activity, so lovely. We will watch the ice melt in the next few weeks, where it was open yesterday, it froze completely last night with the temperatures falling to -4 Celsius (26° Flintstone scale). The trailer was warm and cozy all night with minimal heat, we are thinking the new roof and the resealing of all the air conditioners and hatches has made a huge difference. I did drag myself out of bed at sunrise, it was spectacular coming through the trees but I didn’t last long outside in my bathrobe;) soon though, it will change. We’ll keep you posted on the locals and keeping the kids amused for the next little while. Fingers crossed we don’t develop sore throats or fevers…every cough makes us jump a bit but I’ve had my stress cough for months, it’s a family genetic thing I think, and life goes on. Saludos amigos, stay warm and healthy and we’ll keep you posted when the sun comes back out, we’re headed for a weekend of heavy rain! Hasta la vista from quarantine;)
Part of the journey. The old cat requires a lot of TLC. Fed every three hours or he gets sick, so yes, clean up that vomit, better to get up and feed him. Damn, like little kids, as we get old we simply revert. But that look of adoration, when he pushes on my face, ( yes, sometimes covered in his last meal I hadn’t had the chance to clean off)…sigh…melts my heart and the care continues. We’ve had friends say “Why don’t you just put him down?” Would you do that to an old relative, or child? He’s not in pain, he jumped over my head on the bed yesterday, the CBD seems to be helping with his mobility…Beezil, 20 years old and almost 5 months old…wow…he blows my mind where a persistent stance on life can take you. I bow in your honor, and yes, I’m going to get you some more food, warmed, just right, just how you like it…We are cat slaves, I wouldn’t have it any other way;)
I just want for him to make it back to Canada, He lost an eye tooth this last week, I keep telling him two more jumps, and we all can rest, will rest, 14 day quarantine for us and all our friends sake, and we have built in entertainment…cats! It has been a long drive, not the one we expected. No birthday dinner for Mike in New Orleans, distancing ourselves from people who seem to not have a care in the world, oblivious to what is going on around them…shocking, and appallingly selfish. I think that is part of this country’s psyche sadly. We have started rating places on how they react.
Four hours later from Paul B. Johnson State Park we arrived at the check in for Oak Mountain State Park-A+-distancing, gloves staff get a big virtual high five, campers do not…socializing, campfires, idiots…D- to boot, our spot was so uneven our door side tires were 6″ off the ground and there were other spots open, we also had to pay for two nights, as it was the weekend, we left in the morning…Cats were sad, they love the forest, time to move on!
We were treated to a glorious afternoon of sun and even some in the morning, warms the soul:) The wildflowers are harder to find the further we move North. It is heartening to know they will eventually arrive! The trees here were just starting to leaf out and a few blooms could be seen. The spiderweb was amazing!
The next jump was well over 4 hours and thirty minutes, almost 300 miles to the other side of Knoxville, Sevierville, Tennessee. We stopped here on the way down and knew it was a quiet stop and another A+ for social distancing. The lady in the office pointed to the window where our site map and receipt were taped outside…no human interaction! Jesus was looking out for them from the roof;) It rained hard overnight and we discovered ourselves in a pool of water in the morning, no morning cat walking…
We had one more 4 plus hour drive to get us into Virginia. The KOA off the I 81 was another previous stop we knew so we had a night booked there. By now the names were starting to run together and the scratched off names on the calendar had left no room for the new stops…so many changes 0_0….at least the sun had come out!
The Natural Bridge KOA got a flunking grade D- for check in. No gloves, no distance, sign here, I held my breath, (I bring my own pen always)…I did manage to buy a roll of quarters and used all three machines to get the last few weeks laundry done, all by myself:) Here not much blooming either and no leaves on any of the trees. It was a lovely warm afternoon. Our next door neighbour engaged Mike in conversation from a distance, outside smoking his cigarette, complaining that “Dollyville” was closed and what were they going to do….go back to Ohio buddy!
There wasn’t a leaf on a tree but the Woodpeckers were very busy. You could hear them from far pecking at trees. What beautiful creatures they are! Saw a Hairy Woodpecker but he evaded me and the camera:) There were a number of distracting and tasty looking squirrels as well Rocket mentioned;)
“That is a tasty looking squirrel!”says Rocket
The next jump…much shorter into Pennsylvania. I was starting to get stupid, OK, left myself open for that..stupider;) ha! Just tired. When my dyslexia kicks in Mike knows I’m running on empty;) “Do you want the heat seater turned on in the truck?” and other famous sayings;) Flip flopping all those words around:)
Western Village RV Park got great grades for social distancing-no one was there, or they were locked behind the door I later discovered. A half dozen maps and names were taped to the outside wall. A+. Funny how many Quebec and Ontario plates we saw blowing past us on the freeway…in a hurry and all headed North:) I did have to call the office to pick up a package, which they put on top of the ice machine for me to pick up after I’d inquired if it was there:) Dusty and Maya’s and their barn mates vaccines:) Nothing really picture worthy here. In the final days here of a long needed rest and at least 14 day quarantine. Gray skies and leafless trees, drizzle and wind…almost there I keep telling Mike, almost there. We’ll let you know tomorrow! Saludos amigos and stay safe and distant! Looking forward to this….
Only the turtles were practicing “social distancing” here…all I said was “Hi turtles!” and they instantly disappeared! Smart turtles!
It seems you can’t come to a state park here without a lot of toys. Mostly fancy golf carts with chrome rims that you spend hours driving around, be it a group of teenagers, old folks, or somewhere in between, social distancing has not dawned on these people…0_0…at least some kids were riding bikes!
We didn’t actually get to Mississippi right from Texas. We spent a night in Lafayette, ah, images of “True Blood” there, at a KOA pretty much right on the I 10. Luckily they shuffled us to the back by the lake, you could still see the I 10, and count the cars and trucks going by, perhaps we should have stayed to the front. The trailer beside us had an outdoor pen with 4, extremely small barky dogs, the kind I would like to strangle. I love dogs, but these 4 would bark if I moved in OUR trailer, let alone try to go outside…ah, if only they would give me the powers of “Q”…one day, that is all I ask, many dogs would become barkless…how I loved our Basenji. People are assholes as well. Why leave them outside, where people like me want to strangle them…you can tell we are getting tired can’t you:) well, have a nice day ya’all….so you can tell the KOA was a memorable spot;) the pen is mightier than the sword:) one word…Google reviews;)..anyway, back to Mi-ssi-ssi-pp-i (my first guitar songbook was Bobby Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe so I have a lot of her songs stuck in my head;)…Paul B Johnson State Park as 221 miles, 3 hours and 21 minutes from there. Finally heading North! Yeah!
It is a bit of a windy road but nothing drastic to get into this park, past a water overflow area and a few cabins and pull through sites until we got to loop B. No one ever came to check us out the two days we were there, no one was at the booth to check in…social distancing…Good!
Too bad most of the folks here were just going about their park visit as if nothing was happening. We kept our distance:) ah, to not have a care in the world….maybe they were counting on God. Lot’s of evidence of that here, proclaimed on the front of RV’s, in the RV windows, and on their sterns, is that what you call an RV back or end? Also no alcohol or open carry, on the beaches;) Good ideas in pairs!
Our first day here was lovely, no neighbours except a quiet elderly Ohio couple until a toy hauler moved in with two large dogs on 30′ leashes tied to trees outside that barked whenever you moved…sigh, I am cursed by barking dogs this trip. Usually in parks we don’t have too much of that, not here:(
At least there were also a lovely spattering of wildflowers under the pines and along the lake! Haven’t been able to ID many but I’ll keep looking online!
I really couldn’t get much history or information on the park online, other than it is close to several football, or baseball fields, and an Army camp/base…that’s exciting stuff:) ha! A walk around the shoreline revealed some interesting plants and a few lovely bugs!
On the freeway and highway on the road in the Wisterias blooming are amazing. They climb hundreds of feet into the trees, a splash of colour against the pale grey branches and trunks that have not leafed out. I tried to grow one in Baja but the cows kept eating it! There was a spectacular bloom along the road. Stunning!
There is so much beauty around us. At times recently hard to concentrate on it with the incredibly alarming news coming from all corners of the world, yet here, nature goes on being nature, nonplussed by our pandemic. We have tried to limit our exposure to people and places not practicing safe distance and cleanliness. Gloves on, hand washing, wiping everything down. We hope that is enough to protect us but I can’t help but feel in the South there is going to be a horrible explosion of this virus after watching the nonchalant manner people are responding to it. It is very distressing. We made a decision to pick up the pace to head North and back to Canada. Sat down, new game plan each stop. Taking into account the 20 year old cat and how tiring driving a big rig can be.
A few minutes of squirrel watching was good for the soul:) The cats agreed:) After the toy hauler and large tethered barking dogs appeared they said they were ready to go, “Park bad, too many big dogs” the traveling Mewberries all chimed in;) I agreed! Next stop…Alabama, not sweet home, but Alabama none the less;) Stay tuned!
272 miles from South Llano State park to the North of San Antonio then East to another park. Cities..sigh, really bad roads and miles and miles of construction, people who can’t merge and really bad signage. Only got tuned around once, a trucker behind us as well! We sighed a huge sigh a relief as we left San Antonio behind on our way to Stephen F. Austin State Park. I thought I’d made a reservation but the internet was so bad at South Llano we could barely connect, it must have timed out, no Verizon, T-Mobile or ATT, except at the rangers office and we were not willing to hang out with the happy Texas crowds there. When we arrived the chipper, but tired ranger (third shift filling in for absent workers she said) had one spot left #32. We’ll take it. She warned us she had moved someone out because of the construction noise, building new restrooms she commented, not a problem, it’s almost time to quit! Perhaps the 6 million dollar man would take care of things, it was his park right? 😉 Ha!
As we arrived into the pull through spot #32 and started to set up, the beauty, then the wave of heat and humidity that hits you when you open the door…ugh! We have at this stop left the SW behind. I did not inherit my mother’s non sweating genetics, she must have deep South (and the family does) blood, instead, I got my fathers ability to break out in a sweat at anything over 15% humidity. Rivulets of sweat at the slightest exertion. Mike wonders why these are NOT my favorite stops;) ha! There was construction going on, the entirely Mexican group of concrete guys were happily finishing their job on the new bathroom floors, “guey” this and “guey” that:) I’m always happy when I hear Spanish:)
I think I’ll try to include maps of these State Parks in the future:) Another named park, who is this Stephen F. Austin, and no, not related to Lee Majors;) According to the park website: “The park is on the Brazos River, near an old ferry crossing. It is part of the Commercio Plaza de San Felipe. San Felipe was the seat of government of the Anglo-American colonies in Texas.
The Brazos River from the Barred Owl Trail-muddy and again with signs of recent flood damage. Trails and lookouts are closed due to erosion
Stephen F. Austin, the “Father of Texas,” brought the first 297 families here to colonize Texas under a contract with the Mexican government. From 1824 to 1836, San Felipe de Austin was the capital of the American colonies in Texas. It was also the social, economic and political center.
Austin and other famous early Texans lived in San Felipe. It was the home of Texas’ first Anglo newspaper (the “Texas Gazette,” founded in 1829) and a Texas postal system. The Texas Rangers formed here, as well. Stephen F. Austin began colonizing Anglo-Americans in Texas in difficult conditions.
Due to his work, about 5,000 people obtained around 1,540 land grant titles. Austin’s original colony was the first, most famous, and most successful of the empresario grants from Mexico. Austin worked tirelessly to make his colony a success. When Texans grew dissatisfied with Mexican rule, he used his talents to fight for independence.
Stephen F. Austin wrote in July 1836: “The prosperity of Texas has been the object of my labors, the idol of my existence, it has assumed the character of a religion, for the guidance of my thoughts and actions, for fifteen years.” Betcha he wasn’t popular with the Mexicans;)
Stephen F. Austin State Park protects 473 acres of wetland and hardwood forest. It is not a large park but beautiful, and humid. I walked the Barred Owl trail, looking for Barred Owls of course but just dozens of elusive Cardinals and a plethora of wildflowers that I had no idea what they were:) I did look most of them up! This website is perfect: Texas Wildflowers.
After the last few jumps stretching the legs was a necessity but that humidity…yikes! The wildflowers were beautiful. The bracket fungus on the trees was amazing, especially the yellow clump.
The cats I must say thought it was a perfect spot. The next morning with the new bathroom floor poured there was no construction noise at all and the cats had a frolic in the grass and a great time watching the incredibly fat squirrels. I tried to tempt the cardinals in but they were having nothing of it! The Eastern Fox Squirrels were quite happy to help themselves. Do you know that squirrel hunting ranks third in popularity among hunters in East Texas? Squirrel stew? Squirrel nuggets? I’m not kidding here, check out the recipe, squirrel stew with paprika and greens…There is an entire paper written about them and their loss of habitat: Fox Squirrel Management of east Texas….who knew? Especially about the stew….
The look we got when we were packing up to leave was sad…Four very long kitten faces. Especially after I told them about the squirrel stew possibilities;) One more jump we told them, then we stop for a day or more in Mississippi! That would make 5 jumps in a row of 250 miles or more…time for a break! Stay tuned as we make it out of Texas into Louisiana (third most cases of corona virus, not that I’m counting…0_0) and Mi-ssi-ssi-pp-i!
We don’t want to leave! Someone mentioned squirrel stew!
The morning came and no tornadoes, just a steady drizzle. We got to experience our first virus Armageddon buying as we stopped by a local grocery store in Carlsbad at 9 am to find the parking lot packed, pickup trucks circling like hungry wolves looking for a spot to pull into. Tempers seemed normal, no one wildly raging, politeness ensued which was a relief, wasn’t quite sure what it would be like in the store. No toilet paper or paper towels…what is wrong with people? We tried to keep our distance, 6 feet, and get a few necessities, cat chicken mostly. The younger traveling Mewberries can eat anything but the old guy needs his raw chicken, we grind it up ourselves and felt lucky to find some, oh, and wine, I think I will needs lots of wine in the upcoming weeks;) Couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer…sigh…things are changing rapidly. We looked over our state park schedule and started thinning it out. The emails of park closures were coming in so time to pick up the pace!
We took the traveling Mewberries for a quick walk before our departure. Rocket flushed out a few of these beautiful quail and I ran back in the drizzle for my camera. They are gorgeous! Scaled Quail. a first for me I think! Funny how all quail sound and fly alike:) Rocket was then nearly attacked by a large dog in a space in front of us, asswipe just let his dog out, no leash, it chased a jogger yesterday…grrrr….I called the office and had a rant, “Oh yes, we know him, not the first time” they said…Mike said not to rattle the cage, this is America, land of guns. I was pissed off…hell hath no furry like a mad woman;) It was the “oh yeah, we’ll talk to him again” that really ended up pissing me off more. Boot his ass out! but no, these oil workers are their bread and butter at this park. Time to get the hell out, little did we realize the sad and ominous scenes that lay heading South on the 285.
Flare stack after flare stack on each side of a muddy dirty road where a constant battle of 18 wheelers vied for the passing lanes every few miles. It felt like a scene out of Mad Max. The road looked like it was in a constant state of repair. Our windshield wipers were on not for the drizzle but the mud being flung up on us with each passing tanker or container truck. Endless rows of bleak dirt RV parks and temporary housing lined the roads for the oil workers in the area. Made the KOA seem like the Ritz Carlton! Just before Pecos at the 302 the trucks all seemed to disappear going East but the bad road did not. It felt like the Baja swerve and miss the pot holes or lose a tire type of road. Well, we won’t be back on this one again! Yikes! Even the cats looked at us wild eyed…”What the hell was that, we’re not camping here are we look!” Hey, I learned the first rodeo was held in Pecos (according to them), that was not worth the drive;)
We stopped at the Fort Stockton RV Park just North of the 10 for the night. We unhitched and headed back to town to diesel up for the next day and to check something. At the grocery store the panic buying was hardly evident. Yes to the no toilet paper or paper towels but the other shelves were fully stocked. Texans are tough, too big and bad for viruses….0_0…very very bad Indie, very, very bad. The lackadaisical approach most were taking was a bit horrifying. We stocked up on more chicken for the cats, wine (could be used as a disinfectant no? in my stomach;) and tried to keep at least 6 feet away from these foolish souls! The rain clouds opened while I was in shopping and a deluge of water came from the sky. The town streets turned into rivers as we made our way back to the RV park soaked. We were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow, and enough water to clean off the back window so we could see out!
In the morning we headed East on the interstate bound for South Llano River State park 218 miles away. Located about 6 miles South of Junction, Texas it was a place we had bookmarked, or I had. It had mentioned birders…well, if you like Cardinals, this is the place for you. Maybe its just the hill country but there were dozens, everywhere! The bird blinds were closed due to the Corona Virus but I could still peek over the fence for a few familiar guys:) The Cardinals were fighting their window reflections at the trailer:)
A bit of Park History from the park page: Walter White Buck, Jr. moved to this area with his family in 1910 when he was 18 years old. They lived in the house that is now park headquarters, and the younger Buck took over the family ranch after his father died. Buck felt strongly about conserving the land. After his father died, he reduced his 1,000 head of sheep, goats and cattle by nearly half. Eventually, he ran only 125 head of cattle, which he later sold. Caring for the land and not overgrazing his livestock allowed him to survive a five-year drought in the 1950s.
In two of the best years, Buck harvested 75,000 pounds of pecans. He enjoyed caring for the pecan trees, which included both native and cultivated varieties. (that explains what the trees are and why the squirrels are so fat;)ha!)
A bachelor all his life, Buck used to say that this land was his one great love. He donated his whole property to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1977 for wildlife conservation or park purposes. The park opened in 1990.
South Llano River State Park expanded from about 600 acres to 2,600 acres in 2011, when the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area became part of the state park. This backcountry area offers hiking, mountain biking, and primitive camping.
The park is home to one of the largest turkey roosts in Central Texas. Turkeys roost from Oct. 1 through March 31. The day use area is only open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during these months, so that humans don’t disturb the roosting turkeys. I did not see a single turkey:) but we only did one hike past the river:) I can see why the campground is a LONG way from the Llano River. Evidence of severe flooding is everywhere, including the town of Junction where a major bridge was mostly swept away…
The news from everyone had us stop and rethink about moving our booties along a bit faster back to Canada. Word of possible border closing (to tourists, not us Canucks) was hinted at so we went to the office and canceled our next two nights and decided to head East as quickly as the old cat would let us:) We also were receiving cancellations from Louisiana at our park stay South of New Orleans. Turns out they are turning it into an isolation center for the virus the Reserve America operator told me…time to high tail it out we decided! We were feeling a little stressed….the sight of several Nine-banded armadillos just at dark sure gave us a smile. So cute! No shots, too dark but they were burrowing around in the grass looking for grubs and waddled off when we went out to look at them. Texas speed bumps someone said they called them:( The idiots outside with their smoking campfires in 85° heat should have been the speed bumps instead, what is wrong with people?
Groot, Gamora and Rocket looked a bit crestfallen as we prepped to leave. This is a traveling Mewberries approved park. With grass, and trees and paths and lots and lots of BIRDS! It is also a Dark Sky Park which is wonderful. No lights anywhere!
But there won’t be any socializing with the telescopes for now, just social distancing:) We were surprised to see so many people’s cavalier attitude towards the news again here….stay tuned for bit more of Texas before we get to head North! Saludos amigos-I’ll be socializing with the birds and wildflowers only for now!
We’ll be socializing with the birds from now on;) as usual;)
It’s not too far a drive from Rockhound State Park in New Mexico to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, 132 miles, two hours and a bit from the I 10 to the base of the Sacramento Mountains via the 70. Past the White Sands Missile Range, we have our area 51 parking permit we should be OK;) and past White Sands National Monument. It wasn’t the nicest day, clouds, rain and an occasional sun shower. We couldn’t secure a reservation at the park, but decided to go anyway, there might be something. The park is South of Alamogordo by about 8 miles. We circled around the two loops once we got there, everything with electric and water was gone, there are only 15 of those but found site 19, one of the 23 budget sites (as I call them, just dirt, nothing else) and squeezed Myrtle in for the night, or two we thought, depending on the weather.
Cats had a great walk in the drizzle, lots to sniff, more pokey stuff they said, these darn desert landscapes:) After we had the generator set up we sat deciding what we were going to do, go for a walk (in the rain), go diesel up, nap(?) when a knock came at the door from a nice lady saying she was the park manager, and they were closing down as of 2 pm the following day due to the corona virus fears…sigh…really? We later found out the parks are open for day use, but not camping. So bunches of people walking the paths are less of a contamination than solitary campers, like us;) no arguing, just threw a monkey wrench into my carefully laid out State Parks plans across Texas and Louisiana….
What to do, what to do. So, I recoiled at the idea of any of the RV parks in Alamogordo, read the reviews…not the best. Got online and started to replan what we had already decided on, what we had to cancel, who to call…Weather was not going to co-operate so we decided, “F@#k this, lets get the hell out of Dodge”:) Hiking here in severe thunderstorms wasn’t what we had in mind, so this park, as well as White Sands National Monument will have to wait for exploration other than a few shots of wildflowers for another day!
Something wicked this way comes…
We were told we had until 2 pm the next day to leave so we took advantage of that to wait out some of the thunderstorms by going to town to diesel up, get some breakfast and a quick bit of shopping (no super hysteria here yet, but very busy for early morning!) On a sad note, one of the park pair hosts was circling in their golf cart (this pair should have been walking!) checking to see when folks were leaving, I said “Yeah, yeah! We’ll be on our way soon!” Not to worry he commented, we’re not throwing you out!… and somehow he started on how good it was they were closing, did you know there were people from ENGLAND! and Germany camped here!!! Lepers they must be…we couldn’t keep our mouths shut. When I hear xenophobic comments from assholes like this it just makes my blood boil. Mike had spoken to the Germans, they’d been in the US and Canada for half a year! I feel sorry for the Europeans now, Mexicans are getting a break, but the racism is strong here in this country and very very sad. He left in a huff after we told him no one was immune, and no one would be safe, even in a small town and that the orange vomit was a disaster:)
So after hooking up we were heading to Carlsbad, New Mexico to get East and South. The 85 wasn’t a road we have ever driven so thought, why not:) Mike was a bit worried about the elevation change from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft. The park is at 4400′, Cloudcroft is 8675’…it pine time! We read the road reviews and said, “Vamanos!”
It was steady climb up, no switch backs or drop offs, poor Hagrid had to really work but it was steady. Lovely small villages among the pines, a ski run, no snow except in the shade and then a high mountain plateau following the 82 as it gradually descended towards the 385. The landscape was quite beautiful, but sparse. Heavily eroded arroyos followed the road down show casing some wicked weather in the past until we were on a high plain, all the way to Artesia, then South to guess what…Happy Valley, the KOA North of Carlsbad. We had to kill a few days due to our other reservations in Texas. As we checked in, “tornado warning” said the guy at the desk, “batten down!” A few days couldn’t hurt here;)
” Don’t you worry about tornadoes little Rocket, your big brother Groot will look after you!”
But that, will be another story;) Thankfully the tornado watch was dropped, the sun came out for one little moment and we got a quiet nights sleep! Saludos amigos, stay tuned for the craziness that is America!
Our first sunset, and only one with this much sun at Rockhound State Park. We just wanted quiet after three months of cities. San Diego, Tucson and Ensenada. The sound of traffic, and military aircraft had become pretty tiring, we longed for peace, and we got it, almost;) At an elevation of 4230′ this small, 29 site, park we had heard could be hard to find a spot at. We cruised in, “Campground Full” read the sign, but we have learned that camp personnel often leave it up, when there are spots, and we were around noon so kept our fingers crossed. We circled around, nothing…but the camp host came trotting out and said “Hey, I have a three sites in the group camping area with water and electric if you want one of those!” BINGO! He drove us back to the group area and we backed up onto a large concrete pad beside the pavilions for groups and settled in. Connie, the camp host was a warm, friendly character and you could tell he liked his job and was good at it. Before the day was done he had two others backed in beside us, fairly close, but hey, we had a spot!
All around us poppies were blooming, birds were chirping. We had the sad misfortune to have a trailer with two loud and obnoxious small boys in it that scared the crap out of the traveling Mewberries, they know danger when they see it, but we were careful when we took them out to explore:) The kind of kids that throw rocks, at out truck, yup, that didn’t go over well, and were generally just small louts…sigh…humans….
This is a small park, 1100 acres, located 7 miles southeast of Deming. It is named for the abundance of minerals in the area, and visitors can search for quartz crystals, geodes, jasper, perlite, and many other minerals, and take them! By the bucket I could see, but I think there is a 15 lb limit per person. OK, I only filled my pockets a few times;) Here is a link to a geological tour of the park! It was the flowers and several new species of birds that caught my eye!
The thunder egg trail is a .6 mile hike up above the campground and back to it in a semi circle. Here butterflies were flitting, Clouded Sulphurs and Cabbage Whites, and Pipevine Swallowtail I think. I only captured a photo of one, and am not even sure what it is! Birds sang from the bushes. A Canyon Towhee was really belting out a song looking for love;)
The washes were full of poppies and patches higher on the hill stood out as yellow splashes! I had put my bird and hummingbird feeder out after I saw a female Costa’s looking at the red parts of our ladder. Sadly I didn’t see her come back. Several Say’s Phoebes were building nests in the pavilion overhangs and bird song could be heard all around. Delightful! I sat my chair up and just watched and listened to the sounds from the bushes and prickly bits (Cats words) surrounding us. Phoebes, Doves, Black Throated Sparrows and a Pyrrhuloxia stopped by.
Another trail leads from the campground to the visitor center at the entrance. The night before I’d seen a mule deer at the top of the hill so decided to wander down that path for a look. A lizard was sunbathing and a whole other trove of wildflowers lined the path! Indigo Bush, Rattlesnake Weed, all kinds of new names and flowers for me!
Along the path to the visitor center a cheeky Cactus Wren was building her nest. I sat on a rock and watched her until she said enough was enough and went off to sing from another rock. The visitor center is worth a stop in. Local history and artifacts as well as rocks and gem stones, geodes and other fancy bits of earth:)
The new examples of wildflowers were fabulous. I am so used to my 5000′ elevation Baja flowers so many of these were different. Some were familiar but many, just beautiful examples of Mother Nature, all along a half mile trail! I posted some on inaturalist to try to get some id’s as I was quite stumped, even after gazing at hundreds of photos…eyes glassing over! Whew! There are so many!!!
We made a trip into Deming on our last day to diesel up and a trip to the grocery store, it was delightfully Mexican in nature:) No panic buying apparent…yet…it was a friendly grocery store, funny, you can tell when staff are happy:) Peppers Grocery store, made me feel right at home, make sure you stop by here for supplies!
Our three days and nights here was just what we needed to unwind. It was a delightful stop. Not as majestic as City of Rocks but the little Florida Mountains to the South were pretty spectacular. They are a day use area and we ran out of time:(…next stop, on our way back in the Fall!
Stay tuned amigos, we have another New Mexico State Park to explore before we get evicted;)
These Greater Road Runners are the quintessential South West birds, I’m not sure if there is a lesser Road Runner;) I always feel Wiley E. Coyote got the bum rap. These birds are fast, efficient eating machines. They hunt everything! From lizards and snakes, to baby and larger birds, they love to eat;) When they trot through an area, birds and everything smaller than them scatter!
I headed over to the RV office on Saturday morning hoping to capture the Cooper‘s Hawk pair nesting there as I’d seen the couple out on the branches for the first time as we drove back. Normally it is the male putting up a squawk at the passing Harris Hawks. This morning the two were out on the branches for all to see.
The size difference between the male, being the smaller one as in many raptors, and the female was quite noticeable. What a beautiful pair! The Ground squirrel was less amused;) The small amount of rain has brought an interesting variety of wildflowers to the desert behind the RV park. If you step off the trails, watch the cholla cactus, and keep your eyes peeled to the ground for an assortment of tiny wildflowers. Like back at the ranch they are small, but beautiful, often no bigger than a penny.
I hiked out on a cloudy stormy Sunday to see the Great Horned Owl’s nest back on the trails. She is nestled in a large saguaro overlooking one of the many walking/biking paths, oblivious to the humans passing underneath her:) Her ear tufts were blowing in the wind as I circled the nest from afar, trying to avoid the spiny things;) The desert is so beautiful in this stormy light. Some people see barren areas, but there is life teeming all around!
As I walked the mile or more back I chanced to see the American Kestrel I’d seen the week earlier, but this time with it’s significant other;) These small birds of prey are some of the most beautiful I know of. Between the grays and soft brown tones, the spots and stripes they are gorgeous! Mr. Kestrel had arrived home with some supper, a bird’s leg, Mrs Kestrel didn’t look impressed and he went off to chew on it alone;)
It was a joy to stand in the shade of a mesquite tree and watch them interact. So much life out here even though it sounds so still at times, nary a peep or a squawk from anything, until a pair of Gambel’s Quail ran past me without blinking an eye. The Gila Woodpeckers are unmistakable with their call echoing across the desert. I found a female cleaning out a saguaro hole, looks like she has moved in:)
I’ve added links under all the bird names to The Cornell Lab” All About Birds.” I find their site easy to navigate with wonderful photos for ID and exceptional descriptions and even calls and songs. I often come up blank at new birds and ask friends online in the Facebook Birding Arizona and the SW group. Such a keen, knowledgeable group of very nice people! Everyone asks if I am a birder, no, not really, I just love to photograph everything:) I appreciate the life around me, however small it is, from a spider to a stunning sunset, we are surrounded by beauty, we just have to look;)
I missed a visit to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, just couldn’t fit it in but I did run across several beautiful little hummingbirds at the RV Park. A lovely Anna’s guarded a bush close to the trailer. A nest had been seen close by but it seems a Road Runner may have helped himself to a snack there:(…all part of life.
So that is what surrounds us here, lots of feathers and spines:) This part of the country has a dazzling variety of birds and plants at any given time. From the desert to the nearby mountains scenery can change so quickly, and habitats as well. I always look forward to our meanderings through this part of the world, and hope to be back but for now, saludos amigos and stay tuned-we’re headed to Nuevo Mexico;)
Taking turns riding shotgun;) Groot is a draper…Rocket a percher…Gamora, well, she doesn’t like to sit here at all, unless to complain…”Are we there yet?”:)
The cats looked at us oddly, bundling them up and into the truck, late afternoon, this was not the usual leaving time!…and then…no trailer, all our things! “Are we going to the vet? are they giving us away?” they have all our stuff with them! “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Gamora was saying, drooling, stressing. Oh Dear…how set in our ways we are! Twenty minutes later we arrived at our three night rental and the cats were flying from one end of the house to the other as we unloaded a truck full of cat blankets, cat toys, cat scratching posts, and various other bits of the traveling Mewberries paraphernalia;) man they have a lot of stuff! We had one small suitcase….
I forget how set they are in their ways. It’s like having a stable full of thoroughbreds, horse people will get this, they don’t like ANY form of change. Feed me at the same time, in the same sequence, or I will kick the crap out of the stall…simple…rules humans need to obey;) After twenty minutes they were all asleep on their blanket. We were worried about the 20 year old Beezil, he took it in stride, one trip to the kitty litter, water bowl and sunbeam and all was good with the world;)
Last RV repair we sat in a stuffy pet smelly (Cats said it was definitely dog smell;) Ha!) hotel room for 4 days, it was awful! Nowhere to walk the cats, no kitchen. We like to cook and eating out for that long would kill me and we love the quiet. This place had it all! Very isolated from neighbours, a hot tub to soak in and look at the stars, a full kitchen:) Perfect. The Insurance adjuster blanched at the price but I asked her if she could find me a hotel that would take us and all the cats with a kitchen we would go there….she sent a check instead;)* We do have a generous travel/accommodation amount as well. Something full-timers need to look at. If your rig is seriously damaged and repairs could take a month, make sure you are covered. For $60 more a year you have peace of mind!
After being an Airbnb host for two years I can honestly say we left the house cleaner than we found it when we checked out Saturday morning to head home to Myrtle. The cats had cleared all the dust bunnies off the tops shelves and kitchen cabinets;)
We received the call Friday from Carl’s RV Repair that is was ready to go. They did a wonderful job, the roof was sparkling! The branch that we encountered in Del Rio, Texas in November last year was a thing of the past now! No more duct taped skylights and bits of tape covering the roof where there were membrane tears! They also replaced the old TV antenna with a WiFi booster, replaced the broken skylight over the bathroom with a clearer brighter one and polished the scratches out of the smaller hatches! Desert trails said they would find a spot for us to leave it over night so we picked up our lovely home with it’s sparkling white new roof and drove her back to Desert Trails RV. We had a storage space for the night $4, then for two nights a spot near the back to do our shopping for our trek East into New Mexico:) These folks do their best to accommodate people when they can, always friendly and kind. A recommended spot if you need to stop in Tucson.
It was so nice to be in an adobe house again, even for a few days. They have a feel to them that is hard to describe. I think the traveling Mewberries were a bit depressed to leave that somewhat larger space behind but we’ll see what the future brings! Saludos amigos, we’re not quite out of Arizona yet! Some more birds and a visit to the Great Horned Owl nest before we bid farewell to Arizona:)
*Adding a foot note for fulltime RVer’s out there. If your rig is damaged, or in an accident double check what you are covered for hotel/rentals while your rolling home is being repaired. Last Spring we ended up paying out of pocket after our $1200 limit was used up. Our rig was in the shop for a week, that doesn’t buy you much in the way of hotels in California other than a few with bedbugs;) For a few extra dollars a month you can up that limit to $7500 and have some peace of mind, especially if it takes a month when there is something serious!
One night here is like visiting a time capsule. Riverfront RV Park, Yuma. I often joke about it being the set of the movie Cocoon but we actually saw some younggerish people, if that is a word;) It’s off the highway, on the Colorado River and a good rest between San Diego and Tucson. The lady that runs this place is a wiry, tough as nails, backhoe driving force of nature:) The property is dotted with old cars and antiques that gives it a nice vibe. The park next door has beautiful walking trails along the river as well so not a hardship, but it was a state park we were longing for!
Our trip East was a bit unsettled. We drove through small rains squalls for most of the trip but the sun shone through in the end giving us some dramatic light and colour! Trailer and truck came out a bit cleaner;) No bad billboards other than the $1000 Complete Cremation one;) I hadn’t checked the park website and when we got there they explained there was only water in the restrooms and showers. The park well had run dry. She said we could go back 7 miles and fill up at the Flying Jay but we decided to ration, and pack a bucket or two while we were here, enough driving;)
This is not a quiet state park. A small hill protects loop A from some of the noise but between the train and highway traffic from Interstate 10 it is a bit of a distraction but a beautiful spot none the less. When I’d made reservations a month ago it was the only camping spot left over the weekend. Given the high price of $30 per night and just electric, no water, at all, but there is a dump station, it is pricey, but full, it is too convenient:) Can’t wait for those $12.00 full hook up New Mexico parks;) We were treated to a lovely sunset but the next day was cloudy, cold and windy so not much hiking. Lot’s of cat cuddling;) The lupines were putting on quite the flower show but the poppies were all closed with the clouds and sprinkles. Cats said it was an approved park but lots of prickly things that we are introducing Rocket to…owies…them there’s cactus! No climbing saguaros young padwan!
Monday morning early had us heading down to South Tucson to Carl’s RV Repair. They got up on the roof did a look/see and measured the roof for the replacement rubber coating and sizes of the broken skylight and hatch covers. Took less than 20 minutes and we were heading to Desert Trails RV Park to wait for the parts to arrive and the Insurance review. This is a busy place this time of year. We are often here in the slower season and ended up the only spot they had was out backing onto the road. Beggars can’t be choosers so here we are, waiting until Wednesday morning to take the trailer in for a few days. This coming Mondays forecast is for rain so we have to wait:( We do have a nice little VRBO house lined up for the 4 nights with a pool/spa and yard for the cats to walk on their leashes. They are not too keen on our current spot, traffic noise, no wild areas close. Was hoping to back out on the desert but not happening:( Rocket is meeting new dog friends and the neighbours all know him now…’Hi Rocket” they say as he flops on their feet. Groot and Gamora are fairly standoffish with strangers which makes Rocket a delight as he is social butterfly:)
Spring here has sprung. The birds are busy and love, er lust, er, both(?)…is in the air;) Cactus Wrens are flirting in the mesquite as Quails run in the under brush. Doves are doing their best cooing and gathering twigs for their very sparse nests:) The distinctive sound of the Curved-Billed Thrasher fills the air. The Great Horned Owls woke me up at dawn hooting away. There is a nest in a saguaro right on the path where Mom is huddled over her eggs, just an eye peeking up every now and then!
I try to go out every day for a peek, keeping my distance. Her partner was hooting to her from afar. According to All About Birds: “With its long, ear-like tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on smaller fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards and cities.” These are the top of their food chain:) Some cool facts:
Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller morsels such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions.
Her ears are being blown about:) Strong winds
When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.
If you hear an agitated group of cawing American Crows, they may be mobbing a Great Horned Owl. Crows may gather from near and far and harass the owl for hours. The crows have good reason, because the Great Horned Owl is their most dangerous predator.
Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch.
Eye, spy, with my big Great Horned Owl eye…someone is watching me
I loved to listen to the Great Horned Owls in the arroyo in Baja. There would be 4 or 5 communicating with each other up and down the stream bed. Different pitches and sounds echoing off the sierra. These are the beautiful noise of nature! That is the kind of noise I’m looking for:)
Gila noise, Curve-Billed Thrasher noise, Cactus Wren noise, wind in the saguaros…wait…is that even possible;) ha! I’ll tell you on down the road a bit;) Saludos amigos!
“I don’t hear any wind in those saguaros…you’re cut off, no more wine!”
Santee Lakes has become our go to place to stay in the San Diego area. There is usually some kind of spot even in the busiest times somewhere in the campground. We have our special spots, along the sad small river of recycled water is the cats favourite, trees to climb and bushes to wander under for cover, lizards lurking…fun! I love the lakeside spots where the wood ducks run under the trailer and you can sit in the morning drinking your coffee watching the Coots and Ruddy Ducks. So yes, get ready for a bunch of bird pictures;)
This time the trip was marred by a horrible smell coming from the lake and a hooded man on a golf cart spraying pesticides and herbicides everywhere. Where kids played and people walked their pets, right onto our doormat one morning…I called the office and got the standard “These are safe to use in California and no they don’t spray when kids are playing or people are walking their dogs”, that was a lie. I don’t like to be sprayed or have to breathe in “Round-up” thank you:( so no more Santee Lakes for us for now. When we come back to this corner of the world we will look for a more sustainable spot. There is no excuse for this with all the wildlife and insects around this area of water it is truly sad to see what is done, and to think the people EAT the fish coming out of these lakes? YIKES!
We moved from the long term sardine side by side back of the campground towards the lake after the weekend was over. I do love the lakeside camping spots. From hummingbirds to butterflies and of course the plethora of birds. I walked the lakes one day only to return and have our neighbor point up to the large live oak shading us asking me “What’s that bird?” Sure enough a pair of Black Crowned Night Herons were blending into the oak trunks as they sat there looking down at us:)
Egrets stalk the shoreline along with the Great Blue Herons. There is a Green Heron in pond one lurking in the reeds if you have patience to stop and wait for him/her to appear:) There is Great Egret that wanders across the road, slowly, watching you, expecting you to wait for him… Does he know this is California? He is living dangerously chasing after mice and gophers across the road!
A flock of American White Pelicans dot the lakes. Following the fish, and the cormorants then follow them. They gracefully glide about the lake and rest on the shoreline rocks, preening and watching. These are huge birds, with up to a 9 foot wingspan. A yellow plate forms on the bills of breeding adults.
The Wood Ducks were choosing their nesting boxes. A few fights and chattering on the water but most seem to be paired off. One male put on a beautiful yoga show for me one morning-daily exercise routine no doubt;) Young Rocket was not exactly thrilled with the quantity of the birds, maybe he has seen Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”…be wary young cat! The small finches in the back window proved to be more to his liking and socializing with the dogs and owners that walked by;)
It is always a balance, the traveling and pets. I always worry about the old guy Beezil, 20 years and 4 months old now. Getting back on the road doesn’t seem to phase him as much as the younger ones. He sits at my feet, squawks when he is hungry and that is about it! For Groot, Gamora and Rocket new places are often hard to adjust to. The amount of noise at the campground, vehicles, people and low flying aircraft here in Santee isn’t something they are used to. Some spots are spacious but you are more often squeezed in like sardines:( Their and my favourite spots do coincide…parks, State and National, quiet, spaces to roam away from other humans:) sigh…soon. We have a stint in Tucson to get our roof repaired then it will be back to those quiet spots, for all of us! Stay tuned, we shall try to survive a one night visit to Yuma, a few days at Picacho Peak State Park before a Monday visit to the RV repair in South Tucson to order parts etc. The we’ll see how long our wait in civilization shall be, make it quick oh RV Gods and Goddesses! The kids and I are longing for the wild!
Light fascinates me, drags me from my warm bed to capture it’s ever changing colours and patterns. I could not think of a more beautiful place to do this than Baja. The mix of mountains, water and sky are create a beautiful mix to choose from:) The sunrises come so so quickly, and the sunsets fade away….
It was time for a change. I can only take so many months in Ensenada before the pollution/burning garbage starts to play havoc with my asthma. I needed some fresh air and a few miles inland in Valle de la Guadalupe it was clean as can be. It is always hard to leave this spot though. No more walks to the beach with The traveling Mewberries, I felt they needed their own page finally, just for the silly fun of it, although Groot seems to think some cat treat company might want him as a spokescat, ha! For Rocket, he has spent a 1/4 of his life here, he just turned 9 months old…:(
Instead of the Pacific Coast we’ll be traveling inland from now on, until we reach the Gulf of Mexico in Texas! We’ll need to look for some sand dunes aka giant kitty litter to play in, between now and then!
We have often driven past this spot on our way South to Ensenada. Nestled among the palm trees it is quite close to the road but below it. It is run by the Rancho Sordo Mundo, the deaf school across the road. The back in spots along the back row facing the vineyards are full hook up, 50 amp (gasp!), water and sewer, all for 300 pesos, or about $18.00 a night. A bargain with orange and lemon trees around you! The back in spots are certainly quieter than the spaces facing the road. A few jake brakes but the sound died down as the night went on. Well worth a stop to explore wine country.
We did try the tasting menu at Encuentro Guadalupe the day we arrived but were left disappointed. While not bad, it was not memorable in anyway. The fact they only had one type of red wine available by the glass was somewhat shocking due to their location and the tasting room below the restaurant. They also have an annoying habit of adding an 18% tip to your bill…be careful not to tip twice, the writing is small and the first bill was not re-presented with the credit card one, I had to ask. Found that slightly unethical, we won’t go back. Quail and Rabbit seemed to be closed..sad face… so stick to the tacos at Tacos de Valle behind the Pemex for a quick meal or our favourite Laja, if you want an extraordinary meal…nuff said:)
Trumps awful wall
Our trip North back into the US was uneventful. It is a beautiful drive to Tecate. The new wall at the border was as hideous as we’d seen pictures of but little of life along the wall has changed. You can still buy churros and tortillas and Mexicans go about their life as they have. It is just a sad reminder of the current policies in place. Our Customs agent was friendly and courteous. He had a quick look in the trailer and I guess they have to ask: “Are you transporting any people in the trailer?”…ah, no….and just like that, back into a strange and different world. The courtesy is the first thing you notice that abruptly disappears…especially in traffic..sigh, we will need to get used to this, but somehow we never do. Is it the narcissistic population that feels so entitled to go and do whatever they want, when they want, will little regard for others? This part of the world has lost that common courtesy called manners, being polite as a human. It is sad but a reality we live with in many places, it is just so obvious after spending a few months in Baja. How truly sad it is this loss. Suddenly Mike goes back to swearing in German at the the less than considerate drivers, muttering “When in Rome, do as the Romans do;) Yes, there are good people who do nice things but you are constantly reminded of those that just don’t give a sh@t…extremely noticeable when you are driving a big rig! In the meantime, we will try to be nice, let people merge, pull over and let people by…we will try to be as Canadian as we can;) HA! and we’ll be dreaming in 6 months about mouth watering tacos and friendly smiles. Hasta la vista Baja…te veo pronto!
Whether it is a yearly birthday treat at Laja in Valle de la Guadalupe or getting a shrimp cocktail on the way home, takeout for supper, you can really eat anything your heart desires here.
We don’t buy each other birthday or Christmas gifts but we do go to this amazing restaurant and usually over the course of three or more hours sample a delight of what the chefs here are doing. Their January 2020 menu was a wonderful sample of local fare. You start with their bread, fresh out of the oven, made with an over 20 year old sourdough starter, it is nutty and delicious, paired with olive oil and a scrumptious herb butter…I could just fill up on that alone!
Beetroot salad with pinions and padua cheese, scallops with kohlrabi puree, striped sea bass tartar ( the highlight of the meal for us!) with parsnip and carrot leave infusion in a citrus vinaigrette,lobster raviolis with melisa oil, Catch of the day, more bass with cured oysters, local lamb with roasted carrots ans sweet potato, quince sorbet with black olive caramel and finally pastry with Chinese persimmon ice cream and pumpkin with cardamon…all exquisitely paired with local Baja wines…I could die happy after ones of these meals…
….but it does take time, if you are in a rush, a stop at the local seafood cart outside Estero is a mouth watering experience. From his ceviche ( typically made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and chili peppers or other seasonings including chopped onions, salt, and coriander) and oysters, aguachilies (aguachile is a Mexican dish made of shrimp, submerged in liquid seasoned with chili peppers, lime juice, salt, cilantro, slices of cucumber and slices of onion. Raw vegetables such as cucumber are usually added) and coctels, everything is available to go. Mike sups on a few raw chocolate clams while the takeout is being prepared. You can eat these with tostadas ( fried, and or baked corn tortillas) totopos ( true deep fried corn tortillas chips) or saladitas-saltine crackers:) The owner has some colourful dialogue to share each day and no, don’t look at what he shows you on his phone, let’s say he lacks boundaries as to what is correct, or polite…0_0….Didn’t need to see his naked lady pictures…life is an adventure isn’t it;) If you are looking for a sit down seafood experience other than a mobile cart we recently had an exquisite meal at Villa Marina North of Ensenada. Not only is the view astounding, the food, service and presentation were top notch.
There are so many restaurants downtown as well. Restaurante Barra Azul, Boules and Manzanilla to name a few perfect places to enjoy Baja cuisine. You can choose award winning plates or fish tacos, your choice…damn, I’m starting to salivate, might be time to think about dinner!
Saludos amigos and buen provecho! I think I have to stop writing about food and go back to birds, hmm…would that be chicken? We did drive by a Korean place called “I Love Chicken”, maybe we should go! Hasta pronto!
What better way to start your day than sitting down next to a few Storm Troopers or Darth Vader, wait, that was just a picture;) Huevo Republic is the place to start. Located right on the road from Ensenada to San Antonio de La Minas this treasure will bring a smile to your face and you will leave rubbing a happy tummy providing you can find a seat! Weekends are packed, weekdays a bit easier!
The whimsy and wonderful sense of sci-fi humour along with the attentive service will keep you coming back! I think I need to try every dish, this could take a few months;) Love their bathroom doors! Now for some lunch…How about real thin crust wood fired pizza? Casa Don René- Calle Tercera, Av. Gral. Lázaro Cárdenas y, Chapultepec walking distance from Estero Beach Hotel.
On Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday all day you can choose from their delicious menu of Italian and Mexican thin crust pizzas cooked in their amazing wood fired oven. Pizza al Pastor was to die for, pepperoni hit the spot, all served in a beautiful natural setting that is a succulent and cactus garden center during the week.
This family run business is all smiles and wonderful service. Their breakfast special was outstanding, the coffee, made a non coffee drinker want to order one, that aroma! Frijoles de olla cooked over wood, their birria de borrego for three could feed an army, we ate it all and Saturday we stopped by to find a pig roasting over manzanita wood…we stayed for breakfast and took home a kilo of cochito (wood roasted pig) for dinner! Did I mention their breakfasts?
Machaca de Sonora….sigh…. The Mexican cattle industry is in the hot and dry northwestern corner of the country. In the days before refrigeration, ranchers in the Sonoran Desert would cut their beef into thin slices and hang it to dry into jerky, a fast process when it’s 110 degrees with no humidity. The result was carne seca (“dried meat”) that would later be shredded and/or re-hydrated to make machaca. Combine that with onions, peppers and scrambled eggs…heaven…It was my favourite dish as a child:) Comfort food for me. I was lucky to get pictures the forks were digging in so fast;) Now for lunch somewhere…
Tacos de pescado El Johnny...I felt like we were cheating on Lupita’s but we had to try this spot close to the mailboxes:) Mike tried the taco Gobernador, grilled shrimp, cheese and smoked marlin in a slightly crispy taco, a squeeze of lime did it. I tried the fish, and the shrimp tacos, light batter, maybe with some baking powder in it I think, and he made a shrimp taco out of just grilled shrimp as well that was out of this world! so much food, so little time. Dinner is going to have to wait! Time for a nap like this hummingbird! Stay tuned amigos and we’ll do dinner soon! Promise!!!
This blog may not suitable for vegans and vegetarians 😉
I can’t believe I ate all those tacos!
Rocket and Mike say no, never enough, as long as you can fit a siesta between them all;) I may have to agree. The street food in Ensenada and the Valle de la Guadalupe is an never ending buffet of fabulous tacos, fish, al pastor and carne asada as well as birrias from beef to borrego, sheep that is. For those of you familiar with nothing more than the sad excuse of a hard shell taco often offered across the border we have a primer for you: Tacos, most of the time here in Mexico are served on a soft corn tortilla, not flour, you will show your gingo-ness by asking for flour unless you want a quesadilla:) Here we go:
Al Pastor/Adobada: (these are not carnitas, that is something completely different) Al pastor (from Spanish, “shepherd style”) is a taco made with spit-grilled or propane fired pork. Based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico, al pastor features a flavor palate that combines traditional Middle Eastern spices with those indigenous to central Mexico. Often basted in achiote with a pineapple affixed to the top of a shawarma type vertical grill that lets the juice of the pineapple sweeten the pork. They are often served on small sized tortillas de maiz, which means you can eat even more!
Pescado/Camarón: Fish/Shrimp tacos originated in Baja California, where they consist of deep fried fish/ and or shrimp, cabbage, pico de gallo (cut up tomato, onion, serrano peppers, lime and cilantro) and a sour cream or citrus/mayonnaise sauce, all placed on top of a corn or flour tortilla with an assortment of other salsas. You can sometimes get grilled fish if you are watching your fat intake, they are pricier as you get more fish, less fried coating, and of course deep fried shrimp. Try them with the pickled onions at Lupita’s in Maneadero! And her caldos, or soups of seafood and shrimp are to die for, actually, everything they make…try it!
Carne Asada: In Spanish, carne literally means “flesh/meat/beef” and asada means “grilled meat.” Best grilled on wood/carbon but can be done on a large grill, sometimes a griddle but then it steams more than roasts. You will be asked “con todo?” this means the meat, salsa (sometimes quite hot), beans and guacamole or you can customize what you want:) Often served with radishes and lots of lime slices:)
Birria: is a dish from the state of Jalisco I have read…you can correct me if I am wrong:) The dish is a spicy stew, traditionally made from goat meat or lamb, but most often in Baja from beef. Birrias de borrego-is lamb-birria de cabra is goat. It is often much softer, and very juicy. You can get a cup of the broth on the side, so delicious:)
and this is just the start. At many taco stands they specialize in one or two types of tacos, at many-all kinds! This is one of our “go-to” places in Chapultepec-the best “adobada” also known as “al pastor”, They have a large variety of things Mike has tried, that I have not;)
Tortas are sandwiches of carne asada or al pastor, or mixto, the two, on puffy white buns (that are usually grilled) or bolillos in the supermarket. Quesataco, means-taco with cheese, same for the tortas-Quesotorta-quesadillas, tortillas with cheese- Cabeza: (lit. ‘head’) is the meat from a roasted head of an animal, usually a cow here in Baja. Typically, the whole head is placed on a steamer or grill, and customers may ask for particular parts of the body meats they favor such as Cachete, which is cheek. Buche: refers to the stomach of the pig. When stewed for several hours with a variety of spices and chilies, the meat breaks down to a tender, somewhat chewy texture -and Tripa: are the small intestines of farm animals that have been cleaned, boiled and grilled. Chicharón are fried pork rinds that are soft, not crispy, after being simmered in salsa verde for a spicy, somewhat chewy (but in a good way) combination. Sesos: are beef or calf brains (I do draw the line at brains). There is something for everyone! So far no liver tacos but I am sure they exist somewhere, all washed down with a fine glass of chianti;) In downtown Ensenada you can get grilled or fried grasshoppers, called chapulines. They are toasted on a comal (broad flat cast iron frying pan) with garlic, lime juice, chili and salt lending a sour-spicy-salty taste to the finished product. We have only touched the tip of the taco iceberg. There are actually many vegetarian and vegan tacos, just that I have not got around to trying everything when al pastor and asada, are just so damn good! Bad me;)
And don’t forget to skip the sodas and wash down anything with an agua fresca-agua de jamaica which translates as “hibiscus water”is a delicious bright red/purple drink made by steeping hibiscus flowers, called flor de jamaica to produce a concentrate which you dilute with water and sweeten with sugar. Extremely high in vitamin C! My favourite is “horchata”(pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a drink made with rice and is flavored with cinnamon and sweetened with sugar. The rice, sometimes along with some nuts or seeds, is ground and mixed with water to make a milky looking drink. It tastes like a milkshake! YUM!
So many tacos…so little room in my stomach! Time for a brisk walk around the estuary so we can start again tomorrow;) Saludos amigos! Provecho! Enjoy! Stay tuned for the best breakfasts, Mexican wood fired pizza, pig on a spit, seafood galore and some fine dining thrown in for good measure!
It means different things to different people. It has to do with a mindset sometimes. Perhaps just the ability to appreciate the smallest joys in life give us the greatest rewards:) Those wonderful little bits of nature hidden in the city and some kind souls as well. We call this the “zombie apocalypse block, without the zombies”…there is Myrtle, our 5th wheel at the end of the block, on the left, in a space that once probably held a trailer, that then had a house built over it, that was then torn down. There are many empty spaces here now that once held trailers with houses built around them, a few still exist, some have been replaced with actual small houses, beautifully kept, adorned with colourful Mexican tiles and no trailer, but the ones that are still here are very cool. Travel trailers from the 50’s and 60’s with porthole windows and curbed ends, throwbacks to a more artistic, rather than, “how cheap can we make them” time.
Now about the zombie thing, we are perhaps 95% of the time here on our own, not a soul on the block other than the security guard who rides his bike down the road a few times a day and an occasional group of walkers out for their morning constitutional chatting away as they pass us by….ah…I like that peace:) This is the low rent district, this street, of the Estero Beach “permanentes” where they have so graciously allowed us to back up our trailer and stay for months at a time…and only a short walk away…
…at the other end of the street, is the estuary. At high tide the small sand beach can be covered in hundreds of Marbled Godwits (who invented that name?) and Willets, often joined by a huge flock of Pacific Skimmers. At low tide you can walk for miles and mingle with the Egrets and Herons fishing in the tide pools with the curlews and sandpipers, so much nature, so close. At sunset the colours reflect off the water sitting in the pools, it is magic.
At the edge of the estuary the Kestrels nest with a Kingfisher close by, Terns fly over fishing in the shallow pools and the Ospreys are busy gathering nesting material. The Red Tail Hawks have been circling, you can hear their “kee,kee,kee” call from afar. It is a magic cacophony of bird calls filling the air on any given day, during the week mixed with the roar of the Mexican military “Texanos” planes, North American T-6’s that the Mexican military use here for training, they land and take off all day, buzzing about, man made birds.
The trees and bushes along the paths and between the rows of the houses are full of life. The “LBB’s”, little brown birds, better than “LBJ’s” Mike pointed out, could be taken out of context…dirty minds;) House Sparrows and Finches mix with the Doves, Kingbirds, Flycatchers and the ever chatty Mockingbirds.
Feathered life that is, although the other night a rather large skunk ambled across the small brick road here going from one house to another…oh, and those hummingbirds! We had Mr. Anna’s, and finally the ladies have shown up this week. A surprise visitor was an Allen’s perched in the trees a few days ago. A beauty. Waiting for the Costa’s to make an appearance before we head North now!
An array of dogs and cats share this space, mostly loose, they come by and visit. Some from the town, a mother followed by her pups ambling across the tidal flats. The small white dog down the road has made friends with Rocket, Gamora is still intent on killing him;) Benito, the local orange cat is a bit wary now after he tried to attack Gamora, both Mike and Groot put the run on him and he only slinks around a night, as well as a large black cat who makes his rounds. Nina the blue eyed super model cat lives down the road as well, she comes out to say hello when I have wandered by her abode. Our furry guys do love the beach, a giant Kitty Litter…should we warn the small children playing there;)…nah! All a a part of life!
Well, I’ve gone on long enough…I will be running into TLDR group soon…too long didn’t read….for the short attention span theater out there;) I did my rant a few days ago so, no more about that, I may have offended a few…ha! Hope you enjoyed the small slice of life here:)
Saludos amigos-stay tuned for some Baja food, let’s get ready to drool!!!
January is gone, what a night to say farewell and move into February…We had a great group of local Estero Beach residents that showed up for some stunning views just after sunset and got to take away their own cell phone shots of this lovely orb. Is it not amazing what a small cell phone camera can capture, but I am spoiled with the views through Mike’s 18″ Dobsonian Starstructure telescope with it’s amazing Carl Zambuto mirror.
Conditions were favourable, which means: The atmosphere is in continual motion with changing temperatures, air currents, weather fronts and dust particles. These factors cause the star images to twinkle. If the stars are twinkling considerably we have “poor” seeing conditions and when the star images are steady we have “good” seeing conditions…which in turn gives us steady, non blurry views of the objects we are looking at, especially as we raise the magnification…geeky astronomer talk, so now you know what these guys are talking about in the dark;)
Usually I get Mike to put in the 21 mm Ethos eyepiece which allows me to capture the entire moon in one image, as the seeing conditions improve the magnification can be increased, last night we went to the 13 mm Ethos, then finally to the 8 mm Ethos eyepiece…absolutely stunning views of this beautiful moon.
So we will be out again tonight, if you are nearby please do not hesitate to stop in for an amazing view of our February moon;) Best part about showing people this view is the unsolicted comments, best from last night was “Holy shit! That is amazing!” attached please find a link to our good friend Attilla Danko’s Expletive Scale (Not suitable for kids) of astronomical observations.
Saludos amigos! Stay tuned for bird and sunset shots from this little piece of paradise here in Baja.
As we jump into a new decade, fraught with the perils of other people’s choices, war and hate, great human loss and grief for so many I realize just how lucky we are to breath in the air we do, have clean water to drink, look at the magnificent wildlife we share our lives with and the good friends that make every day a wonder. It could all disappear so quickly…
How is it as a species we managed to visit this amazing moon so many decades ago and the joint efforts of so many nations helping each other. How has greed consumed so many, entitlement and the fact so many are felt owed something? Where did it all go so wrong? As a child the border crossing into Nogales said “Welcome to Mexico” and on the way back “Welcome to the USA”…no gate, no guards, what happened? Can we go back? Where did all the fear come from? “Be safe” seems to be the new “See you later”, or “Have a wonderful trip”. Do we spend our lives avoiding mega stores, schools and churches, all public open air gatherings for fear that some lunatic with an assault weapon is mad and/or deranged and is going to have their revenge on the unknowing public? I don’t know and I’m not sure there is an answer as so many things are so deeply rooted. The fear, the racism, the disappointment, the anger, yes, so much anger…it breaks my heart.
I turn to the natural world for solace and answers sometimes, which so many seemed divorced from. The trend towards urban living has left so many people out of the loop of nature. It can teach us so much, and it also is a wake up call. After all our enlightening renaissances and so called civilization we are ultimately, mammals. We are territorial, we fight, we kill, sadly not just to eat anymore but for pleasure it seems, we do not seem to have learned much, the same mistakes and wars seem to happen over and over again. As a Sci-fi fan I often hope for some alien intervention to remove all weapons/banish hate before we do completely destroy this beautiful planet and the other amazing and wonderful non human inhabitants, plants and trees we share it with. I long for hope, but often feel dismay, so much dismay that reading the news becomes a herculean task. I have to resort to the Far Side on a daily basis before I wade through the ridicule that is politicians and celebrities;)…sigh…audible sigh…only time will tell if we are able to react as a species to save what is our pale blue dot…the only earth we know.
January 5th moon
We try to share this view when seeing and conditions let us and it has been a good week of sharing. Maybe some spark will form in the mind of a youngster that will allow us to move beyond our current mindset and embrace tolerance worldwide…just maybe, it is possible.
Border crossings are always fun…not! But we have the system down fairly well, far right lane with the buses in San Ysidro, wait for the lovely customs ladies, they take a passport and the truck and trailer registrations while we proceed to the gigantic X Ray. Put the cats, all of them, whew, they are getting heavy, in the carrier and hide behind the kryptonite wall so we are not damaged by any errant rayos and then back into the truck when the “all clear” word is given and then we wait…usually after 10 minutes of exploring their x-rays they return our papers and off we go…not this time. The girl came back with a perplexed look and said they found something, no dead bodies;) but, my sinister looking cordless drill and the box of drill bits…guns and ammunition certainly…not! We opened the slidespart way enough to open the 2nd kitchen drawer and remove the scary looking drill and bits and then, Mike, what an amazing driver, had to back up back onto the ramp of the gigantic x-ray machine for a 2nd pass…all clear…and eventually we were on our way to the toll road. Note to self, next time, store drill, and bits, with the other tools in the pass through!
We decided to check out the Clam Beach RV Resort South of La Mision for a few days, always checking out new spots, beach here has always looked nice so we stopped in. A few trailers, fewer people, real 50 amp service, water and sewer and friendly owners. Wifi did not work in the campground but the owners assured it was available in the club house but we did not try. A few sites back onto the beach but we chose a bit longer one a few spots down. Lot’s of work going into this place but a bit too much concrete for us. Beach was lovely, lot’s of wading birds but too much traffic noise from the Mexico 1, the wall helps but we need a bit more wild, and cat cover;) they are not savannah cats they keep telling us, they want jungle! trees! but a modern spot for those looking to sit on the beach, or surf it seems, we are still discussing what makes an “RV park” a “resort” but we have come away with no answer to that one;)
Mike was not going to cook for a few days he declared and wanted tacos, and huevos rancheros and margaritas, and more tacos, not necessarily in that order! We found some tacos in La Mision for dinner and breakfast at La Fonda in the morning and margaritas at Poco Cielo the next night…ah, Mexico:) Passed by La Casa Gótica for a few shots of the amazing and somewhat bizarre and chaotic artwork, dubbed the Satan house by some Bible toting folks it is a wild and crazy mishmash of cultures and ideas, Gods and Goddesses, sea creatures, angels and gargoyles, something for EVERYONE and absolutely fabulous!
There were quite a few beach and wading birds, a flycatcher in the scrubby bushes, Plovers nimbly running from one small dune to the next. I’ll need to brush up on my ID skills for all these wading birds! The sound of the surf was a welcome change to the fighter jets and massive helicopters that had been the massive sound pollution in Santee the last few days. Sigh, it was nice, even with the quintessential sound of the Mexican trucker’s jake brake every 2nd truck;) Good to be back in Baja!
Groot was indeed quite happy to be back at Estero Beach, his old stomping grounds:) We backed in perfectly to our spot at the end and Groot delighted in sniffing about and having a hissing spat with Benito, the local orange Tomcat, “How rude!” said Groot, Gamora was ready to take him and Rocket didn’t back down as well. Poor Benito snuck off, not having impressed anyone;) He patrols the back wall and looks in our big window most nights;)
We’ve missed this view:)
The sound of surf and birds:) Wonderful. It is amazingly quiet here for being in the city, yet you can walk to the corner store for groceries, and tacos of all kinds and cocteles de camarón, ceviche;) and yes, we will be eating copious quantities of tacos Mike has proclaimed!
The feasting has begun;) and the birding. The estuary is home to thousands of birds. Both permanent residents, as well as migrating ones:) It is a delight to follow the tides and patterns of these many inhabitants on the shore and inland!
At high tide the Willets circle in the hundreds looking for places to land. The Egrets fly from shore to shore, chasing each other away from the prime fishing spots. The Snowy gets chased off by the Reddish Egret, who in turn gets chased away by the Great Egret who in turn gets chased away by the Great Blue Heron! So much drama;) And the Tri-coloured and Black Crowned Night Herons have yet to make an appearance! Heronville;)
…and that is just the Egrets and Herons. We’ll save something for next week, we will need a bit of walking to burn off that turkey and coconut cream pie that was requested;) Solstice has come and gone, the days are now getting longer, slowly but surely and we won’t feel like it is 10 pm when it is 5, more time to poke about the shoreline and beyond.
It has been a bit of a tough year, well, really tough. Hard to say Goodbye to my father, he is missed, by so many. I am so thankful for the wonderful family and friends we do have, we are so fortunate to count them in our lives, and our little and big four footed ones. From angels to little devils they are what bring us so many smiles every day. I’ll leave you with a little devil, sleeping…he came to us when I really needed some joy in my life, and I am so grateful to what sent him, his energy, his photons to interact with ours. From our trailer to you, wherever you are, we wish you peace and happiness and remember it comes with all the little things in our lives, things money can’t buy:)
Felices fiestas para ti:) whatever your religion or beliefs maybe! May Peace be with you.
We left Tucson, planned an overnight stop in Yuma, well, Winterhaven West of Yuma exactly, land of the aged, if you don’t have a walker or a cane at the RV park we stopped at your are regarded with great suspicion…”Just WHAT are we doing here?”…people walked by without even acknowledging you were there…geez, maybe we weren’t? maybe we were in a parallel universe and just thought we were there;) Maybe it WAS 1935…and this car was new;)
No wonder no one wanted to look at us, people from the future…we certainly would be dressed oddly;) As we dieseled up at the very busy Corner gas, Circle K, possibly the slowest diesel pump we have ever encountered, 20 minutes to fill the tank…some patient and not so patient people were coming and going in a very chaotic way. The diesel pump had a TV on it blaring out various commercials. I had a flash of “Blade Runner” and the talking billboards….as we sat there for 20 minutes…”Where have we brought ourselves to?” I asked Mike…1935 to 2019….OMG, that is the year Blade Runner was set in! Ha! Knew it! We hightailed it first thing in the morning before the people from Cocoon showed up;)
I had to include a smattering of billboards from the I 8 as we headed into Yuma;) Wait for the California ones;)
Sunday traffic, coming back…never again on a Thanksgiving weekend will we do this. This could be my movie quote blog maybe but it looked like a cleaned up version of “Mad Max” as at every on and off ramp muddy toy haulers and trailers, A classes and cabovers, from shabby to multimillion dollar rigs, it felt like a dystopian world was getting onto the Interstate 8 at every turn, all headed West, some unaware of how to merge;)…After getting to the 4th summit and into San Diego county having passed dozens of these vehicles, I was feeling perplexed by the number of trailers and trucks, driven by one man, no family, no friends, just one guy, and his toys…crawling along at 35mph on the grades up into Devils Canyon, ascending 3000′ in 11 miles of almost bumper to bumper Mad Max traffic!
It was with a sigh of relief we hit the last summit and started our downwards descent into El Cajon. I wish everyone towing a trailer, or a bike would stop and take a moment to check their tire speed rating, obviously many are not aware they are rated at 55 mph…and try to pass you at 85 with the entire rig fishtailing around the road…Darwin awards are in order…
California Billboards…hahahahaha!
We settled into a familiar spot at Santee Lakes Campground and were a bit perplexed by how empty it was, not something we are used to seeing here in December. All the nicer:) Was hoping for some beach weather but the rain clouds came and gave us a soaking, one morning I went clothed in shorts and a T-Shirt with an old yellow wet weather gear top and proceeded to scrub Myrtle, the trailer from top-to bottom:) If the weather Gods give you rain..well…Use It! We now have clean windows, Yeah, and a rather respectable looking rig I must say…some other wives may have been muttering to their husbands “No way sweet cheeks, not doing that” as several husbands could be seen the following day cleaning theirs;) One afternoon the sun came out I got out and around the lakes to look at my bird friends:)
The regulars were about. Hordes of Northern Shoveler pairs are swimming in tiny little circles around each other in a strange mating ritual it seems. The Ring Necked and Rudy ducks have arrived, but no Wood Ducks or Widgeons yet. A great deal of Mallards as usual and the resident Egrets and Herons. I even caught the Greenie in the reeds after a Snowy chased him away from a favourite fishing spot no doubt!
This is my refuge, these beautiful feathered creatures. Made the mistake of shopping late in the day and forgot what this time of year is about, cranky, humourless people in a hurry…I even put my big ole Grinch boots on for a bit until I saw this quote by Edward Abbey-” I am not an atheist but an earthiest. Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. To die alone, on rock under sun at the brink of the unknown, like a wolf, like a great bird, seems to me very good fortune indeed.”
You did notice he said “good bread”…hard to find here;) As an Earthiest. I really don’t celebrate Christmas, it would be hypocritical of me, maybe a solstice drink instead;) All this rush, and fuss, and glaring lights, people stressing about money and gifts, really bad elevator Christmas music and a life size Santa at a family members house broke my mood and made me howl with laughter, that would scare the shit out of you if you got up to pee in the middle of the night…I wonder how many have been shot at! You could pick up a pair, Mr. and Mrs. they are on sale for $749.99, reduced from $999.00…Welcome to America, the land that takes everything, and commercializes it until has no meaning anymore…
It was way too much fun googling life size Santas…I couldn’t find any Indian or Muslim Santas, nor Chinese or even Star trek ones;) A few drinking wine with rosy cheeks and a wicked looking pot smoking one! ha! To each their own this year for me. If it brings you joy do it, it just does nothing for me. In the spirit would be stopping for a pedestrian, instead of nearly running them over, holding a door, saying please and thank you. Instead of buying and wrapping a gift, plant a tree for someone, or a few hundred;) we are going to need them Greta says!
Now some more about those birds….they keep me coming back!
The joy of coming to this West coast city is not really the city itself or it’s millions of people but a just few special ones that are our clan:) I’m the favorite niece, usually said with a grin as I always remind my uncle I am his only niece;), my fabulous rabbit loving cousin, check out Bronle’s amazing work, Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit and her jaw dropping art at: https://bronlecrosby.com/ and my wonderful brother and family. When he is not booked solid for months working on some multi million dollar yacht…http://offshoreoutfitters.com/ he always makes time and comes to the rescue for all my silly electrical and otherwise questions! These people are my heroes!
But time to go, a rest has been had, now it is time to head South, home, to Baja. It always feels that way. You should visit, turn off your Fox news and talk radio and just go, smile and that smile will be returned…it is a wonderful feeling having a simple communication that states “I honour your presence as another human being!”
I could have stayed at City Of Rocks and explored for a lot longer than we did, but it was a bit of a scouting trip, we’ll be back. The area is so full of history but we had reservations in Tucson. Our go to place when we can get in (it is fully booked for February and March) is the Desert Trails RV park. The sites are quirky, the park close to miles of walking and biking paths and the overall vibe friendly, not quite so old as some spots, they call themselves an over”40″ park;)
It sits where an old amusement park used to be, complete with slides;) Quirky but fun, and the people who run it are very kind. The sites out at the edges provide the best views for wildlife. Bunnies and quails frolic, as well as the occasional coyote in broad daylight. The laundry and gym are wonderful and hey, food trucks come in twice a week! The minuses are there is a gun/skeet range close by and on the weekends the boom of gunfire in the distance can be a drag:(
As we were pulling into the RV park arriving from New Mexico the Progressive insurance car was following us in:) We have dealt with Brett before and has always been a very kind and fair to deal with, unlike some people’s insurance woe tales. He hopped up on the roof and started taking notes of the damages and was wrapped up in no time flat. He saw damage I didn’t! We’d done some homework on where we might want to take Myrtle for repairs but with the unsettled weather we will have to wait for February and a sunny week as they are going to replace the entire TPO roof which had several tears from a rogue oak going into Del Rio, Texas on a suburban street:( In the meantime, a caulking gun has helped seal the roof tears as well as some duct tape on the smashed skylights and roof vents:) Over all the repairs will take a week we were told so we have also started scouting for cat friendly places to take the kids;)
Other area bonuses-well the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is down the road:) you can not go wrong with a visit to this beautiful living museum. Their Raptor Free flight over the winter is such a beautiful sight! Stay for both the 10am and 2pm flights as the birds are different. Skip the restaurants and cafes though…not very good from our experience unless mediocre Mexican tacos, weird taco salad bowls (yuc), pita bread pizza and sad soggy burgers are your go to foods;)
Best time of year-late Spring when everything is blooming and the hummingbirds are migrating but it is a treat anytime of year:) We got to watch a beautiful barn owl as well as the stunning Gray Hawks and finally the Harris Hawk family-giving polyandry a good name;)
The peregrine falcon was so fast I didn’t even get a shot off…too slow;) The rest of these beautiful birds co-operated with perfect spots from where I was standing to both watch and photograph them:) Ended the visit with a trip to the Hummingbird aviary after a walk through cat canyon:)
The Broad Billed and Rufous were very busy but I didn’t see a Costas or Anna’s, maybe later in the year. A beautiful Queen Butterfly put on quite a show in the pollinators garden.
You didn’t have to go to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum to see birds. A pair of Gila Woodpeckers drove the cats nuts as they sat on the wooden fence behind the trailer. Cactus Wrens and Curve Billed Thrashers scurried about in the cholla cactus. Rocket learned about prickly stuff on his walks!
I put our feeders out and we had all kinds of visitors over the week. An Anna’s hummingbirds immediately took over ownership of the feeder stuck to the window, and another to one hanging off the ladder.
Our Thanksgiving surprise came in the form of a messenger message from fellow DRV owners Debby and Garth whom we met in New Mexico at a Harvest Hosts Winery, this same time last year! A pair of lovely fellow Canadians! She saw our Astrogypies wifi when they stopped and hooked up to the Desert Trails internet and said! “HEY! We know them!” Three trailers down!! We enjoyed several wonderful conversations and a few bottles of wine, as well as a fabulous Thanksgiving Potluck meal with many of our fellow RV and trailer neighbours! What a treat to catch up and hear their adventures and mishaps and new places to go! Look forward to seeing them in Tombstone on our way back where they are spending the Winter!
I sometimes have to remember to take more pictures of the trailer and where we are at, instead I wander off in search of birds, plants, bugs and sunsets, not a bad thing but I often think, wow, I should have taken a picture of where the trailer is, and around the different parks so mental note to self…vary the photography;) Stay tuned as we head further South, survive the cocoon zombies, minus the alien fountain, in Yuma and the Thanksgiving weekend traffic returning to San Diego! Saludos amigos!
Our neighbours were on their roof navigating around solar panels with his tripod photographing the sunset, I was not quite that ambitious;) Ha!
Ah, nice to have a change in billboards;) You know you are in New Mexico when “the Thing” billboards start to show up several hundred miles before the actual “thing”. We must have stopped here 10 years ago to poke about the moccasins and trinkets that look like they came from Mexico but are made in China and the dusty displays of the odd and curious. According to Wikipedia:
The exhibit—which used to cost one dollar for adults and seventy-five cents for children to enter—used to lead to three prefabricated corrugated steel sheds with overhead fluorescent track lighting. Inside are a variety of exhibits, including odd wood carvings of tortured souls by famous wood carver Ralph Gallagher, the “Wooden Fantasy” of painted driftwood purchased from an Alamogordo, New Mexico collector, framed 1880s to early 1900s lithographs, historic engraved saddles, guns and rifles of historic Western significance, a Conestoga wagon from Oklahoma! (Southern Pacific 1673, also appearing in Oklahoma!, is located at the Tucson, Arizona, train station), a buggy without a horse, and a vintage American automobile from the 1930s. Most of the exhibits are dusty but historically significant, and worthy of restoration. A sign by a 1937 Rolls-Royce mentions that it may have been used by Adolf Hitler, a supposition reiterated by the originator of the exhibit. Winding corridors and exhibit halls with painted monster footprints on the floors eventually lead to the “Thing”, a mummified, likely female “Mother” of possibly Chinese or Native American descent (note the facial features and the addition of the Chinese worker hat and clothes) who died or likely was killed in the 1880s to early 1900s, and a mummified “Child” age and descent unknown but inferred to be the son or daughter of the “Mother”. They are presented in separate but closely linked displays, coffin, and small coffin, bedding, and scratched plexiglass covering. One story as to the origin of the “Thing” are that the “Mother” and “Child” were illegal border crossers who were found and slaughtered by unknown cowboy bandits during a shootout and found decades later as mummified bodies by a rancher in the area who sold them to the owner/originator of the “Thing”. But in this story, the harshness of the truth will never be uncovered, and the “Thing” will remain a mystery.
In August 2018, the Bowlin Travel Centers unveiled a brand new modern museum building and other updates to house, in some order or theme, most of the items formerly ‘stored’ in the three sheds. The new owners have also added a new Alien & Dinosaur theme that visitors first encounter upon entering the museum. In addition to the upgrades, the cost of admission has also increased to $5 per person or $10 per family. It is worth a stop if you never have;)
Our first night we spent at a lovely Harvest Hosts-Sombra Antigua Winery near Anthony, New Mexico. They have electric available for a $12 charge and as the temperatures were headed South we decided to plug in, keep old Beezil’s fireplace going;) The next day dawned clear and cool as we left for City of Rocks State Park. We only managed to get a reservation for one night, only two of the electric sites are reservable at all but hoped we’d get one of the first come/first serve sites. The clouds and wind started to roll in as we headed North at Deming, the park is about 30 miles off the 10. We were treated to the most spectacular rainbow we have ever seen, the colours were so vivid! Rain and sun, rain and sun until the turn off to the park, past a hot springs resort called Faywood and on to this small 640 acre park.
“City of Rocks gets its name from the incredible volcanic rock formations found here. The park encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southwestern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.” Thanks Parks New Mexico!
We had site #8 reserved for the night but #6, a first come first serve site was also available so we took that! Yeah! at least two nights here! We wandered down to the beautiful visitor center and told the ranger we had switched sites, no charge, and paid for an additional day. There is a total of 9 W/E sites here with 30 and or 50 amp hookups but no sewer, or dump station except at the Valero gas station in Demning. The cats were waiting at the door. They missed their walk at Sombra Antigua Winery due to the old, but large loose German Shepard on the property, they were chomping on the bit to get out! It was a 5 paw stop they said after their walk, the highest rating there is;) Excellent paths, rocks to climb on, bunnies and birds…heaven:)
We had a few showers and by morning the rabbits and hares were huddled under the bushes, a few house finches had found the feeder but it was cold and windy. A Raven came and wandered about the site. We crossed our fingers for it to clear for the upcoming meteor shower:)
We contemplated going for a soak at the Faywood Hot Springs next door but the thought of getting in the truck and going anywhere kept us walking and exploring instead. next visit, as there will certainly be one on the way back!
It did eventually clear but the wind was howling and it was cold and sadly…we only saw four or five meteors in several hours of watching. There was a pair of Great Horned Owls hooting back and forth at each other! Magical! I did take advantage of the dark sky to do a short star trail, I headed in after 57 minutes! Getting too cold! I should have had my Canadian parka and long underwear! The trailer who had a light on that I was cursing actually lit up the rocks a bit for the shot so I forgave them;) Who in their right mind leaves their outdoor lights on in such a beautiful dark sky!
Sad about the meteor shower but you never know with these things! The sky was sensational! They have regular star parties here so hopefully we can meet up with some fellow sky gazers in the future!
I have to admit to wanting to stay longer but with our reservation made in Tucson it was time to pack up and go. Progressive Insurance was also scheduled for a visit to look at the branch damage done we think, going into Del Rio, Texas. Our bathroom skylight was torn open, bathroom vents flung to the ditches and the Digital TV antenna swiped off and everything scratched and scraped on top including some roof tears…but that will be another story;) Saludos amigos and stay tuned for Tucson!
How does one proclaim they are God’s country? Self proclamation no doubt! Maybe Kanye West told them…Ha! The 90 runs across Texas East to West slightly South of the Interstate and we wanted off of that! Enough freeways, these State Roads are often in better shape than the interstates and always far more interesting as you pass through the many small towns. Those billboards, guns for sale, try before you buy and more God. They seem to go hand in hand down here in Texas. We were on our way to Del Rio, Texas to an small RV park with laundry, yes it was laundry time:)
The town looked quaint, lots of little antique stores downtown in the narrow one way road through the main section then we veered into a residential area before arriving at the RV park. It wasn’t until the next day we discovered we’d found a low hanging branch that removed the digital TV antenna, the bathroom skylight and several of the caps for the vents..sigh…always something. Rocket enjoyed walking on the fence where a fabulous cicada skeleton was left after it molted. Friendly folk and and a great laundry/lounge as well but an RV park. We did a shopping run to the local H.E.B. grocery chain, hey they had potato chips made of REAL potatoes! Is it just me or is this an oxymoron? or have we the public become seen as such idiots they feel they must spell these out…I am offended;) Ha!
We taped up the damage to the roof and skylight with some duct tape and left for the Davis Mountains following the 90 along the Rio Grande and the Mexico/US border, past the migra stops and NW. This looks like old cowboy country you have seen in dozens of western movies, wide open spaces and cattle company signs dotting the barb wire fences on the range;) It is dry here, like Baja, the driest time of the year, just before the Winter storms start.
Davis Mountains State Park is one of our go-to places in this part of the world! Several sites along the hill-22, 24 and 26 are full hook up and so private, looking up the hill, the Mule Deer wander by every morning and Javelinas root about in the evening:) We had two nights reserved and when we got there, we added two more because they were available! Time for a 4 night break!
Davis Mountains campground map-#22-24 and 26 are very private pull throughs with lots of nature. They are full hook up as well!
We also wanted to visit the McDonald Observatory again, Mike needed some additions to his wardrobe, astronomy related T-Shirts-his once a year shopping spree! Ha! We decided to do a tour! Great tour guide, very informative about the two telescopes we saw but the Texans with their tucked in pant legs and powder blue boots stole the show. They arrived on a very fancy tour bus and had one of the astronomers as a guide…wealthy donors to the University perhaps? I had to google this pants tucked in thing! According to one gentleman Texan:
“If you stuff yer Wranglers, or Levi’s for that matter, inside yer boots you ain’t coming in my house. Standing in your stocking feet, you want the denim to touch the floor at your heel to insure they’ll break on the front of the boot. If a gal wants to see the stove pipes she’ll have to take her chances”
OK…that was one opinion, a strong one at that. Another:
“Don’t go up to the Panhandle of Texas and tell some of those cowboys that they are fruity. Good Lord, we have people all over Dallas with purple, pink, and green hair, with metal jewelry imbedded all over their face. And wearing boots with your pants tucked in isn’t proper??? Wear them the way you want to, last time I checked, this was still America.”
“Never tuck the jeans into the boots unless you’re doing actual work on horseback that requires it.” according to the Art of Manliness’s guide to cowboy boots;)
All very interesting reads. It seems the Texas rangers tucked, and cowboys out on the range riding through brush might tuck, but these tuckers with powder blue boots, well, not my style, and no, I don’t tuck unless I’m wearing my English Dressage boots;) Maybe it’s an older vs younger generation, seems like the young’uns…are horrified by tucking! Ha! Texas!
On our two and a half hour tour we had a remote solar telescope viewing from the visitor center (nothing going on sadly, no flares or prominences) and a look at the Harlan J. Smith telescope and even got to rotate the dome and move the telescope up and down, big kid stuff! 😉 Also the Hobby-Eberly telescope in it’s fascinating clam shell opening like dome! This telescope is studying Dark Energy and looking for earth like planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. It was a bargain at only 13.5 million dollars;) Over all a very interesting tour we would recommend and a great guide!
Back at the park the Acorn Woodpeckers were busy at their usual spots on the electrical poles, stuffing them with acorns they gather. If you sit and watch they go back and forwards, busy busy birds! Here the deer wander across the grass in front of you. A doe with her two youngsters and by the looks of it last years as well decided Rocket got a bit too close while we were walking and stamped her foot at him and started to come towards him! Like a good survivalist he decided to tuck his tail between his legs and make for the trailer! The woodpeckers also came to drink water from our dripping water line:)
Davis Mountains State Park also has two wonderful bird blinds you can sit and watch the wildlife come and go. We met several lovely people, chatting about photography and other places to visit. A wonderful Canadian couple from Toronto who took off 89 days ago I think is what they said and we exchanged hints and State Parks to stay at going along the gulf and East Coast one afternoon! Have to love people who love our State and National Parks!
There are wonderful hiking paths around the park as well. Both North and South. The bird life was quiet, more life near the water features in the park bird blinds than up on the dry hills. The views are beautiful-especially a trip along the Skyline Drive after sunset. It is open until 10pm and gives you a spectacular view South of the Milky Way and surrounding skies!
So that is why we come back here each year it seems, even though it is slightly off a direct route to Baja, it is an enchanting place! The towns of Fort Davis, Marfa and Alpine are steeped in history and wonderful weirdness, as well as strange lights, we’ll be coming back in the Spring to camp right at the Marfa lights…we want to believe! The towns all have interesting shops from reptiles to trinkets and old Fort Davis has a wealth of Western History as well as yes, please come into my shop armed and open carry…sigh…restaurants and food trucks as well. Sadly our favourites, The Food Shark in Marfa, and the Cow Dog were closed early in the week, we tried another spot in Alpine but came away disappointed, soggy fried chicken and cold fries as well as someone passed out at the table behind us didn’t work for us but it was interesting people watching! Lots of tuckers and non tuckers;)
In downtown Fort Davis in front of a closed Cantina there is a wonderful Osage Orange tree, new to me! The Osage orange has a long and interesting history of use by both Native Americans and early pioneers. Its wood was once in demand for making hubs and wheel rims for horse drawn wagons, mine support timbers, posts and many other uses where decay resistance was important. Osage orange was first cultivated in the south in the early 1800’s. It was brought north by Professor Jonathan Turner, a biology teacher at Illinois College, and promoted as a living fence by John Wright, editor of The Prairie Farmer. By 1847 Turner was convinced that Osage orange was the best fencing material available. He described it as “horse high, bull strong and pig tight” and it functioned as a “hedge” fence long before the invention of barbed wire. By the 1850’s Osage orange hedges made the fencing of entire farms possible. The French found the Osage Indians making bows from the wood and called it Bois d’Arc (meaning wood of the bow)….and you can’t really eat it! Ha!
Beautiful sunset from the SkyLine Drive-Venus, Jupiter and Saturn all visible!
To be honest-I could spend weeks at this park! Maybe on our way back! Next stop is a Harvest Hosts Winery near Anthony, New Mexico, then a new State Park for us! Stay tuned for City of Rocks State Park!! Saludos amigos! Keep watching the skies! The Unicorn Meteor Shower is coming up!
Watching nature;) I do it for pleasure and photography, not quite sure what Rocket and Groot were thinking when they decided to go deer stalking, tried to tell them about the “small” and “far away” differences but they cared not a whit;)
This young doe was quite tame, I walked by talking to her but she decided Groot did look quite fearsome and slowly moved off into the bush, Groot wanted to give chase but we told him was a state park and everything was protected…ahhhh…just one deer please! Nope…Rocket watched for awhile on his walk and then decided perhaps walking along the fence looked like more fun, they were after all, awfully large;)
This is a lovely park. I had a daft moment as we pulled in Sunday, went to the trailer camping area only to find our reserved site occupied..sigh…brain fart…it was Monday our reservation. We drove back out to the park headquarters and were told that no, there were no other spaces available but just down the road the Elks ran a small RV park as well, so off we went. It was within walking distance. We found a site, one of two trailers there so not a problem, and not a soul to be seen. Honour system up at the front, not too tough. There was no water due to a line break ( that may explain the empty park) but 50 amp service and lovely trees and dozens of monarchs flitting about! Paradise as far as I’m concerned;) and a bit of weak sunshine trying to make its way through the clouds.
At 11:30 the next morning we went back to check in at the park and ran into a delightful ranger who obviously loves her job and parks-such a pleasure after the grumpy camp host at the CCC campground near Corsicana. She was filled with information not only about Palmetto park but other parks along our way. Wonderful to interact with this kind of human:)
The park is named for the dwarf palmetto, which grows abundantly in the park. The San Marcos River runs through the park. The Oxbow Lake, initially created by flood waters, is now independent of the river and is spring fed. There are many bogs throughout the park that are surrounded by dense vegetation, giving the park a jungle-like atmosphere. Many of the bogs are dry this time of year it seems in this very small, 270 acre park, but it is a marvel to behold this semi-jungle like setting in a relatively dry and rolling hill landscape that surrounds it. It is an unsettling landscape with a primeval feeling to it.
Located between between Luling and Gonzales are the Ottine wetlands (pronounced “Ah-teen”. Named for Adolf Otto and his wife, Christine, who in the late 1800s founded the tiny village just north of where the park is now…there seem to be a huge number of very German names in the area! Deutschtexaners…ha! ). These wetlands, which make up part of the park, are believed to be at least 12,000 years old and are an example of a relict ecosystem, in which a type of habitat is able to thrive in geographic isolation from its original, larger community. In the case of the Ottine wetlands, the combination of a periodically flooding San Marcos River, a high water table (at one time, at least), and artesian springs resulted in the sort of boggy refuge you’d more likely come upon in the southeastern United States. Right now it is mostly dry except where water is being pumped up from an artisanal spring.
The park was constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps. The Refectory-had to look that one up-a room used for communal meals in an educational or religious institution was built between 1934-1937. It is beautiful work of local stone, primitive yet not. Not far away a path leads down to a low water crossing area across the San Marcos River that connects the tent sites with the RV/Trailer ones. This is a small park, only 18 RV sites with electric and water, a quarter are currently closed as water lines are being replaced. The sites are well spaced and shaded, really lovely. We nearly drove into the tent area and the ranger stopped us, said we wouldn’t be getting out once we got in!
Now for some sunshine…which never materialized:( cold, windy and temperatures hovering just about freezing were what we had, but hey, at least no snow! and it was quiet, few bird chirps, a lone Cooper’s Hawk could be heard crying and a few lbb’s (little brown birds) high in the trees. Wrong time of year for bird watching I think but the lovely White Tailed Deer made up for it! The paths are lovely, the plant life quite interesting with hanging moss and ferns, epiphytes I believe, it has an ancient air to it:)
Is it a place we would come back to? Certainly. Perhaps when it is warmer in the Spring headed back! And the first park since Canada that has recycling! Yeah! Greta would be pleased! Next stop, Del Rio and more of Texas! What a difference a bit of sun makes! Stay tuned! We are going through”God’s Country” according to the billboards;)
I start to really feel like a real curmudgeon when I can’t find something nice to say about where we are/ humanity wise, not the nature that is around us that I consider to be my church, my spiritual place, but the towns and cities we pass through. I’m not Miss gregarious but I do talk to people and respect everyone’s decision to live the life they want, but I can still ponder those decisions made by others…can’t I? Of course I can, just not too loudly in the open carry states;) This park has 30.06 signs…Handguns prohibited, Concealed carry prohibited, someone complained on Google reviews about not being able to protect their family here…WTF??? What is this crazy world we are passing through! Along the highway signs proudly proclaimed “Learn to shoot your pistol here” and “Concealed Carry School”..missed getting a shot of those but along with the “$79.50 divorce” sign (not including court costs) I think I might understand, about the cheap divorce I mean…Mike asked if he should be worried…not a chance;)
So I “googled” cowboy church and it is exactly what it sounds like, a church made for cowboys. The services include country music and visual props of cowboy culture, such as tents, wagons and rustic fences. Baptisms might be held in a stock tank, the metal tubs that normally hold drinking water for ranch animals, hopefully washed out, they do get a large algae buildup in warmer climates;) They might ride to church on their horses…that’s a green way of transport on Sunday;) From what I’ve read a couple of decades ago only a few of these churches existed but now it is one of the fastest growing cults (dare I say that?) in the US and Canada. Humans never cease to amaze me how incredibly weird they are, or their need to seek some higher power for their after life. I’m a strong believer in live for the here and now…no promises down the road;) Now, as you may have guessed, I’m not Christian, I’d say I am agnostic, there is something out there but not a dude in a white robe with a long beard that sent his son down for a visit and quick crucifixion;)
So, outside of Corsicana, Texas we found a lovely state park, they had 30.06 signs at the entrance: Handguns prohibited/Concealed Carry prohibited….hallelujah! Sounds more like our kind of place:) Not actually something I even think of, but, this is Texas;) When we arrived Thursday it was overcast and chilly and we had the park to ourselves, no one in the guard booth on the way by so we made our way to our site and parked. The camp hosts did drop by later:) Seems they are required to close from 12-2pm..nice lunch hour:)
These are nice widely spaced sites along the lake/reservoir, you can see the dam from the trailer across the way. I thought it would be bird mecca but it has been quite quiet, a lone Downy woodpecker, a shy Mockingbird (that is a first) a few grass nibbling birds but my feeder and suet remain untouched. Black Vultures and Crows seem to form in large schools over the lake and flocks of white pelicans can be seen landing across the lake but few birds nearby:( The ones that are are incredibly skittish…The Heron and Great Egrets take off as soon as you get even close enough for a telephoto. I find that behaviour really odd. Most park birds are used to some human intervention, these birds almost panic when approached. Could be that because it is hunting season everything is on edge, I wasn’t about to wander into the bush;) I did get up early, heard an owl hoot and sunrise was glorious this morning at 6:30 and very, very quiet:)
On Friday the long weekend people started to arrive, oh well, there goes the peace but it is still a lovely spot! Down the road is a BBQ truck, a hop and a skip from the State Park entrance, Big Bo Sherms food truck. Brisket sandwiches and BBQ plates. He was chatty, asked us where we were from and where we were going, “A state park near San Antonio, then Del Rios” Mike replied…”Fine, IF you like Mexicans” was his reply…YUP, we do not only like, but love Mexicans…asshole…hard to chew my sandwich after listening to that, I wanted to spit it out…Boycott Big Bo’s….but wait..there is more to come sadly…
Sitting quietly, the grass became alive with fluttering wings. I missed a pair of Monarchs dashing by but these other three are new to me! A beautiful Orb Weaver was repairing her web, spinning silk to close the gap under a shelter by the beach. Grasshoppers and crickets jumped with each footstep-so nice to see life! It saddened me to see later some children and adult campers walking by had knocked down and most likely killed the orb weaver…only for being a spider. What is wrong with people? This is really getting to be the curmudgeon chronicles…
We pulled out Sunday morning, handed in our pass to the old geezer who was watching his Westerns on the TV when we checked in, he was chatty, looked at our South Dakota plates, figured us for one of his tribe I guess, where are you headed he said…West and then to Mexico we told him, “After what happened there this week!!!” I’m assuming he meant the Mormons….I asked him how many Americans killed Americans in the US this week…he shut up and turned his back on us…good riddance to another ass. Just saying, Waco is right down the road…what is wrong with these people? First the BBQ guy, then this one…because we look like you DOES not mean we think like you. I will be silent no longer to these old fools and their racism…
Makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach every time this happens. I try to brush it off, isolated instances but no…I’ll retreat back nature and it’s amazing beauty and try to keep my distance from people like this.
Saludos amigos and stay tuned for hopefully some kinder people as we make our way westwards…
One last visit to the dock before it came out and the water was turned off…time to head South. The constant honking of geese reminds us of migration, ours included. We will so miss this spot and all it’s qualities, so, until next Spring shall we say:)
The weather forcast was not looking good, below freezing and possible snow by the end of the week, time to pack up and head South, the most direct way possible. We lined up a few stopping spots and did a couple of 4-5 hour jumps, longer than we usually do to leave the gray behind and look for a hint of sun:) The border at Thousand Islands was a breeze with a lovely fellow who used to be stationed in San Diego and there we were, back in the U.S of A….
One night in an RV park North of Scranton, another West of Chambersburg, PA, where the bail bond stores outscored the liquor stores…0_0…and finally for a two day stay at Natural Bridges, Virginia. We’ve been here before and a bit of sunshine and hiking after three straight days of driving and sunless days were in order. Rocket behaved like a champ for his first long journey out, bugging his older sister like little brothers do, exploring the truck, playing with all and anything he could find, then settling in for long naps with Groot…what a kitten!
This is a beautiful, easy hike up the Cedar River to the Lace Falls. The leaves were turning, the walk was quiet except for a few camera questions and nice chats with other photographers. We stayed two nights at the KOA in Natural Bridge. A beautiful wooded setting with chickens roaming free, great place the cats said, Rocket was determined to have chicken for dinner but those are smart old hens;)
The first night was a wild night of wind and rain, tornadoes touched down to the West of us as a cold front came through, passing us by thankfully! The next morning dawned cool but sunny and glorious to see the sun! Robins were out and Carolina Chickadees. I saw a few woodpeckers high in the trees as well.
The local feral cat was sunning herself as her two kittens kept watch from under a KOA cabin. We donated our roast chicken from a few days before to them and they gobbled it all up gleefully. I told Rocket if the feral cat Mama hadn’t gotten a chicken, I doubt he would. Overall a quiet place except for the overzealous leaf blower…if there were a few things on earth I could ban, those would be on my list;)
Our next jump was to Sevierville, Tennessee. a four hour hop for an overnight stay at a “Christian” RV park…0_0…no lightning strikes were recorded and we made it in and out in one piece;) The cows in the field next door had the cats a bit worried but we assured them it was for one night only;) This is such an odd area-Dollywood (Dolly Parton’s Disney World) is just down the road, enjoy a show on ice including hillbillies, gateway to the Smokey Mountains and of course, places you can rent an assault rifle to fire for fun…
Next hop was to Alabama, another 4 and half hour journey but worth the drive and a two day stay-Oak Mountain State Park-it is a gem we’d found on a previous run through this part of the country and we were determined to come back. We came in through the back gate from the 459 to Cahaba Valley Road. I have never seen so many churches per square mile along dotting the landscape along this road, and they are mongo churches! Not quaint parish ones but thousands of square feet of your non-profit Christian donations going to build these monstrosities…It’s a steep climb up to the back gate gate but doable, forgot we couldn’t make the turn by the gate to go left but simply used the right hand lane as our own to get past the ranger’s booth, the lovely lady ranger laughed waved us past, no problem, this happens all the time:) “A” loop is our place to go, at the end, close to the lake and paths sites 26-29 are the best:) There are a lot of tent sites here as well, wonderful spacing in some, really crowded in others, you have to pick and choose:) Full hook up, $30 a night, wooded with paths along the lake and we knew exactly what spot we wanted, there were several but this was perfect. Forest behind and woods and ravines, cat heaven! And those reflections on the lake…beautiful!
We left by the back gate again but took the Cahaba Valley Road South to the 65 North back to the freeway past what must be Birmingham’s horsey suburbs. I’m not a big fan of some of the Southern architecture, those enormous white pillars scream ostentation to me…they make me cringe alongside the numerous McMansions dotting this road. While I appreciate Mother Natures natural beauty preserved here it has an odd feel, I told Mike, I just don’t feel welcome here, maybe it is just the crazy times we live in but after a somewhat uninspired $24 breakfast at Waffle House ( yes, we can do much better aboard Myrtle for a quarter of the price-it’s a once a year driving through the South thing) before we did our grocery shopping it left me feeling not uneasy, but sad. The forced friendliness of employees paid to appear cheerful is not how I like to start my day…Do people like that? or am I turning into a curmudgeon? Wait Mike just asked “turning”? Ha! On a positive note…Here’s a fun town!
I could have this as my address:)
Mike was getting tired of the 4 plus hours jumps so we picked a few three hour trips as we turned West across Alabama and Mississippi. So far the I-81 until Knoxville had been pretty smooth traveling, a few bits of road work and drivers who couldn’t/didn’t look ahead but otherwise good roads but so much traffic. The I-20 was no exception. Truck after truck after truck….and where were my crazy billboards. A few years back the “(855) for truth” crazy christians owned most of the billboards along the freeways, their billboard budget must have run out;)..aww….what to do while Mike is driving;) Plan our next stop! Roosevelt Lake Dam State Park in Mississippi…
… you can tell I’m following a lake trend here:) How could you resist? I made a reservation online for the last spot it said on the lake…it was a quick one mile off of the I 20 but felt like you were in the wilderness, a few trailers and Rv’s occupied some sites but it felt fairly empty. This park looks like it has seen better days, like many state parks. The roads need work, the shoulders are breaking apart, potholes to be avoided and the roads and turns are very narrow…but not impossible. Would I bring a 44′ trailer in here…NO…we finally found our site at the CCC campground, no one at the gate house, maps were faded and hard to read but we did decipher them and figured out which way we had to turn. After getting to our reserved spot, we tried to back in before giving up and taking another one further down. The roads were so narrow and the ditches so deep you could not swing to make the turn. We took the last spot at the end, #92 and I called Reserve America to make sure it was not reserved for the night. There were no posts with numbers, no reserved signs, nothing to indicate the spot was free or not. Reserve America was good, saying they didn’t have a reservation so to go ahead and take the spot but try to find a camp host or ranger as well. Finally found a number up at the gate house on the faded maps, not the friendliest of rangers but told them what we did and they said “Fine, we’ll note it” never did see a camp host or ranger…I should remember to take more pictures of the spots we are in, we never did quite get level the slant towards the lake was so great but hey, it was one night:) I read some of the reviews later on about the park and facilities and they were not very cheerful.
The cats spent the afternoon with us wandering around near the lake, climbing trees, not so many paths as Oak Mountain but there was a duck family that they found very interesting:) and we could leave the window open ALL night it was so warm. The traffic noise from I-20 was quite audible but it is a nice one nighter, certainly not a destination stop, but better than any RV resort:)
The next morning was gray and windy, no sunrise shots or reflections…time to move on to another favourite spot from previous travels. Beaver Dam campground in the Kisatchie National Forest North of Minden. It is a few miles out of the way but we so enjoyed it, huge spacious sites, neighbours hardly in sight and a fantastic variety of forest floor mushrooms!
and yes…more lake views;)
Beaver Dam Campground is located in the Kisatchie National Forest, the only National forest in Louisiana. It is nestled in the forested piney hills and hardwood bottoms of seven central and northern parishes. It is part of the Cenozoic uplands and has large areas of longleaf pine forests. No camp host was at the campground and it was first come first serve according to their website so we cruised along until we found the perfect spot and backed in. These sites are HUGE! Brand new tables and fire pits, the price has gone up over the last few years but it so quiet, peaceful and for $25 a night with electric and water ( and really good drinking water from the tap as well!) it can not be beat. Site #11 was perfect but 7-13 would all be fabulous as well. Views to the lake, small paths leading to the shore and mushrooms wherever you look!
Skip the fried chicken at Cottons in Minden, it looked good but…no. Everything seems to be a weirdly grotesque kind of McMansion or it needs a coat a paint. It has the air of being left behind and lingering with a mild desperation for something better. Is this what the Republicans do for a state? The local water/ice refill station along the highway filters were so clogged you got a gallon and a half of water when you paid for 3 gallons, we ended up dumping it out it smelled so strongly of chlorine, and that is purified water? and it is a dry parish! Perish the thought;) Dixie Inn next door is not but hey, great campground, but we limited it to one night as another rain front was coming in and we were going to check out a new state campground after Corsicana, Texas for three nights of rest! But I saved the best for last, the crazy billboards started started to appear along the I-20-a whole new fresh batch!
This Gordon lawyer bible talking guy made the very bumpy drive through part of Shreveport very amusing as well as the scattering of Jesus billboards…such a very odd country we are passing through:)
Looks like we’ll be getting fresh tortillas soon and wondering at the meaning of the “Cowboy” Churches with huge cow penning arenas. Could it be a homage to the old bad ass Yahweh God of the old testament? Busting balls and broncs? Stay tuned and we’ll be looking for the truth..it’s out there, along with Google;)
I have fallen so far behind but the journey goes on! We left Dinosaur Provincial Park and headed East. There was a forcast for 20 cm of snow for the area coming in a few days so we hot footed it out of there! The jacks were acting up and we’d called a RV repair place in Swift Current but no one seemed too keen on hydraulics. We figured our next call would be to a large truck or tractor repair given they have a great deal of hydraulics on them as well. In the meantime I got the word out on the DRV facebook page I hadn’t been kicked off of…ha!;)…(with “all the others” that had been kicked off a certain site by a shall we say posterior person who decides he is God…isn’t Facebook fun) asking if anyone had experience with the valves that control the jacks…in the meantime we sailed across the prairies….
We spent the night in Swift Current at the Kinetic Exhibition Park, a fairgrounds with RV hook-ups. The water wasn’t on but we had power and the chance to call around a bit more about the landing jacks and research online as well. Great spot, we were the only ones there save for several Prairie Dogs that Groot and Gamora found fascinating. It would be a busy place at Rodeo time!
It had been a day of long flat roads along the railroad and grain silo after grain silo marked with one town name after another. Medicine Hat, Piapot, Gull Lake and on and on…small lakes and bare trees, waiting for Spring to come! We settled after dieseling up for the next days trip, we contemplated not unhooking but decided to as there seemed to be a few truck/trailer repair places around in case the jacks decided to give up their ghosts;)
One of the wonderful Facebook groups” DRV problems and fixes” we are on had come back with some ideas to try. One fabulous comment with photos about the jacks and valves and an explanation on how to tighten them up as they often slowly worked loose did the trick! Thank you Robert Abbot for your great shot and hints! We tightened the screws with an allen wrench and in the morning the jacks shot up at lightning speed! No repair shop needed and off we headed to Estevan, Saskatchewan!
We passed through Chaplin, where a thriving salt industry happens, word was avoid the town run RV park as you’ll end up covered in salt dust… ( Wikipedia says: Chaplin consists of eight streets, two crescents, and four avenues (including the avenue on the ‘other side of the (train) tracks’) have to love that description(!) and in Moose Jaw we turned and headed SE towards the North Dakota border. Word was coming back that most places in Northern Ontario were still closed, others were flooded out so we decided to take a Southerly route back!
Just before the border is the town of Estevan, which had a lovely town RV park, just opening, we had our choice of spots overlooking the river and were happy the landing jacks once again seemed to be working well. The idea of a long stop to get them looked at was not appealing in any way;)
The next day we headed South to a small no name border crossing just South of the RV park, just fit under their signs and arches to a rather grumpy Customs agent. She was not the friendly type, mostly interested in what we did, before and now and where we were going…with a very stern face, the woman agent wants me to open the trailer. I comply. Looks in the fridge. Wants to know if we are hiding any people in the front…hmm….what you say “Of course not ma’am”…what you want to say “Only a few dead bodies ma’am”…Am I the only one who thinks like this? 😆It makes you wonder, is smuggling people into North Dakota from Saskatchewan in your 5th wheel a problem in this area😉 especially at a two lane border crossing? and who wants to be smuggled OUT of Canada?;) HA! We were happy to move on to a very straight road, the 40, across North Dakota heading for Graham Lake State Park on Devils Lake. I’d called ahead and there were 5 spots with water and power! WATER! YEAH! A long shower!!! Our first water since filling up at Dinosaur Provincial Park with a hose at the office;) On our way down to the park, it was off the beaten path a bit we came across a rather fierce looking fire, always makes me cringe seeing these!
A delightful woman checked us in, take any of the spots you want, 244 empty…just us! Our own private state park, now that is a bonus! We decided to stay a few days to catch our breath! It was a lovely spot. Groot and Gamora approved, complete with a fenced in dog, oops, I mean cat park for them to race around in leashless;)
The ice was just breaking up on Devils Lake in many places, what a haunting sound it makes! In open patches of water Hooded Mergansers were vying for the ladies. I have always wanted to see these striking birds! I’ve had an old wooden decoy of them for years so finally a chance to see them in the flesh! They did not disappoint! At one point a flock of Tundra Swans flew over me. Flocks of North America’s most numerous swans gather on lakes and estuaries or descend out of gray skies. A characteristic whistling in their wings led Meriwether Lewis to call them “whistling swans,” a name still in use. They nest on arctic tundra and visit the U.S. only on migration and in winter. Most have a smudge of yellow at the base of their black bill, but otherwise are pure white. Magical!
A Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel, the guy with a very long name;) put on quite a show picking up the sunflower seeds the birds tossed about! A cat favourite, always just out of their reach but so much fun to sit and stare down the holes;)
Robins were pulling earthworms from the ground and a half dozen White Throated Sparrows were busy at the feeders.
It looked dormant but everything seemed to be slowly springing to life. The trees were busy with bird song, for a second I thought I’d found an old Baja friend, a Red Naped Sapsucker but turned out to be a Yellow Bellied one hunting for grubs and bugs in the leafless poplar trees!
Groot said they all looked delicious but the squirrels he said looked the tastiest! There were several walking paths around the park, the variety of seed heads and old dried berries were beautiful along the path, I stepped off once, and came back with my legs covered with ticks so didn’t do that again!
We added an extra day we were so enjoying the quiet. A quick trip into Devils Lake the town secured us with provisions as we had started to call ahead to find out what was open for our next few jumps back to Canada.
A State Park all to ourselves:)
It was pretty slim pickings when it came to RV parks. Most we called didn’t open until Mid May and the rest just never answered our messages! We did get a call back from a park located in the Chippewa National Forrest in Minnesota , Stony Point Resort and Campground, she said they were not officially open but had a spot we could stay! We made our plans to leave early the following day. The sunrise woke me up as a bright red colour flooded into the trailer, it was chilly out, near freezing but I took off down towards the water hoping to capture the brilliant colour covering the Eastern sky! The frigid wind eventually chased me back to the trailer but what a sight it was with the sun illuminating the ice breaking up on the lake!
A nice send off as we left North Dakota for Minnesota, a bit more than 4 hours travel. I could see Mike was itching to get home:) We stayed two days at Stony Point, we drove through some snow flurries on the way so decided against driving into any more bad weather. The lake had a few bits of ice where the Canada Geese were coming to some skidding landings. There were mallards for the cats to watch as well as several pair of Common Mergansers in breeding colour! Spectacular!
The RV park was in the midst of Spring clean up so it was very nice of them to open early for us! The entire town seemed closed for the season still:) It was lovely watching the geese swim about with the beautiful reflections when the wind was quiet. Gamora decided they might be a bit large to tackle;)
The next spot we found when we called the phone was answered by a delightful older woman with German accent. She said they were open and had room and not to worry so we left for Bessemer, Minnesota:) It was another 250 mile hop towards Perth! We arrived later in the day and it didn’t quite turn out as planned. The campground was still soaking wet so we ended up spending the night on the paved road around the campsites and with a loan of a 30amp extension cord we managed to get some power as well for night. The lovely lady and her horde of small friendly dogs welcomed us with a slice of Cherry Cheesecake she’d just made and Mike got to brush the dust off his German vocabulary for a few moments as well. We left early the next morning headed towards Brimley State Park in Michigan, last stop before the Canadian border. Passed a church sign in Michigan…God B___S our troops…seems a few letters had fallen off, or maybe God works in mysterious ways;)
We drove along Lake Superior under gray skies, past the large lakers. It was a 290 mile jump and the cats were none too pleased having not gotten out much between bad weather and nowhere to walk. We were looking forward to Brimley and it’s beautiful views of the lake and quiet away from the road sites. No ranger to check in, in fact, there was no one else there! The ranger told me on the phone that there was a water hydrant by their office, it took a bit of walking around to find it, not in the campground but at their headquarters so we were finally able to fill the tanks for a a long needed shower and then pick out a campsite, only 237 to choose from;) We stopped in the middle after driving around, they were all on grass so we were a bit worried but the ground seemed firm so we pulled in with no problem at all.
Ice breaking up on Lake Superior
Then it proceeded to rain the entire next day…Still, a beautiful spot looking out at Lake Superior. I’d hoped for a trip to the Tahquamenon Falls but in the pouring rain that was out. It did let up later in the day, the laker freighters were waiting to pass through the locks at Sault Saint Marie, anchored quietly. I did a few long exposures, one way to find out how dirty your sensor and lens are;) Groot and Gamora got to walk out on the beach and stare at the ice:) all very fascinating.
It was nice to see the rain was holding off the morning we went to leave, we did our routine, packed up….we made it a few feet before bogging down through the grass into the muck…yikes, 10,000 lbs of truck and 20,000 of trailer, what a difference a rainy day can make:) Luckily the park crew was there with their 1 ton truck, after checking with their boss if it was OK to pull us out they all came over, beats cleaning bathrooms right, hooked a tow strap, I’m sure it was a 5000 lb one! ha! to the truck and we slowly inched our way out onto the paved roads that go between the sites. Lovely guys and a lovely gesture, sorry about the deep ruts we left;)…OFF to Canada, after being rattled a bit by the start to the day:)
We’re BACK!!!;)
That was easy, have to love coming into Canada, “Where are you going? How long? Have a wonderful stay!” Now for some sun PLEASE! It pretty much stayed gloomy. What we had as rain at Brimley, the rest of the region had snow!
The views from the Trans Canada were wonderful. Amish farms and all those things Canadian, Petro Canada and Canadian Tires…sigh:) There was nothing open either West or East of Sudbury so we headed South towards the French River to a small RV park that was open, just, Sportsmans Tent and trailer park. No water and we were a bit worried as it looked grassy but turned out to be gravel so no more getting stuck today! Once a day is enough:) Left in the morning, now Mike was a man on a mission to get to Perth but we stopped in Orilla for the night to go to a grocery store and LCBO. More rain was forcast so we stopped at Hammock Harbour RV park as you are leaving Orilla. It had a spot, high and dry they said…the ruts we left as we were leaving attested to the fact the park was made in a swamp and drained;) A “we will not be back unless desperate” spot. Second one in two days that has half of it’s facilities closed but charges full price…sigh…We were in need of a sunny day. The rain and gloom was weighing heavily upon us, both four and two footed!
After Peterborough it was all familiar. We did get to go through Neil Young’s hometown:) and past a few funny signs but none sweeter than the “town of Perth, population 6000”, for the last 30 years that is what it has been:) Through town, and yes, first person we see every year going through town, Chris, must be preordained, or maybe we are living in the matrix;) and out to the lake…our newly made gravel pad from last Fall was waiting, sewer ready to hook up, now all we needed to do was get into the lake and get the water going….but that my friends, is another story, a very very chilly story;)
“I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures, and where everything drew a free breath.”
the Great Comanche war chief, Ten Bears”
There are truly those places you stumble upon and know, you have to go back. We had thought of going North to the Royal Tyrrell Museum but in the end decided we really wanted to go back to Dinosaur Provincial Park. We had fallen in love with it last year, the hikes right from the trailer, scrambling through the hoodoos with the cats, fabulous wildlife and when we pulled in, well, very quiet! One of three trailers there. And the power worked, and there was park WiFi, usable park WiFi…Oh my God…there will be no whining here on my part since last blog I did go on about the electric;) We’d called ahead about water and a lovely young lady said to pull up by the registration area and the water was turned on by the store to fill, complete with a long hose to do so! I’m not sure an American Park would have left an unattended hose there;) Problem one solved, we had water, now, I don’t think we had any others! Spoke too soon. The front landing jacks stopped before we were level and after fiddling with them for 20 minutes we were somewhat level…what to do, what to do…go for a walk!
…and pose the question online, wait for answers, cross our fingers it would work better when we went to leave….start reading the manual:)
What I like is being able to put on my shoes and wander off down a spectacular path! The longest walk is about an hour, if you stop to photograph, well, double that;) The Badlands trail takes you past hoodoos and lunar type landscape. Small yellow flowers were starting to bloom and the trails were quiet.
The leaves were not yet out on the Cottonwoods that line the camping areas. The very handsome Black Billed Magpie followed us about as we walked the cats absolutely fascinated by them. He’d sit on the beams of the the shade buildings and hop from one to the other watching their every move, occasionally coming up with a croak or quack at them quietly…the excitement for the day:)
Down by the river, the muddy waters of the Red Deer ambled by slowly. Full of dirt from melt water. Geese honked and landed and a Robin was searching for worms in the debris. We had a mix of sun and clouds, it would be overcast then clear, the whole weather gamut! The Red Deer River runs through Dinosaur Provincial Park Unesco World Heritage Site. It has slowly carved away the terrain, along with melting glaciers to expose the amazing collection of more than 500 fossils. Truly astounding plant, animal and fish life then, and now.
…and it was warm! Abnormally so, in the 20’s celsius. We skedaddled when we did as an incoming weather front was threatening to drop 25-30 cm of snow on the park and surrounding area. Hard to believe as we walked about in T-Shirts! Even Beezil came out it was so warm! The old hermit cat!
There were deer dropping everywhere, literally covering the campground…but no deer. So I decided to go looking for them. Behind the campground a steep hill leads up to a narrow path with steps. It overlooks the valley and a small creek that joins up with the Red Deer River. Little Sandhill Creek from up high, what a view. 18,000 years ago the glaciers started to melt forming immense meltwater lakes. The lakes continued to grow blocked by kilometer high chunks of ice and sediment. When the dams burst, floodwaters raged across the land. Below is an example of what the floodwaters can do. This is the coulee of Little Sandhill River where it flows to meet The Red Deer River. Fascinating geology here:)
And there were deer down there by the creek, I could make them out from my perch on high so down I went and started to follow the creek from the end of the campground. They said there were both Mule and White Tailed deer so I was curious as to what they were. Along the path a Canada Goose perched high in a cave honked at me. I was hoping she wasn’t nesting up there, it would be a 50′ drop for the goslings if she did! Swallow nests lined the undersides of the rocks.
…and there were the Mule Deer. Those ears! With the black tipped tail I believe it is a mule deer. Beautiful creatures, not too shy, obviously used to living around some human company!
Behind the trailer when the sun came out some amazing purple flowers were blooming. It was the Prairie Crocus. I read that Pulsatilla is highly toxic, and produces cardiogenic toxins and oxytocin which slow the heart in humans. Excess use can lead to diarrhoea, vomiting and convulsions, hypotension (LOW blood pressure) and coma. It has been used as a medicine by Native Americans for centuries. Blackfoot Indians used it to induce abortions and childbirth. Pulsatilla should not be taken during pregnancy nor during lactation. Additional applications of plant extracts include uses as a sedative and for treating coughs. It is also used as an initial ingredient in homeopathic remedies.
Not as friendly fuzzy as I had thought. Won’t be eating any of these;)
A wonderful variety of flowers and birds scattered about the park, shuddered to think what they might think of the incoming snowstorm!
Our last evening there we drove up to the viewpoint that overlooks the park. The clouds had been moving in so I thought we might be treated to a spectacular sunset. It is amazing as it is totally flat once you get up on the mesa, you would never think this area exists until you stumble upon it!
I was hoping for that late day light to brighten up the hoodoos and stripes in the rocks below but it faded into the clouds. But I did notice below me a pair of Mule Deer slowly walking towards me. I was upwind and in the shadow so they did not see me until the last minute!
A wonderful way to finish the day. By morning we were packed up and ready to go early started to hook up and pressed the up button on the auto level…nothing…heart sinking…oh no! Stop, breathe, think…what to do, what to do. With a bit of help pushing up on the trailer it seemed to be able to hold once it went up, but wouldn’t budge by itself. We lowered the tailgate and got out the truck jack, placing it in the bed of the truck next to the 5th wheel hitch. With a few blocks of wood we raised it up bit by bit, the jacks would hold it once we got it there but were unable to push it up themselves. First time using the jack, that worked well. When we had it high enough to hook up we took the jack away and slowly backed up and attached the 5th wheel, it was close but we got it hooked on! Yeah! We won’t be stuck in a snowstorm and we can head East to Swift Current, Saskatchewan, our next stop, but that my friends is..another story! Stay tuned for the hows and whys of all those small bits where things can go wrong, how we can learn to fix them and where the buffalo roam!
“Once, in another lifetime, there was an ocean here, and if you plant your feet in the soil you can almost feel the ancients rising and falling like the tides of old as the storm gathers strength.” ― Heidi Barr, Woodland Manitou: To Be on Earth
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
― John Muir
“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.” John Muir
I can’t explain the rush of happiness as we drove past these towering spires that are the rockies here in Alberta. Peak after peak takes your breath away, makes you cringe your neck and head to see every detail as it goes whizzing by. The waterfalls, the avalanches, the heavy weight of snow hanging from the sides of rocks as tumbling waterfalls are carried down their faces by the melting snow. I’d read online, and called Lake Louise Provincial Park to make sure there were spaces available with electricity. The campground in Banff was closed for repairs so there were few options but I really wanted to see this spot in the early Spring. Lake Moraine was closed due to avalanche dangers and Lake Louise was still frozen over, dozens of happy tourists wandered about on it’s surface. A far cry from the glacial silt turquoise glimmer of June…but breathtaking. The air was crisp, OK, cold ha!
We were glad we had power, sort of, anyway. Hell hath no fury like an old Burmese cat that doesn’t have his electric blankie on! We’d pulled in to discover only the first row of campsites were open and plowed, the quieter ones to the back still had several feet of snow on them. These are shared sites, some folks had taken the entire site to themselves so we went to the end and turned around to come back to an empty one by the closed restrooms. Perhaps empty for a reason. Every time there was a spike in power from us, or our neighbour, microwave and toaster (?) we shared a 30 amp circuit we were finally told by the ranger, it would blow, not by the pedestal, but in the lock and key electrical compartment by the restrooms…sigh, and no, the rangers did not have a 24 hour number, you had to go out and look for them…or call and leave a message on their 9-4 office machine. It happened twice, the last day they never came to turn it back on, we left at noon. That sucked! Especially the sub zero temperatures…but the scenery…sigh….
Gamora and Groot were not keen on the trains, they run right past the loop that was open for camping, blowing their horns three times, thought poor Gamora was going to jump out of her skin once or twice…not a kitty approved campground, and walking in the snow has turned out NOT to be their favourite thing…fancy that;)
We diesled up and took a look through the small, and very pricey store and liquor store in Lake Louise. I’d read about Morant’s Curve, the spot was made famous by Nicholas Morant, a staff photographer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He took photographs for the company during the middle of the 20th century. You pass over the trans Canada and follow the Bow Valley Scenic parkway to the signs. We waited, but no trains, until after we left! Ha! It is a beautiful spot to stop and sit and watch the world go by!
I got up for sunrise the next morning and was not disappointed. The light pink glow on the mountain tops and clouds was stunning and only lasted a few minutes! Long enough to leap into the truck and drive down to the bridge that goes to the now closed tent camping area (bears are hungry now;) It was a chilly -6° celcius…yikes! Time to head out of the mountains!
“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”
John Muir
Enough snow and cold, pretty, but we’ll come back in the early Summer next time! When you don’t need snowshoes to hike and not too concerned on coming upon a hungry grumpy just awake from hibernation grizzly.
The drive out of the Rockies is as spectacular as the drive in, through Banff and Canmore as you descend to the plains leaving the towering white mountain tops behind. Mike was muttering good riddance and nice straight roads would be a lovely change;)
I’m thinking it might not be so bad either! Just turn up the temperatures a bit please! Next stop, one of my favourite parks ever! Dinosaur Provincial Park! Stay tuned-Goodbye Rockies-Helloooo Prairies!!!!
Well, almost, we had one stop North of Seattle, in Bothel, at a little man-made lake for the night, fairly quiet but sardine like side by side. Groot didn’t like the hiking path behind the trailer, kept hissing, found out why the next morning when a very large coyote loped off in front of us…
This is the only RV Park we have encountered with an 8.5 mph speed limit…eight and a half…that is tough, not a wee bit under at 5, nor a speedy 10 mph but exactly 8.5 mph…..maybe just to make you smile? A Monty Python skit could be done here….;)
The speed being 8.5 miles an hour, with 10 MPH being too fast, and 5 MPH being too slow….who the hell makes these ludicrous things up?
So we only lasted a night here…couldn’t take the speed limit;) ha! and then, Oh Canada! Took the trucker route border crossing once again that follows the 15 up to the Trans Canada. Went into the RV lane, far left it said, which it seems was the Nexus lane, which perplexed the Customs and Immigration agent for a few moments, apparently she was not aware it also said RV lane;) long wait, took all of 5 minutes;) ha! Even with our non-nexus passports and paperwork. Have to love Canada:)
Did I mention the rain and clouds…and rain and clouds? yes, lot’s of rain and clouds. The cats were not amused by this predicament but I was so happy to see my father and the lovely Gloria it made no difference. We cooked a lovely Sunday dinner together (Ok, Mike and Gloria cooked, I chatted;) and went over some ancestry questions someone in New Zealand had about our family, that was their family as well. Turns out my Great grandmother was Swedish, who was married in the US where my Grandmother was born, Illinois then moved to New Zealand and her family owned a sheep station! No wonder I like lamb chops;) My Dad had a rough start to Spring with pneumonia and being hospitalized but fingers crossed he is feeling better every day! They are an inspiration for what a love and a great relationship looks like and about people who have worked closely together for over 45 years! We will be back to visit again soon!
We did have a bout or two of sun. It was wonderful to go out and mosey around. Several Northern Flickers families were squabbling about territories and azaleas were blooming. We walked over to Park Royal and Mike’s favourite German deli there, the Black Forest Delicatessen. We stocked up on German num nums, sweet and savory, before we headed East to the less than stellar selection of prairie grocery stores:) but not before another long awaitied stop at my great friend Joanne’s place near Fort Langley. Newly married we wanted to meet her wonderful husband Gene and to take a breath in the countryside. They’d just come back from an Australian honeymoon and we were delighted to spend a few nights on their farm. They run Glen Valley Stables, the best trail riding experience in BC’s lower mainland. After years of looking at her horses pictures I felt I knew them:) We tend to meet up about every 10 years or so, hopefully not so long until the next visit. We met as kids in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, but that is ANOTHER story;)
Good thing Mike can back up a trailer, their laneway was narrow and road to the farm not very wide, we had to drive in and then turn around in their ample yard while trying not to run Blue aka Levi the horse down as he strolled about and sniffed the trailer, we pruned a few tree branches but set up next to the mare corral. What a treat to have horses at home again! Groot even looked like he could be friends with Joanne’s lovely dog Pepper, but those huge four legged creatures, they were not quite sure about them! Wonderful to meet Gene and so happy to see Joanne again! It’s one of those wonderful friendships where you just take up where you left off and not much seems to change but it has! It was so nice to hear what she and Gene are doing!
But time to head East once again! Many of the Provincial Parks are not open but Monck was, no services, but free as well! Who says nothing is free? How can you turn down a beautiful spot on Nicola lake? We had forgotten just how bumpy the 20 kilometer road in was but nothing too serious bounced out of place! Sad to see the old Heritage Church had burned down on the road in from Merritt:(
When we arrived, we were the only ones there! Talk about getting your pick of spots. It was limited, only 25 sites in loop 1 were open but we squeezed into one and let out a sigh of relief…quiet…wind in the pines, cats ran around on their leashes like lunatics down to the beach and through the pines! A Groot and Gamora approved campground. I need to make up some kind of stamp! The posted speed limit: a speedy 20 km/h!!! That is a roaring 12.247 mph! What would the Lake Pleasant RV Park think?? Those speedy Canadians;) hahahahaha!
The Ospreys were still nesting in the same tree and the Pine Siskins were busy. Not many wildflowers but Spring is just starting here. The sun left us after we arrived and we returned to gray and blustery but this is such a beautiful area. The Yellow Bellied Marmots were even out down at the beach:)
I have to admit this place has a magic to it, spectacular when it is empty. A few campers arrived later in the day but everybody was so spread out and quiet it felt like you were all alone! I didn’t want to leave but with no power and the night time temperatures dropping below freezing, the old cat was complaining about not having his heated blanket, poor skinny old guy, off to somewhere with a plug in! The place we stayed last year in Salmon Arm was not yet open, more than likely under water, so our good friends Nick and Ruby checked out another place East of town. When we arrived, I groaned, outloud, gave Mike a look, it was RIGHT beside the highway..sigh…hate highway noise, but to my delight upon checking in we were given directions to a windy little road, and fancy gate, down to a creek, well behind the main permanents office, tucked well away from most of the noise…have to trust that husband sometimes;) That is why it is called “Hidden Valley” he said!
Here the Canoe Creek was running. Small bridges dotted the lower campground for tenters and we were, alone again! By now you probably get that I really really like to be alone at times;) Especially when nature is involved. The cats adored this place! Bridges to cross, chipmunks to try to catch, try being the word, many new things to sniff, snails and such! A forest wonderland.
It was wonderful again to visit with friends! It is something we miss about traveling full time, but then we do eventually get to meet up with our far spread tribe and we are adding to it as we go! Our next step-out of British Columbia and a whole different province:) The drive through BC is spectacular-waterfalls along the Trans Canada 1 and the rolling ranch hills past Monck up the trans Canada 5 and back to the 1 through Kamloops into the mountains towards Salmon Arm and the beautiful lake…but…the Rockies…well…a jaw dropping experience everytime we go…so stay tuned for…snow! Alberta here we come!
Are you really so bored the highway signs become your own personal targets? Seems so in Nevada. I don’t think we passed a single sign, other than the Extraterrestrial Highway signs that were not riddled with bullets. Do you pull over to shoot them or like a cowboy do you hang out your car window and take a shot as you whizz by at 75mph?
We left the Little A’le’inn after breakfast and headed North on only what could be described as a long and lonely road. Traffic was scarce on the Extraterrestrial Highway this morning. I think it always is, other than cows, there are lots of free range cows pretty much everywhere.
The Extraterrestrial Highway turns into State Road 6 at Warm Springs, it looks like it could have been inhabited at one point, just not now, an old pool, that may have been filled with hot water is surrounded by an old chain link fence and the windows are boarded up on the buildings, or just missing altogether. I missed a herd of Pronghorn Antelope trotting across the plains as they blended in so well to their surroundings as we made the turn to Tonopah to fuel up. After that, the 6 turns into the 95 North, headed to Mina, our destination for a few days. We were here three years ago and Socorros Hamburger stand makes the best chili relleños we’ve had outside of Mexico so we had to stop and order some, it takes a day or more for them:) You know when you are almost in Mina when you pass the Wild Cat Brothel, just on the outskirts of town. Couldn’t help but think about Father Ted’s Father Jack…Drink! Girls! Watch it, you’ll love it
It hasn’t changed much, maybe a few less inhabitants, last count was 155. The Sunrise Valley RV Park just re-opened for the year so we had a laundry stop as well as tamales. They call themselves an Offroad-ATV Park but luckily none were to be seen or heard, just the horrendous highway noise, makes you realize just how busy the #95 is, mostly heavy truck traffic, but friendly owners with nice smiles and a beautiful rock collection around the entire RV Park. Not a destination for us, or anybody else there at the time, just one night stoppers mostly.
After getting our tamales Sunday morning we made a break for it, further North along the #95 past Walker Lake headed North to Carson City and Washoe Lake State Park. Walker Lake had a herd of wild horses, or maybe not so wild grazing around the shoreline.
Washoe Lake had been dry three years ago when we were there, we kept looking and looking and the ranger was laughing, no water this year she said. A very different sight in 2019. Filled to the brim. We planned on one night here as it was going to be cold and this was dry camping. It is all first come first serve and luckily there were a few spots left. It was closing down in a few days to install power and sewer. Old Beezil loves his heated throw so we can’t freeze him out for too long without power.
The Magpies eluded me as I walked around the Lake. Over to the dunes, then further up to catch a glimpse of the few wild horses I’d seen on our way in. They are scraggly little bony ponies no more. Guess I’m spoiled by our horse flesh, this small group of bachelors was not a handsome lot at all but at least there was some grass coming up for them to eat.
As I scrambled back along the dunes, not sure if the path would actually connect for all the high water many of the paths were under it, a beautiful Bald Eagle flew right over my head, what a glorious site.
Bald Eagle flyby
It did turn out to be a cold night and we ready to move on in the morning. We’d refueled in Carson City, only a few miles to the South and made a stop at our favourite latin market, El Centro, ever. They have hands down, the best carniceria ever. The ranchera/arrachera meat was perfectly marbled, the smoked pork chops are the best we have ever eaten, wish the freezer was bigger and the young butcher gave us a piece of chorizo to try “for free” he said,”I want you to try it”, and it was outstanding as well! Great place to stock up on tortillas, tostadas and fresh vegetables as well:) Estamos Mexicanos cierto!
Snow covered mountains
Sadly the campers next to us ran their frigging generator ALL night long, not exactly pleasant when you are in a quiet State Park-almost all parks have quiet time (if they allow generators at all) from 10pm usually until 7am, so much for effective camp hosts, many just don’t care, just a free spot to stay in exchange for as little work possible:( This park has it’s fair share of weirdos as well, as if we should talk! hahahaha! It’s just a vibe you get when you come in and no one meets your eyes, always feels a bit odd when people turn away:) There was a man camped in his car across from us that had security cameras and signs telling you so set up all around his car…Ok….There are still a ton of fire victims in this area as well as the Western side of the Sierra. The RV parks from Yuba City to Chico are filled with them, now living in trailers as best they can. Talked to a couple of RV spots looking for a space on our way North and all were full with mostly permanents. The Paradise Fire was so very hard on so many people. Not just those 85 people that lost their lives in that horrendous blaze, but the entire city that has been decimated. Many have left the area permanently, unable to find housing or work, or both…and they say climate change is not an issue? my oh my, you may want to ask these displaced folks:(
Enough gloom and doom for this girl, stay tuned for some serious snow as we cross the Sierras back into “Kalifornia”;)
From the “X Files” to “Independance Day” to “Paul” you know you want to drive this Highway;) The truth is out there, in area 51 Tikaboo Valley. “You can drive up the Groom Lake Road, until they turn you around” the waitress said at the Little A’El’Inn.
Walk in… Drive in… Fly in…
get to Little A’Le’Inn !!!
ET’s & Earthlings
Welcome Always
The men in black, who? They forever stand watch along with detection devices, listening devices and cameras mounted among the cactus. The signs read, “Top Secret Military Facility, Keep Out, Use of Deadly force Authorized”…
We left The Valley of Fire and headed North through Overton and the Moapa Valley with very stormy gloomy skies. We were spit on a few times but the showers in the distance were what was spectacular! North through Moapa itself and to Highway 93 a long straight corridor of barren but beautiful desert.
We passed the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, we’d considered boondocking here but not this trip. At Crystal Springs you make the turn left onto the 375-The Extraterrestrial Highway. You have to love places that embrace their inner aliens;)
Where else can your GPS tell you this;)
The desert scenery is astounding. The snow capped mountains and Joshua Trees came into view in the Tikaboo Valley. We pulled over to stop and admire the beauty, and gaze towards area 51. It appears that this may be the only place where two types of Joshua tree, namely the Eastern and Western varieties have come together, wish humans could;)
Tikaboo Valley
We drove past the black mailbox and on down the road into Rachel, Nevada. Population 54. Population humans, yes, Aliens..?
They have 4 or 5 RV spots with 30 amps alongside some of their rooms and the restaurant /bar/grill serves a mean saucer burger as well as breakfasts, and that is about it in Rachel:) At sunset we were treated to a beautiful rainbow after our burger and friendly conversation with the staff. The Alien blood cocktail was delicious;) One more bumper sticker for Myrtle left with us;)
We woke up to spectacular skies and clouds above the mountains that surround this valley. Surreal beauty at dawn as the moon was setting….and it was cold and windy, 34° flintstone scale!
Sunrise. Rachel, Nevada
I wandered about in the cold, trying to get away from the power lines, my arch nemesis they are! Out into the fields. Most of this is BLM land, free range, as a young couple in a pickup truck with a cab over camper found out, after colliding with one in the dark. The truck front end did not look very good to say the least, the bartender was just concerned about the cow “Did ya shoot it?” he was asking the young man, who shook his head and said the Highway Patrol did…life on the range, hard on trucks and cows at night.
Everyone is supposed to have a gun right? You need them to shoot the traffic and directional signs along the highway, what else would one do for sport? But we’ll save that for next time;) Hasta la Vista baby from Rachel Nevada-The truth is out there, we want to believe;)
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. Rachel Carson
I’ve had this beautiful park on a list of places to see for a very long time. There is lots of dispersed camping above Overton on the Mesa, “Poverty Ridge” a storekeeper remarked at the Ice Cream store but it was the campground among the red rocks I so badly wanted to enjoy.
With fingers crossed we drove past the entrance gate and into the park. Past red rock spires with colours dancing off the surfaces. The morning light helped accent the colours as we passed area after area of amazing beauty. The campground is about halfway into the park so with bated breath we slowly made our way in, there were two other trailers behind us, past the petroglyphs on Atlatl rock and into the campground, we worked our way past the smaller sites (all are first come, first serve, no reservations) into the electric/water sites and lo and behold, as least three were available at 10:30 in the morning. We backed into the first one we came across with squeals of glee, yes, me, not Mike and settled in! This was meant to be a two day stop, I could tell already a third day was going to be added;) hahaha!
All this beauty from the windows of your moving home! We took a drive back to the park office for a map of trails after we’d settled in and paid our fees at the campground. As we rounded the bend by the campground I could see a herd of Desert Bighorn Sheep grazing in the field beside the campground. Talk about leaping out of the truck as we got back and grabbing the big lens I was off to stalk sheep!
I followed them around for awhile as they grazed next to a trailer site where there was a large patch of grass, the eventually meandered off into the shrubbery eating as they went, the youngsters play fighting and locking horns. They seemed unconcerned with me as I sat down on a rock and watched them interact. I read that Southern desert bighorn sheep are adapted to a desert mountain environment with little or no permanent water. Some may go without visiting water for weeks or months, sustaining their body moisture from food and from rainwater collected in temporary rock pools. They may have the ability to lose up to 30% of their body weight and still survive, wow, I was wondering where they got water.. This is a bachelors group the camp host told me, 12 or 13 of them hang about here most of the time! I finally went back to the trailer excited about my encounter and eager to look at the shots I’d taken. We took the cats for a walk up in among the rocks and saw the sheep often sleep in the caves around the campground due to the copious quantities of sheep poo:) We know that smell of male sheep urine as well, the cats found it all very interesting;) Later in the afternoon I was amazed to see, as well as Gamora who was watching out the window, the entire herd gallop past the back of our trailer between the picnic table and us. Gamora’s eyes were huge!
Desert Bighorn sheep running
I had to grab the camera again and follow them as they were now posing on the incredible red rocks right in front of our eyes! They drew a gathering of eager photographers and phone videographers as we all watched them move about the rocks. We could not believe our luck and the magic of these beautiful sheep as they easily jumped from ledge to ledge, without a scramble, just easy strides…until…
…the asshole in the campsite facing us lost control of his dog who started to chase them off, you can not believe the comments and yells coming from the onlookers, mostly R rated for profanity, for once I had to say nothing as the idiot managed to get his large dog under control. He had a visit from the camp hosts ASAP. Later she stopped by and she sighed and said sadly this happens often. They had already warned the guy previously to keep his dog under control as it had lunged at several campers walking by. So one man ruins an amazing experience for everyone else and for the sheep, who didn’t come back for the remainder of our stay…leashes people, I don’t care how well your dog is trained…
Why it is called Valley of Fire
The next morning after Kitty walks, turns out they love to scramble among the rocks and explore small caves. I’m always careful to check for any reptiles or spiders before I let them in FYI:) I think this maybe there most favourite stop yet, I have to agree:) And yes, our cats are spoiled;)
We realized how lucky we were to get a spot when nothing opened up the following morning. The trailers, 5th wheels, A,B and C classes and El Monte RV’s circled from dawn to dusk like sharks around their prey to no avail…
We drove up to the White Dome Trail on the end of the road after the visitor Center, it seemed the least populated so we hiked down a narrow trail and past amazing rock formations and colours. The White Domes area was the location for the 1966 movie The Professionals. This western, starring Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale was typical of the 1960s western genre. It was also responsible for the development of the road and access to this remarkable area. The remains of the site include a small portion of the wall of the hacienda. Star Trek Generations was also filmed here for our Science fiction geek friends…goodbye Kirk;)…was that a bad thing?;)
After the short slot canyon you start to make your way back towards the North. A few wildflowers, Preus’s Milkvetch were blooming along the path as we walked.
We headed back to Myrtle after our walk to rest and get the telescope out. It was almost full moon but still so much to show to anyone who wanted a look. Mike had a good crowd with lots of ooh’s and ah’s but the seeing was not that good but still nice to be outside and looking at the moon, the crater Schickard and the Aristarchus regions, and the Orion nebula.
The next morning we awoke to stormy skies. We headed off to hike to Mouse’s Tank Trail as they said there were small water catchments that might be interesting. It is named ‘The Mouse’s Tank’ because an alleged Southern Paiute Indian renegade named ‘Little Mouse’ hid out there in the 1890’s. He was accused of gunning down two prospectors.
Along the path Side Blotched Lizards were warming themselves in the sun and Painted Lady Butterflies dances along the path. What really caught our eye was a lizard high up on a ledge a couple had pointed him out “A Gila Monster” they said. I wasn’t too sure but wandered up the small rocky area to get a closer look. It was a beautiful Chuckwalla-Sauromalus ater. The generic name, Sauromalus, is a combination of two Ancient Greek words:σαῦρος (sauros) meaning “lizard” and ομαλυς (omalus) meaning “flat”. The common name “chuckwalla” derives from the Shoshone word tcaxxwal or Cahuilla čaxwal, transcribed by Spaniards as chacahuala. These guys are herbivores. They browse on a wide variety of leaves, flowers, buds, and fruit. Insects are also eaten occasionally. They deflate themselves to get into crevices to escape predators and then inflate so they can’t be pulled out, how cool is that!
I sat on the rocks after he went into his crevice and watched as he slowly made his way back out to sunbathe. What a beautiful lizard! I loved his yellowish tail. He sat and watched us, looked like he had Bighorn Sheep neighbours up on the rocks as well, lots of droppings so he was used to company;)
Back at the campground the skies were clouding over and looking stormy late in the day. A short walk from our campsite is Atlatl Rock. An atlatl (at’-lat-l) is a device used for launching a spear; usually a short cord would around the spear so that when thrown into the air the weapon will rotate. The ancient Indians used these weapons and they are depicted in the petroglyphs (rock carvings) located at Atlatl Rock. Here along the path huge boulders have fallen off the cliffs covered with petroglyphs.
Valley of Fire State Park is home to the largest concentrations of petroglyphs in Nevada. The petroglyphs located here, have been dated by archaeologists, and some have been found to be over 3,000 years old. The first known inhabitants of the Valley of Fire were the Gypsum People who visited the region 1800-4000 years ago. They were nomadic hunter-gatherer people and it’s believed that travelled here for ceremonial and religious purposes, but never resided permanently. Later groups that spent time in the Valley of Fire were the Basket Makers, the Anasazi Pueblo People who farmed the Moapa Valley, and later the Southern Paiute. The depictions of the sheep were especially beautiful!
The blooms and wildflowers along the trail were beautiful. Occasionally you would wander through a cloud of perfume. I think they are the Shieldpod flowers (Dithyrea californica). They smell heavenly!
The White Tailed Antelope Squirrels in the campground provided lots of entertainment for the cats and us. They dug in their holes and snorffled (is that a word?) about in the bushes as they scampered well ahead of them. There was the usual crew of birds, House Finches and White Crowned Sparrows as well as a lone Canyon Wren singing its heart out.
I had to admit I didn’t want to leave…sigh…so quiet and beautiful. Everything you want in a magical place. Astounding scenery, wildlife at your doorstep…Go. If you are ever passing by this majestic land of rock called Valley Of Fire. You won’t be disappointed. Saludos amigos and stay tuned….for the Extraterrestrial Highway….the truth is out there!
Getting through Phoenix seems to be a hellish endeavor, the traffic, the stop and go for no apparent reason, the very slow drivers, Mike swearing in three different languages;)…therefore all the God billboards and the cremation one, really, a total cremation, makes you wonder what a partial is…ah, add men, sometimes the research maybe was not done;) We were headed North East, out of the Tucson/Phoenix area to Wickenburg. We’d read about a small campground, the Constellation RV Campground, dry camping, $8.00 a night across from a rodeo arena. Sounded nice, in the desert and away from the road and not a sardine like experience of the normal RV parks you encounter. Really not our favourite spots except for laundry breaks.
We hadn’t counted on the endless lazy people roaring about in their 4 wheelers when they could walk to their friends trailer, or the incessant roar of the razors coming from the road the campground was set back on, seems the louder the better. Don’t get me wrong, I love hot rods, and nice sounding V8’s but these noisy little carts people seem to use to rush up and down the roads with their silly little flags belong…OFFROAD…not on the highways, there said my piece, between that and the gunshots from a nearby range had us up early, on a Sunday, ah the sound of freedom someone once said, did he ever get the look…really you asshole? Wake me up at 6am so you can target shoot your toys…there…done…can’t wait some days to get the hell out of this area, on our way! Did I mention Gamora hates traffic noise and could you at least slow down driving past animals and other peoples trailers, if you even notice…guess I wasn’t done;) Ha!
There was a lovely path opposite our site, hoof and foot traffic only, and there in front of us two assholes on 4 wheelers drive around the gate, nearly tipping over, I was hoping, running over all the wildflowers…what is wrong with these entitled a#@holes…wait, must have gone to a bad school and can’t read…these people are not here to enjoy nature, but to trample it under their wheels:( bummer.
…at least Groot tread carefully among the poppies, visions of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz came to mind;)
Walking carefully among the poppies
We left after the first night, enough noise and headed North. We’d read about a free boondocking spot South of Hoover Dam in a large lot, thought that would make a good stop for the 2nd night but as we came around the bend we saw it had been closed off so we kept driving, past the ginormous dam and North into Henderson, Nevada before taking a smaller secoundary road up into the Lake Mead Recreational Area on the 167. We’d called ahead to Valley of Fire and they said their campgrounds were full so we started to look for something along the road. Be warned as you head North on 167 the Lake Mead folks will collect $25 for a week, even if you are just driving through…the brochure the Lake Mead folks gave us listed a few places to camp so getting tired, having driven a lot longer than we had expected we wandered down the Callville Bay Road and into a small primitive (No services, but bathrooms) campground and called it a day. The spots are small but we squeezed into the last and longest one and called it a day.
The cats were quite happy with the quiet and we chatted with a lovely couple walking their wee dog. They had been to most of the campgrounds around Lake Mead and said this was their favourite, lined with oleanders it had good spacing among the sites and shrubbery;)
I hiked up the hill, then the next hill, there is always another hill it seems to get a nice view of Lake Mead along several nicely tread paths. Something magic about quiet and wind…the cactus were just about to burst into bloom.
View from the top of a hill overlooking Callville Bay and Lake Mead
We’d planned on leaving early to snag a campsite at Atlatl Rock in the Valley of Fire so it was early to bed and early to rise. It was nice to back in the quiet again! Stay tuned my friends and remember…
“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive”.
Where your home rolls all kinds of things can happen. Back in January we hit some road debris causing some damage to the back of the trailer, and it seems it may have knocked our axles out of alignment as well. We dropped our trusty Myrtle off at “Arizona Spring” and waited for the verdict from the mechanic, as well as the verdict from the Progressive Insurance writer. Good thing there was a fish taco stand across the street;) After a few hours of waiting in the truck keeping the cats amused we had our answer. Yes, the axle was out, both were, and yes the insurance would cover it, and four new tires. I was speechless, and pleased, not expecting that generous outcome, but with the axles out, all 4 tires and odd and uneven wear marks. It would take a few days…OK…now to find a cat friendly hotel:)
Not sure he was going to fit but he squeezed in;)
Water????
Our cats are not keen hotel guests. There is usually too much noise and nowhere to walk on their leashes without traffic and other odd humans, theirs are OK, everyone else’s is suspect;) We bring all their toys and beds but it’s just not home;) There are bathtubs to explore, and under the bed is always fun, and the room we found at the Quinta (pet friendly no extra charges) was a studio, so with a sofa (something to cover in hair) a chair (looked like their scratching post they said) and chest of drawers to explore along with all the nice amenities like a fridge and microwave. They made it through the two nights, terrified of the cleaning cart lady and her rolling monster that came by to clean the rooms, she never came in, but they heard the monster roll by. At least our Good Sam Club got us a corporate rate which made it all much more affordable:)
When we got the good news the trailer was done we couldn’t get out of the hotel fast enough! Big thanks to Sandy and all at Arizona Spring. We took advantage of having everything apart, that is the expensive work, thanks to Progressive Insurance and their great adjuster as well, and replaced the bearings and shocks and a few worn bits and pieces. Home sweet home! Not that the free breakfast buffets were not interesting, do many Americans go down in their pyjamas to eat the buffet breakfast there? That was different. Groot said the sausage patties we brought back weren’t that good and Mike wrinkled his nose at most of the fare as well but hey, it was a form of nourishment, sort of;)
We couldn’t get back into Desert Trails but the lovely park next door, Justin Diamond J RV Park (thanks for the amazing fresh grapefruit off your trees!) had an opening for a few days, we wanted to stock up on people and cat food as we were headed to the boonies of Nevada, where shopping is, well, not always actually anything more than small convenience stores selling bags of chips. And…it gave me free day to go to the Sonora-Arizona Desert Museum!
Their Raptor Free Flight is always a treat. I’d forgotten it was Spring break, yikes, very busy, we didn’t get anywhere near to the free flight demo but in the very back we did manage to watch and see some new birds! The Gray Hawk was gorgeous! Gray Hawks hunt from tall cottonwoods and willows along streams. They perch in the mid to upper canopy and wait for lizards or other reptiles on the ground or on tree trunks before launching a quick descending attack.
The Harris Hawks always amaze me. These birds hunt in family units. We had a family in Baja on the road down to the coast we would watch hanging about in the eucalyptus trees, stunning birds of prey…and then there is the Great Horned Owl, her name is “Lil’ Bit” I’ve been told from one of my favourite Facebook SW Birding groups. She stole my heart:) The sound of a Great Horned Owl makes me feel at home wherever I go:)
Did I mention the Hummingbirds….sigh…Mike went back to the truck while I sat and watched:) I so miss these little flying jewels as we head North and East. They were such a huge part of my life in Baja. Sat and talked with several other lovely photographers and family and we shared some stories and places to go. What a lovely crowd!
Did I mention the curled up Gato montes pair;) or the little screech owl the docent had, or the singing Cactus Wrens…sigh…I could spend days here…
But it’s time to head North, so next, our last stop in Arizona before we head North to the Valley of Fire and the Extraterrestrial Highway…the truth is out there! Stay Tuned!
Leaving Bisbee you stay on Highway 80 all the way to Rodeo, New Mexico a bit more than 76 miles, which lies right along the state line. To the North the Arizona Chiricahuas loom and to the East,New Mexico’s Peloncillo’s, which means little baldy in Spanish and to the South, hermosa Mexico. Historical battles, and Indian Wars caused retreats into these mountain regions, it was also access and escape routes into the safe haven ranges of northern Mexico.
These are both volcanic ranges. They are part of an “archipelago” of mountain ranges known as the sky islands that connect the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico with the Rocky Mountains. Bits of lava rock lay spewn about, a testament to the eruptive past here and cinder cones dot the landscape. It is a dry and somewhat barren landscape in the valleys between the two ranges. Rusty’s RV Park touts the dark skies which fall into the dark grey zone on the light pollution map, one step away from black which is the darkest.
This is not our first visit here, back in 2016 we came out this way but Mike was hampered by the wind, and this time the clouds and the wind. It may be dark but you need clear skies to do this astronomy thing and sometimes walls to protect you from the wind;) Dozens of daytime jet contrails also seem to seed high clouds that linger into the night. This must be a major flight path from LA-Dallas. Mike was a bit disappointed to say the least, the neighbouring astronomers were not into visual but astro photography and it was not what you would call a social group. They kept to themselves mostly. It was one of those times I longed to have a smaller trailer. The campsites in the Chiricahua Mountains are all fairly short, and the tree branches on the road in are VERY low. Losing an AC unit or hatch was not what we wanted to do so we made a few forays in Hagrid into the park to hike and drive about to get away from the barren valley landscape.
Cave Creek Trail is always a wonderful adventure. Something magical about water! Part of it once was a road but when Hurricane Odile dropped 6″ of rain in 2014 took out most of that and many of the park roads and campsites as well, some still remain closed. It has seen it’s fair share of dramatic events. The town of Portal and any homes and B&B’s close to the Creek suffered damage still visible today, how well we know that after living in the Sierra de San Pedro Martir!
Following the creek you criss-cross it multiple times, dipping into the creek or leaping from rock to rock eventually ending up in some meadow areas. It was very quiet bird wise, a bit too early for the locals to be back from Mexico;) The colourful rhyolite cliffs of Cave Creek Canyon smile down on you through the branches of the barren trees. The colours, yellow, red and gold are outstanding!
Don’t blink or you will miss Portal. “It’s actually called a town?!” a lady birdwatching at Cave Creek Ranch B&B exclaimed as she sat down…yup;) but then so is Paradise, a hamlet tucked further up into the hills. A new store/restaurant, The Sky Islands Grill and Grocery on the road into the park is a welcome surprise! With everything from Indian curry pastes and canned hummus and babaganoush to toilet paper and a few fresh items it is a delight. The restaurant serves up pizza and burger fare and their Gyro sandwich was a big hit! The Portal Store has beer and wine and a few bits of comida chatarra (chips, cheesies etc.) but not much else…it is not a place to come ill prepared food or gas wise. The closest pumps are in Animas, New Mexico 20 miles away.
Highway 80
We had to move spots to stay a week, not a problem, one is much like the other. They are very long, some have tables and fire pits, some don’t, just luck of the draw. Good room to set up the scope but we took it down after a few days with an incoming bad weather forcast. We took the 20 mile drive out to Animas for gas and some beer, but were informed someone had driven “into” the liquor storefront, and it was closed…hmmm….drunk maybe?
We did drive out to the Cave Creek Ranch B&B and donate a sum into their bird food fund to sit and watch the amazing Arizona and Acorn Woodpeckers. The very large (for a hummingbird) Blue Throated eluded me in the shade most of the time but put in an appearance as well as a male Broadbill. They are like little flying jewels! The Woodpeckers are my favourites, dressed in clown suits the Acorns steal the show, a whole family came and went.
A week was enough for us. The lack of any good seeing, clouds, wind and the social context for the astronomy made us ready to move on. Mike’s Canadian friends must be the most social astro geeks we know, compared to this bunch, it almost felt like we were not quite their type. We are still looking for our mobile astronomy tribe. In the meantime, we need to look for places to stay where people are interested in nature and the world above. Usually at the State and National Parks everyone is curious, here, no one even asked to look through the scope as they walked by. Sad indeed!
One last New Mexico sunset from Rusty’s RV Park
We headed back West towards Tucson, snagged a one night stop at Kartchner Caverns then back to the Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson. By the time we had arrived in Rodeo we’d noticed some very odd tire wear on the back two tires and had contacted a suspension shop-Arizona Spring- in Tucson as well as the insurance company, Progressive that had covered our bump with debris on the road back in January to get it looked at as we thought it may have somehow changed the axle alignment, but that, is another story…stay tuned my friends as we have leave our home for the dreaded “looking for a cat friendly hotel” escapade!
Sandhill Cranes-resting after a morning of feeding
Warning…this blog has a lot of bird pictures;)
I was not expecting this beautiful, raucous sight. Thousands of Sandhill Cranes descended from the sky in the mid afternoon, later than usual I was told as it was cloudy. Seemed they stayed out and nibbled a while longer with the cloud cover. Talking and quacking, calling as they fly in, descending, others are ducking as they make an awkward landing, it is a comical sight to sit and watch the grace and awkwardness of these huge flying creatures. Something akin to Mary Poppins floating down with her umbrella,or let’s just say, Mary Poppin’s less graceful sister;)
After a cloudy morning the sun came through in bits and finally cleared off to watch the show of the descending cranes. Layer upon layer slowly descended from up high. You could see clouds of them in the distance slowly approaching from far on the horizon. Wave after wave of these glorious birds came down to rest, drink from the pond (yuck;) hahahaha!) and talk, wow can they talk, like somebody who has been on a desert island for years, or occasionally one of the old folks at those RV parks that are chatting your ear off even before you have backed in and hooked up the power;) Some socialized, following each other in groups, other solitary birds closed their eyes and slept.
It is a spectacle not to be missed. A wonderful group of people were at the benches or had brought their own chairs to simply sit and watch. Some with years of knowledge about the cranes, helping answer the questions of newcomers. Many were dry camped near us, several friendly photographers, happy to give me pointers on cameras and tripods. A very genuine group. The Conservation area allows up to three days of dry camping in their lot. You can pull up along the small fence, or back in if room is getting scarce. There is a seperate parking lot for day visitors as well. By late in the day, the dry camping lot was pretty much full of all sized rigs.
As the light started to fade, the last stragglers were still arriving, some were just rearranging from one area to another as the crowds swelled. The fields beside the water were becoming extremely crowded, irritated cranes barked at each other as some ugly landings were happening as the space between them dwindled. At dusk a huge flock, hundreds, of Yellow Headed Blackbirds appeared from the East and landed in the cat tails. Was looking forward to seeing them in the morning with better light!
All night, the chatter of cranes, with a few coyote calls filled the horizon with sound, beautiful glorious natural sound. I couldn’t wait for sunrise, I was not dissapointed…a group had gathered to watch the sun arrive, and the cranes depart. Sandhill cranes have a long history in Arizona. Petroglyphs of these birds, etched into stones by native people hundreds of years ago, can still be found along the lower Gila River. This important bird area, is dominated by a ephemeral lake, patchy marshlands, and semi-arid grasslands. Approximately 600 acres (1448 hectares) are the wetland. There are two small patches of riparian habitat. It was acquired by Arizona Game and Fish Department in 1997 according to the Audubon page.
Even Mike appeared to watch the spectacle. The sound was a roar of crane calls and happy gasps at the beautiful event happening before our eyes. Hot coffee in hand, sitting on my chair, I stopped shooting at one point and just watched. Several of us were hoping to photograph the Yellow Headed Blackbirds but to no avail, as the pinks turned to blue and gold the entire flock took off and headed east in a cloud of birds!
The morning light slowly overcame the dark and I headed back to the trailer for breakfast and more coffee:)
After breakfast I wandered out, I could hear a Cactus Wren walking about on the trailer roof. It was eating acorns left over from a previous stop under the oaks. Around the paths in the wildlife area that circle the ponds the bushes and trees were full of bird song. The mucky ponds are home to many species of ducks and other pokey birds:) A Wilson’s Snipe was foraging in the mud and a flock Dowitchers was preening in the morning sun. Dozens of Northern Shoveler Pairs foraged in the muck, shoveling. Green Winged Teals swam about, a bit too far for me to photograph but occasionally a bright patch of green would appear as they preened.
A Loggerhead Shrike had taken up lookout in a tree, it became very quiet save for a Woodpecker hammering away on a Willow. Black Phoebes sat by the waters edge waiting for flies. The birds that captured my heart were the elegant Pintail Ducks in their brown tuxedos:) Such beauties! The first overcast morning they were very close in, bustling about, posturing, posing, eating and just being ducks:) These beautiful dabbler ducks are found all over North America but head North to breed in Canada and Alaska.
Right across from the trailer was a large open shed, very tall, maybe 25′. Looked like an old round bale barn. In the rafters many people were stopping and pointing. At one end a female Great Horned Owl sat in her giant nest of twigs. On the other end of the shed, Mr. Great Horned Owl sat in the rafters peering about. He had a somewhat pissed off look to him so I kept my distance and shot from afar with the Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens.
I’ve read this same pair have been here for over 5 years so they don’t seem to have a problem with the many birders passing through. There was an abundance of gopher holes so I know what they live on:) They must be used to the traffic through this area and seemed unconcerned. I’d posted the shots here on a SW Birding Facebook page and some A-hole accused me of harassing them online, so many trolls out there, and ones with no sense of humour I discovered as well, did I mention owl tasted just like chicken?
What a spectacular 24 hours filled with beautiful birds….I would have loved to have stayed an extra two days but we’d paid a reservation in Rodeo, New Mexico and had to get on the road. Sigh…what a wonderful place and so many lovely people. A refreshing change from RV parks where no one goes outside except to walk the dog. These are my happy places but it was time to spend a week where Mike could take the telescope out and socialize a bit with other Astronomy geeks:) but that, is another tale. I’ll leave you with one last shot of these beautiful birds and implore anyone who has the chance to go see these amazing creatures before they head North!
After leaving Patagonia you pass through a high plain. Sonoita comes and goes, don’t blink or you will miss it;) The plains were covered with snow, at a higher altitude is was melting slowly. It was nice to wave goodbye to the white stuff in the rearview mirror. Mount Wrightson disappeared as we headed South on the 90 towards Huachuca City and Sierra Vista.
Goodbye snow!
After Sierra Vista 90 turns East and you enter into the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. The old sycamore trees lining this riverbed are beautiful, somewhat stark without their Spring leaves but that should be coming soon. According to the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, whew, that is a mouthful, people first arrived in this area 11,000 years ago. They belonged to what we now call the Clovis Culture and were the earliest known people to have inhabited North America. Named after the distinctive and beautifully crafted Clovis spear points they made, they were expert hunters of the large mammals of the last Ice Age, how cool is that! I made Mike promise to bring me back here as we drove by on our way to Bisbee…lots and lots of birds;)
Completed 60 years ago, Mule Pass Tunnel created a new gateway into Bisbee. It also cut 10 minutes off the drive over the 6,030-foot-high pass on US 80 into the southeastern Arizona mining town. Slipping into darkness, and then we were out and winding our way into Old Bisbee.
Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold, and silver mining town in 1880, and named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent Copper Queen Mine. That is where we parked for two days, at The Queen Mine RV Park. It was a tight fit getting in, I wouldn’t want to try it with anything larger than our 37′ but once up on the plateau that is the RV park there is plenty of space to maneuver. Read the reviews before you arrive and follow their advice;) We made sparks on our way out. Sites are in a semi circle overlooking the old mine and you can walk into town, or to the mine to take a tour. Cats were not impressed…a small dog walk..whaaaaa??? dog walk they said…suck it up we told them, lots of sniffing of bushes and kitty scowls;) Once up into the RV park there is no where to walk to but down to the mine or into town.
View from the Queen MIne RV Park
We walked into town and explored some of the old buildings and stores. Most of the restaurants were closed, Monday, too bad but we had our exercise finding the Mimosa Health Food Store along Brewery Avenue, how can you go wrong with a name like that?;) Fresh German sourdough bread and homemade bratwurst. Wonderful! Youngblood Hill Avenue was a challenge, for me, the hare left the tortoise behind and then we walked back along OK Street.
This is a town of stairs…everywhere you look, it is the only way to access anything. A welder could make a fortune here just in repairs. The only way to get up and down to many of the small houses are rickety sets, and not so rickety sets of stairs….The Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb is a five-kilometer run through the city that traverses 1,034 stairs….whew…tired just thinking about it;) If you’re a lazy person someone in a golf cart will drive you around on a tour…ha!
It seems to be a liberal little town, made me smile, the united we stand-US-Arizona-Mexico graffiti as well as signs taped in windows welcoming all and placards in store windows in Spanish and English proclaiming” Humanitarian aid is NEVER a crime, Drop the charges”. The migra seems to hit a nerve here perhaps…I do like the idea of a bicycle Brothel as well;)
There are saloons, no swinging doors I could see, closed 🙁 and a few old hotels along OK Street. At the end it is so narrow I doubt our dually truck could make some of the narrow turns. Mike said it reminded him of Europe. We stopped to talk to a kind German fellow walking his two shepards that I’d met in Patagonia Lake, small world this corner of Arizona. It is a mix of rehabilitated and needing rehabilitation everywhere you look. It is quaint, mixed with fun, mixed with boarded up and falling down. A great looking small theater, “Greenbook, Dr. Strangelove and Oh Brother Where Art Thou” were playing, nice!
We did make a trip back to Sierra Vista to restock. Headed into the boonies of SE Arizona and New Mexico next where there is…nothing…really, well, not much fresh food anyway, you’ll see;) We read the bad reviews about the Bisbee Safeway and I still wanted to stop at the San Pedro Riparian area so off we went. We circled South on the 92 back up to Sierra Vista.
The sight of the migra trucks is pretty common here, not so many migra road blocks but these guys are everywhere you look. The view to the West is spectacular. In these canyons all kinds of bird watching B&B’s are located, wish there were Birding RV parks here;) We stopped for lunch in Sierra Vista, I’d read some good reviews for J’s Kitchen, a food truck specializing in Filipino Food. We were not disappointed! Spicy fried Pork Belly and lumpia…heaven!
After the trip to the grocery store and an amble through Walmart for a water filter and DEF fluid we headed back to Bisbee via the 90 again with a quick stop at the Riparian Area. Really delightful stop. Friendly volunteer, pointed out the sleeping screech owl to us and I sat and watched the woodpeckers and warblers for a while before we headed home.
Enough of the city for us. Nice to have laundry etc but time for the wilds once again! For a long time I’ve read about Whitewater Draw, a State Wildlife area famous for its Sandhill Cranes. They have dry camping limited to 3 days so I talked Mike into going for at least one before we headed off to Rodeo, New Mexico and astronomy happenings:)
So stay tuned for thousands, yes up to 20,000 Sandhill Cranes:) and photos…hahahaha! Don’t look up with your mouth open;)
Hello Sunshine! The clouds parted late in the day and we had a few glimpses of sun on the the surrounding hills as the clouds were blown off the tips of the mountains. The wet heavy snow started to melt almost instantly and the roads were clear enough to maneuver about carefully. Forgot how cold this stuff is!
The office and visitor center has feeders to go watch the birds as well as a lovely path, the Sonoita Creek Trail where a group of Pyrrhuloxia were dominating the feeders, this fellow figured out how to keep his feet from getting cold! Cardinals came and went as well as Yellow Rumped Warblers. Along the path Ladderback woodpeckers were busy on tree trunks and flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds and Grackles occasionally descended to take over the feeders.
Patagonia is a small town, just over 900 residents and it has a quirky feel to it. Not far from the State Park, 6 miles more or less, it has its share of camera and binocular wielding visitors roaming the green patches of trees looking for something rare or new to the birding community. One gas station, Two old pumps not seen much anymore and California prices, neither Pat nor Daisie-Mae the pig were anywhere to be seen, self serve in this two pump town;) The Red Mountain Foods has a wonderful assortment of very fresh produce, home grown eggs and staples and health food finds in bulk. The Patagonia Market across the street has milk, canned goods and a selection of beer and wine. The best was The Ovens of Patagonia-freshly baked bread but the pastries, lemon and cherry cheese danish were to die for!
Also in Patagonia is the Tucson Audubon Society’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds…how could I resist that? I knew it was early for the hummingbirds but I always have wanted to see it. The Cottonwoods in the yard looked like they had a hard time with the heavy snow, broken branches everywhere but the air was full of sound. The Tucson Audubon runs the Patton’s house, where Marion and Wally Patton fed the birds for over 40 years until they passed away. Over 212 species have been seen here including the Violet Crowned Hummingbird. I did not get to see it but many other delightful birds in and around their yard and some very chubby squirrels:)
The snow was quickly melting. I had another chance to Walk the Sonoita Creek Path. The creek was overflowing and the bridge across had been pulled aside as the creek would have floated it away, so no exploring the other side until the waters recede! It gave me a chance to explore the shoreline. Great Blue Herons and Cormorants, Lesser Scaups, a new duck for me, as well as Mergansers and Northern Shovelers seemed to be the most abundant birds.
Back at the trailer our feeders had flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds and Goldfinches galore. Great Cat TV. Three different hummingbirds showed up, the gorgeous Broad Billed, a Costa’s and even a Rufous I think, it could have been an Allen’s.
Bewick’s Wrens foraged under the bare mesquite trees. A female Vermilion Flycatcher was busy swooping down on bugs, I couldn’t see any but she was catching them as well as a Black Phoebe. Lesser Goldfinches were bathing in the melting snow puddles running off the trailer top:) A female Bushtit was busy in a pine tree, such fast little birds and chipping sparrows came and went with the house finches. Wonderful to see so many feeders up at so many trailers as many parks discourage feeding any wildlife.
I think I could easily stay here for weeks! These parks you have to plan ahead to get reservations. I was thankful so many cancelled because of the snow or we wouldn’t have been able to stay as long as did! The pantry was starting to look empty and we needed to do a run for ourselves and chicken to grind up for the four pawed family so we decided to move on to Bisbee. We’d driven by a few years ago on our first voyage on Myrtle One and it had intrigued us, and I’d made a ghost town trip through here 35 years ago, damn time flies! So it was time for town!
Lake Patagonia-Let the sun shine!
So stay tuned amigos, a break from birds to old buildings…maybe;) hahahaha!
We were not sure what to expect arriving at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. I’d read reviews and blogs, some good some not so good but we were looking for a one night stopover before we could arrive at Lake Pleasant Regional Park, and we were in Arizona finally! Diesel drops a dollar a gallon, yeah! We took the #111 North from the Salton Sea to the I 10 Eastbound, turned South at Blythe and followed State Road 78 South towards the refuge. #78 South bound turns into Neighbours Road on a bend. Oh dear, I keep saying the #78 or the I 10…very Californian of me;) Just watch SNL’s take on it;) hahahaha! Anyway, just before the Arizona border it gets a bit bumpy but once you cross the narrow bridge into Arizona it is fine. Passing huge cotton fields with bales lined up along the road gives you the confidence to cross the somewhat sketchy looking bridge. If fully loaded 18 wheelers can cross, so can we;)
Mike was looking at me skeptically as we crossed over a rickety cattle guard opposite the Wildlife Refuge Office and started to drive up a small hill. Several other RV’s were camped there. It was the “what are you getting me into look!” Ha! I’d read not to go beyond a small dip as you can get hung up so we backed into the last site on the left with a fire ring and set up. Quite the view, a stark dry desert view. It gave us an idea when we come back if it is somewhere we want to stay and explore, once it WARMS up!
Fog rolling in, Lake Pleasant Regional Park.
We left fairly early trying to beat the clouds and rain approaching from the West. Lake Pleasant Regional Park had been full except for two days so we took what we could get. It was a bit of a tight fit but we backed in and got the slides out in site 17 of the Roadrunner Campground. The way in was a bit convoluted and the directions at the front not the best but we found where we were going eventually! View was great over the lake. Sites 13. 15 and 16 are pull through and face the lake, they would be the ideal ones to have. We asked if they had any cancellations and no, it just seems all the regional and state parks are full, all the time in February and March. Plan ahead is all I can say! Cats loved walking down to lake on the paths.
The front arrived and it rained for most of the next day before clearing. We tried to find a spot at Catalina State Park but they were fully booked, until the ranger suggested we go to the overflow camping area, he said it was really nice, no services, so that is where we decided to head for Saturday morning, after a night in Phoenix for a laundry stop. Battling a bit of slow Phoenix traffic, a few good God billboards, those 1-855-for-truth guys are everywhere, and a billboard for a $1000 complete cremation service, now pray tell me what would be an incomplete cremation service, they just toast your feet and hands? Who thinks of these ideas? I loved the adult bookstore billboard between the God ones;) and I don’t know any Hispanics with “Republican” values..(which are what?…care for the unborn child but not after?)…at least not our friends in Mexico;) Interstates are so interesting…if just for the advertising;) We spent the night at a Phoenix RV Park-Fiesta Grande-a needed laundry stop. It was very odd. Everyone had name tags on and they were extremely friendly, and very very talkative, not good listeners;)…a huge band of permanents here for the entire winter. Lot’s of lonely people it felt like. No walking paths just lots of concrete and neighbours. I was happy to leave the next morning after a thorough cleaning fest of truck and trailer;)
Catalina State Park is a bit off the freeway after the 17 turns to the 10 North of Tucson, the road meanders through planned communities with bike paths, past a large shopping center you cross over to the park, a bit weird, it’s like, where the hell is the park? We approached the gate and the park ranger had his hand up…whoa there…the road in and out of the campground was flooded, five feet of water in the arroyo he said, no one is coming or going today…what to do, what to do….Got on the phone, Kartchner State Park said we could camp for a night in their parking lot, they were full, I dreaded the thought of another sardine RV Park so called Colossal Cave Mountain Park and he said they had first come first serve camping spots! Excellent. He gave me detailed instructions on how to get there, where to stop and park and off we went.
Driving into Colossal Cave State Park
I understood the explicit directions he gave when we got there. He said to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up to the office, which I did, we could have made it up, but not back down the narrow one way road with a sharp left turn on exit. It was a good huff and puff half mile climb up. Went into the Gift Store/Office and a young lady took my $7 a night then showed me where the campground was on the map. I did explain we were 37′ long and she said no problem…I did mention again the ranger said there was overflow camping, yup, there she said…oh dear…we got in, Mike was giving me another one of those WTF looks, with good reason, it was a narrow road through a very narrow gate. The Campgrounds, tucked in the mesquites in Posta Quemada canyon, were built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, way too small for today’s larger trailers and RV’s. The ranger appeared behind us and was very kind, “So sorry, this is not where you are supposed to be, I saw you out the work shop window and tried to catch you!”…follow me. Mike managed to get Myrtle around a very small turn about, with a few new scratches from the mesquite tree on the corner but we were soon on our way to the overflow parking lot…whew…
This park could use some work, just the roads made us feel like we were back in Baja, pothole dodging is a fine art here! We turned into a large lot and pulled alongside a small creek and let out a sigh of relief…there is a hose over there, well water, the ranger said:) Wonderful! Super nice guy:)
We wandered about a few trails. Up to some metates, grinding holes in the granite for the mesquite beans used by the Hohokam Native Americans to make flour.There was a dude ranch and some sleepy horses tied up waiting for riders. We met a few polite bike riders on the paths but other than that very quiet, one other camper and some tenters showed up for night or two. We never did make it up to the cave for a tour but it was lovely to leave the door open during the day. There were a few birds, but overall not much chatter from the tree tops.
A small creek ran between us and the dude ranch. It looked like it has seen better days, in fact the whole park has an old feel to it. The dude ranch looks tired, as do the surrounding gardens and museum which were all closed. It’s a if the cave has all the income. I expected to see more traffic over the Presidents Day long weekend for the horse rental but the cars that came and went were few. Too bad. I’d come back here to spend a few days by the cowboy statue:)
Mike had found a RV park, La Siesta Campground, near the Buenos Aires Wildlife refuge. We wanted to scout this area for possible boondocking. Another patch of bad weather, this time with snow forecast was headed our way so a bit of power would be nice for the electric heaters and Beezil’s heated throw:) Have to keep the old cat happy! So off we headed for Arivaca, Arizona.
The owner Steve was very kind. He called us on the way in to remind us not to follow Mesquite Road, basically a dirt track that some peoples GPS’s take them on. We heeded his advice and arrived at this lovely spot overlooking 9000′ Mount Wrightson to the East in a field of mesquite. Cat heaven…until…Jack the donkey appeared and was braying about as loudly as a donkey can when it’s lonely. The cat’s tails became enormous and they hot footed it back to the trailer dragging us behind them on their leashes. After in the trailer they were getting wide eyed every time they heard poor Jack braying by the fence.
What kind of alien creature was that?? hahahaha! Poor lonely Jack..all he wanted was some ear scratches and a bit of company. We were happy to plug in for a few days and do some exploring. To the West is the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. We took an afternoon and scoped out boondocking sites. What a beautiful place! A herd of Coues deer crossed the road, we let them past quietly so they would not panic and run into the barbed wire fence.
Back at the campground I wandered about looking for birds. A lovely lady on the end of the sites had some feeders up and invited me to sit and watch the birds. The bare mesquite trees were alive with song, especially early in the morning. We had a dusting of snow the first morning, the temperatures dipped to -8°, 18 °Flintstone scale…that was chilly! Heaters ran for half the night!
After the quiet of Colossal Cave Mountain park this was a treat. Bird chatter everywhere. Perhaps it’s the elevation here, 3643′ or simply it’s geographic location and the Arivaca Creek, now dry, filled with huge old Sycamores. There is evidence of torrential flooding here in the washes. Downed trees and carved sides of the dry creeks bear witness to large volumes of water. Summer monsoons here bring flash flooding along the Arivaca Road in dozens of spots, the repaired road damage is evidence to the destruction water can do.
I’d kept checking the calendar of reservation spots for Patagonia Lake State Park, a renown birding destination. They were calling for significant snowfall for the weekend and cancellations kept popping up. I’d secured two days and finally 5 nights in a row in one spot! Wahoo! The park has 50 amp service which would allow us to run all the electric heaters. The power at La Fiesta was low amperage and we had it go out several times. With up to 7″ of snow coming we thought it might be best to have a reliable source of power to keep us warm!
I was looking forward to 5 nights in one spot, too much hopping for me the last few weeks but so hard this time of year to find space at the state or regional parks…damn snowbirds;) hahaha! After Arivaca Road you join up the Interstate 19 in Amado, home to the Cow Palace and the Longhorn Grill, wonderful American Kitsch. We headed South towards Nogales before turning East on State Road 82 to Lake Patagonia State Park. The surrounding Mountains were dusted with snow, it was a beautiful sight! We pulled into site 67, great cat climbing trees, always a plus and settled in.
The rain soon started and by the morning, well, it was a white wonderland.
and I’ll sign off for now, but stay tuned for the lovely birds and more snow covered hills of Patagonia Lake State Park! Saludos amigos! Stay warm!
We wanted to go somewhere we’d never been before. I’d read conflicting reviews about the Salton Sea Recreational Area, it seemed to be a love, or hate it type of place. We drove through waves of wildflowers on the way down to the sea on State Road 22-Lupines and other flowers covered the sides of the road. I was not expecting the stark beauty that appeared before us. We drove past groves of Date Palms as we rounded the Northern end of the lake. The evidence of salt was everywhere. Arriving at the Mecca Campground we stopped and the camp host came out, lovely couple, and suggested we take spot 140, as there had been a cancellation. They are oddly shaped spots 20′ x 40′, more like blocks. We backed in sideways and just fit with our windows pointing out at the sea. Spectacular. The 4 sites along the center of the campground facing the sea have full hook-up as well! But we are sitting right on the San Andreas fault;)
We were surrounded by friendly campers, a Canadian couple, Sharon and Graham, a lovely Czechoslovakian woman, Merka, and her husband Mark and a man familiar with Baja, Mike with his two lovely older dogs-don’t let Groot hear I said that! Merka loved cats so the kids got some extra attention:) We also had some hints on where to go, and not. Mark said he wished he could “unsee” what he saw at Slab City and Bombay Beach. We can wait to witness the apocalypse on down the road, don’t wish to see that now:( He was shaking his head in dismay at the culture of anarchy there. There is no official electricity, running water, sewers, toilets or trash pickup service or any law enforcement. Most who are there have nowhere else to go, tweakers have overrun what at one time was an area people went to live off the grid and away from society, maybe misfits but now crime has taken over from the many accounts we read.
The first quarter moon was up so we unloaded the telescope and set it up, inviting all our neighbours for a look if they wanted to! The seeing was not the best but it was wonderful to share the views and drink mulled wine in front of a campfire. Everyone was complaining about the cold, what wusses are we but these folks had come from Minnesota and Ontario to escape it! We went online and decided to stay a few more nights and explore the area as the spot we were in had opened up with further cancellations.
The following days new visitors arrived from the campground near the park headquarters, the train whistle there had been driving them crazy as there is a road that crosses the tracks. At the Mecca campground you could hear the train but there was no whistle. Our new neighbours said it was not pleasant where they had been, that explains many of the bad reviews. Hopefully we cheered them up with a look at the universe!
It looks quite bleak this landscape, but there is so much beauty. All the small wildflowers spread about the beach and inland. It is amazing anything can grow. This is not sand but billions of tiny particles of shells, fish bones and accumulated salt. The natural rise and fall of the surface level over the years has resulted in a band of salt-encrusted land around the lake. In some places you can walk on it, in others, well, I learned after setting up my small three legged chair to photograph the Black Necked Stilts that is was not strong enough to support me, both chair, Pamela and camera fell over backwards, camera saved, never hit the ground, but I’m not sure I will ever get the stains, or wretched smell out of my clothes where I fell into the muck. Yuck! The boat ramps have long been abandoned with the falling level of the sea, even a kayak launching area at the headquarters keeps getting moved closer as the sea recedes.
According to Wikipedia: “Over millions of years, the Colorado River has flowed into the Imperial Valley and deposited soil (creating fertile farmland), building up the terrain and constantly changing the course of the river. For thousands of years, the river has alternately flowed into and out of the valley, alternately creating a freshwater lake, an increasingly saline lake, and a dry desert basin, depending on river flows and the balance between inflow and evaporative loss. The cycle of filling has been about every 400–500 years and has repeated many times. The latest natural cycle occurred around 1600–1700 as remembered by Native Americans who talked with the first European settlers. Fish traps still exist at many locations, and the Native Americans evidently moved the traps depending upon the cycle.
The most recent inflow of water from the now heavily controlled Colorado River was accidentally created by the engineers of the California Development Company in 1905. In an effort to increase water flow into the area for farming, irrigation canals were dug from the Colorado River into the valley. The canals suffered silt buildup, so a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River to further increase the water flow. The resulting outflow overwhelmed the engineered canal, and the river flowed into the Salton Basin for two years, filling the historic dry lake bed and creating the modern sea, before repairs were completed.”
A town and reservation was swallowed as well as many miles of railroad track and a salt mine, time will only tell when they will resurface as the lake is shrinking yearly. Saltier than the Pacific Ocean and getting saltier every year as run off does replenish the lake, but more water is taken/evaporated than restored.
A small path links together the Mecca Campground to the Park Headquarters and visitor center. Hundreds of Western Painted ladies danced from wildflower to wildflower. I walked back along the beach after reaching the Northern Campground. Black Necked Stilts poked about in the water and flocks of Gulls landed and took off as I walked by. The park brochure needs to updated and have “swimming” removed from the Mecca Breach area. I can’t imagine wading into the muck and actually floating in it:( The only fish species that can survive in the water is Tilapia, and a fisherman would want to eat one after they catch it? I don’t think so. With agricultural wash off there have been huge algae blooms and just recently Avian cholera hit the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in the South where thousands of birds died and are being cleaned up trying to stop the spread of the disease.
We took an afternoon and drove down there. It was somewhat depressing with Geothermal Power plants spewing clouds of..(?) into the air as you drive to the refuge. The office was closed and we couldn’t find any maps so wandered down a few paths. I don’t think I’d go back. In the distance snow geese were feeding but most of the paths were closed, perhaps because of the avian flu. A few White Pelicans did a lovely fly over and the resident burrowing owl barely poked his head out of the pipe buried into the ground that was his home:) A cottontail graced us with his presence but it felt, well, sad.
Did I mention there was an awesome cat climbing tree right beside the trailer? Groot and Gamora went out twice a day just to climb the many branches of the Salt Pine and poke about in the bushes looking for lizards warming up in the sun. I have never seen two happier cats! They also had a beautiful female Anna’s hummingbird to watch as well:) and those sunrises….
and sunsets….
We didn’t run into the fly problem so many reviews talked about, or stench coming from the sea. We were far enough away even though the wind blew from all directions while we were there. The cool, no, cold nights most likely kept the bugs at bay. A sandstorm appeared on the Western shore of the Sea one afternoon and eventually blew over us but without the ferocity I was expecting, the next day the mountains looming over Palm Desert were covered in snow.
Sandstorms on the Western Shore
North of the Salton Sea Recreation area is the small town of Mecca. There are several small grocery stores, El Super Toro Loco has a bakery attached, delicious bolillos, great tortillas and meat department as well as fresh produce, felt like home, back into Spanish we slip so easily. Taco Time is not to be missed. Delicious nopal tacos as well as carne asada and al pastor:) Lot’s of Mexican beer and a few bottles of wine, girl at the counter shyly asked me what the chardonnay tasted like:) You can also visit the Banana Museum if you feel so inclined and stop at the liquor/market next door for a walk back to the late 50’s.
The flowers, lupines and brittle brush, blooming alongside State Road 111 were beautiful. The colour stretched for miles and miles along the winding road that follows the shore of the Salton Sea. The cats were very sad to leave their tree but we wanted to push East, thinking it might be warmer…only time will tell:)
Saludos amigos! Stay tuned to see if we warm up, or don our toques and mits;)
Colours, enchanting colours of the desert mornings. The sound of doves and early a lone coyote cry in the distance. We are always approached and warned by the plethora of paranoid campers about being”careful”, those coyotes, they’ll come and snatch your cats, right off the leash…sigh, yes, thanks for the warning. We have lived in the wilds before:) Maybe they mean well, and no, we don’t let our cats out loose and yes, we are perceptive about wildlife:) The camp host at first came over and said”Hey, dogs need to keep to the paths” then looked, cats? Never mind nothing in the rules about cats;) Funny world:)
The Palm Canyon trail is a beautiful hike up to a grove of, yes, palms:) 3.5 mile loop trail, up about 400′ in elevation. It starts at a small parking lot at the end of the road where the dry camping is located. The creek was running well, so much water! The trail criss-crosses the creek several times as you wind your way up. The path ranges from smooth sand to rocky bits and even a bit of scrambling at the end. I think it is remade each year after the rains wash it out:) It was quiet, a few other hikers but not crowded at all and that blue blue sky to marvel at!
…and the wildflowers are just starting. Mostly small bunches here and there, Western Painted Lady Butterflies are flitting about, landing briefly and moving on in waves. At one point in the path Mike’s eagle astronomer eyes spied a hummingbird on her nest, right next to the path. We sat on a rock and watched her come and go, fascinating, some hikers stopped, others just walked by…
One of nature’s marvels these tiny cuplike nests, made of plant fibers and spider webs, lined with plant down and sometimes feathers. I’m not sure if she is an Anna’s or a Costa’s Hummingbird, I thought I saw a flash of pink as she courted a male so most likely Anna’s:) They associate with males only long enough to copulate. The female constructs the nest, incubates the eggs, and cares for nestlings, lots of work for a single mother! Incubation is 14-19 days, that is quick! I could have stayed for hours…and I did come back the next day and sat for an hour before we had to vacate our campsite.
This was the first chance I had the opportunity to put my new camera strap to work, a BlackRapid Breathe Sport Strap that attaches to the Tamron Lens. It made it much easier crawling over rocks and through boulders, which is all part of the trail carrying the rather heavy lens:) The strap crosses your shoulder and has an additional under arm band to keep things from moving around, yet it is easy to raise the camera for any shot. Impressed:)
We went back the alternative way as that is usually where we see Borregos but none this trip, there is so much to eat right now they don’t need to come down into the canyon to forage. The hummingbird nest made my day!
I ventured out after dark to see if I could image the Winter Milky Way to the West but it was mostly faded from the light pollution coming from the West, LA and Desert Palm Springs I believe. It was still a gorgeous night to watch the stars and listen to the coyotes .
The next day we hopped across the lake, or the Salton Sea, I just want to call it a lake…a short drive from Anza-Borrego to the Western shore. I’d read up on a few of the campgrounds and we wanted to go someplace completely new to us, which it was. Didn’t know what to expect but so glad we did!
Our view to the Salton Sea
Stay tuned for the Salton Sea…coming soon! Saludos amigos!
♫♪♫ I wish they all could be California girls♫♪♪♫ I hear the Beach boys singing!
We needed a change of pace, wandering about looking at ducks had me wondering if I’d be sprouting feathers soon;)….A walk on the beach sounded the perfect thing to do when our friends Regan and Sheila arrived from Canada, one day after their vacation, they hopped on a plane after agreeing to drive a 20′ U-haul back to upstate NY with the remains of what we own and not stuffed on the trailer. It was time to close the California chapter and get those last few belongs, books and picture albums, worn bits of family furniture, heirlooms or not, it is the few things we still feel we have a history to and we have a place to put them so out of the 20′ shipping container on my brother and sister-in-law’s property and off to Ontario they eventually will go! After the checking the price of moving companies and choking, this was our option, Regan stepped up and coerced Sheila I’m sure to a 6 day cross the USA adventure driving a truck…ha! They are amazing people! And yes, I still found birds;)
We walked down the beach…”all those fit Californians” Sheila remarked:) Indeed, one less trip to “Habit Burger” the little angel said sitting on my shoulder;) We toured Ocean Beach the next day after having breakfast at Gillespie Field, the devil made me order the eggs benedict, honestly… watching the planes take off and land. Ran into some people with bengal cats on leashes, NEED! and Obi Wan’s church (I could have sworn it said that) as well as a peace hostel and a tour through “The Black” finished by margaritas on the boardwalk people watching:)
It is such an odd place California. After the God billboards of the South, California has its own Gods, the Cannabis ones…American marketing at it’s best, there is someone out there waiting to sell you something;) And the Trump flags…sigh…do you really need to fly your flag at a campground, God forbid some sane thinking person might approach you, warn them off right away!!! Maybe I can get an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez one, billionaires beware!
We live in such divided times don’t we, it seems the middle ground has sunk into a swamp and we are clinging to either side…but at least the West coast is well medicated from what I can see, eases the pain…;)
We bade farewell to Sheila and Regan and our truck full of memories headed North, pleaded with the weather Gods to be kind for their travels and started to pack up as we had a three or four day hotel stay ahead of us as our trusty trailer Myrtle had some body work to be done after an encounter with road debris, maybe it was a road nargle…sigh..it put a bump in the left rear quarter and pulled the trim away. I called a body shop a mobile RV guy suggested, first it wouldn’t be until the middle of February, then he called back and said bring it in right away!…now, to find a cat friendly hotel, and dog friendly ones are not interchangeable…rooms that smell of wet dog will not be accepted Groot exclaimed!
We searched online as the insurance company gave us a budget of what we could spend, the Ritz Carlton was right out;) I was craving countryside and dirt, we looked at the beach but it was concrete wall to wall so headed inland and checked out a small motel near Julian. Huge live oaks behind, places to walk the cat, kitchenettes with fridge and freezer…bingo! Even a bakery across the road with lovely home made biscuits! It was Groot, Gamora and Puffy approved once they had the chance to explore and settle in. They amaze me these creatures of habit that can adapt to sudden change! Kitty Vacation!!!! Nooks and crannies to explore as well as high cabinets to perch on!
The forecast was for rain so we took a morning drive before the front came through and checked out a few local state/county parks for future RV reference, William Heise and then off towards Mount Laguna before the clouds rolled in and the rain started. I do love this terrain. Perhaps it reminds me of the Baja Sierra mountains and live oaks, I feel at home here at this elevation more than anywhere. I didn’t get Mike to visit the Camel/dromedary dairy though;) Will save that for next trip! The trailer was actually done a day early (imagine that) but our reservation to return to Santee was not so we stayed put an extra day before heading back to Santee to retrieve Myrtle, cats in tow and heading back to the lakeshore loop at Santee Lakes for a few days to make sure all was in order, shopping done and a few more walks around the lake and bid farewell to my troup of birds:)
It keeps me out of trouble;) All these birds. The morning we were scheduled for departure the clouds had parted and the sun was glorious! It has seemed to be an oddly wet time of the year and spoiled as we are, what is this mud thing??? Ha! It brings mushrooms and glossy berries and cats hidden in trees!
We headed North on the 67, Mike and I chuckle now when we start to give highway directions, SNL “the Californians”, thanks Regan and Sheila, ha! Yes we do sound like that sometimes…so, like we took uh the 67 North to hmm, the 78 at Santa Isobel you like turn left onto the 79 North to like the State road 22 East….to get to Anza-Borrego State Park. Past snow covered hills and then the LA mountains to the North. The road going down to the Salton Sea had been sanded, wicked weather here a few days back, the road signs were covered with ice. Just wild! Nothing like Ontario my friends but weather nonetheless, I think it was my great Grandfather that said Southern California has climate, not weather;)
So with our escape from the city complete it was with a bit of a heavy heart as it felt indeed like a chapter coming to an end, things that tied us here, things, not the wonderful people, family and friends, are now gone. We place so much stock in these things at times. Sometimes I think the longer we stay away from the them, the less important they become, until we open that favourite dog eared book, and gaze at the photos, the old chinese chest and the old ass sucking (yes, you really can not get your ass out of this sofa once you sit down) rattan sofa…our things…not new, not fancy but just wonderful comforting old things. They will await us for another few months as our journey continues, seeking a few warmer spots before it is time to head North and East once again. Stay tuned for the desert and the Salton Sea my friends!
Though Merriam-Webster defines “stoke” as “to stir or add fuel to (something that is burning)” this expression has absolutely nothing to do with building a fire, at least in a literal sense. Californians are stoked when they’re totally, completely exhilarated about something, whether it’s a trip to the mountains or a huge swell coming just in time for the weekend.
Or even a good cup of coffee…welcome to California:) Sort of, the laid back beach vibe doesn’t inhabit all the state, at least nowhere on the freeways, but we’re sticking with our pay it forward, be nice to people merging and to those who seem not able to drive at all and take a deep breath;) ha! Easier said than done! Occasionally someone throws a thank you wave your way, a small gesture, just meaning you have acknowledged each others humanity:) Isn’t that nice!
We’ve stayed on the coast before, down in Pacific Beach there are two RV “resorts”, having a pool classifies you as such I think;) but at $90 a night and lined up cheek to jowl with your neighbour is not my idea of a good time, also, concrete as far as the eye can see, I need dirt to walk on. That is why we come back to Santee Lakes, we do have to shuffle about every week or so to a new spot but if we plan we get good separation and trees for cats to climb, and birds to perch in:)
The sites near the pool in the center of the campground are in groves of sycamore and pine trees, the Willow Loop, yup, go figure;) Here the small songbirds and finches flock to the fruiting bushes. The Red Tailed and Red Shouldered Hawks use the upper branches as cover as they hunt their meals. A family of crows will tell you when they are there. I first thought they were barking at the cats on their leashes but then I looked up, and a hawk was looking down at me:)
Other than the incessant helicopter and military aircraft noise it can be quiet surprisingly enough, they do rest occasionally the military:) The wildlife isn’t just humans walking their dogs, the coyotes yip and snarl at night after they have caught a rabbit or a bird too close to shore, Coot control one might think. Mike pointed out the coyote yips to a woman one day while he was taking the trash to the dumpster…”Is that what that is! How incredibly creepy!” she exclaimed…what??? Are we that far removed from nature that the glorious yips from a coyote sound creepy? Very sad…Mike said he was left without words and walked away.
At least one small tied up dog has been snatched by the coyotes but then they do say, don’t tie your dog outside the trailer…sad way to learn a lesson. We must share these areas. As further construction above the lakes increases, 450 new homes I was told, it squeezes these creatures out of their natural environment and into the campgrounds and neighbourhoods. It is very sadly called “Weston”….”one road in, one road out” a woman walking her dog exclaimed, “450 houses, not exactly good fire planning”.
Depending on where you are in the campground defines what is around you. The first spots, oldest in the park from the 1960’s, are the lakeshore loop, my favourite. Spot #44 backs onto the lake where the Wood Ducks spend the night, any of the spots in here are quite lovely, though you can be very close-side by side in some spots, it pays to pick and choose. You can drink your coffee in the morning looking at the ducks and various other water birds, a nice way to start the day:) This is a large campground with many choices.
During the week the shorter lakeside sites are generally empty, they fill up for the weekend but so nice and quiet the rest of the time. The cats can wander along the lakes/reservoir and watch the coots:) Groot got very excited watching a man fishing, no doubt thinking of Otty Lake and what those fishing rods catch! The fisherman declared they don’t eat anything out of the lake, it all tastes like pond bottom green moss he said. Not a surprise as they are farm raised and released here to eat, pond bottom green moss;)
The Egrets and Herons fly from bank to bank looking for small fish. They are quite used to humans and let you walk right on by. The Black Crowned Night Heron either looks like a Mafia henchman sitting on the edge of the water to an occasional perch in a tree. I missed catching the Green Heron down at lake one but will endeavour to get his photograph, he is a beauty. The American White Pelicans often follow the Double Crested Cormorants about as they heard schools of fish too and fro, waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of their work. They are impressive when they fly right over your head. Even get to visit with some Canadians, geese that is, and even a few fellow human Northerners in the campground as well;)
When the water is flat calm, the reflections are astounding. Mother Nature’s artwork at is’t best:) Sometimes it is simply the reflections of the surrounding shrubbery that amaze me, the birds are gravy:) I sometimes wonder why all my birds seem to swim left to right…hmmmmm…..;)
So here we are, about to embark on a new month in a New Year. We are having some repairs taken care of, the shore power went out, turned out to be the surge protector and electric reel, those are now replaced we have our lights back, no more extension cords leading out the trailer door, thank you so much Offshore Outfitters and Good Sam Extended Warranty! We found some road debris as well had done some damage to the driver quarter panel so Myrtle is at the body shop now, getting that replaced, the rear cap bracket must have come loose when something hit us, the bottom of the cap swayed from side to side at the bottom way more than it should as we went over a bit of pavement at the campground backing in…0_0…. tithery things these trailers. Great body shop in Santee said it will be ready by the morning, we will be happy to get back on board tomorrow hopefully, to home. It really is home:) and the only DRV I’ve seen with bumper stickers…hahahahaha!
…and not the only adventure this week, but we’ll explain that soon:)
Saludos amigos and stay tuned! We’ll let the duck have the last quack;)
It is always bittersweet leaving Estero behind. Hardly seems like a month has gone by but here we are at the end of January, seems so far away. I can still smell the tacos and am missing the smiles of the water refill store boys who wave as we drive by and Mariscos cart on the corner, those shrimp cocktails and the latest gossip about people we do not know, his family trials and tribulations and his weird porn, yup, he’s a sharer, on his phone…0_0 hahahaha, what some people want to pass on eh? 😉 The air in Ensenada was starting to affect me, and Beezil the old cat. With no garbage disposal (on strike, no money) people resorted to burning everything, plastic, styrofoam, everything….It created a noxious odour and those nasty little particulates, not good to breathe in:(…doesn’t seem to bother the birds…
The bird life in the estuary is a constant source of beauty and affirmation of life here, almost in the city but not. As the tides go in and out the wildlife change spots and reorganize with every passing hour. Crabs scramble as the Willets chase them, the Mergansers can be seen herding fish underwater, working in pairs as the herd of Egrets greedily follow them hoping to catch a tasty morsel unaware.
The Osprey comes and goes with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The seagulls tell tall tales to each other after the tide has gone out with scavenged pieces of fish. At low tide the Black Skimmers land in huge flocks (are they aliens or what?) and just sit as do the Egrets and Herons. Now I’m going to have to explain to the cats…other than the fact there will be no more fresh fish or shrimp from El Garo, no more beach!!!!
The highlight of the cat’s day is a trip to the beach where the old RV park used to be. Now a brand new cement road leads there, empty lots sit, it makes me sad to see the park gone as it was truly a spectacular place to be. The cats don’t care much for busy days so after four, when most have gone home they get to go and run on the beach, free range kitties. Groot watches for passing bicyclists and Gamora stalks birds to no avail, they run and play…they are not going to forgive me;)
It’s not all seabirds here. The flycatchers wait and dash from the palms at flies. Mrs. Merlin has a spot in a leafless tree where she waits each afternoon, and the Red Tail Hawk, shyer than many used to humans was a wary watcher from the posts.
Gray days of January
With the rains have come some wildflowers on the beach and the orange trumpets the hummingbirds love so much, a few rare aloe blooms, not so much rain this Winter so far but a delight to see the wildflowers poking their heads through the sandy patches.
The last week we spent an afternoon in Valle de La Guadalupe-Birthday lunch at Laja-food porn for anyone who understands what simplicity and wonderful fresh ingredients can do. The wine pairing was fabulous, local wines all, especially the Bichi label from Tecate brought many smiles. I start to drool just looking at the pictures and reliving the flavours:) Best Birthday present ever:) It was a fabulous way to spend a rainy afternoon with my love:)
We hoped to stay through February but it was not to be. We headed back across the border at Tecate, a surprising 5 minute wait at the border had us flabbergasted, a kind, working without pay, CBP was gracious, a reminder how difficult life can be for these guys, even when they are getting paid! No emergency here folks, can someone pass that on to #45….
A bientot Estero, can’t bear to say adios Baja California:)
Last Estero sunset
Saludos amigos, stay tuned, back to Sandy Dayglo:)
Ok. last part I promise before we head out to new horizons. Rancho la Concecion is not all birds and beasts, it has incredible views and amazing history. When I look at the 500-year-old oaks I try to imagine what they have seen, our lives are but a wink of theirs;) They line the arroyo, tall on the South side where the sun hits them the most, short and squatty on the northern portion where there is less light. Some trunks take 6 people with their arms linked to encircle them, such beauty. It’s not like a Northern forest with its damp smell of decaying leaves, here the leaves that fall form thick layers to help keep in the moisture of this dry high desert climate. It is wonderful air, so clean, so fresh.
California Live Oaks
Live Oaks
Blooms and new leaves
I’ve never felt I’ve captured the majesty of these incredible trees. On either side of the arroyo is our Ent forest-it is alive in such a magical way. The acorns provide so much food for everything around. The woodpeckers stuff them into the old and dead trees in every nook and cranny to come back and eat during the lean times.
Walking along the arroyo
Acorns stashed for leaner times
The Kiliwa indigenous tribe that wandered these lands used them as well, harvesting acorns and pine nuts from the higher-elevations of the sierra was a major activity. They were roasted and ground into a flour. An old metate, grinding stone sits at the front of the house. A reminder of those who lived here before us. The ranch has ancient trails where stone tools and arrowheads appear after rains, a tribute to the long history these people had here as hunter/gatherers. Later they settled, built stone houses and raised their food in the rich oak soil. Doña Chepa, Josefa Espinoza Cañedo, owned the ranch before the matriarch of the Melings, Aida purchased it from her. We had the delight of meeting three of Doña Chepa’s daughters and heard the family history firsthand. They were a treasure trove of information regarding the old stone homes as well as the burial area and the piedra de la suerte, o piedra encantada, the lucky or enchanted rock. I’ve attached a video where the ranch appears at various times, the Kiliwa burial site and the enchanted rock, on the road going North from the house. The below video is a wonderful look at some Kiliwa history with footage from the ranch every now and then.
Don Jose Uchurte explains to documetary filmmaker Rodrigo Iturralde the significance of what he calls this “lucky” rock. Piedra de suerte. At the base are thousands of smaller rocks tossed there by passers by looking for good luck.Also thrown are bits of chamise colorado branches..all to invoke good favour for the Kiliwas.The local indigenes population. Now we know why we have found dozens of ancient stone tools on this route! It has been a path for hundreds of years.
Pierda de la suerte
Arrowhead found along the road
This beautiful young girls ancesters roamed this sierra
The smells, they are so wonderful as well. After a Summer rain the chemise (chaparral brush) smells like honey and when the Fall brisa flows in you can even smell the ocean. The first time I could not understand that smell, the ocean, seaweed…right at my mountain doorstep! Fog and its rich moist air! conveyor of scents!
Summer rains, the chamise smells like honey-Conception IS the pot of gold:)
Brisa coming in from the coast
It is an oasis in the high desert. The water flowing through this ranch is what creates the incredible diversity of flora and fauna. It is the life-giver to this landscape. It has created and molded this multi-layered landscape over millions of years. Such beauty, such fine work Mother Nature:)
Sierra de San Pedro Martír, truly an enchanted land. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to know and walk the ancient trails, to sift through pieces of chipped arrowheads and hide scrapers, to meet the children, now great grandmothers, that were raised here, barefoot in the snow, in the stone and mud homes. If you find yourself driving down the 1 South, headed for a beach, think twice, the Sierra has so much to offer, so much beauty and history, so much life, don’t let that chance pass you by:)
If you arrive in the Fall, you may even get to taste the most amazing apples I have ever eaten in my life. Planted by a German sailor/navigator that jumped ship to help build an aqueduct for the gold mines over a hundred years ago, they continue to thrive…..I’m beginning to feel like Eve now;)
Saludos amigos-live long and proper-stay tuned as our next visit is to a Star Trek film site;) Woohoo!!!
“The journey not the arrival matters.” –T.S. Eliot
The big:) you tend to duck when you see their shadows pass over the ground, we must have been hunted at some point by giant birds, it’s simple instinct:) Glad these ones do not have contracting claws like birds of prey. They are North America’s largest land bird with just over a 9 foot wingspan. They are masters at soaring, riding thermals to reach where they are going with few wing beats. They eat carrion by tearing it apart with their beaks, not their claws, and do not have a good sense a smell, handy for a carrion eater;) They locate their food by sight, often following other smaller carrion eaters to a dead animal.
Juvenile California Condor
Juvenile California Condor
Adult California Condor
It has been a wonderful experience knowing the people who run the Condor Station here in the Sierra, our closest neighbours along with the Rangers at the park entrance. They are dedicated folk! It also means we get an occaisonal drop in Condor, generally newly released that has not yet learned to ride the thermals or are lacking fitness. These guys need to exercise to get stronger, no condor gym around…hahahaha! So we do get visitors every now and then. She seemed to like our truck:) Not all condors make it in the wild. Some become imprinted on humans perhaps during medical treatment (mostly for lead poisoning) or learn they can to beg sadly when humans feed them. #95 below currently lives at the Phoenix Zoo last I heard-he was a badly behaved boy;) pulling my clean clothes off the line was the last straw and flirting with my metal zopilote…really?;) They are possibly one of the most comical creatures on foot.
I’ll take the truck:)
She seems to be ignoring me!
I think I like that shirt, now how do I wear it?
The mountain behind us goes up extremely steeply. The condors nest in the cliffs all about the Sierra, it has been a treat seeing a juvenile still not tagged-flying free-knowing they are rebounding has been wonderful to watch, now just to eliminate lead shot, their worst enemy:(
Somewhat smaller than their avian Condor relatives, the Red Tail Hawks are found in abundance around the sierra and at lower elevations as well. Their call is unmistakable. The kri kri kri can be heard for miles it seems. The youngsters always hang out in the live oaks looking for squirrels and gophers below them:) There are few different morphs of colour here as well as one time view of a Ferruginous Hawk. Wish I had a good picture of the Golden Eagle pair that visited but no, too far away and blurry but they were magnificent!
Hey! Come back with the sign! You can’t eat that!;)
Red Tail Hawk-missed his wing by…that…much!;)
Take off aye
Darker Morph Redtail Hawk
Even darker morph Redtail Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk-pretty sure!
So, those are the big guys…the smallest, well, we have quite the variety! At peak migration sometimes over a hundred hummingbirds fill the air and are they loud! It sounds like an airport outside by the feeder:) with 4 feeders going they need to be filled twice a day!
Everyone calm down! Especially you in the back! It’s getting hung up!
Feeder chaos:)
Some stay and nest, other like the Rufous are long distance migrants travelling over 4000 miles from Mexico to Alaska! That is quite the trip no wonder they are the crankiest of the bunch;) The Rufous tend to arrive in early March, followed by the Allen’s. The Anna’s males stay all year-long weathering the snow and cold at times!
Rufous Hummingbird-the Mr.
Allen’s Hummingbird the Mrs. could be a Rufous, I have a hard time telling the females apart!
Rufous Hummingbird-Mr.
Allen’s Hummingbird-Mrs.
Allen’s male
The Anna’s stay and raise their young as well as the Black-Chinned and Costa’s. I’ve heard there have been sightings of Calliope hummingbirds in the park but I have never seen one here:)
Mr. Anna’s
Mrs. Anna’s
Mrs. Black Chinned (I think!)
Anna’s-loved the light here.
Mr. Costa’s
Mr. Anna’s again, our most abundant hummingbird here.
Mr. Black Chinned
They are the little jewels that really got me focused on photography so I have them to thank for so many precious memories. As we plan our trip North I know I will miss these little birds and all the fabulous nature around us. It was as if everyone in the sierra (with the exception of the puma..thankfully) came to say hello and good-bye. We’re going to miss the quiet and those dark dark skies, but we’ll be back:)
Saludos amigos-I hope you enjoyed the tour of the ranch these last few weeks and enjoyed it as much as us! Stay tuned!
The American painted lady butterfly is found throughout North America. Vanessa virginiensis lives in flowery habitats, usually in mountains. They pass through mostly in December feeding on the Manzanita blooms but are common all year-long especially late summer when the Asters are blooming. Yes, they are one of my favourites:)
California Sister (Adelpha californica)
California Sister (Adelpha californica) lay their eggs in the Live Oak Trees
One of the most colorful butterflies that use species of oaks exclusively as food for caterpillars is the California sister (Adelpha californica). The California sister spends most of its time flying about in the high canopies of coast live oak (Quercus agricola), canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia) and other species. It can be seen laying its eggs on the oak foliage.
Queen Butterfly
Western Swallowtail
Cabbage White-Pieris rapae
Clouded Sulphur(?) Southern Dogface(?)
These are some favourites that can be seen all year-long. As long as there is something blooming you will see butterflies:)
One of the many”Blue” Butterflies
Metalmark Butterfly
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
Mission Blue Butterfly
Sara Orangetip
Bramble Green Hairstreak(?)
Then there are the very cool moths! We see the caterpillars for the Sphinx Moths on a regular basis and then they appear-like tiny hummingbirds! The Ceanothus Silk moths pass through later in the year when temperatures have risen. They are incredibly beautiful with deep burgundy and red tones. They often land on the adobe walls of the house and spend the night there. at almost 5″ across they are huge!
Ceanothus Silk Moth
Ceanothus Silk Moth
Those eye markings on the wings are fantastic!
The beginning of a Sphinx moth:)
Sphinx moth feeding
Sphinx Moth
There are so many things that fly:) after a week or two of warm temperatures the dragonflies start to emerge. In the arroyo at first, then staking claim to different ponds and bits of water as they wage battle for territories and over patches of the fields.
Libelula flama-Flame Skimmer Dragonfly
Blue Dasher
Dasher(?)
Filigree Skimmer
Flame Skimmer
Giant Darner-In flight!
Blue Damselfly
….and sometimes the everyday, can be extra ordinary here. We have Ladybugs, or Ladybirds as the commonwealth call them. These are California native ladybugs with an oval, rather than rounded, body. They have 13 or fewer spots. They take their name from the two converging white lines on the pronotum (the shield like part that covers my head).
I am a California native ladybug with an oval, rather than rounded, body. I can have 13 or fewer spots. I take my name from the two converging white lines on my pronotum (the shield like part that covers my head). In the winter you can find me in huge colonies in the local mountains.
All it takes is a bit of hanky panky and then….OMG
All it takes is a little hanky panky and then you have this:
OMG! Good luck for the rest of my life;)
Lady bug orgy!
Harbringers of good luck, I shouldn’t run out for the rest of my life as I have had dozens crawling on me while photographing them;) In the winter you can find them in huge colonies in the arroyos. I’ll leave you with a few myths and legends of these lovely creatures:)
If a ladybug lands on you then that’s very lucky. In some cultures it is believed that whatever the ladybug touches will be improved.
If you see a ladybug that means good weather is near or that a person will soon have luck with love or money.
If you kill a ladybug you will have bad luck (DON’T do it!!!)
If you do get a hold of a ladybug make a wish. Whatever direction it flies away is where good luck will come from.
Ladybugs with seven or less spots are said to be a sign of a good harvest.
Norway folklore states that if a man and woman see a ladybug at the same time they will fall in love.
Saludos amigos and here’s wishing you a week filled with good luck! I’ll finish up with the biggest, and smallest birds here coming soon:)
The lizards…Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma coronatum) are my favourites. These little miniature dinosaurs take my breath away. In the Spring as we start to water they get flushed out from the grass around the trees and sit on the edges of the watering rings with a look of indignation…how dare you wet me!
Horned Lizard
Baby!!!!! awwww…..:)
Such beautiful animals
Desert Horned Lizard:) what a grumpy face!
The babies are out of this world cute as well. You can watch them catching ants to eat if you sit quietly nearby. They can scurry away in a hurry if alarmed! What grumpy faces they have, well, if all I ate was ants I might not look too pleased either;)
Common Side Blotch Lizard
Orange-throated males are “ultradominant.” They are the largest and most aggressive morph, defending relatively large (about 100 m2 or 120 yd2) territories and keeping harems of females with which they mate. They are adept at stealing mates from blue-throated individuals, but are vulnerable to cuckoldry by the yellow-throated female mimics
Blue-throated males are “dominant”. They are intermediate in size, and guard smaller territories containing only a single female. As they only have one mate to defend, they are better at catching yellow-throated sneaks, but are also susceptible to having their mates stolen by the larger, more aggressive orange-throated males
Common Side Blotch Lizard
The Common Side Blotch Lizard or are they Western Fence lizards(?) can be found all over the ranch. From the house courtyard to into the arroyo sunning on the rocks. Male side-blotched lizards exhibit distinct polymorphism in their throat colors and can be divided into three different categories. Each of these three different morphs varies in how it competes for mates, and variation within a breeding population. I learned everything I know from Wikipedia;) so I could be wrong ha!
This handsome fellow is a Skink. He/she lives in the side garden and is often buried under the sand there. He comes out to warm up occasionally, or when I water, I’m not popular with the lizards;)
Western Diamond Back
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
These guys we don’t get to see too often. Usually I get very excited-photo op for rattlesnakes! Our dog, Pepita, a Blue Healer usually lets me know they are around by barking at them, from a very safe distance. The Red Diamond Back we usually only see on the road out at slightly lower elevations but there was one once at the ranch. The beautiful Grey Pacific Rattlesnake (I think, I thought it was a veridus) is quite quiet compared to its angry red relative who is quick to rattle and strike, usually just moseying from one spot to another, often it never rattles even when approached. They are all part of our wonderful environment and fairly rare so always a wonder to see those distinct viper heads! There is a third small rattlesnake we have seen but not ever had a chance to photograph-Crotalus mitchellii-it has a lovely yellow underbelly. Those are the “keep your distance” guys around here as well as these amazing creatures:
Black Widow
Tarantula
Tarantula Hawk taking a tarantula back to her burrow
Tarantula Hawks
Black Widows are pretty common across the SW, you just have to be smart and check under things before putting your hands down, garbage cans, baskets etc. They are quite striking to see! We had one ride down in the truck with us on the under side of a propane tank once, since then, we check the bottoms of the tanks;) The tarantulas are rare as well, photo op-photo-op-we may have seen 4 in 10 years so they are pretty special! But we do have ton of Tarantula Hawks, could be why we don’t see many of the those large furry spiders. They are parasitic wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it to a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living prey….ugh…what a way to go! Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation. However, the sting is among the most painful of all insects, though the intense pain only lasts about five minutes. One researcher described the pain as “…immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except scream”. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations. In terms of scale, the wasp’s sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt Sting Pain index. Because of their extremely large stingers few animals are able to eat them; one of the few animals that can is the roadrunner I’ve read:) Beep Beep! I will keep my distance from the Tarantula Hawks;)
That’s about it for the painful and deadly creatures about unless you stand on a nest of Red Ants you’ll be Ok here;) want to see some more bugs? I love bugs!
Our wonderful Honey bees
What the…???? Alien or Walking stick bug
The famous Stink Beetle, the cats always got it in the nose from these guys, just once;)
Waterbugs!
White Spider
Red Ants! These guys are wicked!
I collected them as a child and put them in jars until I started to have horrific nightmares of them breaking out and getting me;) Since then I prefer to observe and photograph only;) I’ll leave you today with another one of our rodent controllers, not just Bobcats here:) This beautiful Two-Striped Garter Snake have obviously just taken care of a gopher or more likely a mouse:) These beautiful creatures are our friends:) He/she is SOOOO full! It curled up in the sun later for a wonderful nap:)
Two-Striped Garter Snake-Look at that belly!
I am soooo FULL!
Time for a nap;)
Just another day at the ranch. I forget just how much nature, living creatures, surround us here, and I still haven’t gotten to the butterflies and hummingbirds!! You will have to wait;) Stay tuned amigos and remember-this is our world, our wonderful and only world-It deserves our respect first and foremost, we are ALL a part of it:)
Located at 5000 feet in the Sierra de San Pedro Martír, Rancho la Concepción sits a good ways off the paved Observatory Road that leads up to the National Park and Picacho del Diablo at well over 10,000′ of elevation. The highest point in Baja California. 6km of dirt and rock track, 4×4 only really. Getting the big sled of the Dodge Diesel in is always a slow go but so worth it when you arrive. The quiet, no cars, no planes, no trains, ok, sometimes you see and can hear a faint plane travelling over the peninsula:) just birds and well, recently we’ve been graced with the presence of our resident Bobcat hunting the hordes of Spring gophers coming out of hibernation, and a few ground squirrels as well!
Walking right past the back door
Waiting to see what is for breakfast
On the prowl
Bingo-one gopher for breakfast! Way to go girl!
We were not the only ones looking at the BIG kitty!
I’m pretty sure she is girl, haven’t seen any tackle when the tail is swishing but she is pretty furry;) She’s been around for many years if it still the same young, well maybe oldish lady now and it is always a pleasure to see her working the open bits of field and around the fruit trees where the highest concentration of gophers seem to be located. Groot and Gamora got quite the sight as she walked right past the back glass door without giving any of us a secound look;) Groot stops purring when he see’s his larger relative out the window. She has put on quite a show every morning and evening for the last few days. It is exhilarating watching a wild animal like this go about its life!
Pocket Gopher-Bobcat food;)
Ground Squirrel
We have a wealth of wildlife here, not just the birds. Mule deer are occasionally seen as well as coyotes, gray foxes, jack rabbits (hares) and bunnies. Not every day mind you, but they are always there:) You can see the deer hoof prints down by the water where they come to drink and the rabbits and hares come out at dawn and dusk to feed on the grass in the orchards. The coyote no doubt stalks them:) although I think he eats many of the same small rodents the bobcat feed on as well. The coyotes feast on the fallen apples late in the Summer into the Fall. He/she stares at the chicken coop on a regular basis…:)
A visit from Mr. Coyote
The birds of prey keep the bunnies in check
The Black Tailed Jack Rabbits, or Desert Hares come out early in the morning and late in the day to feed on the grass in the orchards
Beautiful Mule Deer Buck
Some ladies and gents-Mule Deer
Having running water in the arroyo all year long as well as several ponds we keep full keeps the critters coming back, for safe places to drink, green grass to much on and oh the croaking off the frogs and toads-the Spring Symphony has started!
From toads
to tree frogs-Pseudacris cadaverina (California Chorus Frog, California Treefrog)
and interesting frogs in the arroyo
The trees frogs vary in colour
as well as the toads!
It is a glorious chorus that greets you as you open the doors or windows after dark! We say it is quiet here but actually it is a roar at times, but such natural pleasant sounds of birds and frogs. It washes over you like a fresh breeze calming your senses.
There are lot’s of other crawly things, some pleasant, some not, but mostly harmless and they help with the rodent and gopher populations as well. The Pacific Gopher Snake and the Two-Striped Garter snake are common neighbours spotted in the grass and going in and out of holes the rodents make as the temperatures warm. The Two-Striped Garter Snake also likes to go for a dip. I see him in the arroyo hunting frogs and tadpoles no doubt, absolutely fascinating watching it swim around!
Thamnophis hammondii-Two-Striped Garter Snake
The Two-Striped Gartes nake alwso loves to swim! Hunting frogs and tadpoles no doubt!
Two-Striped Garter Snake
Gopher Snake
There are also Racers and the softest snake I have ever felt in my life, a Rosy Boa. Stunning creatures both of them! looks like this is turning into another novel and I haven’t even gotten to the lizards and hummingbirds yet!
I get overwhelmed at times by the variety and beauty of the natural world we get to encounter here. The flora and fauna are so diverse and untouched here. It is a magical spot if you take the time to stop, look and listen. It’s not a Disney World ride where everything is thrown in your face, it is a place you need to walk into quietly with open eyes and ears and watch the drama of Mother Nature unfold before you…and I still haven’t gotten back to birds, how about tomorrow. I still have lizards and butterflies and other insects and from the smallest, hummingbirds, to the largest, California Condors I’ll try and finish up this week;)
Saludos amigos-stay tuned for more of Mother Nature’s finest!
Looking out towards the Pacific and the cliffs at Colonet from the solar observatory-Rancho la Concepción
That’s a welcome back, a lot of yellow birds! I don’t think I’ve seen so many Orioles at the ranch at any given time before like this:) and I thought it was hummingbird heaven;) It has been an amazing few weeks here. Everything is blooming and the birds are wild! Glad we had a store of old oranges to offer up to the Orioles and a jar of cherry jelly! They have been a delight to watch from the kitchen window, cats have been loving it as well. The lawns are mown and the garden weeded, it looks like we’ve been living here all along now.
California Nightshade
Prickly Poppy
Deerweed
Popcorn Flower
Desert Mallow
Strawberry Cactus
Ceanothus-Wild Lilac
Common Monkey Flower
Penstemon centranthifolius-Scarlet Bugler
Starwberry Cactus
(?)
Purple Owl Clover
Scarlett pimpernel-Anagalis arvensis
(?)
(?)
Phacelia parryi Parry’s phacelia
Ipomosis(?)
a vetch (?)
Prickly poppy on the hill
We sometimes forget just how wonderful this ranch is, and we are torn. We love living and traveling on our 5th wheel “Myrtle” sharing telescope views but it is so freaking amazing here…sigh, can’t have both, so with the ranch for sale again we will be heading off, but in the meantime….how about a few blooms! The wildflowers are crazy, from tiny flowers to Ceanothus (wild lilac) bushes!Those are just what I’ve seen on a walk to the water tank! There are lupines about to bloom in the arroyo further up that’ll I’ll share later as well:) and the other birds, just a few hanging about;)
Western Bluebird
Azuli Bunting
Mrs. Black Headed Grosbeak
Mr.Black Headed Grosbeak
The cliff Swallows are back and building their nests on the West side of the house
Gathering mud for the nests
Mrs. California Quail
Mr. California Quail
The mafia-California Scrub Jay
Mr. Brewers Blackbird
Mrs. Brewers Blackbird
Western Kingbirds yelling as usual;)
A flock of 30 or more Lazuli Buntings are in the grass-eating the seeds. The Western Kingbirds are making their normal 5am racket and fighting for territories along with the Brewers Blackbirds, they both seem to arrive at the same time from lower elevations, they don’t stay the winter. Several pairs of Black Headed Grosbeaks are hanging about, being chased off the feeders by the local Mafia-California Scrub Jays. A lone Western Tanager has put in several appearances and the Cliff Swallows have arrived as well, collecting mud for their nests on the Western side of the house. The nests fall off every winter after we have a bit of rain or snow so time to rebuild! The Western Bluebirds are hunting insects in the orchard. There are literally hundreds of California Quail, a sea of quail early every morning, do I have any great shots..NO, they are so flighty! It is a wonderful, noisy, chatty world of birds right now! These are just around the house! Up in the arroyo, well….
The Great Horned Owls are active every night calling from one part of the arroyo to the other
Northern Flicker on his dead yucca flower branch
Our pair of Acorn Woodpeckers
Mrs. Phainopepla
Mr. Phainopepla
A returning Western Robin
That is a whole new crew, Owls hooting, Acorn woodpeckers excavating the old oaks, they are nesting right now. The Northern Flickers and Phainopeplas (that’s a mouthful isn’t it) love the oaks as well. So much life and chatter, so I guess it is not as quiet as we think;) And then there are the regular cast of birds…LBB’s LGB’s little brown birds, little gray birds;) some quite colourful little birds, but the common guys most folks don’t pay much mind to, some of these are my favourites:)
White Crowned Sparrow
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Mr. Cassin’s finch
Oak Titmouse
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
California Towhee
I guess we have a lot of neighbours, the feathered variety anyway:) hahahaha! I’m beginning to think I prefer them over the humanoid species. Not saying they are not violent or trouble making. Just watch the hummingbirds for a bit and you can see some serious craziness there;) Yes, Hummingbirds, lots and lots of them too;)
We’ll save them for next week, before this turns into a novel;) Saludos amigos, here’s hoping Spring has sprung wherever you are:) Hasta pronto!
Photography, both Mike and I have a passion for what we do, his type of photography is far more difficult than mine. I can grab my camera and pop out to shoot a sunset or some amazing flowers, or sit quietly and wait for the hummingbirds (it is good for the soul, this patient waiting) Mike well, he has to set up his telescope, that is an effort in itself….
Getting ready for a night of observing
First it, the telescope, I don’t think it has a name;) has to be rolled out of the pass through storage on finger pinching ramps, speaking from experience, provided it is even a clear cloudless day/night. Then assembled, not too much of a chore, he waits until dark and starts to check the conditions. It is an 18″ Starstructure aluminium Dobsonian telescope with a fabulous Zambuto mirror for inquiring minds. Earlier he would have been looking through his virtual moon atlas deciding what he might want to focus on, and what phase the moon is in decides that. Once it is dark, and he has checked that the atmospheric conditions are good, “whaaaat is that you ask?” well, steady non turbulent air, and what the heck does that mean. Just like ocean currents, air currents can be clear, or not really murky, but not steady. Mike’s good friend and fellow OAF (Ottawa Astronomy Friends) Attilla and Alan Rahill started Clear Sky Charts.
This particular one is for the ranch in Baja but there are over 6000 worldwide! They are astronomer forecasts for “seeing” conditions. It predicts cloud cover, obviously a big deal;) no clouds good, cloudy…very very bad:) as well as transparency, as Attilla wrote: ‘transparency’ means just what astronomers mean by the word: the total transparency of the atmosphere from ground to space. It’s calculated from the total amount of water vapor in the air. It is somewhat independent of the cloud cover forecast in that there can be isolated clouds in a transparent air mass, and poor transparency can occur when there is very little cloud.
Then there is: Seeing, it forecasts astronomical seeing. (It’s an experimental forecast.) Excellent seeing means at high magnification you will see fine detail on planets. In bad seeing, planets might look like they are under a layer of rippling water and show little detail at any magnification, but the view of galaxies is probably undiminished. Bad seeing is caused by turbulence combined with temperature differences in the atmosphere. This forecast attempts to predict turbulence and temperature differences that affect seeing for all altitudes.
Lunar South Pole with craters Clavius and Tycho being the most prominent
Sarsalis Rille
Bad seeing can occur during perfectly clear weather. Often good seeing occurs during poor transparency. It’s because seeing is not very related to the water vapor content of the air.
Then there is: Darkness, not the Darth Vader kind my geek friends but it shows when the sky will be dark, assuming no light pollution and a clear sky. Black is a dark sky. Deep blue shows interference from moonlight. Light blue is the full moon. Turquoise is twilight. Yellow is dusk and white is daylight. For those who prefer numbers, the scale is also calibrated. The numbers are the visual limiting magnitude at the zenith. (The brightness of the faintest star a standard observer can see straight up.
Crater Posidonius
Rupes Recta and crater Pitatus
Then there is Wind-This forecasts wind speed at about tree-top level. The wind forecast won’t determine whether or not you can observe, but it may affect your comfort and the type observing you might be limited to. In particular, long-focal length astrophotography, or observing with large dobsonians require light wind conditions. High wind may be particularly dangerous for larger truss-tube dobsonians which must be disassembled in the vertical position.
and humidity-This forecasts ground-level relative humidity.
Humidity variations can indicate the likelihood of optics and eyepieces dewing.
But dewing is not simply correlated to relative humidity. Dewing tends to happen when the sky is clear, the temperature is dropping and there isn’t much wind. Being on a hilltop or in a small valley can make the difference between no dew and dripping telescopes. Unfortunately, the humidity forecast does not have the spatial resolution to know about small hills, valleys, or observatory walls. All of which can reduce dewing.A sudden spike in the humidity forecast, an hour or so after the cloud forecast predicts a sudden transition from cloudy to clear, when there is no wind, means that ground fog will form. Also, when the cloud forecast is opaque and the humidity forecast is 95%, rain is likely: a good time to cover the telescopes.
Crater Schickard
Crater Proclus (ray structure from meteor impact)
and then-temperatures-This forecasts temperatures near the ground. While temperature variations won’t determine if you can observe, the forecast can be handy choosing clothing for cold observing conditions. (In general, dress as if it were 20 degrees F or 10 degrees C colder than the forecast.) Observers with thick primary mirrors should take note of falling temperature conditions because their mirrors may require additional cooling to reach equilibrium and so prevent tube currents.
Cold temperatures also mean reduced battery capacity, stiffer lubricants, stiffer electrical cables and slower LCD displays. Camera sensors will have reduced noise. But, in general, electronics have a lowest temperature at which they will work.
Crater Aristarchus
Crater Plato
Thank you Attilla for all this amazing information, all this before Mike even gets his camera out…I think I have it easy, I just put my camera under my shirt if it starts to rain:) As I’ve said, Mike’s work is an amazing undertaking. Everything has to be just right to capture the types of images he did above. I can tell when it is going to be a good night, lots of smiles and he is burning the candle well after I have slipped into bed, in the morning he is still processing his thousands of images, taken with a Asi 174mm ZW Optical astronomy video camera, picking out the clearest shots and stacking them with programs on his computer, I just have to open photoshop to crop something:) or get my cell phone out when he is setting up, usually before it is completely dark and start snapping, or clicking, well, my phone doesn’t even make a noise..Ha! This is fun:)
Now this is too easy-through the eyepiece, taken with my cell phone:)
So, if you see this weirdness going on, don’t hesitate to walk on over and ask as many questions as you’d like and take a look for yourself through this amazing telescope, I’m really thinking it should have a name, the truck is Hagrid, the trailer Myrtle…I’ll put my imaginative name thinking cap on.
FYI, Mike is not an astrologer, nor can he read tea leaves or coffee grounds;)
Saludos amigos. May your skies be dark clear and steady
My first thought when I asked my husband Mike what he found challenging about RVing was he might just say, “Well, you”…he has a wonderful dark sense of humour…I think;) Ha! We get along very well, never yell at each other when we are backing into hideous sardine like RV spots, or when branches nearly wipe out our AC units on the roof, or well, anytime, we’re not yellers;) He gave me some of what he considers challenges in Rving.
#1-Being led astray by your GPS, I think he was referring to one state park in particular in Missouri that we were led down what could only be called an extremely narrow and branch covered small road that DID not lead to the State Park, we were not certain we would be able to turn around let alone back all the way out! Luckily a small what I would call dirt path swung around and we manged to get going back the direction in which we came…I’m still buffing scratches out of the paint. “Yeah”, the lady at the park entrance said” it happens all the time”…”Could you not put A BETTER SIGN UP AS$%LE” was going through my mind as I checked in…so, double-check your routes and use google earth and other maps to check on where you are going, makes life easier especially after a long day driving…drivers get cranky;) Check out the many blogs as well as RV park review sites…it might save your marriage;)
#2-Rough roads with multiple dips that have you feel like you’re on a bronco ride for real, in a 9,500 lb truck pulling the 18,500 lb. trailer, once it gets going it can be scary, especially if there are no dip signs to warn you that you are about to be bounced about, the 405 through LA is like that…OMG, will never do that freeway again and parts of 52 in San Diego that were built on top of a garbage dump…crazy once that rig gets a bouncing, Hang on cowgirl!! YIKES!
Yes, not really a road you want to be pulling a large trailer down…love you sweetie;)
Sierra San Francisco, one lane, way up there;)
…or roads so narrow your husband accuses you of trying to kill him, he doesn’t like heights or drop-offs, but hey, I’m a photographer…hahahahahahahaha! I like a view!
If you can’t guess by now, Mike does most of the driving:) yup, I navigate, mostly quite well but I do occasionally get him off on a road we should not be on..oops…we are used to really bad roads after living in Baja for 8 years but man, some states, Indiana and Illinois fix your toll roads, I have to pay for that crap and lose my fillings to boot!
Backed up to the beach
We are on the far right…all by ourselves♫♪♫♪, we did scout this road and spot first:)
Perma smile spot!
Our fix for these sometimes small and at times wonderful little roads that take you to amazing places is scouting. We’ll find a place nearby and do a day trip out to see if can we get in, is the ground too soft, can we actually get over that dip…and frequently all of the above, hauling a 37′ trailer about makes you think twice sometimes about where to go but it can take you to magical places where your jaw drops and a perma smile comes over your face:) That is Playa Santispac above in Southern Baja…:)
#3-Driving on windy days…don’t do it, as they say here in Baja-No vale la pena-not worth the pain… If you can’t stand against it, you shouldn’t drive in it:) and try to park parallel to it if you can, geez, and I didn’t think a trailer could move about like a boat, I was wrong:) Do they have spring lines for trailers?;)
#4-Unpalatable neighbours selling crystal meth and pit bull puppies right next door…yes, it does happen from time to time. Especially those county parks. I don’t have pictures of them;) The staff do their best to keep these places well stocked with friendly neighbours and honestly I have much admiration for the camp hosts that have to help the police chase people about in their parks…not something I am quite willing to do yet;)
So that was all the significant other could come up with, he scratched his head for quite a while. He has a wealth of experience backing hay wagons up into small barn mows and into riding arenas so I think he was in pretraining for years for this, as well as parking large horse trailers in lots with very inexperienced folk learning how to do the same:) Isn’t life an adventure:) There have been a couple of times we have wanted to go over and offer to park a couples trailer but the mood surrounding their disastrous parking attempts made it feel quite dangerous;) Ah…the challenges of RV living:)
What makes you crazy in the rving world my friends? I’d love to hear!
Saludos amigos and stay tuned, perhaps time for the positive sides of RV living:) Here is one:) The ever changing view out our back window:)
It was a great question. I just joined a group on Facebook called Full Time Freedom, it looked interesting and we’ve had so many helpful hints I thought we might be able to add a few things after doing this for almost two and a half years now, hard to believe we left from here in August 2015 on our maiden trip on Myrtle 1. Seems like such a distant memory. So what can be challenging….these views, nah….but….
Borders.We love our voyages across North America but the border crossings can be a challenge, getting there, and figuring out how to get back without waiting in line for most of your day…getting into Mexico, always a relief, but heading back across and dealing with the Stazi at the US border..always intimidating, even when you have nothing to hide, or maybe, that extra bottle of mezcal…sigh…the cats FYI have never been an issue except at State Parks in New York where you have to fork over a copy of their rabies certificate or leave…at least you can eat well waiting at the Tijuana border:) It can be a challenge to negotiate the various food carts and umbrellas with a large trailer, we once wiped out a stop sign at the pedestrian cross walk in TJ just before the US stalls…oops, we go Tecate now on our way back;)
A cup of fresh fruit is always available in Tijuana…or,
…there are Churros as you wait at the border
Moving too fast and too often, it is a waste of money and effort, there are often sizable reductions in weekly/monthly fees compared to a few nights. So, slow down, hopefully it will all be there tomorrow, well, you might want to visit Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Monument in Utah first, who know what the nasty orange mop will do next, what’s a few million acres less to see…
We don’t talk politics…
but we do like funny socks;)
Finding people who think like you, feel like you and are passionate about some of the same things. We run into them in Canada and Baja more frequently but they are out there everywhere, somewhat more adventurous, less fearful and viewing the world with an open mind. We tend to avoid all talk of politics until we know if we will be lynched or not…”All RVers are Republican” an older gentleman told me last week…no….sorry Jim, they are not, the challenge can be finding them…we often feel like teenagers at many of the SW parks in winter, yeah, we’re just not quite that old yet and golf is not on our daily to do list.
Eating well…yes, a challenge we ran into running the midwest gauntlet of discount grocery stores that were entirely filled with frozen food aisles…0_0….
Oysters from El Garo
Tiradito de pescado
Lupita’s Fish Tacos
We love farmers markets and taco stands, small local grocers and bakeries and free range eggs, preferably from the farm. It takes an effort in many places to find these spots but it is extremely worthwhile. We love the Latin, Lebanese and Asian markets, the prices are right and so much less packaging, and you can learn how to cook that weird-looking green you picked up at Ranch 99:)
Letting go of all that stuff…now that is a hard one as we still have a 20′ x 8′ shipping containers at my brothers, we have been paring it down each visit, deciding what we really don’t need and why did I pack that and keep it? You may always want that storage unit, who knows, just saying, you don’t have to let everything go right away, or maybe never:) but, for those hoarders out there…well…you will be limited to post card and stamp collections perhaps;)
Couldn’t get rid of these…
NOOOOO!!!!! No Rving for this guy!
So that’s a start, challenge wise, I’m sure I will come up with a few more as we go and I’ll add-on in part 2, but for now, I need to go eat a shrimp coktel…oh dear…it can be a challenge for Vegans as well…
Stay tuned Amigos, that will be another story to share from our house to yours, whether it be large, small, on wheels or in the water. Saludos amigos!
Groot had quite the surprise yesterday morning, a new visitor to the trailer, not the usual Golden Lab, Lucas, that Regan and Sheila have but…a black one…wait a minute, Groot was pretty sure this was not one of those evil dog things but something completely different so he let us know…meow….!!!
That is NOT a dog!
Come and take a look! He was jumping from window to window. Mike said “Bear”…I said, “yeah, right”, I’m not getting up before sunrise…”NO REALLY! BEAR!!!” that did get me up! Holy guacamole….a bear indeed.
Is my butt big?
I’d like to thank my Mom and Dad and the academy..
Mine!
He was feasting on the sunflower seeds in the “squirrel” but not bear proof bird feeder. I sent the feeder manufacturer a shot as well, they had a chuckle and hoped my feeder survived, it did! We watched him for 15 minutes as he picked the seeds out of the feeder, finally shaking them out before licking them up off of the ground. He eventually wandered off to the other cottages along the lake, I’m sure he has his routine:)
I think I will sit and eat
Another day at Otty Lake, life is an adventure isn’t it! So wonderful to be able to experience nature this close and marvel at the wonder of it.
So until next week amigos. We’re off to do some fishing from the canoe, perfect day. I’ll see if I can contain myself bearly 🙂 I’ll need to get my bearings, oops, after we bearicade the door, or yes, these puns are unbearable;)
Hopefully they will come back to the close corner now that the “Holidays” are over…Halle-F-ing-lujah!
Hahahaha! Yeah, and two males were fighting over her charms…
He was an effective deterrent, but not what they are looking for today:) Isn’t wildlife fun!
I have missed our baby, sadly it didn’t make it. Whether the eagle got it, or bad weather, or just bad luck who can say. It was hard to listen to the parents wailing, looking, mourning. They carried on their cries for about two weeks before moving on. I hope they return next year and with any luck, can raise two. It’s a precarious life that of a baby loon. I’ll sign off with my favourite shot of the day, such joy, we need more of this in all our lives! Saludos y abrazos amigos. 
Almost more interesting than the food we’re the views and the traffic for the rest rooms going by the other side of the table! The men had these bouffant up draft hairdo’s, they looked like real live actors from the Simpsons! Ha! Great people watching! and the food, some great, the sashimi was heavenly, the grilled broccoli with chiltepin chile delicious, shellfish ceviche tart and perfect, grilled Octopus was fabulous but it was all TOO salty, just a bit heavy handed sadly. 
You can see our trailer nose sticking out at the very end! 
Yuma bumper sticker in Perth once and gasped at the incredulity of it…l can’t imagine ever wanting this.
I did call upon his name when I stubbed my toe this week 
and then just the plain friggin’ weird! Guns, Mickey d’s having a “dining” room is an oxymoron. The “I MAKE SEXY TEETH” guy was a dentist who wanted his beautiful picture and winning smile on a huge billboard, arsehole no doubt;) and would you send your kid to a school/academy called Barrel of Monkeys? Perhaps it’s true but….ha! 
he chased it all the way down the driveway as it huffed and puffed at him, a juvenile with attitude! It has been enjoying the remnants of the chard and kale as well, which I have been covering up with a tarp so it had moved onto something different, not sure that one will be back;)
How does that look? hahahaha!
