Bald Eagles

Have you ever done something out of reflex and then had the most unexpected and delightful result?  This is exactly what happened to me one day when I set out in late fall hoping to spot  any type of Hawks I would ordinarily be unlikely to see, except during migration season and hopefully get some pictures as well.  I was actually not having much success, and was feeling quite disappointed, because all I had come home with, in the end was some pictures of Canada Geese in flight. I had been working far too many hours on my job, and hadn't truly had a chance to go birding very much during this particular migration period, so my disappointment was particularly acute.

Pair of Bald Eagles in the distance

Life does have a way of playing tricks on you sometimes though, and so the joke was on me sort of speak.  As it turned out, months later when I was sorting through my pictures, I discovered with a thrilling shock that I had in fact captured some images of a pair of mature Bald Eagles in flight.  At the time  I had mistakenly assumed I was merely seeing what appeared to be more Canada Geese, in the split second that it took me to take the pictures with my digital binoculars.  Bald Eagles are not something you expect to see in the city after all, and at the time I wasn't truly paying attention, so intent was I on sighting Hawks. 

The joke lies in the fact that my expectations had been surpassed.  However, expectation are tricky things, and since then I try not to go out on bird watch with the expectation of seeking out specific birds.  Doing so somehow just doesn't work out for me very often, and if I keep an open mind I am, more likely to be delighted with the results.

Bald Eagle above

What this experience taught me was to follow my instincts. After all something caused me to take those pictures. Since an important part of my birding experience is taking pictures, if some unusual action, shape or color is exhibited by a bird I make sure to take the picture. In this way I often end up with some incredibly surprising and lucky results, even if the images I do get don't always turn out to be good ones. Something else that I have learned since, is that weather conditions should never be a deterrent.  Despite getting soaked, caught out in a storm I have netted some decent photos of hawks in flight.  Making the assumption that you know bird behavior, in this case that birds don't fly during storms, only produces missed opportunities.

Hawk in stormy sky

Never make any kind of assumptions about birds, especially during migration.  I have seen and taken pictures of Eagles  in this city quite often since then. Although, because they tend to fly quite high and my present camera equipment doesn't allow for great pictures results at a distance, I am limited in the types of pictures I am likely to get. A telescopic lens and other equipment is therefore integrated into my financial plans for the future, along with travel plans to bird sanctuaries and other places that birds frequent.  As to not expecting to see Eagles in the city, I have discovered  that Bald Eagles like to hang out near large bodies of water and rivers because they enjoy  fish in their diet, and we do have a nice size river in this city.  Needless to say, day trips to the local river valley are also planned. It will be interesting to see if the eagles I have seen so far do in fact include this city in their hunting territory.

If you wish to learn more about Bald Eagles please follow these links and enjoy:
http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/ThingstoDo/NatureandWildlife.aspx
Note: I visited Ketchikan a few years ago and did get some pictures of Bald Eagles there.  Alaska is a beautiful place and if you ever get a chance to travel there I really recommend it.
http://www.brackendaleeagles.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbjASf6nRwY&feature=related
http://baldeagles.org/eagleinfo.html
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/factsheets/fs_bald-eagle-e.html
http://www.essortment.com/all/eaglewherefind_rqev.htm

Susan

A trail run...in the depth of winter. Honest!

"In the depth of winter,

I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

- Albert Camus

Our very favourite trail run begins just a few minutes from home, on Mt Tzouhalem. The first half is uphill, the second half, downhill but there's lots of variety both ways as the trails wind, dip, and rise through the forest. We've been to the top 466 times over the past seven years. Yet, every time is as thrilling as the very first time that we hiked up with a friend. We didn't run all the way in the beginning but the legs are used to it now - it actually seems easier than hiking. The rocks and roots require that you focus on each step with the result that your mind clears of every earthly worry...that brings a deep sense of relaxation.

The view from the top takes your breath away - again, every single time. We look out at the funky seaside community of Cowichan Bay and way across the channel to Victoria International Airport. Ferries travel from island to island and across the "Salish Sea" to Vancouver where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will open with great fanfare in just a couple of weeks. (Some more snow in the Coast Mountains would certainly relieve some anxiety amongst athletes and organizers.) When the skies are clear, the snow-capped Olympic Range, just over the border in Washington State, serves as a inspiring horizon.

It's the end of January. We always wear shorts. The forest is green with fir and arbutus trees. The delicate little "snowdrops" are flowering and the daffodils will soon be up. The weather is great for paddling. Yep, it's winter on the west coast. Folks in the rest of Canada, please don't be too annoyed with us - spring is on the way. Honest it is. :-)

Duncan.

Gusts, crosswinds, and lessons learned.

A gust is a short, abrupt, burst of high speed wind. Self-propelled boat enthusiasts tend to be rather respectful of gusts. First of all, when it begins to get a little gusty, conditions are likely deteriorating on the water. Wind speed is increasing, waves building, and double-bladed paddles are attempting to become effective airfoils...and the "lift" they are developing wants to pull you right out of the kayak! Well, OK, a bit of an exaggeration but sometimes it feels that way. The lightweight, survival bivy sack, carefully tucked into your bailout bag, is beginning to wonder if it will bring you a sufficient degree of comfort - as you seek shelter on an island that is not the island to which you need to return in order to locate your vehicle...and subsequently sleep in your own bed. As gusts increase in intensity, other thoughts run through your mind...such as, I wonder if my VHF radio really is waterproof or, gosh, maybe a dry suit would be worth all that money?!

Gusts that come in the form of a crosswind can be particularly "exciting". Now you have both wind and waves teaming up to roll you over. You know that the first half of your roll is excellent but you wish that you'd spent more serious time in the pool developing the "second half". Sure, high-adrenaline moments are kind of fun but too much of a good thing can ruin your day!

Turning into the wind and  facing those gusts "head on", however, can give you some control, some stability, and a little respite from serious and continuous "brace mode"!

We all know that life can be "gusty". Allowing those oft-unexpected events and situations to become a "cross-wind" may well be asking for trouble, or at the very least, inviting unnecessary "capsizing". Facing life's difficult and awkward events sideways serves to increase our vulnerability. When possible and when able, it seems best to face difficult challenges head on. It's a lot easier to maintain direction and balance and you can even take a break every now and again, just holding your position. And in those moments of respite, there's an opportunity to regain your strength, assess your position, and move forward with confidence and control.

There's always lessons learned in these narrow boats.

Duncan.

Image: Joan, on a favourite day trip, paddling from Fernwood launch site on Saltspring Island to Wallace Island and beyond. Often a brisk crosswind!

Blue Heron

Blue Heron in flight over pond

It is amazing, truly what you can see in the way of wildlife just by visiting a local park if you pay attention, and sometimes even if you don't.  I had some time to kill  before work one day and decided to visit the park just across the street to drink my coffee.  It was predawn and already a warm day, and I only intended to watch the sun come up on the edge of the park, when I noticed an odd shape on top of a light post in the hollow of the park where the pond is.

Blue Heron stands in pond

 I couldn't quite make out the shape. So I stared at it for a few minutes through my binoculars to make sure I wasn't just seeing things and sure enough it moved.  Finally, just when I decided it had to be a very large raptor of some type, it puzzled me by drooping down into the pond.  It's large wingspan (six to seven feet), enough to be very intriguing, made me irresistibly curious and I decided to go have a closer look, even though going more deeply into the park is not exactly a bright thing to do at this time of day. It being a park in a big city  after all, and not precisely safe to hang around in by yourself.

Blue Heron coming to a landing

By the time I reached the pond it was light enough to see that it was a Blue Heron which had been perched on top of the light post, waiting for enough light no doubt to go fishing in the pond.  I don't know if these birds fly at night or if the Heron had spent the night on that light post, but I was amazed and delighted to actually see it here in the city.   I was  also, by this time, kicking myself right royally for not having my camera with me, although I did have my digital binos, which in this case did me very little good.  Since there still wasn't enough daylight, I managed to get a few very blurred images of the Heron with my binos before I reluctantly headed to work.  Nevertheless I was very excited as I told my co-workers about my little adventure.

Blue Heron at rest

Needless to say after such a wonderful experience, I frequented the park regularly hoping to see this magnificent bird again.  Days later, my brother mentioned seeing it one afternoon, and we immediately went to the park together to see it sitting awkwardly in the sun with its wings spread out, as if to soak up the sun.  It was quite a funny sight, but  as it turns out what the Blue Heron was actually doing was trying to cool itself off, because it was a very hot day, even for August.  I managed to get some clearer shots of it, but it wasn't until my daughter and I decided to visit the park a week later that I got some decent enough photographs.  The next time I saw the Heron, one day late in September, it wasn't alone.  Again my daughter was with me and she took my camera to take pictures, while I tried to get some distance shots from the other side of the pond with my binos.

Blue Heron Cooling off

Both Herons were somewhat shy of people but determined to stay at the pond just the same, because apparently they found the goldfish in it quite tempting.  At this time of the day, late in the afternoon, there were many people at the park on family outings enjoying the last of the good weather, by either having a barbeque or a picnic, and the Herons did have a rather hard time of it trying to avoid all of them; especially the very curious kids.  As a result they spent a lot of time in startled flight when one person or another came too close, which was very advantageous for me to get some pictures of these birds in flight.  Unfortunately all it took was some teenage boys throwing rocks at the Herons to scare them off permanently, despite the tempting goldfish.

Pair of Blue Herons in flight

If you wish to learn more about Blue Herons, hear their voice or watch a video follow these links and enjoy:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-blue-heron.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blue_Heron
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_blue_heron/id

Susan

American Coot

American coot foraging

I knew that this was an unusual bird, although apparently quite abundant, when I spotted it, and never in my wildest dreams did I think that this bird would choose to raise its young at this little city park that I occasionally visit.  Apparently, however, this particular park  had what ever this pair of American Coots required to raise their offspring and lucky for me they stayed.  I truly hope that they return this spring, although that seems somewhat doubtful, as the park is quite often used for entertainment something this bird could not possibly be comfortable with especially come Canada Day.



The American Coot has two aliases, one being Marsh Hen and the other Moorhen. This is because it does not have webbed feet, and  sports a heavy beak just like a chicken. Their legs are long, their toes are long and suitable for walking on floating leaves or debris, and colored yellowish green.  The American Coot makes its home throughout North and South America in it's preferred habitat of marshes, wetlands and ponds.

American Coot and young

From what I observed of this pair, they are aggressive, territorial, and very protective of their young.  Their young are at first so ugly that they are actually cute, and brightly colored when first hatched; quite gaudily in yellow and red.  The parents both took part in feeding the young, who were difficult to spot, unless you knew where to look and sat quite still as not to alarm the parents.  The parents keep the young hidden in safety amongst the reeds and bull rushes.  In fact, the only reason I was able to take pictures of the young was because I heard grunt like sounds emanating from the reeds, which made me curious enough to stand still, watch and listen.

American Coot baby

I counted eight little ones, and the parents seemed to take care of roughly half of that number each.  It was a delight to watch the parents do so, diving beneath the water and coming up with tidbits to feed the little ones, each in its turn.  Whenever someone came to feed the ducks at this pond, the coots would aggressively compete for the food with the ducks in order to feed their young.

American coot baby close up

Within roughly two weeks the little ones turned a silver gray color, and they grew quite quickly, as most birds do, but they stayed hidden amongst the reeds for the most part until they were close to a size with their parents.  They did not develop the distinctive,  redish brown  third eye spot on their foreheads though until late in their growth, when they were nearly adult and the parents continued to feed them even at this point but only occasionally.  Then one day, at the end of August the male coot abandoned the field as it were by disappearing, while the female stayed with the young.  I never actually saw the young practise their flying, but they must have learned at some point because all of the coots simply vanished from the pond in September.

Family of American Coot

There was something very satisfying, joyous and at the same time profound to be found in observing these birds.  When I watched them the world seemed to fade away and be replaced by peace.  I know I came away with yet another lesson that I have learned although I cannot as yet express precisely what that was.

If you wish to learn more about the American Coots, see a video or listen to its voice, simply follow these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Coot
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_coot/id
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN4d8KMIwJI
http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=131
http://sdakotabirds.com/species/american_coot_info.htm
Enjoy

Susan

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

I was fortunate enough to get some shots of this bird in late September 2009.  This is an incredibly bright and beautiful bird, and is actually a woodpecker who, unlike most woodpeckers spends much of it's time on the ground. Quite often it is seen perched on a branch rather than the trunk of a tree. It makes it's home all through North America, Alaska in summer and Central America, Cuba and the Cayman Islands.  It is a bird after my own heart, as it seems to march to its own drummer, in that it is the only woodpecker to migrate, sometimes in large flocks.

There are  five subspecies of this bird, with two types of Northern Flicker being the predominant. The eastern version, colored yellow, while the one in the picture to the left is the western, which has red coloring beneath the wings. Northern Flickers are predominantly brown with black  bars, and a white rump and black tail.  They also have a very clear red patch on the nape of their neck while their bellies are beige with spots, and sport a black bib like patch on their chests.

Looking up

They feed on mostly insects, ants in particular with which they seem to also have a co-operative relation ship of sorts, as they have been observed letting ants crawl of over them.  The theory is that the ants help rid them of pests.  It is interesting to note that, just like an anteater,  Northern Flickers have an extremely long tongue to help them feed on ants. If you wish to attract them to your backyard just install a suet feeder as they will feed on it, especially if your yard is populated with a few trees and bushes. Like all woodpeckers they will forage for bugs along tree trunks, and also occasionally feed on crickets, nuts, fruits and berries. Interestingly enough they  have also been observed catching insects in flight.

Alert

The Northern Flicker prefers open forests, groves and orchards and have been known to occupy city parks, and wooded backyards. They are  known by alternate names such as Yellow hammer, Gaffer and Gawker bird.  Being woodpeckers, they nest in tree hollows that they hammer out themselves, but will also occupy nest boxes created for them if they are of an appropriate size.

Northern Flicker back view

If you wish to hear this bird's call or song go to this link:  http://www.all-birds.com/Flicker.htm  and there is more information on this lovely species of bird at the following links:  http://sdakotabirds.com/species/northern_flicker_info.htm
http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=279
In addition you can view videos at this link if you are so inclined:  http://www.squidoo.com/northernflicker

As you can see, although my abilities at photography is as yet somewhat limited, I did try to give you an all around view of this bird.  Enjoy.

Susan

Surf’s up, and they're rolling in!

Many of my growing up years were spent a short distance from Lake Ontario, and I always thought of it as, well, a lake, albeit a big lake. Don’t get me wrong, lakes are wonderful. We spent many years enjoying a small lake up in the Madawaska Valley – swimming, boating, water-skiing, sailing, snorkelling, building bonfires on the beach, setting marshmallows on fire, listening to the Beach Boys and Wolfman Jack, and just generally chillin’ out in an early "Sixties" kind of way. (Meaning, that although the potential was always there, we didn’t get into too much trouble!) Sure, lakes are awesome. But they weren’t the ocean. Living in southern Ontario seemed a long way from the mighty Pacific or the Atlantic Oceans. And besides, lakes didn’t have tides, salt water, whales, octopus, seals, starfish, dolphins, sharks, ocean liners, “ex-navy frogman” Mike Nelson (TV's Sea Hunt), or bioluminescence. When we were at the lake, no one could ever say “and if you keep on paddling, you'll get to Hawaii”! (Although with a little time and good weather, we could have paddled over to Niagara Falls, New York). As large as Lake Ontario is, it’s a lake. You could even call it an "inland sea". But it’s not an ocean.

Yesterday we took my mother-in-law for a drive down to a Toronto park on the lake shore. The waves were rolling in. I instantly thought of my kayak, which, according to our eTrex Vista, was safely “racked” exactly 3394 kilometres to the west – as the crow flies. Too bad. This would have been fun - big time! Surfing the incoming waves with the dramatic Toronto skyline as a backdrop? The skyline is rather special because it features the third tallest (thanks a lot Dubai!) free standing structure in the world – the CN Tower. Of course there would be two problems. First of all, the “beach” is made up of unforgiving chunks of concrete, placed there, presumably to prevent erosion. Not much fun for launching or landing. Second, my surf-landing skills are, at best, elementary. (Some would argue less than elementary but what do they know?!) And besides, even the most expert surf-landing would pretty much come apart (literally) on the broken concrete!

The point is, in that moment of time, the lake before me was every bit as exciting as the ocean back home. It was different, but if I’d had my kayak and paddle, a dry suit, AND a high-quality crash helmet it would have been pretty hard to resist the temptation to get out there in the waves.

Life’s a bit like that. We can get stuck on what we feel is authentic, or on what we’ve always understood to be the way things are, or on what we’ve grown comfortable with in our living. We can be reluctant to see the familiar in a fresh light. We resist doing things in new ways because, well, we’ve never done it that way before. (Example: In the frequent rudder vs skeg “discussions”, ever noticed that often the respective proponents have only ever tried one of the two devices? As for me, I would enthusiastically argue that a rudder is much more useful...but, admittedly, I’ve never tried a skeg. Sigh. Point taken?). We even place limitations on ourselves. Ever heard anyone say, “I could never do that!”? Limiting our expectations with respect to ourselves, others, the present, the future (or even lakes for that matter!), serves only to limit our experiences and therefore our opportunities. Life seems way too short for that.

So when is a lake not a lake? When you are open to discovering that it may have some unexpected and tantalizing surprises in store for you! Surf was up and those bad boys were rollin’!

Catch a wave...where you might not expect to find it!

Duncan.

Image: "Surf City "- Lake Ontario, the Toronto skyline with the CN Tower to the right of centre.

Open hearts...

Hearts have opened all around our world in response to the earthquake in Haiti. I know that my usual musings in this space pale in comparison to the simple eloquence of this message of care, concern, and compassion pictured above. Here in Toronto, two young teens and their mum stood on a chilly, windy, street corner this morning. They shared not only the warmth of a steaming cup of hot chocolate, but even more important, their open hearts.

May their example be a heartfelt inspiration to all who pass by.

Duncan.

PS On the subject of love...happy birthday son! M and D.

Mount Telaga Bodas

Mountain Lake or Talaga Bodas Bodas is a mountain in southern Stratovolcano Garut, West Java, Indonesia. The mountain is composed of andesite lava and pyroclastic. There are also fumaroles, mud pools, and hot springs around the crater lake. Change the color of the crater lake reportedly occurred in 1913 and 1921

20 Beautiful Sunset HD Wallpapers

Beautiful Wallpapers of Susnets in different parts of the world. These are High Defination WallPapers of Resolution 1920 X 1200. It will fit almost every screen size.