Evening Walk

I met a lady this evening on a trail as she walked her very patient dog and looked at birds with her binoculars. She is a novice birder like myself and was telling me of her recent spring sightings. We walked the last part of the trail to the parking lot and saw a Gray Catbird singing enthusiastically in a tree. I have never heard a Catbird song before. ( I still wish I could find a Mockingbird but this is definitely a Catbird). Anyway, I gave her the link to this blog and told her I would post pictures of this evening's walk. Here they are in a short video clip. Happy birding, neighbour!

Friday Flowers: Pink and White

Crabapple Blossoms on the hospital property

White and pink were the predominant colours this week in both wild and cultivated areas. Flowering trees are coming into bloom in our area of south-western Ontario. The ornamental crabapple trees at my workplace are beautiful, but apple trees are just starting to bloom. The orchards in the Niagara region should be at their peak as their growing season is a week to ten days ahead of ours.

Tamarack

Laurel Creek runs from an area north of the city southward towards the Grand River. The soil around the creek supports Tamarack trees which are now covered with dark pink cone blossoms. The new needles are fresh green and feel so soft.

Toothwort, Wild Strawberry
Spring Beauty, Trilliums

The woods are full of wildflowers, from tiny white wild strawberry blooms to large trillium flowers. Our neighbourhood woodlands are carpeted thickly with trilliums again this spring. One evening this week we walked through the bush above looking at the flowers that grew as far as the eye could see. We met an older lady from Britain as she sat on a log admiring the view that was as spectacular as any display in a formal botanical garden. What a beautiful time of year!

Bleeding Heart in my Garden

Spring Fishing

My husband is passionate about hockey and fishing. Three weeks after we were married, he went on his annual spring fishing trip to Lake Temagami in northern Ontario. My grandmother thought our marriage would never last. I have joined him on many, many summer fishing trips but have never broken into the all male spring tradition.

My husband and a Lake Trout

For the past few years, he and his friends have gone to Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron the week after the winter ice sinks. The ice always goes off the lake on the last week of April, even this year when we had an exceptionally long, cold winter. Snow may or may not be present but it is sure to be cold and windy. The object of the trip is to catch the limit of Lake Trout before they descend deep into the water for the summer. This can mean many hours on the lake enduring a cold and rough surface. At least there are no biting insects out at this time even if you have to bundled in your winter clothes to keep warm.


This year's trip was very successful and each fisherman brought home his limit of trout. There is nothing that tastes better for breakfast or lunch or dinner than fresh fish.


The Sandhill Cranes had already returned to the island where they mate in the spring. Their plumage was light grey and unstained by the water. When we see them in the summer their feathers are stained a reddish colour.

Sandhill Cranes

We are planning a trip to this fishing camp on Manitoulin Island in July. It is a beautiful and peaceful vacation spot. Bass season will be open then and Lake Trout will be difficult to catch. I prefer to spend my time in a fishing boat with binoculars or a good book. My husband can catch and clean and cook and fulfill his hunter/gatherer instincts to his heart's content.

Fine Feathers

Male Baltimore Oriole

Aesop said in one of his famous fables, " It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." Many fine birds do have modest plumages but I do enjoy finding bright, colourful birds too. Our Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays are here year round and are always easy to find in the bush.

American Goldfinch

Goldfinches are once again a brilliant yellow after shedding their duller winter feathers. This week we have welcomed some more migrating colour to our area. This morning I ventured out early to a city greenbelt and saw a wonderful assortment of birds.

Female Baltimore Oriole

Baltimore Orioles have returned and I saw several pairs in some poplar trees near a reservoir. I heard the Rose-breasted Grosbeak first, then spotted the female and finally saw the male high in the branches as he preened and sang.

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

On the water of the small lake this locally famous leucistic Canada Goose swam close to the shore. Hundreds of geese are in our city parks and the spring goslings have hatched in the past 24 hours or so. But this goose stands out in the crowd with his unusual feathers.

Leucistic Canada Goose

It is human nature to judge by appearances even though we may try to deny it. I keep looking for an Indigo Bunting and a Scarlet Tanager because they are so eye-catching. But some of the plainest birds have the most beautiful songs. The Warbling Vireos in the willows and the Song Sparrow in the thicket are fine birds too.

Swallows and more swallows

Barn Swallow

Mosquito season has not yet arrived but there are many flying insects on the surfaces of local ponds, swamps and rivers. There seems to be an abundance of swallows around this year compared to last year and I have finally been able to identify every Ontario swallow except the Purple Martin. It can be a challenge to focus on these swift flying, acrobatic birds with the binoculars long enough to see what they are. I have noticed they eventually do stop for brief rests when foraging for food.

Tree Swallow

The Tree Swallow is the easiest for me to find perched somewhere as there are many bird houses placed along the river for them. They are our earliest arriving swallow in the spring.

Cliff Swallow

I have been looking under the bridge near the hospital for the Cliff Swallows that have a nesting colony there. House Sparrows had squatted in some of the mud nests in early April but in the past two weeks, the swallows have returned. I hoped to see them repairing their homes with new mud but have not been able to see where they land and have never seen them perched outside the nest. This nest is in definite need of repair but the Cliff Swallow does not seem to be bothered by the hole in the floor.

Grand River, Homer Watson Park

I recently hiked this lovely trail high above the river where sandy bluffs allow a great view of the treetops below. I noticed some swallows swooping back and forth near the bank and on closer inspection found the nests of some Bank Swallows.

Bank Swallow entering its nest

I never would have seen this bird near its nest unless I had watched it fly in with its mate. It is very well camouflaged! Apparently their nests are at the end of a sand tunnel. There were several nesting pairs in this little area.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

I had never identified a Rough-winged swallow until this spring. They are similar in colour to the Bank Swallow but lack the dark neck band. They hold their wings at a different angle when in flight. They are very active and difficult to find sitting still but will swoop within a couple of feet of your face. I did manage to get the shot above shot near a city pond. A trio of Rough-winged Swallows perched on the grate across the aquaduct that was under the pathway at the same pond.

Rough-winged Swallows- back, side and front...

Now I have to find a Purple Martin colony like Monarch wrote about in a recent post. My husband works in the country and I asked him to inquire if any neighbours or customers have an occupied Martin house.

Mosquitoes will be buzzing around any day now and if there are more swallows around than usual this year, they are most welcome to stay and gorge themselves on the pests. I never get tired of watching their graceful flight over the water with spins, turns and dives.

Happy Mother's Day

For the mother is and must be, whether she knows it or not,
the greatest, strongest and most lasting
teacher her children have.

Hannah W. Smith

I have all three daughters home today which is a rare and special treat. I have received flowers and chocolate and will be served lunch later. Here is the card my loving offspring felt was most suitable for their mother. Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere!

End of the War! Peace on Earth?

Mom emailed this to me the evening of Thursday May 8, 2008. I am posting it in its entirety. The pictures are of my father's cousins who lived in Europe during the war. I will have to ask Oma Lois more about them and their life during the war. This page on the BBC website gives more information about this day.

A note from history:

One advantage of growing a little older is that our long term memories seem to come forward and events in the past can become very clear. I was praying this morning and remembering this day 63 years ago. I felt to send this on to all of you although I had not even met your Dad or heard about the wonderful life serving Jesus at that time.

In those days the small towns like Aurora (population 2500) were very different in their culture and their patterns of life than the cities. Life was simple. We knew all of our neighbours and they knew us. Although there were a few outsiders, the community spirit was high and when one suffered all suffered and helped out if necessary.

I was sitting in my Grade 8 classroom in Aurora Public School (now a town museum) about 10 AM when all of a sudden the church bells in the town began to ring frantically. There was only one answer – joy. It meant that after many rumours, prayers and striving the war in Europe was finally ended. Percentage wise Aurora suffered the highest casualty rate in all of Canada. Almost every week someone would come to a classroom in the school and a child was called out into the hall and taken home because a father, a brother, an uncle or someone close to the family had been reported killed. A Wing Commander, Lloyd Chadburn, the only son of a fine family in the town was leading several squadrons in the disastrous battle of Dieppe. He was killed shortly after this battle.

Because my father was a respected family doctor in the area, each time a telegram arrived citing a death or injury, it was delivered to our home. He then took the sad news personally to each family.

In less than an hour all of the students from Grade 1 and up were formed into a parade and joined the students from Aurora High and their cadet band to march to the United Church. The church was packed with people of all faiths and standing room only. Prayers of thanksgiving were offered for the victory and also the names of those who had given their lives for our freedom were read. After the service we formed our lines again and marched a mile and a half to the monument at the south side of the town where the mayor gave a brief address and then families of the dead laid a wreath in memory of those fathers, sons, uncles and friends who had paid the supreme sacrifice. It was a memorial time amid the rejoicing and even the smallest children seemed to sense the solemnity of the services. By the time we returned to the town there were flags flying from almost all of the public buildings and from many of the homes.

It has been 63 long years since that final day of the European conflict, the war to end all wars. The goal has not been accomplished even though in August of the same year the war in the Pacific ended. The peace hoped and prayed for has not come. Only when the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, comes to rule and reign will that be accomplished. In the meantime we can say with the prophet Isaiah – “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you. (Isaiah 54:10 NKJ)

Friday Flowers: The first week of May

April showers bring May flowers....

We didn't get many April showers but the May flowers are appearing in rapid succession even as birds are arriving daily. I took these four pictures last weekend. Marsh Marigolds have carpeted the boggy sections of the woods in gold. Wild and cultivated fruit trees are coming into bloom. Jack in the Pulpits are poking up through the dead leaves in moist areas of the bush. I bought one at the local market last year and planted it in my garden. But I do not see it coming up in our dry sandy soil this spring.

At the east entrance to our city is a formal garden that is favourite site for wedding pictures and a lovely place to walk during the day. Rockway Gardens was constructed in 1933 by the Kitchener Horticultural Society. Many local citizens have volunteered time and money over the years to maintain and improve the grounds. The flower at the bottom right is Crown Imperial (fritillaria imperialis). The blooms are very spectacular.

There is beauty everywhere, from the wild flowers on the forest floor to the gardens and orchards that are tended by local cultivators .