My least favourite month: February

I never knew I had a least favourite month, until this year. My friend, Pieter Thoenes, sent me a Daily Telegraph article by Horatio Clare who tries to make a case for February not being a miserable month. Mr. Clare quotes his godfather, a Welsh hill farmer, calling February a "little bugger of a month". Whereas his mother declares February as "crows-on-posts weather" and each one a hunched little angel of death, wishing illness and injury on every living thing, that they might take its eyes and tongue. Gosh, and I'd already forgiven Wiarton Willie for saying we were in for six more weeks of weather. The lyrical Mr. Clare suggests that February is the perfect time to heed the advice of Valentine and make a fire, cook some lamb chops, curl up under a fleece in the back of our cave and do what comes naturally, thereby producing a little Sagittarius in November or early December. Good Lord! That's why I feel the winter chill so much in my dotage. I was conceived in late February and born in early December (the 6th).
Actually, Horatio Clare has a wonderful command of the language and although he inadvertently prompted me to turn against February, most readers would probably be persuaded in the opposite direction. The website address is below. As friend Pieter puts it: "Barry, as a lover of our language, this is a beautiful article. Read, savour, enjoy!" Click on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/7258624/Snowdrops-in-flower-swallows-in-flight.html
Please comment if you wish
BtheB

No Redpolls or Siskins this winter

I've had as many as 100 American Goldfinches at the feeders in the backyard this winter, but unlike last year, not one Redpoll or Pine Siskin. The picture above, of goldfinches, was taken about two months ago when we had lots of snow. Now, in early February, the snow is almost all gone and only about 25 to 35 goldfinches show up each day. The others are probably finding lots of natural seed that was previously under the snow. Last winter, at this time of year, I had about 50 Redpolls and 50 Pine Siskens that were at the feeders - this year, none. That's the way it goes. It's usually all about food supply. I suspect the seed and berry crops, up north, this past year, were plentiful and the many northern birds, including Crossbills and Grosbeaks, have not had to forage south. I have not seen a Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk in my backyard this winter also, for which the smaller birds are grateful. Those hawks have to eat also, and they are handsome birds. The picture below, taken by friend, Geoff Simpson, shows a Cooper's Hawk flying off with a Mourning Dove in its talons. See another picture of this raptor and its prey, in my 4th blog previous to this one.

BtheB

Varied Thrush still at Cold Creek

I took this photo this morning at Cold Creek Conservation Area on the 11th Concession of King Township. It is still regularly visiting the feeders at Geoff Simpson house just before the Cold Creek main gate. Park on the road and walk in Geoff's driveway until you reach the feeders. This showy visitor from Canada's west coast looks great against the snowy backdrop. Another good sighting today was a Snowy Owl on Strawberry Lane in the Holland Marsh, east of Hwy. 400. Birders have been seeing Snowies all winter in the Strawberry Lane/Woodchoppers Lane/King Street area. And of course there are Red-tailed Hawks every kilometre or so, along the sideroads and concessions, wherever you go. Haven't seen any Redpolls or Siskins yet this winter...last year there were 50 of each species in my backyard.
BtheB

Prorogue this!

If there's one thing that my wife (pictured above) and I agree upon, it's how the arrogance of certain politicians, notably Stephen Harper, makes our collective blood boil. It also takes a lot for us to move beyond griping in front of the TV each night, during the evening news, while downing our mood-altering vegetarian dinners. But his majesty, King Harper, got us off our butts this weekend and we publicly protested his third prorogration of Canada's parliament. We joined about 200 others in the shadow of Newmarket's historic, old town hall, one of the launching points of Mackenzie's 1837 rebellion. We listened to speeches and shouted "Shame!" and "Hear, hear", before marching to the constituency office of Tory MP Lois Brown. Surprise, surprise - Ms. Brown wasn't there. But King Stephen said she would be...that all Conservative MPs would be back in their home ridings, burning the midnight oil and saving the economy. Even her local handlers said she would be in her office. Well, if she was, she must have been on the phone (reporting in to his majesty, perhaps?) because she didn't greet us. I think Linda summed up the experience pretty well by saying the outing was very satisfying and that it was good to see so many others agreeing with us on an important issue. I found it interesting but can't say it was exciting. Actually, I was asleep shortly after supper but it may have been the fresh air and two glasses of Merlot. Now, Linda and I can go back to disagreeing on every thing else. Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Varied Thrush at Cold Creek

A Varied Thrush showed up at Cold Creek Conservation Area Last week. This is not a rare sighting if you live on Canada's west coast, but it sure is in Ontario. It has stayed around so many people have had a chance to see this lovely bird. The photo (above) was taken by Geoff Simpson who had put out some cracked corn, in the front yard of his house, near the Cold Creek main gate. Thanks to Geoff, this bird has become the the 121st bird added to the Cold Creek Bird Species List. Below is another Geoff Simpson photo, which he took last week, of a Cooper's Hawk, that is a regular visitor to Geoff's place. This attractive raptor had just taken down a Mourning Dove when its image was captured. We all have to eat, right? I'm hoping the Cooper's doesn't get a craving for Varied Thrush before I get a chance to get a picture. So far I haven't had much luck, but tomorrow's another day.
BtheB

Act as if it was impossible to fail

Photo of King City United Church by B. Wallace

My new year's greeting, in the headline above the photograph, was written by Dorothea Brande, American writer of the last century. I am starting 2010 with this thought in mind. I hope it motivates others who read it.

Charles Long ~ brewer's labourer

The photo at right shows the Old Malthouse in the village of Langton Matravers, in Dorset, England. It is a couple of kilometres from the English Channel and also that part of England's southern shore known as the Jurassic Coast. For the last 100 years or so, the Old Malthouse has served as a school, but before that it was a brewery, lived in and operated by Charles Chinchen Edmunds, a maltster and brewer. In 1881, in a cottage next to the Old Malthouse, lived the 75-year-old Charles Long, his 77-year-old wife, Betty, and their 26-year-old grandson, WilliamLong.
Charles Long was my great-great-great grandfather and at age 75 he was employed by Charles Edmunds as as a brewer's labourer. My great-great-great grandmother, Betty Long, kept house, while my 1st cousin (3 times removed) William Long, worked as an agricultural carter. I came across this ancestral information, last night, while checking online 19th-century British censuses, as part of my ongoing research into family history. I thought it was somewhat interesting that I had discovered one of my great-great-great grandfathers worked in a brewery as it was just earlier this year that I switched from regular beer to non-alcoholic beer. I couldn't help but wonder if Charles Long turned over in his grave, a time or two, when I made the switch.
BtheB

First Snow Buntings arrive

It's December 1st and I photographed my first Snow Bunting of the season, today, in the Queensville Flats, north of Holland Landing and just south of Cook's Bay, on Lake Simcoe. There was a flock of about 50 of these pretty birds and I had a heck of time trying to get them to stay in one spot, long enough to take a picture. I didn't have a tripod for my telephoto lens, either. This one was at the back of the pack and kept looking over its shoulder as I followed it. There is some indication of its distinctive colour patterns and I'll get a much better shot in the near future, I hope.
BtheB

Stumbleway of dysrationalia

I've always tried to walk a balanced path when it comes to the environment; protecting the planet on the one hand, while making a living on the other. I always felt during my lifetime that I was, more or less, in lock-step with successive national governments on the subject. Such a concensus was purely coincidental I thought, for I was no expert and the governments had experts aplenty. Now, with granchildren on my lap, I feel worlds apart from the Conservative stumbleway of dysrationalia that passes for a highway to health for our environment and economy. I see pragmatism as a useful tool for the daily coping of Canada's existence, but I lament that there seems to be no sensical vision or goals for a sustainable society on our increasingly fragile earthscape. I am baffled by our national leader's inability to think and behave in a rational manner despite adequate intelligence. It's like a bad dream. Surely, there's no mystery here and we, the people, can expect that leadership seeks goals based on evident reality. I want to wake up from this bad dream and learn that Mr. Harper has also awakened and is smelling the roses while there are still roses to smell.
BtheB

Colder than a witch's heart

Here's a photo taken at Niagara Falls many decades ago. My better half, Linda, sent me this as part of an email which asks the question: "Who says there is no global warming?" Apparently, in 1911, Niagara Falls completely frozen over and people actually walked along the upper edge of the icy precipice. Colder than a witch's heart is how my granfather, Sid Thomas, would describe wintery scenes like the one above.
BtheB

Another Don Flucker photo

Here's another photo by Don Flucker, of Ladner, B.C., that is just too charming not to be shared. It's a Mute Swan with a cygnet hitchhiker. I get the feeling that most things centre on the water in Don's part of the world. It is after all in the Fraser River Delta, which empties into the Pacific Ocean. I read recently however, that all the waters around that part of our western coast have unofficially, or semi-officially, been re-named the Salish Sea, in recognition of original aboriginal settlement.
It occured to me that the word sea is not common usage in the west. Westerners seem to call the Pacific an ocean, while easteners seem to refer to the Atlantic as the sea. Anybody out there who has lived on both coasts and can comment on this?
BtheB

B.C. bird photos by Don Flucker

Fraser River Bald Eagle

Mute Swan and cygnet

Wood Duck

These great photos were taken by Don Flucker of Ladner, British Columbia. Don and his wife live in a floating house, with a spiffy trawler tied up out front. They're near to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which sits on the edge of the Pacific, in the Fraser River delta, about an hour south of Vancouver. In addition to eagles, swans and ducks, Don sees lots of other neat species such as Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese.

Don is a person I was acquainted with many decades ago, here in Ontario. I was reacquainted with him last week when his brother, Dave, still here in Ontario, emailed some of Don's bird pictures to me. I've since exchanged a few emails with Don and have discovered, among other things, that Don and his delta neighbours host 80,000 Snow Geese each winter! I had to admit to Don that my next Snow Goose sighting would be my first Snow Goose sighting. Don told me that he has sold several, large-format prints of the terrific eagle shot above. No kidding. I will share others if I'm lucky enough to have Don send some more my way.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Another new-camera photo

Kortright Sugar Shack

I was out today, shooting some pictures for a friend who is publishing a history book next year, and found myself at the Kortright Centre for Conservation, near Kleinburg. Although I didn't find what I was looking for in the way of pictures for my friend's book, I did take the photo above of the sugar shack at Kortright. I love my new camera, but have to admit that anyone with a camera could make this setting look beautiful.

BtheB

More new camera photos

Fox Sparrow

Blue Jay

Here are some backyard shots taken this weekend. The Fox Sparrows will be around for another week or so, while the Blue Jay I expect will be around all winter, especially if I keep stocking up the bird feeder with the 'Ultimate Mix' from The Maple Barn Store. My new telephoto zoom lens is so powerful that I'm having trouble getting the focus just right. Between my less than perfect eyes and the hip-hop behaviour of birds like the Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch, it's a challenge to get that perfect shot. Ahhhh, but that's the challenge. Stay tuned in and we'll see what we can capture in the lens.

BtheB

New Camera

I got a good deal recently on a new digital 35mm SLR camera and two lenses, one of which is a 70-300mm F/4-5.6 zoom lens. I haven't a clue what the numbers mean, but above are a couple of shots I took this past weekend at the Koffler Scientific Reserve in King Township. I was quite pleased with my beginner's effort and am really looking forward to taking lots of my own great birds and critters shots, instead of plagiarizing those of friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers on the internet. The bird is a southward-migrating Yellow-rumped Warbler who stopped by to have lunch with me. The White-tailed Deer was one of three does that were flushed by a group of field naturalists, on a hike at the scientific reserve, which is also locally known as Jokers Hill. I was helping with two hikes at Jokers Hill that day. The hikes were billed as "Trees & Fungi - Friends or Foes?" For the record, they are both. Everyone seemed to find the hikes interesting and enjoyable and I found some time to do my own thing; the results of which are pictured here. Please comment if you wish.

Say cheese, BtheB

Words that caught my Thanksgiving eye

Interesting words appeared on the front and back pages of the Life section in my Globe and Mail newspaper today. On the front page was a headline with these words from author, Michael Chabon: "A father is a man who fails every day". It was like a punch. I was sure I knew what Chabon meant without reading the story. In an interview with Dave McGinn he goes on to say the minimum behaviours for being a good dad are paying to raise your kids, paying for their upkeep, and sticking around. He goes on to say the most important part of being a dad is to just be there for your kids, what he calls emotional presence. He says he doesn't always meet the standard, but he tries. I like to think I tried to be there for my daughters, but there was always that "...nagging sense of inadequacy", as Chabon puts it. Hence, the every-day failure syndrome.
The other sobering words, on the back page of the Life section, were from Alfred D'Souza: "For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin - Real Life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid - then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." Well, thanks for the insight, Alfred, but I hope this doesn't mean I have to give up dreaming.
Pictured below (photo by Auralee) are the grandkids, for which I am always thankful.
HappyThanksgiving and please comment if you wish.
BtheB

The Rage of Hurricane Bill

My good friends Mark and Deb, of Boutiliers Point, in Nova Scotia, have passed on photographic evidence of Hurricane Bill's rampage, last weekend, in their neck of the woods. Boutiliers Point is on the southern coast of Nova Scotia, about half way between Halifax and Chester. Mark and Deb and their two young sons live just a stone's throw from the ocean. None of them are native maritimers but they have lived there, for many a year now, and have a deep respect for the Atlantic and for what it can throw at the unwary. They were forewarned of Hurricane Bill, of course, and took the appropriate measures, as the huge storm roared up the east coast.
They were unscathed inside the house, but it was a different story outside. Below is an amazing photo of the front of their home, showing Hurricane Bill's impact. Some people are just damned lucky, I guess. Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Riding the rails in Vivian Forest

My wife, Linda, and grandson, Will, are pictured above riding one of the many steam trains at the Richmond Hill Live Steamers club property, in the Vivian Forest, east of Aurora. If this isn't a bunch of fun, for young and old alike, then I don't know what is! It was a great time for all involved: grampa and gramma, the moms and dads, and four grandkids. We all got to ride for free, although donations are greatly appreciated. These train-crazy folks are located at 15922 McCowan Road, a couple of kms. north of the Aurora Sideroad, in Whitchurch Township.
They have two open houses each summer when the public is welcomed to come and ride. They are the weekends after Canada Day and Labour Day. You can also visit Sunday afternoons from May to October, between 1-3 p.m., to view the goings-on, and if you're lucky, you may be allowed to ride also, but no guarantees. If you've got kids, mark Sept. 12 & 13 on your calendar right now. That's the next Open House for the Richmond Hill Live Steamers. I noticed on my calendar, the 13 of September is also, officially, GRANDPARENTS DAY in Canada. Have fun and maybe I'll see you there.
BtheB

Farewell Jokers Hill

This then is King's roof
Jokers Hill crowns the moraine
10,000 years young

My six months as a student ,in the Naturalist Training Program, at the U of T's Koffler Scientific Reserve, on Jokers Hill in King Township, has come to end. The photo and haiku, shown above, appear together on the last page of a photo-journal I kept between January and June of this year. I made a copy of the journal, which has over 80 photos, for each of my classmates, plus the director and associate director of the Koffler Scientific Reserve. Each time I look through it now, I have a pang of regret that this special time in my life has come to an end. My professor, Ivana, and my 19 classmates, were so enthusiastic that I could barely wait for each class to roll around. We all became friends in a setting, on top of the Oak Ridges Moraine, that has few rivals in York Region. Below are a few other pictures from my photo-journal highlighting the lush rolling realm that is KSR at Jokers Hill.

3-year-old granddaughter admonishes me

What do you do when you forget to wish your 3-year-old granddaughter a happy birthday on the exact day? Well, the next day you out to Tim Horton's and buy a really decadent donut with strawberries and cherries and yoghurt icing and present it with a flourish, while hoping that she's forgotten you were AWOL the day before. Emmy was delighted with the treat I had brought her and was busily munching away when I announced: "Now that you're three years old, you can eat all the donuts you want". Her mother instantly leaped in with: "That is not a new rule!" Emmy immediately piped up: "That would make me sick". To which her mother smugly remarked: "Look at that, only three years old and smarter than her grampa already".
Harrumph! So, not only is my memory failing but I'm not that bright either. That's Emmy, in the photo above, admonishing me. I actually bought two donuts at Timmy's, because I knew I couldn't hand Emmy a donut and not have one for for her sister Brawley. As it turned out, Emmy shared her donut with her sister and gave the other one to her dad. Me? I went home, chuckling to myself, and had a peanut butter sandwich. Please comment if you wish.
BtheB