SNOW ADONIS

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Birds, Boats and Butts

I sought out this image today. The last time I was in this park I saw the ducks sitting on this very log and thought it would be nice to sketch. I had noticed a heron also however the heron did not make an appearance today and instead a cormorant and a seagull found an empty spot amongst the ducks.

As I sat in the grass along the waters edge fumbling with my pencil and paper I noticed two people, one with an orange garbage bag and the other with a clipboard making their way along the shoreline in my direction. The older gentleman was foraging through the brush, announcing his discovery to the lady behind him and putting whatever he had found in his bag. The lady then appeared to jot down his discovery on her clipboard. It turned out that they were part of a study to see what kind of garbage was making it's way into the city parks. To their and my surprise the number one piece of garbage they were coming across was cigarette butts. It turns out that cigarette butts are not bio-degradable and can survive outside for 2 to 10 years. I really never knew that cigarette butts hang around that long in the environment. It boggled my mind to think of how many smokers there are and how many cigarettes they smoke daily and how every butt they throw away stays where it lands for up to 10 years unless someone else sweeps it up, picks it up or eats it up (which I am sure a few ducks have done). Since I don't smoke I never considered how people disposed of their butts or how getting rid of the end of a smoking hot stick must be difficult especially if there is no place to safely put it out.

I think I will discuss this further with my smoking friends and relatives to see where they stand on the subject. Do they know their butts are not bio-degrading and may be the number one piece of garbage along our shorelines and in our parks today? I have a feeling that most don't and think they will change their habits if given the chance.

LaFontaine 2011 The Slide Show

Where is it? & Heron Cam Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out The 24 hr. Heron channel thanks to The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. I just saw a Mom(Dad?) feed the young bird in the nest. I always wondered how long the young were left alone during the day as I see Mr. and Mrs. Heron on the the lake from sunrise to sunset. Nice to know that someone checks in during the day to deliver a tasty and healthy lunch. Ok back to my show.

MR. HERON'S SHOPPING LIST

Let's Play Ball

Brady is our 8 month old poodle mix puppy. He loves to play ball inside and outside all day long. When he gets tired he still likes to play what I call "Couch Ball". I videotaped a game we played today.



Bath Time!
Looks like they both had a bath; )

Best Friends!



Rhiannon asking Brady to "Come" using the hand command.



Stepping Stones


The stepping stones she took no note of,
There to carry her across the river to the other side,
She gave them no thanks for the service they provided,
And so went her life.

Leaving behind those that serviced her journey,
Never tending to them or looking back to enquire,
And when she found her path had led her nowhere,
Turned around to find it overgrown, impassable.
-EJ Murphy
(a reminder to myself)

The Meandering Trail's Calabogie Adventure

  

Rhiannon and Hannah enjoying the day at The Calabogie Ski Resort.

This past Saturday, Rhiannon, Hannah and I headed out to The Calabogie Ski Resort for a day of skiing, snowboarding, tubing and perhaps a little snowshoeing. The weather called for mild temperatures(-8) and clear sunny skies. We lucked out as the weather forcast was infact correct and we enjoyed a great day on the slopes and snow. I took my first ski lesson ever on the bunny hill(although I did ski a few times in highschool) while Rhiannon tried out snowboarding for her first time. Hannah opted out of snowboarding and practiced her skiing skills until it was time for Rhiannon to join her on the big hills on the board. I stayed on the bunny hill for the morning and was quite skilled with my turns by lunch time. I opted out of upgrading to a full day ticket as my knee was beginning to bug me and instead decided to strap on my snowshoes for a short and easy run around the resort(see video). The girls had a great time on the hills and Rhiannon did really well for her first time on the board(see video).

A video of Rhiannon's first snowboard run.

Calabogie Lake

A video of The Calabogie Beach Resort.

Geocaching, not just for "WEIRDOS" anymore!

Here are some pictures from last weekends Geocaching adventure. What is "Geocaching" you ask? Well I first heard the term very recently when a man and his son emerged from the brush behind the beer store which backs onto my trail and announced to me that they were not "weirdos", that they were only "Geocachers". I think he thought that his statement would explain why in the heck he and his son were in the bushes taking pictures of each other. On top of that the father was holding his iPhone out to me and pointing to it as though to prove his statement. I had no idea what they were talking about and as much as I suspected that they were infact weirdos there was something to their story that warranted further investigation.

What I found out is that Geocaching is a kind of worldwide treasure hunt. People around the planet including some in my little piece of the world have been hiding "caches" for others to find for years. These caches consist of a notebook for you to sign and date and sometimes contain trinkets, prizes or even clues to other mystery caches. In a matter of 3hrs. and taking time for lunch we found 3 caches. One was behind the beer store (250m from our house) as "the weirdos" said, one was right across the street from our house(100m) and one cache actually led us straight into and out of our own back yard about 800 metres. In order to find our caches I logged into my free Geocaching.com account and entered our location by country, province and postal code. I soon found 1048 caches within a 28 mile radius of my home. I then plugged the co-ordinates into my GPS device(305 Garmin Forerunner). We followed our GPSwatch and counted down the metres until a beep told us that we had arrived at our destination.

The first cache behind the beer store was hidden up a tree. It was the smallest(a film canister) cache we found and it only contained the list of the names of those who had found it. We did not have a pen with us so the girls left a cute pink ring that fit perfectly inside.

The second cache led us right into and out of our back yard for about 800 metres through some dense prickly bushes before meeting up with part of the Rideau Trail I swear I didn't know was there. The cache was a bit tricky to find as it was buried under some loose rocks. The girls signed their names and took out a few trinkets and replaced them with a few others.

I decided to let the girls try to find the final cache by themselves. As it turns out it was across the street and just a bit off the trail. It was the largest and oldest cached having been there for 5 years according to the dates on the signatures. It also contained some fun gifts and a note giving instructions about what it was and what to do if you found it.

Geocaching was a blast and I highly recommend you give it try wherever you may be.

While on vacation or at home, there's a geocache wherever you may roam; )

Mr. Beaver moves to Sydenham Lake

I went looking for Mr. Heron the other day at his favorite log and fishing spot and instead I saw a bewildering sight. At first I thought it was a bunch of wood and twigs that had been caught up on a fallen log but when I looked a little closer at the dome like structure there was no denying that it could be nothing other then a beaver's lodge. "Where did that come from", I thought to myself. I had seen sight of what appeared to be a beaver in the pond not far from this part of the lake but I had decided it must be an otter. Yes there are beavers about 8kms down the trail in the creeks that run off into the lake but I have never seen one this close to the village. Mr. Beaver has decided to move to perhaps the busiest part of the entire lake. Directly in front of his lodge is the Sydenham Canoe and Kayak Club which will be bustling all summer with kids at camp and then not far from there is one of only two public boat launches. I am not sure that Mrs. Beaver will want to raise her family in such a hectic area. I think Mr. and Mrs. Beaver will be kicking themselves for moving here instead of investing in a lovely piece of swamp land down the trail a ways. Time will tell.

Yarker Herons...NOT SMART!!

At first sight I could not understand why The Yarker Herons would choose to nest in the trees located next to a beaver's lodge. Beavers eat trees don't they? Scattered stumps surrounding the trees was surely proof that The Yarker Beavers were eating The Yarker Herons out of house and home quite literally, wasn't it? Hence, I concluded that Yarker Herons are SOOOO NOT SMART! To prove my hypothesis I decide to do some further research and quickly came to realize that herons often choose to nest in the dead trees caused by beaver dam flooding. Apparently beavers are not interested in the flooded trees and the herons are happy to move right in to begin gathering sticks to build their nests. A theory set forth by Yarkerite Sara (Hunnybuns) Montgomery hypothesizes that perhaps The Yarker Herons use the beaver's sticks, now stripped of bark to build their nests. Now if this were true I could be persuaded to conclude that The Yarker Herons are indeed inherently SMART. Unfortunately with no supporting data or anecdotal evidence of such a collaboration between the two species I have decided to make this comic poking fun at The Yarker Herons lack of SMARTNESS if only to amuse myself and to quite possibly bug the heck out of Hunnybuns: )
P.S.
Thanks for the pictures of the nests Sara.

Sorry We're Late...

There are many signs that Mr. and Mrs. Heron do infact winter in Florida. I haven't actually seen them although I have seen their images and namesake everywhere including an ornate carving on a gated community's gate, as the mascot of a local realestate office and on the sign of a motel. I have caught glimps of their southern cousin the Great White Heron though fishing from the local canals and mangrove swamps.

SNOWMAN POOL PARTY

Frosty Gets S.A.D.

Frosteen's New Coat

It's fun to learn about the different kinds of conifers especially when you don't want to make a mistake and accidentally put a pine cone on a fir tree coat. You can see for yourself all the different kinds of conifers and their cones here.

I have been very inspired by Chad Carpenter's comic strip "Tundracomics.com" of late. I am especially inspired by his "Snowman" comics. I made the one above in the "Tundra" style and sent a link to Chad hoping he will decide to take me on as a protege/student/apprentice and or pay me for the publishing rights; ) BTW the reason I am studying Chad's work is beacause I read somewhere that that is what artists do. My other snowmen are not done in the "Tundra" style (although snowmen do tend to look alike) however the subject matter is inspired by Chad's work. I will post more "Snowman" comics later.

Frosty The Snowfort?

It snowed today in Sydenham, Ontario. Lot's of the white fluffy stuff that so many have been waiting for. I won't have much time to enjoy the snow as I will be heading south to Florida on Friday. I will be back in mid January to enjoy another season of snowshoing and I promised myself last year that I would get out on Sydenham Lake this year for a bit of meandering. Enjoy the snow and I hope you all have fun building your "Frostys".

What Happens On The Trail...Snow Birds?

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CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW!!

Mr. and Mrs. Heron were still around last week but  I have yet to see them this week and wonder if they are packing to head back down south soon. Thinking of them and also recently discovering a great comic website called Tundra Comics inspired this comic. Chad Carpenter's comics are so hilarious and a bit similar to the ones I did for this blog...well we both have bears and other animals and the outdoors. so kinda the same yet not.

Morning's Play

Oh would you go meandering,
Upon this trail beside this lake,
To hold my hand and welcome Day,
And take our role in Morning's play?

Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering, meandering,
Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering with me?

an excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Double Rainbows in Sydenham

There were Double Full Arc Rainbows in Sydenham on Sunday, Aug. 31st. Unfortunately the 2 arcs were so big that I was unable to get a picture of them in one still. The second arc had also faded by the time I got home and retrieved my camera. I was able to get a few pics from my front yard but by the time I reached the lake only one arc remained. I was humbled by the rainbows beauty and by my amateur efforts to capture it on film(memory card). The lower rainbow was very vibrant in color with the second top arc being more muted perhaps by the cloud cover. Below are the results of my efforts. The whole town was talking about the two rainbow's the next day.

Footnote: there were two teenage girls lost in Frontenac Park at the time of the double rainbows. Perhaps somehow the rainbows led their searchers to them although Derrick says he did not see the rainbows.

Children of the Canola

A Canola Field in La Fontaine, Ontario

Children of the Canola

Every few years the farmer's rotate the crops just north of Barrie, Ontario.

This year it was fields of canola everywhere.

Stir Sun To Rise

Oh would you go meandering,
Upon this trail beside this lake,
To hear the sounds stir Sun to rise,
As calling loons share haunting cries?

Oh would you go meandering,

Meandering, meandering,
Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering with me?

an excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

FEED THE SQUIRRELS

I had a fun time visiting with my in-laws Ron and Fran last week at their cottage on Georgian Bay. When I arrived one of the first things I noticed was that Ron had rigged up a make shift scarecrow to keep a few big black birds away from his bird feeder. Determined to keep the bird feeder safe and enjoyable for the pretty local finches Ron had also sprayed the metal post holding the feeder with WD40 as a couple of squirrels had been scurrying up the pole and devouring all the seeds. Ron talked with delight about how the squirrel's attempts to climb the newly greased pole usually ended in a comical thud. I watched as a big black squirrel attempted to raid the feeder only to be humiliated in front of the chipmunks below as he crashed to the ground. Mr. Squirrel then took out his defeat on the chipmunks by chasing them away from where they had been feasting on all of the dropped seeds.

Sunsets on The Bay

Every evening was a beautiful sunset on Georgian Bay this past week. It seemed that no matter what the days weather had been like that the skies cleared and the waters stilled just before 9 pm for us to enjoy another sunset on the Bay. We all stopped whatever we were doing for the short time it took for the sun to drop below the horizon. Each sunset was so different from the days before in the way that the suns fading light illuminated the sky and the clouds above.

Silent Stillness

Oh would you go meandering,
Upon this trail beside this lake,
To feel the silent stillness break,
As jumping fish cause rippled wakes?

Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering, meandering,
Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering with me?

an excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Nature Can Be Sooo Cruel- Head & Tail

Aren't Bears Cute???

I have a friend who has a deathly fear of snakes. Big snakes, small snakes all snakes. If it slithers then she is afraid of it, jumps 6 ft in the air and runs blindly at record breaking speeds in the opposite direction. Why all the running I ask her, does she really think the snake is in hot pursuit??? I would call her fear of snakes a phobia because for the most part it is irrational. I on the other hand have a completely rational fear of bears. Bears are BIG with BIG TEETH and CLAWS and may decide to claw at you or bite your head if you tick them off enough. With all that said I was sad the other day when a Policeman made the decision to shoot a bear who had followed his nose down the lake and into town for a snack. The snack he was after was garbage and not human or canine or feline or Mr. and Mrs. Heron so why did the Officer need to shoot him with a bullet? It is my best guess that the Officer decided to error on the side of safety as in , "Better Safe then Sorry". However living so close to nature I really think we need to have a better plan then that. I am pretty sure that Officer didn't go home bragging about how he killed a bear today. Perhaps that Officer also had a fear of bears the way I do. Human fears usually result in a "fight or flight" response and can make us do the darndest things. My friend's natural response was "Flight", the Officer's was "Fight". Yes, bears are scary creatures but so are Policemen shooting guns with bullets practically in my front yard. Of course the hunters in my back yard are another story.

The Meandering Heron?

Mr. Heron posed for some pictures today. He seems less shy over by the waterfalls where there is much more activity IE. car traffic, kids playing in the park, dogs and cats running around and me sitting quietly on the hill with my camera. BTW, just for the record I rarely bring my camera with me while out meandering. I would say I bring my camera approx. 2 times out of 10. Like the other day, I was out for an easy run after a long day at the computer screen. Always having in mind that The Heron's may be around I looked for them in their usual spots and wouldn't you know it but Mr. Heron walked right up the hill out of the pond. His legs were so thin and knobby and he appeared awkward as he strutted across the trail and down to the lakes edge. Of course the first thing I thought to myself was "Darn, I wish I had my camera with me". However if I did have my camera I would have seen the surreal sight of a heron walking down "The Meandering Trail" through an LCD display. I would have been fumbling with buttons and zoom lenses and missing out on enjoying the moment just so I could have photographic evidence that the unbelievable story about a heron meandering down the trail is true. So I am glad that I did not have my camera that day. Instead what I do have is a lasting memory that may have been lost if I did and I am sure you all believe me without the photo evidence anyways, don't you?

P.S.
Isn't Mr. Heron a handsome fellow? I never realized how fluffy his brown feathers on the top of his legs are.

Roger Tory Peterson

A few years ago I bought the Peterson Field Guide Birds of Eastern and Central North America. At the time I bought the book because my Grandmother always kept an edition of the Guide on her windowsill. As a child I remember looking through her window at the birds in her garden. I also remember being a bit disappointed that I never saw as many birds through that window as were shown in the book. It was not until recently that I came to appreciated the fact that everyone of those pretty pictures was a detailed work of art. I made this revelation as I was reading the Foreword to the Guide. The Foreword was written by Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman. Bateman tells of how he received his first Peterson Bird Guide when he was 12 and how it's author, Roger Tory Peterson greatly influenced his life. Bateman talks about the discipline one must have to render such works when he says, "You cannot get loose and sloppy even once. You must always pay attention, not only to the detail, but to the general shape and form". He then goes on to praise Peterson further, ""Every species has been sweated over, brushstroke by brush stroke". Roger Tory Peterson documented the species he loved through his art, however art was never his goal. I believe he expressed his true goal when he said, "We must reach all mentors of children, their teachers and those who teach teachers. We must give them the tools and instill in them a responsibility for creating in their young charges a knowledge and love of nature". So it turns out that my Grandmother's Field Guide was more then a book with pretty pictures. It was the vessel used by Roger Tory Peterson to instill in us a knowledge and love of nature.

Nature Can Be Sooo Cruel- Wishbones

BTW,

ALL birds have WISHBONES so Mr. Heron has been caught in a lie...

but then again can we really blame him for trying to save his NECK?

I have been thinking about dead animals lately mostly due to my personal experience of running over a beautiful 5 ft. black snake sunning himself on the road the other day. I thought he was a patched crack in the road and at the last second realized that I was running over a snake with my mammoth vehicle. Ouuuuchhhhhh! Oh the misery of meeting your end while blissfully sunning yourself. I thought about stopping, but then what? Rush him to the vet? Is there a place to take these poor suffering snakes? I thought about perhaps just moving him off the road but was afraid that he would bite me if still alive. I screamed and cried all the way to my Core Class which is where I was headed in the first place. I hoped there was a chance that I had missed his vital organs and that after some rest he would be fine. But I am sure animals don't recover from these things and he probably slinked off into the grass to die. Wow, nature can be so cruel!

The next time I went to Core Class I drove very observantly and with my music a bit less blaring. Being AWARE I decided would be the best way I could make it up to that poor snake. Then as I was driving home after class wouldn't you know it but there walking lazily down the middle of the road was a big old snapping turtle. She was huge and dirty and really had no clue of the impending danger she was in. Here was my chance to make up for hitting Mr. Snakey, but how? I had no idea about the dexterity of snapping turtles and whether they were capable of whipping around and snapping you. So at that point I was not sure if my desire to help her was greater then my fear of her. There was also the chance that I would end up as "Road Kill" myself if I didn't do something quick being that it was late and we were on a very curvy country road. I tried to nudge her with my foot, but she would not budge. I yelled at her to move but she just looked at me. I lifted her tail end with my foot which made her really mad and her head began to jut in and out of her shell furiously, each jut ending with a snapping sound. After hearing those SNAPS I determined that I would try to move her without picking her up. I returned to my truck to retrieve something, anything that I could move her with. At this point I really did not want to touch her. I could just picture myself in Emergency holding my detached finger with all the hospital staff berating me that everyone knows you don't pick-up a snapping turtle, especially one big enough to bite your finger off. So as I returned to my vehicle I suppose I was hoping to find a "Snapping Turtle Removal Kit" in the trunk. I did find a cardboard box there but determined I would have to lift her into it which defeated the no touch option. I searched the back and front seats and all I found was my daughters sweater. Alas that would have to do. As I returned to Mrs. Snapper I could not believe what I was about to do. Somehow I thought screaming may help so I began screaming at the top of my lungs as I picked her up with my daughter's sweater wrapped around my hands. Now what? I was in the middle of the road sceaming and holding a big old snapping turtle with her head jutting in and out violently snapping at me and I could not decide which side to put her on? The lake was on one side but I believe she was heading away from the lake to lay her eggs so I put here down there in the brush. I drove away hoping I hadn't done more harm then good. It truely is amazing how all these wild creatures survive and thrive year after year despite us humans. Nature can be cruel but it can also be quite amazing.

BTW, I never did tell my daughter that I used her sweater to lift a big, old stinky snapping turtle...and I probably never will.

Nature Can Be Sooo Cruel- Get Off My Log!

One day as I was out meandering on the trail I spied Mr. Heron on a log(I now call it his log) along the shoreline. There were trees and brush between the trail and the water so I tried to get closer to him and perhaps get a picture. I found a little trail leading to the lake through the brush and as I got closer I realized that Mr. Heron was sharing the log with a loon. I wondered how that came about and who was there first. Was this some sort of stand-off I had come upon? So now I really wanted to get a shot of the two of them. I was almost crawling now below the brush line hoping I would not be detected. However, Mr. Heron being the shy sort spotted me in no time and flew away with a few flaps of his powerful wings. Disappointed, I then turned to the log in hopes of getting a pic of Mr. Loon but alas he was gone also. I left without any pictures however thinking back I really should have taken a picture of that log. Darn!

Dawn's Blushing Skies

Oh would you go meandering,
Upon this trail beside this lake,
That I may gaze into your eyes,
As you behold Dawn's blushing skies?

Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering, meandering,
Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering with me?

Excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Trail Tales #1- Fish On Her Bones

The water can be mirror like in the early morning. The reflections of the sun, clouds, treeline and houses in the water got me wondering about what the birds flying overhead might think about when seeing their image below. Do you think they are checking themselves out?