Harbingers of Spring

That's what my sister said when she saw these American robin pictures (right and below) Ron took at the end of March. It was one week after the first official day of Spring but the snow banks were still high in our neighbourhood making it hard to believe that it really WAS Spring. Some years a few robins even over-winter in the Bluffs. Migrants started arriving in Toronto a few weeks earlier but were yet to appear in my sister's area of Northern Ontario. These robins were just two of about a dozen frantically gobbling up last-year's fruit both under and in three ornamental crab trees. The robin below seems unimpressed with the snow. But the robins weren't alone in their feeding frenzy nor were they what drew us to shoot at that location.

We subscribe to ONTBIRDS a free email service provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) were birders share their sightings of interesting birds. On this sunny day it was a report of Bohemian Waxwings that enticed us out to the crab trees. Neither of us had ever even seen that bird species - let alone photographed them!




As we were leaving our house we noticed a small flock of Cedar Waxwings (above and right) high up in the trees in ours and the neighbouring front yard. Since Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings are often seen together (just not by us), we watched them carefully with binoculars to be sure that there weren't any Bohemian's amongst them. No luck, so off we went to the reported location.

When we arrived the robins and some starlings were the first birds we spotted. But in a few minutes a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew into the trees. Ron of course was already shooting whatever bird decided to pose. As the birds flew in and out of the trees we soon realized that quietly and without fanfare the Cedar Waxwings had been joined by Bohemians. Our first sighting! (Below)
For the next couple of hours Ron would photograph the birds as they fed and flew in and out of the trees. They seem to come in waves, sometimes being a mixture of bird species or sometimes just Bohemian waxwings alone. Mostly they seemed oblivious to us but occasionally one would cock its head wondering at the sound of Ron's camera as he clicked away. He gave them lots of space as he was shooting with a 500mm lens. But even at that distance they sometimes would fly by so close to him he could feel the wind from their wings. It was a lovely experience.

We were also treated to our first Northern Mockingbird sighting of the year when it swooped in to participate in the crab-apple buffet. Ron didn't get any pictures but here are a few from last year.

Now the snow has disappeared from our yard but I continue to monitor Spring's progress. A few days after we saw the waxwings my sister finally saw her first robin of the season and in ONTBIRDS they were reported further north in the Temiskaming District on April 3rd. I'm anticipating my first warbler sightings of the season. As early as Mar 2nd ONTBIRDS had reported sightings of yellow-rumped warblers in Ottawa, but they were only reported south at Point Pelee and near us in Whitby on April 8th. When I finally get to spot a warbler peeking out from apple blossoms like this yellow warbler that's when I'll know for sure that it's really Spring!

Good Intentions

This is my first posting of 2008. Time, the years, my life - it is all really flying by! Is that why at this time of year we always find it necessary to make resolutions? Normally, I don't resolve to do anything specific. Of course throughout the year I always have a running to-do list that includes things like: loose weight; exercise; clean the basement; and the other usual things that some people would call resolutions. This year I'm thinking not about resolve, but good intentions. So here are my good intentions for the year:

I intend to get out more into the rural areas of Ontario, to get to know our province better by taking hikes through its rugged vistas like this one along the Chikanishing Trail in Killarney Provincial Park:

But I also intend to be in a canoe more often, to jump in and give my arms a good work out not only by going for short paddles in Lake Ontario and any other navigable body of water that might be nearby, but also to go on overnight canoe trips into the interior of Ontario's many organized parks and wilderness areas. The image to the right shows me paddling on the Montreal River - an access point into Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park northwest of Temagami.

Algonquin is another favourite place of ours for canoe-in camping. The north side is not as busy as the south. I would like to get back to this wonderful campsite (below) on Lake Manitou (accessed at Kiosk near North Bay, Ontario).

There we had pitched our tent on a hill with a view facing east right up the lake. In the morning I could lay in bed and watch the sun come up over the flat, mist-covered water beyond my feet. It is highly unusual for us to be in bed while the sun is rising. We normally are up long before first light to be ready to shoot at some previously scouted location. But on this trip on Lake Manitou we decided we would take a bit of a rest - almost a holiday. Ron let me lay in bed but he couldn't resist the mirror-like flatness of the lake. He got up and photographed himself paddling off into the mist (below).
So this year I intend not only to canoe more, but to watch the sun rise over a lake and from bed more often. But besides getting into our canoe often, I intend to also use my kayak more but drive less. Driving less means we will spend more time in Ontario and won't be doing anything as dangerous as launching our kayaks near icebergs like this one stuck in the harbour at La Scie in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Yes that is me and my kayak in that image. Ron is photographing me from his kayak. He likes to tell the history of this picture, how it is only my 4th time in a kayak and there I am in the North Atlantic near a BIG iceberg. We even had to paddle through small ice flows, pack ice or bergy bits to get this shot. You'll notice that we were lucky and the water was relatively flat for the ocean - probably as flat as it ever gets. He makes me sound brave. However we both know better. It was not a very safe or smart thing to do - especially when you consider at the time that I didn't know how to recover from a wet exit and get back into my kayak. I eventually did practice that manoeuvre in a warm lake in water over my head but very close to shore. It's harder than it sounds to right your boat, haul yourself out of the water and back into a very easily tipped kayak. I eventually managed but we both know that had I tipped on that day by that iceberg that I would have succumbed to the bone numbing cold water in much less time than it would have taken to right the kayak and climb back in. So this year I am not only going to continue to practice recovering from wet exits but I intend to learn how to stay in the kayak and roll myself upright. It's a long 17-foot sea kayak but I'm told rolling is possible - hopefully I won't drown trying to find out!

Other good intentions:

to get to know more interesting people like Margery above, and have fun by visiting more frequently with friends and family like these two below hamming it up for the camera:
I also intend to finally sign up (and actually attend) a class where I hope to learn how to use Ron's nature images such as this one below of a Long-tailed Duck
and turn it into my own stained glass art, perhaps a window something like this:

Also since we intend to drive less we will be home more. So I intend to enjoy our house and yard more. To that end I intend to turn our weedy yard into a native wildflower garden that will attract birds such as this yellow warbler (left)
or this monarch butterfly (below right).
Not only will we enjoy seeing more birds and butterflies in our yard but it means Ron can photograph them right here, without going anywhere. That should help with the good intent of driving less too. The intent to canoe and kayak more should also help with those old to-do list items of loosing weight and getting more exercise. So keep watching this blog over the next year and I'll let you know how it is going and whether I've managed to turn my good intentions into actions.