Lynda Sez » wildlife

Hike to die for

rgdaniel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:23:09 +0000

Saturday’s hiking adventure was excellent in several ways, but a dramatic reminder of just how long it’s been since I did any hiking. The morning fungi foray was not demanding. The main problem was keeping warm as we did not move very much — too many mushrooms littered the forest floor. The leader and her husband were very knowledgeable, sharing just enough info to keep it interesting without making it a botany lesson. With special permission from National Parks to take specimens, we picked nearly two dozen varieties of fungi, about half of them edible.
The afternoon hike took us to Bootleggers’ Cave, right on the shoreline within Bruce Peninsula National Park. The official trail guide describes it thus: “considered to be the most rugged and challenging hiking along the whole length of the Bruce Trail.” No kidding. I wasn’t sure I would make it in a couple of spots, but pressed on regardless. Pretty brutal way to reacquaint myself with the joys of hiking, but yes, I made it all the way to the cave, and even to Cave Point, the highest cliff within the park. You would never find the cave without a guide in the know, and the whole thing was pretty spectacular, except for the part where I thought I was going to keel over and get eaten by a bear. Oh yeah, first obstacle on the trail path was bear scat. Big pile.

In My Own Backyard

rgdaniel — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:19:59 +0000

I’ve been back from San Francisco almost a week and I’m very happy about it, in spite of garden chores I haven’t caught up with yet. My trip met all business objectives but was frustrating because I started each stunningly beautiful day gazing at the harbour from my hotel room, then spending the rest of the day in conference rooms with the drapes closed. I got to the waterfront once at the end of a delightful walk the day before I left, but that was it.
The garden is rampantly lush, thanks to all the rain, and I had a special treat this morning. I glanced over at my neighbour’s front yard when I fetched the paper and saw a wild turkey nibbling the flowers.

Canoe Date

rgdaniel — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:45:19 +0000

One of our first dates, way back when, was a canoe outing on the Credit River. Bob and I have been canoeing since, but not at all since we moved to our Owen Sound house. Until today. One of my urgent items to get done before I leave town next week was to reduce the number of cattails in the pond. We decided to try a different approach this year, because last year’s squelching around in wellies and wetskins was really difficult. So Bob got the canoe down to the pond and piloted me here and there while I yanked cattails left and right. Very efficient, although the canoe had to be hosed down afterwards — cattails come up pretty muddy. Now the lily pads and irises have room to spread out.

Something doesn’t love a duck

rgdaniel — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:40:46 +0000

Nature really has the last word when it comes to life and death around the pond. We noticed Mama Duck flying off suddenly last Sunday afternoon, then we saw there were no eggs left in the nest. No sign of struggle or evidence of what creature feasted on the eggs. In a way, I’m glad she didn’t waste too long in such a hazardous spot. She can start again somewhere less open, I hope.
For those of you who are friends with Claire on Facebook, check out the spectacular pictures one of her friends just posted of her working with the birds at the Edinburgh Zoo.

Fowl News

rgdaniel — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:32:49 +0000

Stop worrying, you bird people! Mama mallard made several more visits to add to her egg collection and, as of Thursday, she’s been sitting on them full-time. Except when scared away by dogs a couple of times — but we’ve confined the canines to viewing from a distance now. She tolerates us walking into the pond area; even Bob with the wheelbarrow doesn’t upset her. According to wikipedia, it will be about a month before there are ducklings, if she and her eggs survive the rich tapestry of wildlife threats.

Bird Show

rgdaniel — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 02:47:39 +0000

I saw the heron yesterday, silently checking out the pond. Bob had seen it a couple of times already, but I hadn’t. On a whim I took Tiger down to the pond near lunchtime and there it was, staying only seconds before it sensed us nearby and elegantly took off. No wonder we haven’t seen many fish near the surface lately. The smart ones are staying low.
Today’s bird sighting came after I watched the Celtic Festival parade of pipe bands — a good show in itself. As I walked back to the car, I saw a cormorant drying its wings on a dead tree in the river. I came closer and noticed that on the same tree was a kingfisher. Double treat and right in the middle of town!