Memories Of Goslings
October 10th, 2010
1680x1050 wallpaper
1680x1050 wallpaper
Squelchy
October 9th, 2010
Dear NCC,
I love you guys. I really do. I love Stony Swamp, Mer Bleue, the bike paths, the parks. I love all the hard work you do to protect our greenbelt, our biodiversity.
But if you're going to designate a trail an official trail, please maintain it. "Seasonally wet" should not mean "path cuts through foot-deep beaver pond."
IN OCTOBER.
Bits Of Sunshine
October 3rd, 2010
As the last of the migrating warblers trickle through, I remember the beautiful Yellow Warblers of summer. This is one of the first species to disappear when autumn comes.
1680x1050 wallpaper
The Long Walk
October 2nd, 2010
Wednesday was notable for me in being, I think, the longest hike I've ever done. Certainly the longest uninterrupted hike I've ever done--there were brief stops for the purpose of bird-watching, of course, but no long rests, no meal breaks or snack breaks. Somewhere on the order of 12-13 kilometers. It was good for me psychologically as well as physically. Not to mention the pleasure of extended nature-watching.
The hike took me through Beaver Trail (after a 1.5km hike from the nearest 166 bus stop), Jack Pine Trail, Lime Kiln Trail, and portions of the blue and red Rideau Trails, all within Stony Swamp. Ironically, Jack Pine Trail--considered the creme de la creme of Stony Swamp birding by many--produced exactly zero of the many interesting sightings that day!
Six different species of warblers--Yellow-Rumped, Magnolia, Nashville, Tennessee, Black-Throated Blue and Pine--a little surprising for late September, when warbler migration is supposed to be thinning out. Bands of Golden-Crowned Kinglets everywhere, which was not at all surprising. I was pleased by the tameness of the birds along Lime Kiln Trail (which I'd never been to before). They were foraging low in mixed flocks, and even species I normally expect to be fairly shy, like creepers and warblers, were allowing me close-up views. This is a great place to go if you want to feed birds by hand. Even the Red-Breasted Nuthatches were acting ultra-tame, hovering in front of my face to try to get my attention.
One of the biggest pleasures of the day was a Snowshoe Hare. I see them seldom and it's always a treat when I do. So different from dainty cottontails, as soon as they see me, they tear through the woods at breakneck speed to get away. They're much wilder and much warier.
I'm on a break from photography, so the pictures you'll be seeing in the next week or so (and the ones you've been seeing for the past few days) are all old--though new to you. I seldom process all my photos at the time I take them. A backlog builds up, and so I go sifting through it and pulling out the winners on rainy days.
Little Wood Satyr
October 1st, 2010
1680x1050 wallpaper
Security
September 30th, 2010
1680x1050 wallpaper
Radiant Robin
September 28th, 2010
1680x1050 wallpaper
Rainy day pictures
September 27th, 2010
Some photos that I took back when and didn't get around to posting.
Female Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Photographed in last year's fall migration. The field mark for a female Black-Throated Blue is subtle but a clincher: it's that little whitish spot on her wing. The male, of course, is all field mark!
Viceroy, wallpaper available
The monarch mimic. Real monarchs lack the two lines across the rear wings.
Lesser Yellowlegs
September 26th, 2010
A few pictures of the fall migrant Lesser Yellowlegs at Shirley's Bay last week. The tameness of this species is such a pleasure for photographers.
Wow!
September 21st, 2010
Starting at 10:30 tonight, and continuing for about twenty minutes, multiple migrant flocks of killdeer passing over our apartment building, their calls--killydee, killydee, killydee--echoing in the night sky. Some of the flocks sounded huge!
I know people in rural areas hear this sort of thing all the time, but it's a pleasure I've never had here in our humble, five-minutes-from-downtown apartment.
|