eastern ribbonsnake thamnophis sauritus muskoka snakes

A good size Eastern Ribbonsnake checking you out

November 14, 2020 Jeff Haltrecht Leave a comment

We are fortunate to have a wide variety of wildlife living among us. This year alone I have seen this Eastern Ribbonsnake, a Northern Ring-necked Snake, a broad winged hawk (which I may post next!), a pair of fresh water otters, a beaver, a coyote, a red tailed fox, and sadly too many skunks (why are there so many skunks this year?). I have seen this Eastern Ribbonsnake for 3 consecutive years now. Each spring it gives birth to a few baby snakes, one of which I saw eat a juvenile frog. That is how life roles…

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Gallery of Sun

Twilight

This is sunrise over Mount Tanner and Mount Cochrane, Monashee Mountains, B.C. week of March 10 while skiing at Big White with the family. Yes the skiing was just as good as this view!

Like you, I have seen some awesome sunsets over the years – most being of the orange, red and pink color combination. Over the recent Thanksgiving weekend, we were treated to a truly unique blue sky with a yellow fireball. As the sun set, it left this reflective circular glow across Grandview Lake, Muskoka.

Sunrise after 7am on morning #1 of what we were hoping to be a 6 day ski trip with family. The conditions on this first day were even better than the sunrise – clear and sunny, -5 deg C, great snow – and so we thought far away from the COVID-19 developments occurring back home. Day 2 (another amazing day outdoors) ended with a thud when Big White announced it was closing immediately and we had to clear out. Now that’s a shocker! This was the same day provinces implemented limitations of groups greater than 50 people. In hind sight a week on now, it was the right thing as we all needed to get home and hunker down.

The most amazing sunset Alfresco dinner in Grand Cayman

Yes this is real :-) We watched from the back deck of the house. Not often the sun burns blood orange while the sky stays deep blue.

We are a few minutes after 8am on Saturday October 26, standing on the Dundas street overpass looking south down 16 Mile Creek. The sun came over the trees about 15 minutes ago, slowly bringing light and life as the birds got going. Mist from the creek rose and a sun haze stretched out across the tree canopy.

Sun sets are a favorite of mine because of the many colors, the emotion, and shadows that are created. Here we are anchored in a bay within the Sea Of Abaco, north Bahamas, having dinner on our boat, watching the sun set across our neighbor.

Sweeping sunset across Conger Lake while kayak camping early September in the Massasauga Provincial Park with one of our daughters. Two excellent days with sun, mid-teen temperatures, and these fantastic skies after the sun went down.

Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica, is so far my favorite place to watch a sunset (Even better than world famous Oia, Santorini). After a day of learning to surf, we hung out watching the sun set and this guy use his boogie board.

It was really this good! Calm, warm evening to watch the sun set from the kayak.

Right place at the right time, particularly if your seat was on the West side of the place! (Feel bad for the East facing folks!) We were treated to an ever evolving sunset as we cruised at 35,000 feet on way to Aruba. It feels like you could step out and walk across the clouds :) (My spouse took the picture, while I did the post processing)

Thinking this is my favorite photo from trip to Hawaii. It was our last night, we walked the lagoons behind the hotel and along Anaeho’omalu Beach watching the sun bring end to the day. As the saying goes… picture perfect!

Gallery of Night Scenes

The first week August at our friends cottage on Bay Lake, Muskoka, enjoying the night time view of the milky way while sitting by the fire.

Had the opportunity two weeks ago to view Toronto’s distinct skyline from the rooftop of the Park Hyatt hotel. There is an outdoor lounge perfectly situated looking south along Avenue Road that allows for this sweeping view of the city, with the CN Tower all lit-up.

Welcome to The Firehall Pizza Co. at Blue Mountain. Known for some really tasty pizza and fresh salads, it is situated in what used to be the area’s fire hall – or so the rumor goes!

Toronto’s CN Tower framed by apartments

An incredible full moon to the right of the Eiffel Tower.

Can someone call up Cottage Life magazine and tell them we have their next front cover right here? Sometimes the lighting and mother nature just works in your favor… Very thankful to our friends for hosting us this weekend at their place on North Muldrew Lake. Sunset was at 4:56pm and this is around 5:15pm, during a period called blue hour. It works particularly well when there is fresh white snow to reflect the light.

Night scene at the end of a great day, socializing in the courtyard at the beach resort

What a difference a year makes! This is new year’s eve coming into 2015, with a fresh 2 ft of snow – so much fell that we chose to stay another day to play outside. Fast forward to this new year, and while we had lots of fun with our friends, it did not look quite like this. Happy new year to all.

Comet NEOWISE on July 24, 2020 at around 11pm flying by the cottage

Looking up at Toronto’s CN Tower from the platforms within Union Station, we get a glimpse of the old and new. This area of Union is being rebuilt, leaving the metal exposed and an open roof. Fun how they light the tower, creating a glow in the sky at night.

Gallery Of Wildlife

Our bald eagle friend here was injured at a young age flying into power lines, rescued and brought back to health at the Mounstberg Conservation Area in Halton. They are known for rehabilitating all species of raptors in Southern Onatrio.

“Come see this dad”, yell the kids, “and bring your camera!”. With the swim platform a few hundred feet off-land, I’m now looking at this majestic Heron standing on it… poking at its eye. Is he – or she – really doing that? Yup, he/she is!

Ok… the situation is not as intense as it would appear. We are at the Belize Tropical Education Centre for an overnight stay. They care for a number of wild crocodiles in the marsh on-site, and have built a narrow boardwalk as an outlook. Here we watched one evening at sunset – hence the light on the crocs right eye – as a male and female spent time together (not sure what to call this in crocodile language!). Took this shot laying on my stomach, roughly 5 feet above the water and 10 feet away.

Broad-winged Hawk

Eastern Ribbonsnake in Muskoka

Two horses paid a fair amount of attention to me as I walked by while at the fall fair. My own curiosity picked, I took a few pictures and then watched them watch me for quite some time. Looking at the picture afterwards, it sure feels like they want to start a conversation. Or maybe their trying to say ‘leave us alone’!

Hi there! You visit often? Let me show you around these rocky crevices… This is a Sally Lightfoot crab, known by its technical name Grapsus grapsus (I don’t make this up – Wikipedia says its true). They live along the rocky shoreline where the turbulent ocean meets land, feeding mostly on algae and sometimes dead animals or marine life. They also appear to be quite photogenic! We are at Sheta Boka Park, Curacao.

How about this for excitement… Watching a jaguar eat a chicken’s foot from a human’s hand! Belize’s Caribbean Wildlife Centre rehabilitates injured wild animals, and are known for their jaguar community.

Within minutes of anchoring our Fountain Pajot catamaran in the Sea of Abacos, Bahamas, this sea turtle pops up to entertain us. It was extremely healthy as seen by its colors and clarity of the eyes. To see a wild one within 3 feet of you is a definite highlight.

Life of leisure! This pair – male and female – are sunning themselves on a single large rock where the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California, at the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

This is one of the very last baby sea turtles to hatch and scurry its way to the sea. We came across him/her early in the morning with 10 feet to go… and yes he/she made it to the ocean! We later found a whole bunch of nests up the beach where this and many others had come from the night before. You see this on National Geographic, but to observe it person is amazing.

Had my initiation into the world of hawks and falcons a few weeks back when visiting Hawk Cliff on the north shores of Lake Erie to watch the migration. This is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, distinct for its three white stripes on the tail, plus stripe bands on the underside of the wings. Was fortunate to grab pictures of Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagles, and an American Kestrel. And the one I missed while fumbling with the camera… a Northern Harrier.

She is a Blue Tailed Emerald Hummingbird – Chlorostilbon mellisugus – nesting in a palm tree next to the ‘people’ pool we were hanging at while in Curacao. Within her nest are 2 incredibly small eggs, and the nest itself is a mere two inches in height. I’m not as close to the hummingbird as it appears, using a zoom lens so as not to disturb.

Credit my daughter for being able to pick out this chameleon. True to it’s name, its multi-shades of green made it hard to see at first. It was in a mid-size dense tree out front of a breakfast place we were eating at. This is my first chameleon to see and photograph in the wild, and can say I’m amazed at the horns, the ability for the eyes to look forward and backward at same time, and how the hands can grip a small branch so tightly.

Gallery of Life

Does this make you thirsty? A great selection to accompany any meal! Two of us grabbed dinner at Cardero’s at the end of a day’s work, choosing to sit at the bar. This restaurant is in Vancouver harbour with sweeping views of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore.

This is how you celebrate a goal at a soccer match… with smoke bombs, drums, oversized flags, and lots of cheering! Hamilton scored the tying goal for Toronto FC at 90+5 minutes of the game on June 7, 2019.

Good for them! It’s Canada Day and this couple went for a paddle and some fishing on one of the lakes, and she brought her phone. Nothing wrong with that (unless you fall in!) as long as you are outdoors and soaking in what mother nature has to offer.

Canada Day 150 firework celebrations in town of Oakville last night.

Live game shot of the Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards on December 30, 2015, in witch the Raptors won 94-91.

Delicious! I do like tomatoes, particularly with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, and a drop of balsamic glaze. This is the perfect image for a kitchen.

Chef David Friesen’s entree special featuring local pickerel on a bed of quinoa, tomatoes, peppers and wilted Swiss Chard, plated high like a tower. Riverwalk can be found in Bracebridge, Ontario overlooking the river.

Looking into the Atlanta Braves baseball park, known as the Chop House, from the Omni Hotel in the Battery district of Atlanta. Its the end of October in this picture, and into the World Series featuring the Astros and Nationals. The Braves last played September 29. The ballpark looks fantastic and ready for another game. Kind of wish our SkyDome/Rogers Centre had this feel!

Do you know this car? Let me share a little… Car enthusiasts love the Porsche 911 from 1989 through 1994. Buy one of these pre-owned for between $65K and $170K Canadian and then give it to Singer Vehicle Design in California who will custom restore – or reimagine as they say – as a one off for an additional sweet $475K up to $1.8M US. This here is ‘Malaysia’ (cars get named after global cities or countries) and I found her at the Toronto car show courtesy of Pfaff Automotive Partners (a Toronto auto dealer group). Now I knew of Singer before hand and in my dreams have commissioned a car from them… but in real life not so lucky! Next best is to be able to photograph one. I would say this is a bucket list item accomplished. NOTE: If you are the owner of Malaysia and have found this blog post, contact me and I’ll get you a copy of the picture.

The Thunderbird had its many highs and lows over the years (like the final version from 2005 – yuk!). This 1957 model is truly amazing, and this particular version on show in Baysville, Ontario was in mint condition. How about all that fine chrome across the dash! I really like what Tesla is doing, however there is something to be said for the simplicity seen here.

Back to 2016 for this moment in time at a London, England sidewalk cafe and pub. It caught me by surprise to see drinking allowed on the curbs and will admit I was jealous because it looked so social and inviting… why can’t we do this? Just stare at this picture for a bit and take in all the different conversations and mental thoughts happening all at once.

Arrowhead Provincial Park

How does 500 deg F. sound? Stuffed the stove with 7 logs to heat the cottage a few weeks ago and then thought the flame would make a fascinating picture. There is nothing like a hot fire, glass of wine, and time with the family on snowy winter weekend.

The scene unfolding in front of the Mona Lisa… complete mayhem with people attempting to take a selfie with the famous picture. This capture is more entertaining than the photo of ‘her’!

Food is better eaten than photographed, however this is one of those exceptions. On a walk through Paris’ Marais district, we stopped in a charcuterie to buy some deli meat, and while being served, I saw this hand made artisan pizza that looked delicious. So I took the picture!

This goes in the books of ‘I can’t do that, and not sure I want to do that, however very cool to watch you do that!’. Skills and attention seeking were on full display near the London Eye – Waterloo train station area on a recent trip to London, England. The 7 guys in the background watching surely add to the intrigue of the moment.

Gallery of Food

Ah, the Mojito cocktail! Refreshing, citrus sweet, and minty all at the same time. What is there not to love? I did the Mojito challenge while in Curacao over the holidays and the winning restaurant is Shelterrock Paradise, followed by the Marriott Beach Resort, and… pictured here Restaurant & Cafe Gouverneur in third. The Mojito, a traditional Cuban highball is made with 1.5 oz white rum, 2 tsp white sugar, soda water, 1 oz lime juice and fresh mint leaves served in a Collins glass. The art is getting the proportions right and in the right size glass with not too much ice. Are you thirsty?

Delicious! I do like tomatoes, particularly with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, and a drop of balsamic glaze. This is the perfect image for a kitchen.

Highlight of the week! First time making homemade bread bakery style from a red Dutch Oven.

Gallery Of Cities

This is one fantastic view of Toronto from the CN Tower looking north. We have the Fairmont Royal York hotel bottom right, all the bank buildings, Toronto City Hall, and every other building until the horizon ends.

Thank you to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for vacationing on Vancouver Island this holiday… and a huge black eye to the British press for continually bullying this family, including today with their decision to take a new and modern approach to living as Royalty. I am confident we Canadians will welcome Prince Harry and Meghan and will leave them alone to enjoy life in this country. This is a picture of Big Ben, also known as the Great Bell at the North end of Palace of Westminster, taken summer of 2016.

Dubrovnik is a very beautiful city with such rich character. Here we see the old city through a gun turret on the perimeter wall. I gather it was in use during the war 20 years ago, as evidence by the few areas of destruction that remain.

An incredible full moon to the right of the Eiffel Tower.

Hong Kong has a dramatic skyline, day or night. On this morning, the skies looked rough, making Hong Kong appear somewhat moody (or hung over after a fun night?).

What’s there not to like about colorful buildings lined up at attention? Arguably the photo is a little cliche in that you will find multiple similar images if you google Willemstad Curacao. The buildings in traditional Dutch style line what I will call the touristy area with all the stuff to buy from major brands that you could actually get back at home. Now please walk beyond that and look for the places to dine for they are all local, unique, and delightful. The food is simply delicious! Favorite on the island was Shelterrock (tried Lionfish for first time), plus a direct from the ocean to your plate fish lunch at Purunchi Koredor (look it up on Tripadvisor… this place has soul!).

View of Paris’ skyline from atop Arc de Triomph

673 panes of glass make up the Louvre Pyramid, surely being counted by these tourists :-)

People’s houseboat homes along Vancouver’s False Creek

Gallery Of Landscape

Akaka Falls, at 442 feet, is the tallest on the Big Island of Hawaii and very impressive – powerful even – when up close. We were told of the ʻoʻopu ʻalamoʻo, an endemic Hawaiian species of goby fish, that spawns in stream above the waterfall, but matures in the sea. Checking with Wikipedia, it says these fish have a suction disk on their bellies that allows them to cling to the wet rocks behind and adjacent to the waterfall. Using this disk, they climb back up to the stream when it is time to spawn. Now that’s impressive!

This is sunrise over Mount Tanner and Mount Cochrane, Monashee Mountains, B.C. week of March 10 while skiing at Big White with the family. Yes the skiing was just as good as this view!

This is the Kamokuna ocean entry photographed from the helicopter at 7:45am during our recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. It is completely surreal to watch lava flow into the ocean! We flew up the lava flows and were able to watch active lava tubes along the way and then the crater itself.

I find this picture both calming and exhilarating at the same time. The stillness of the air and clarity across the snow and between the trees, plus the depth of view makes it easy to look at and pretend you are there in person. And then there is the adrenaline rush from making first tracks through snow as your heart beats and you are screaming with delight in your head!

Nothing was staged for this photo. This was the first of a 6 day sea kayak expedition, starting from Caribo Island, Belize. Having finished a light lunch, I walked through palm trees toward the water and happened upon this setting. And at that moment I thought to myself how yes, this beats a day at the office :)

For all the golf lovers, here is world famous Glenn Abbey golf course at sunrise last year, as the colors were changing. Was a very cool morning with frost on the greens and mist rising from 16 Mile Creek. Taken from the Upper Middle overpass.

The Rainbow Eucalyptus trees of Maui are found on the drive to Hana. Like good tourists, we read up on them before heading out, and yes they are there ready to be touched and photographed :) Everything about the color is natural. Annually patches of outer bark are shed, leaving the inner bark exposed. This then darkens to a mix of blue, purple, orange and maroon. It looks like someone painted the trunks! The bark is painted by nature across a wide spectrum of colors. Eucalyptus deglupta is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere. It is native to Philippines but has been introduced and grows well in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Britain, and Hawaiʻi. This tree is cultivated around the world and is harvested mainly for pulpwood used in making paper, especially in the Philippines.

This is the peak of Big White looking West to the Monashee mountains across what they call the ‘Enchanted Forest’. The previous day it snowed like crazy, and this next day we skied powder top to bottom. The trees when covered with snow are locally known as ‘snow ghosts’ – great name!

One of the benefits of life in Canada are the 4 seasons, and in particular experiencing the fall colors. This mini waterfall – 2 feet high! – is located next to the big High Falls on the north branch of the Muskoka River. Its a perfect example of nature’s colorful richness and solitude.

Birch trees mixed in with the requisite vibrant fall colors on echo lake this past thanksgiving weekend. Though never taking the change in colors for granted, it still is fun to see tourists arrive by motorcoach to look at what we Canadians see every year!

This is Kilauea’s burning crater from January 2017. It was a beautiful night with some activity in the crater as seen by the light flash in the image… this is lava bubbling up. One year later and Kilauea is erupting again with new lava flows.

Thanks for having a look. This is the last picture taken of the fall season at the cottage. Even with 2/3 of the leaves on the ground, it was still wildly spectacular to take in all the color and shadows. The day was bright, but cool, and completely still. Another reason to love Canada.

Gallery Of Fall

A ‘real life’ view of the Canadian flag’s maple leaf at the beginning of fall. The photo was taken using the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 lens in macro mode, creating a soft ethurial effect and completely blurring out the background (in case you are wondering why it does not appear in focus). The soft blue is a lake, while the yellow tint are other leaves.

Spectacular colors on Bigwin Island at Dorset, Lake of Bays

Look closely at all the tree stumps in the marsh, giving evidence of a healthy beaver habitat. The locals say there is a cottage tucked into the forest at the back of the bog that only becomes visible once the leaves fall.

Took a walk with the kids and dog a few weeks back through our local forest. With many of the leaves already fallen and a dark haze lingering, the forest had a mystical tone to it. You almost expected a Disney character to come running by – ha!

Smell that fresh air and soak in those colors! This is one of those moments to savor. Life does move fast, yet here everything holds still. Thanksgiving weekend, Echo Lake

We hit peak color this week in the Baysville area, punctuated by a bright sun and shadows of the forest. This is along Browns Brae Road, a gravel route connecting a few of the lakes in the Lake of Bays Township.