Oak Ridges Trail at Marylake

Linda invited our new friends, Roch and Daphne, to walk on the Oak Ridges Trail this past weekend. We walked the Marylake portion of the trail, just north of King City. We began at the Marylake Shrine (pictured at right), walked around the east side of the lake, then headed north through the hardwood forest and over the Oak Ridges Moraine height of land. Oldtimers, like me, still call this high spot 'the King Ridge' or just 'the ridge'. Early french explorers called these hills, mountains. We ended up at the Pine Farms Orchard store and cafe (see picture below), where we enjoyed tea and juice. I explained to Roch and Daphne that the site on which the Marylake Shrine sits was formerly the site of the hunting lodge of Sir Henry Pellatt (of Casa Loma fame) in the 1920s. 70 years before that, Linda's great-great-grandparents, William and Elizabeth Scott, lived for five years in a rented farmhouse, on the same site. It was a beautiful day and I can't recommend this section of the Oak Ridges Trail enough. BtheB

Just when I thought I'd seen it all...

Daughter No.2, Auralee, told me earlier this week that she had seen a baby Ruby-throated Hummingbird sipping nectar from phlox flowers in her garden. She said it was twice the size of a bumblebee and she could almost reach out and touch it. It sounded odd because a young hummingbird, if it's out flying around and gathering nectar, is almost the same size as an adult 'hummer'. I took her word for it, however, and didn't think much more about it.
Today, I was out in my garden, standing near some tall Obedient Plants, when I suddenly saw, on the flowers, something I'd never seen before. It was a large, green-backed flying insect, with rapidly beating wings, which was flitting from flower to flower, just like a humming bird, gathering nectar. I called Linda to come and see my discovery. We stood bewildered. We able to get to very close to it even though it was constantly on the move. It was smaller than a hummingbird - but not by much.
I had told Linda about Auralee's sighting earlier in the week and now concluded that we were seeing the same amazing creature. After a minute or so, it flew off leaving us very puzzled. I told Linda I would try to find something about it on the Internet. I typed in "Hummingbird Insect". Shazam!!! There it was: Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Who knew? Well, lots of people, it seems. The Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hermaris thysbe) is fairly common in eastern Canada and the U.S.A., during the summer months. It is a day-flying, nectar-sipping moth with a 2" wingspan, a green furry back, and burgundy wing scales, suggesting a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It has two antennae plus a long curling probocis to suck nectar. This moth is frequently mistaken for 'baby' or 'little' hummingbirds. If you see one, and if you're like me, for a moment you'll hardly believe your eyes. I just love moments like this, when my aged, tired, skeptical self is treated to a hitherto undiscovered wonder of nature.

Back at the start of May, I wrote a blog about the first hummingbird of the year and included a picture, which my sister-in-law, Nancy, had sent me of five hummingbirds feeding at a small red dish resting in the palm of a hand. Just last week I ran across the larger version of the same shot (with the whole person) and have included it below. Lucky lady!

Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

(Photo of Hummingbird Clearwing Moth by Don Marlin)

Hot weather haikus

So hot and humid
Even the cats are panting
Bird bath is busy

Hot as hell today

Whining cicadas put in

Eleven hour shifts

Got dehydrated

Drank beer instead of water

My head is pounding

Canada Day ~ 2007

Grandson Will, BarrytheBirder, Grand-daughter Emmy

Kingfest ~ Prairie Oyster comes home

Linda and I attended the 3rd annual Kingfest Music Festival, which was held June 21-22-23 at the King Campus of Seneca College with headliners, Prairie Oyster, Bruce Cockburn, Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer. Russell deCarle of Prairie Oyster is seen above with Keiran Kane and Susan Werner, closing their workshop session with a rendition of 'Georgia'. It was a homecoming of sorts for King City 'old boys' Keith Glass and Russell, who have have performed in King City before - before not on this scale. My brother, Bob, was a band-mate of Russ and Keith when they performed as the King City Slickers. It was a great festival, good weather and a super venue. We hope Kingfest continues in this expanded form and location, especially since its only 5 minutes from our front door.

Ndidi Onukwulu and Madagasgar Slim, on the KingFest Main Stage, warmed up festival-goers with a blues set, prior to Sarah Harmer and Bruce Cockburn. The highlight of Sarah Harmer's set occured when she invited folks to dance, while she was performing a romantic waltz number called "Oleander". A couple down in front stood up to dance but the guy dropped to one knee, held out a ring box and proposed to his lady. They got one of the biggest ovations of the evening.

Father's Day 2007 ~ BarrytheBirder, Will & Rob

Laparoscopic hernia surgery - whoopee!

I went in for my third hernia surgery this week. I can't seem to get it through my head that I now have the body of a 65-year-old and not a 19-year-old. I think this last time, it was lifting two 20 kg. bags of water-softener salt (one under each arm and flanking each side of my own 20 kg. belly) that did me in. I just had a hernia repair done in the same spot 11 months. Last year, it was moving fallen trees from the trails at Cold Creek Wildlife and Nature Area that sent me hobbling to the good Doctor Lee. This year, he decided I couldn't be trusted to take care of myself so he stuck a hunk of mesh (the size of a catcher's mitt) in my belly to hold everything together...sort of like a super-hero shield protecting my innards. One again, I'm fearless and formidable, or I will be once the clutching at my tummy every time a cough, sneeze or burp, and the wimpering that follows, subsides. Sadly, one can't show-off or brag about eight puncture marks in one's abdomen the way one can about a fencing scar across the cheek. 'Tis a humbling experience and I look forward to venturing back out into the world soon, a gentler soul. There was a birth in the family this week and I have a new grand-nephew. His name is Jaxon. Now there is a name for you. 9 lbs. 11 ozs. and doing well.
BtheB

The World's Perfect Gin & Tonic

My brother-in-law, Patrick O'Kelly, claims to have created the world's perfect gin and tonic. Having tasted his concoction, I am in no position to argue with him, as it is truly an inspired libation. He has taught my son-in-law, Rob Bailey, the recipe. That's Rob, above, showing his citrus fruit rinds marinating. Patrick has officially approved of Rob's wonderful version of T.W.P.G.&T. (The World's Perfect Gin & Tonic). I'm from the school of thought that says there is no such a thing as a bad gin and tonic. What's more, while Patrick's T.W.P.G.&T. has to be started the day before it is to be drunk, I feel you can't make a gin and tonic too quickly, especially on a hot day. For me, it's a toss-up as to which tastes better on a hot, sunny day: the first few icy, bitter, astringent sips of a gin and tonic, or the first couple of cold, biting, tugs of a frosty beer. Cheers, BtheB

All the devils of hell

My wife announced this weekend that we were being visited by the all the devils of hell. I can always tell when she has been talking to her Irish Catholic girlfriends. The gravity of any situation is greatly enhanced when described properly. Before seriously considering what might be behind her pronouncement, three scenarios popped into my mind.
(1.) a number of people from the Prime Minister's Office were at the door to inform me I had been qualified as a Stephan Harper resembler! Not literally, of course, but more figuratively. In the PM's ongoing attempt to make a break-through with the Canadian voter, his acolytes at my door had been told that: (a.) I stood up to pee; (b.) I knew that Canadian Forces had introduced hockey to Afghanastan; (c.) I had declined to be a franchisee for a new chain of coffee shops in Kandahar, called Afghan Stan's, which was to complete directly with Tim Horton's. I knew I would feign interest as long as there was a possibility of them giving me one of those cool Stephan Harper safari vests, for free, before telling them to take a hike.
(2). the annual spring-time team of teenage door-to-door marketers had arrived to save me, for another five years, from paying outrageously high gas prices to heat my home. They always have a huge clipboard with important records about me, none of which point out that I am not connected to the gas main. When this fails to dissuade them, I immediately point out that my home is one the lucky few, situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, that is heated geo-thermally with hot water and steam from beneath the earth. I say it is free, requires no maintenance and has no odour. Some start to laugh, but I stay perfectly calm and in control. Others...their eyes glaze over. Some are speechless. I always thank them profusely while shutting the door.
(3.) Lastly, 'all the devils of hell' could mean that my grandchildren have arrived for a visit.
I only have two grandchildren and they're both barely a year old, but I don't think you can start too early to impress them with how important they are to you. I therefore resolve, from this day forward, to greet their arrival, each and every time, with a wicked, but loving, "Tis all the devils of hell come for a visit".
What Linda was referring to, when she made her pronouncement about the devils of hell visiting, was our collective health. She's just getting over some surgery and I've had a brush with pneumonia. Hacking, coughing and sneezing has kept me from the grandkids for a week now and I desperately, desperately, miss them.
BtheB

Two haikus

Creativity
Does it manifest only
When acted upon?

~

Maudlinopsimath

Adjectives like maudlin need

newer nifty nouns

~

Daughter number two dares to criticize my later-in-life creativity by suggesting my haikus may be a tad maudlin and that I seem to be flirting with, or romancing, the dark side. To which I say: harrumph! I have therefore created the word maudlinopsimath. Maudlinopsimath is a noun which means: a person who learns only late in life that they are weakly, tearfully or mawkishly sentimental. She probably thinks I can't laugh at myself, also. Let's see now...a new word for over-educated whelp???

Old friends ~ then and now

Barry and Linda's wedding ~ May, 1967

Crooked Little House Luncheon ~ May, 2007

Today was one of those occasions when former members of an old and noble social club, called the Crooked Little House, met for their spring luncheon at King Henry's Arms Pub in Aurora, Ontario. I took the opportunity of asking some of the Crooked Little House members, who also happened to be groomsmen at my wedding to Linda 40 years ago, to pose with me for an 'after' picture. Pictured immediately above, left to right, are Ted Bird, me (BarrytheBirder), Donald 'Doc' Gordon, and John Dew. In the top photo we are pictured, in the same order, in 1967. Migawd!...where did those years go? I may look and feel like Methuselah on many days, but I sure don't act like I'm 969 years old when I lunch with these and the other Crooked Little House guys. What a hoot! I laughed until it hurt.

King Township footbridges

Humber Trails Forest & Wildlife Conservation Area

Jackman's Suspension Bridge over the Humber

Marsh Marigolds at Cold Creek Forest & Wildlife Area

~

Have you walked over a footbridge today? Go ahead. Get out there and listen to the birds. Breathe some fresh air. Listen to a stream trickling. I hope you have a great time. BtheB

A haiku or two

Parts of me are dead
Yet I am walking about
Amazing no one

I grew a gray beard

To conceal a weary heart

And unhappy face

Dark leaves of night fall

Quietly covering me

Head and heart debrief

Snide cuts of loathing

Seek their intended victim

Bathed in my tears

Forget the stockings

your bare legs should entwine mine

yes the panties too

King City's 'Great Blue' Heronry

Wikipedia Photo

King City has been home to a Great Blue Heron heronry for decades. It is located in the southern part of King City, in a hardwood swamp at the back of the old Rumble farm. Bruce Rumble told me a couple of weeks ago that 30 or more years ago there were 30 to 40 nests occupied in the heronry. As King City has grown and people have encroached on the site, which is now owned by land developers, the herons have made themselves continuously scarce. Two years ago I found only one nest being used and last year, none.

Good new, though, as there are at least 10 nests in use this spring and there may be a few more, but I wanted to keep my distance and disturb the nesting birds as little as possible. Who knows why the resurgence in interest at this location? It's great to see the return of the Great Blue Herons and the site is protected by the Township of King through designations as an Environmental Protection Area and as an Area of Natural Scientific Interest, as well by the the Oak Ridges Moraine Act. Now that sewers are being installed in King City and the village will double in size over the next 10 to 15 years, one has to wonder about the future of King City's heronry. In the meantime, we'll enjoy it while we can. I hope you enjoying the spring migration.

Please comment if you wish. BtheB

Episcopalian boys and Catholic girls

I was doing some research, a few days ago, for the family history book I'm writing and ran across an interesting item about my wife's Glass family ancestors in the 1851 Canada Census data, which has recently become available to genealogists on the internet. I was looking for Hugh Glass who was an immigrant to Canada in the early 1800s from Ireland. He and his family had been enumerated on their farm in Vaughan Township. Hugh was described as a 45-year-old farmer who had been born in Ireland in 1806. His wife, Nancy, 43, was also born in Ireland in 1808. Hugh's religion was listed as Episcopalian, while Nancy was a Roman Catholic. They had seven children, ranging in age from 22 down to 7. All of the boys were listed as Episcopalians and all the girls were listed as Roman Catholics. Well, that's one way of dealing with the thorny issue of how to raise the children in a mixed marriage; seemingly arbitrary, but pragmatic.
BtheB

Tasmanian penile colony

I had some fun this week with the folks at Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestlye Magazine. I gladly receive this magazine every month or so as an insert to my Globe & Mail newspaper. The April, 2007, issue had an interesting article for travellers to Tasmania. Readers were directed to historic Sarah Island where adventure-seekers could visit a penile colony!
I couldn't resist emailing Dreamscapes Editor, Donna Vieira, to ask her for an exact definition of a 'penile colony'. I anticipated Donna's informed reply, by offering her my own suggestions. Perhaps a penile colony was: (A) a Viagra testing ground, (B) a gay male commune, or (C) a prison for male sex offenders. I praised her good work and told her to "keep it up".
I received Ms. Vieira's reply a mere 15 minutes later. She had received my email in the spirit with which I had intended. She commented on the unfortunate error regarding the misspelling of 'penal', the magazine's high standards in striving for excellence, and how four pairs of eye's proof every issue of Dreamscapes. She also thanked me for my light-hearted approach and encouragement.
Apparently, a correction has been made to the website versions of the article, thanks to my alertness in spotting the spelling mistake. Too bad, as I feel guilty now for denying other readers the chance to discover this delightful typo.
Here's hoping you have a bright spot in your day also. Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Canada's real job in Afghanistan

"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Yankees seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?
That damned, Osama Pimpernel."
-- with apologies to Baroness Emmuska Orczy and her character Sir Percy Blakeney

Canada's real reason for being in Afghanistan is to find Osama Bin Laden and hand his sorry ass over to George Bush and his buddies Cheney and Rove. Never mind that the U.S.'s rapacious imperialism brought on 9-11, or that it inexplicably didn't happen much earlier than it did. Canada is paying a price now, with its soldiers' blood, because of those unwitting Canadians who were blind-sided in the twin-towers tragedy. The U.S. was doing the job, of chasing Osama around the mountains of Afghanistan, pretty well I thought, until George diverted himself onto the Iraq side-track. Forget the rhetoric about our improving the lot of Afghans. We're way ahead of ourselves - and the Afghans. They are not ready to be 'saved' yet.
Our major contribution to Afghanistan, so far, has been to improve the country's infrastructure which in turn vastly improves and protects the growing of poppies and the production of heroin. This part of the Afghan economy is booming and helping the Taliban cause greatly. And the reward for Canada? There is none. And George Bush will forget us the day he walks out of the White House for the last time.
How long will we be there? Not when my one-year-old grandson turns 19, I hope, and preferably not long enough for one more 20-year-old, innocent Canadian to get blown to smithereens.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Osprey back at Lake Jonda

It was -5C today with a wind chill of -13C. There were windy flurries over Lake Jonda on the King Campus of Seneca College. After an early thaw in March, which left the lake free of ice, it is now freezing up again around the edges. But today, April 6, 2007, there is an Osprey hovering over the lake and occassionally making a talons-first plunge into the the freezing water. I have not seen it rise with a fish yet, but I'm sure it is just a matter of time. In the interim, it withdraws to a broken treetop to rest-up for the next foray. I'm left to ponder whether the biological urge (eating, mating) is the most powerful of all nature's forces. (Internet photo by Bill Schmoker)
Please comment if you wish. BarrytheBirder

Bluebirds have arrived in King

Long-time King Township acquaintance, David Love, told me last Friday (Mar. 30) that Eastern Bluebirds had returned to his meadow on the King Ridge last week. It prompted me to check Cold Creek Forest and Wildlife Centre yesterday to see if they had returned there also. I didn't see any bluebirds but they should be back soon. Let's hope they hold off until the last bit of snow, forecasted for this week, has passed.
While I was there, I took the opportunity to put numbers on 12 new birdboxes and re-erect one birdhouse that had fallen to the ground last fall, when an old fence post toppled over. There are now 45 birdboxes at Cold Creek awaiting the spring migration. Last year every box was occupied, mostly by Tree Swallows and House Wrens, but also by a pair of bluebirds. Hopefully the bluebird count will increase this year.
The beauty of bluebirds is exceeded only by their instinctive intrepidity to get to nest sites on the breeding grounds early. Their delicate blue appearance seems to belie their ability to withstand cold, wet, early spring weather. The truth is that their first brood of babies often succumb to the elements, but later broods succeed. Nature often demands fearlessness from all of its creatures and doesn't make exceptions, not even for its prettiest jewels, such as the Eastern Bluebird.
Anyone attending Cold Creek Day on Sat., June 9th, may get to see one of these feathered treasures...details at www.coldcreekca.ca.

Lake Jonda ~ a King Township jewel

When I finished my last blog, it occured to me that there might be someone who would like to see the former Eaton Hall on Lake Jonda, near King City. I took this photo while participating in the 2003 Baillie Birdathon. Lady Flora Eaton apparently named Lake Jonda by incorporating letters from the first and second names of her son, John David Eaton.
Seneca College's King Campus will, for the first time, be hosting the 3rd Annual Kingfest Music Festival on June 23 and 24. Word is spreading that a 3rd day will be added to the outdoor weekend event. Headliners include Bruce Cockburn and Prairie Oyster. It will be a homecoming for Prairie Oyster founders, Keith Glass and Russ De Carle, who are King City natives. My younger brother Bob played and sang with Keith and Russ in their early days as the Humber Creek Boys and the King City Slickers. Kingfest will no doubt attract hundreds, perhaps thousands, who will get to see, for the first time, the former Eaton Family estate, which has become under the auspices of Seneca College, an ever-increasing ecological gem in King Township.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB