Expedition Canada

A Splash Attracts Jack  Mon May 31st Morning over Mixal Barred Owl Today was a water day and it started just after 10pm last night when Jack was put out to be emptied.  A huge splash on the far side of the lake startled us both.  I guess it could have been a beaver as they are resident locally, though it sounded bigger.  This morning there was a large log floating around.  Somebody having some fun? We shall be ready with a 'flashlight' and camera tonight! This morning I took my camera on our morning walk and not only captured a stunning view across Mixal Lake with the clouds illuminated by the rising sun, but the reflections on the still water. The local Barred Owl was close to a tree, I saw him on yesterday's morning walk and again was unperturbed by our presence, or the American Robins who were again sounding their displeasure at his presence.  It still has the bent wing feathers, but is able to fly. The morning was taken over by the g...

The New Norm   Sun May 30th It's amazing to think we have already been here for eight weeks.  The time has flown by and it already feels like the new norm.   Cedar Waxwing This morning I took my camera with me and was rewarded by the Cedar Waxwing pictured here.  The light was right, the capture worked and enlarged it's possible to see the feathery detail. The day started with spits of rain, once cleared I set up in the yard to see if I could capture some video footage of the Hummingbirds. Mrs Hummingbird pitched up and put on a display.  Mr popped by, but mostly to the rear of the feeder, so no decent footage.  This was using the 4k video record function on the Nikon D850.  It sounds as though a drone has pitched up every time they fly by, such is the noise from the beat of their wings some 52-62 beats per second! Quite pleased with the result, edited down from 4k off the Nikon D850.  No sound, as the as-yet-unused hot-tub provided too much ...

You'll wish you had  As today has proven twice over ...... Sat May 29th Barred Owl This morning's walk was largely uneventful.   The mist was rising from Mixal Lake as Jack and I walked down to check the view, so we headed on round to Camp Burley Road.   As we started up the hill to the junction with Irvine's Landing Rd there was a cacophony of American Robins (a bit like the UK Blackbird but with a red breast and white eye-liners!), they were making a racket around a Barred Owl.  I had decided I wouldn't take the camera this morning (BIG MISTAKE), so a quick few iPhone pics, finished the walk and went back a few mins later. Back to the ranch, grabbed the camera and to my surprise it was still there!  Similar in size to the UK Short Eared Owl,  it just sat there, looking at me taking pictures.   After breakfast it was down to Garden Bay to check out the Madeira Market, which took all of ten seconds.  So while Fred did a qu...

Beer in the Sun to Finish   Fri May 28th It was disappointing to wake to grey overcast day, as the forecast looked more promising.  No more scats in the garden and no overnight visitors. The early walk was a repeat of yesterday afternoon, primarily to try and find my Nikon lens cap that went astray between the start and end of the walk.  No luck - order placed for two more.  Not the first time I've lost one! The male Rufous Hummingbird pitched up again this morning and spent a large part of the day topping up on the homemade nectar (to BC's nectar standards!).  He was great to watch, though he moved pretty quickly to catch a decent picture.  In the end I used a feature on my camera where, set up on a tripod outside, I could control it through my iPhone inside in the warm!  This meant the camera was close and not me!   [For fellow Nikon users I was able to se t the mode, (A,S,M,P), and then speed, aperture and ISO as appropriate...

Loads of it! Deer Poop Thu May 27th Aside from the much needed rain (today should see the back of it), it was a day of animal poop. (Poop = US for poo!). Checking around the garden after Jack's walk, there was a lot of fresh large animal droppings on the shallow bank down to the smaller pond.  We'd had a night-time visitor!   They were larger than the usual UK deer variety, though that it what we think they were.    I did break one apart and it appeared all vegetable! W e have Roosevelt Elk in the area and caught a brief glimpse of a large bull and cow on the other side of Myers Creek as we walked up the first trail this afternoon. There are also three species of deer, White-Tailed, Black-Tailed and Mule Deer.  We suspect it was one of the latter that came in to the garden.  Might even have been more than one as there was a lot of it!  More research needed, or an early start! Bear scats (Not a great name for a West of England - country store!...

Moist Day Wed May 26th As the weather got off to a somewhat indifferent start, there was no enthusiasm for rushing off first thing after Jack's local walk.  I spent the morning clearing thousands of old emails.  Quite cathartic, but you do wonder if you have deleted something important in error.  Too late now! After a desk-bound morning I went for a run, which I have been neglecting a bit since our imposed quarantine.  They are getting easier again, but I need to do more! After lunch we decided it was time for an excursion to check out local property areas.  We headed off down to Francis Point which Fred says the locals call a peninsular and I think is an island as the bridge across has water underneath.  Discuss. There are some stunning properties around Francis Point, spread over a collection of small harbours, some of which we would have looked down on when we climbed Pender Hill (small mountain!), which is due north.   We were talking ourselve...

Sunny Day  Tue May 25th Today was forecast to be overcast and showery.   It was certainly moist on our morning excursion down to the shores of Mixal Lake, but by 10.00 it was brilliant sunshine and it stayed that way most of the day. Supermarket shopping this morning (new store - took Fred ages!), a quick visit to the Vet for an $80 (£50) tick/flea tablet (I thought they were expensive in the UK but this is just "1" tablet - though it lasts 12 weeks! Back home for lunch together with calls and emails to sort out a long-term rental and the next thing we knew if was the middle of the afternoon.   Ready to pounce Peace in the garden was shattered when a klaxon sounded overhead, which subsequently turned out to be a Great Blue Heron precariously landing on a rather thin tree branch right in front of us. Jack was perplexed! It then settled in to Trout Lake at the bottom of our 'yard' to go fishing.  Quickly rewarded with a small catch and the trout was soon...

But not all the time  Mon May 24th Today it's overcast and raining.  Still we can't complain it's only the 2nd day of rain in just over 3 weeks.   It was therefore a morning of doing stuff indoors.   Fred can be seen knitting and I dealt with some year end accounts queries for the company with our accountant. I was tempted to start on tax returns, but my enthusiasm waned.  It's all very well doing it with all the paperwork in front of you, but trying to work everything off electronic copies on a single screen is hard work. We did escape for a brief walk between showers down to Mixal Lake.  It was amazingly quiet and the lake completely flat with pockets of mist in the trees.  We encouraged Jack into the moored canoe, which was fine until it wobbled and he jumped out.  Some perseverance required.  During the afternoon break in showers we drove five minutes down the road to Pender Hill Park, for a quick stroll up to the top.  A l...

Connected with Civilization Sunday May 23rd  Pale Swallowtail I write this post sitting on the deck as the sun goes down.  The volume from the bees on the Rhododendron declines as the chorus from the frogs in the pond and lake intensifies.  The trout are breaking surface every few minutes, sending pebble-thrown ripples across the top of the mirror like finish.  The frogs seem to have taken over the shallower, weed filled pond above the lake.   Club 63 members may remember another pond with  noisy sunset frogs from past excursions! After a weary day of packing and unpacking on Saturday, we have stayed close to base today.  A morning walk down to Mixal Lake and several exploratory jaunts around the cabin and local tracks have kept Jack and me occupied. We have a family of Garter Snakes in part of the garden with two adults and two juveniles soaking up the sun, together with a Western Alligator Li zard who seems to share the same set of rocks as...