Maggie Dog

December 20, 2005

Well, it is time to slip in a photo of my walking companion. Basically, if I ever mention that I am walking, going for a walk or have been on a walk, you can assume correctly she is, will be or has been with me. This steadfast limpet-like quality also applies to napping and going to the fridge for a snack.

She's about five years old but greying fast. She didn't have a very good puppy life until we picked her up at the pound. I guess, as with humans, stress can take its toll.

rain all day
warmish!

high of 10 / low of 7

sunrise- 8:04
sunset- 4:16

Bird's Nest Fungus

December 18, 2005

I was thrilled to pieces to find a Bird's Nest Fungus on my walk today. I had been reading about them and knew what it was right away, even WITHOUT an unhelpful guidebook. I hadn't expected to see one as I don't think they are really in season at this time and I certainly didn't spot another one even though I kept my eyes peeled.

sunny, no clouds

high 4 / low 0 (feels like -4 it says on the weathernetwork)

sunrise- 8:03

sunset- 4:15

Red Cedar

December 17, 2005

This little spray of western red cedar cones, as pretty as any corsage, was found on the patio, perhaps knocked off the main branch by squabbling jays or squirrels. The cedars loom large in our neighbourhood and once caused my visiting father to comment on how odd it was to have such massive trees in the back garden, with their great red trunks sitting amongst pots of impatiens.

More On Snowy Owls

December 15, 2005

I forgot to mention that on Sunday we again drove down to Boundary Bay to have another look at the snowy owls. We spotted two right away since we now knew what we were looking for...okay...the cluster of birders with their scopes also helped to locate them and off we trudged toward the group. We came up a bit noisy with all the gravel crunching under our feet and the general swishing of gortex jackets but no one shushed us and just as I was about to open my mouth to Ken, my eyes focused on the Snowy not fifteen feet away. We thought everyone had their scopes focused on the two way out by the shoreline, but no, there was one right under our noses. It didn't mind at all having all these humans standing stock still staring at it. It didn't even mind the horse and rider who came crunching through on their walk. I wonder, if like cats, they know they are being admired?

My feet started to numb up so we kept on walking down the path and all in all we spotted eight snowy owls before the sun went down. Again, they were immature as they all had barring, though some were more heavily marked than others. One owl kept chasing the other owls away into other sections of the low lying scrub.

We also saw:

bald eagle (mature)

bald eagle (immature)

short-eared owl

pheasant (male)

harriers

2 herons squabbling over a pond

2 northern flickers sharing a post

The pheasant glided past right at eye level and again, about 15 feet away, which was lucky as I hadn't seen a pheasant so close in the wild like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know they are a dime a dozen...

Ouch

December 14, 2005

A varied thrush flew into the patio doors today but suffered no injuries. He sat on the post in the sun to regain his composure and then flew off. I do like these handsome birds with their stripes and intriguing buzzy whistle of one-note. They are hard to spot as they can be somewhat shy most times of the year and when I first moved here I walked about with my neck kinked trying to solve the puzzling one-note whistle. One tends to see more of these little fellows during the winter as they are more prevalent in gardens and parks, rummaging through the leaf litter and tossing aside moss and debris while they search for insects. I saw four yesterday having a snoop through someone's lovely unkempt front yard that was perfect for shy but busy birds.

Snow On the Mountain

December 13, 2005

It drizzled a bit down here over the night but the mountains behind us look pretty in the sunlight and all the trees trimmed with snow. I thought I'd do a snowy tree picture...even though I am clearly looking at green ferns in the back garden.

After Dinner Doodles

December 12, 2005

Too dark now to do much sketching outside so it's time for a sketch or two inside.

Here we have some rosehips from the hardy rosebush in the garden. You tend to forget that roses bear fruit. You have your apple, cherry, pear, plum, peach, raspberry and strawberry all from the <i> rosaceae</i> family, but you forget that the rose bears fruit and there it is with the same name for gawd's sake. I guess we haven't been commercialized enough to it. Sigh.

I also sketched this mystery seed pod because I liked the look of its long laddery arms. The dried out plant stands about four feet high or so and inhabits a disturbed clearing. I will have to email my horticulturist friend who knows ALL.

Skunkus Amongstus

December 7, 2005

Saw a striped skunk last night when I took Maggie out. It looked smaller than usual, so maybe a youngster? I thought it would be getting too chilly out there but I guess zero degrees is just fine with them. I will have to be more careful as Mags already got sprayed quite badly in the face in the earlier part of autumn. The skunk was on the patio out back and when we let the dog out...disaster. But that still doesn't stop me from liking skunks so I thought I would do a little skunk research.

Latin name: Mephitis Mephitis (means "stench stench") ( tee hee)

Litter: about five and born late April to early June

Has : sharp teeth and claws

Is: omnivorous and eats many things such as rats, mice, beetles, scorpions, spiders (including black widows) worms, caterpillars, cutworms, crickets, frogs and human garbage

Chief Enemies: great horned owls, foxes, coyotes and cars (poor eyesight)

Defense: able to spray 6 times before emptied out / takes 10 days to replenish supply

The word 'skunk' comes from the Abenakis word "segonku" which means, "one who squirts"

Does not hibernate (sigh)

sunrise- 7:53

sunset- 4:14

high +4 / low -1

Heron Scarin'

December 6, 2005

Okay bad title but I couldn't help it. I startled a large grey heron down at the creek and it startled me as it didn't make a sound. It was the silent, unfolding of shadow which made me stop in my tracks until my brain caught up with eyes. It flew up the creek and came to rest on a branch and that always makes me smile, seeing a heron perched on a tree branch as they look so ungainly up there.

On another note, I watched the neighbourhood grey squirrel bury something in the garden again and that made me wonder enough to get out there and have a peek. Sure as apples to oranges it was a half-eaten tulip bulb, no doubt freshly planted by some industrious gardener, only to be dug up moments later by the equally industrious squirrel. It's a madhouse I tell you. A MADHOUSE!

Snowy Owl

December 5, 2005

On Saturday we went to the bird sanctuary to have a peek around as during this time of year many migratory birds come through and have a rest. The bird sanctuary is well run and has an up-to-date list of species spotted in the past few days taped to the entrance window. Apparently one could spot 95 species in that sanctuary by keen-eyed birders who know where to look, which is to say, not us, with all our traipsing about, noses stuck in ID book, scratching heads, dropping mittens, eating mandarins, more flipping of pages, more scratching of heads, more peering through binoculars. We did see plenty of MALLARDS as they are so tame it's silly. We also saw pintails, green-winged teals, shovelers, herons, sandhill cranes, red-tailed hawks, harriers, red-wing blackbirds, chickadees, and a kingfisher.

Fish and chips revived us at a pub and we decided to drive to an area on the dike where snowy owls have been spotted in the past few days. Easier said than done. More peering ensued as the marshy area stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction while further to the front of us it was just water and then headland. We dawdled and then a birder came up with his scope so we asked him what HE was looking for, to which he replied, "Snowy Owls". Ah HA! He spotted one right away while chatting to us and we trundled over to get within viewing distance. I reckon birders must be the friendliest people on earth as we peered through the scope and chatted away with his family. The scope was fantastic and you could see all the markings on the owl. Mark said it was a young female as she was rather marked. Beautiful bird. Mark and my husband then decided to slog into the icy marsh to take some pics. This pic below is one of Ken's and was super pleased with it. The sun had almost disappeared behind the low cloud bank but for a final few minutes it reappeared and bathed everything in that slow, gold light that you get just before it finishes for the day.