This COVID thing is changing the pictures I’m getting. There are less trips out and about or abroad and more images from the home, immediate community or lake front. Being home so much has also allowed the family to appreciate the smaller things that were previously overlooked. And there is more time to go back over earlier pictures and remember certain things or special celebrations. So while there is snow outside now (brrrr!), I can share this earlier picture taken at twilight looking across the lake and remember how hot that evening was and how silent the air was.
This hawk is very impressive to be around. Starting with it’s awareness, it knows where I am all the time and tracks my movement continuously. To a certain degree it finds me curiously entertaining and I would say definitely not a threat. It visits each year for roughly 3 weeks bridging end July and beginning August. Sometimes its by itself (like this year) while others years there are two of them… adult and juvenile. Here its perched high atop a 75ft dead Birch watching me with the camera.
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…
Those moments where so much is said when nothing is said at all. A son and his dad having their time together will be the highlight of their camping trip this past summer.
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
The morning views across the Monashees deliver most every time. Because the peaks hide the sun, the sky will lighten an hour before it rises over the horizon producing a myriad of colors (purple, pinks, reds, and orange all mashed together!) and finally fading to yellow as the sun climbs.
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, legs ache, and you are screaming with delight in your head!
