The Journey

Seneca Lake NY

New York City is about a 10 hour drive from our home without any stops or border delays. We initially planned to do the trip in one day, starting very early in the morning. In the end we decided to break it up in two easy days with a stop in the Finger Lakes region of upper New York state. The trip should be as enjoyable as the destination and this proved to be true as we travelled through New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I never knew there were so many Bald Eagles along the Delaware River in the Poconos Mountains.

Greater Scaup

We spent a night each way at Geneva NY on the shores of Seneca Lake. There is an extensive park and walkway along the lake and I walked three miles or so on the pathways.

Horned Grebe

I was surprised at the waterbirds that were feeding in the shallow waters near the docks. Our Mergansers, Scaups and Grebes left southern Ontario in March for the north, yet these birds were here on Seneca Lake in June.

Purple Martins

I was pleased to find a Martin house that was occupied by many noisy Purple Martins. These swallows are present in our area, but I have never found them yet. There were plenty of Bank and Barn Swallows at the lake too. Great Blue Herons and the usual summer ducks and geese were also found.

Some of our friends thought we were crazy to drive to NYC and wondered why we didn't fly instead. But trips, like life are a journey, not just a destination. And aren't memories of road trips the most interesting in our repertoire?!

“When you set out on your

journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,

full of adventure,
full of knowledge.”

Constantine Peter Cavafy

New York City: Initial Impressions

We are home again after an interesting week in New York City. Our eldest daughter had her heart set on this trip and planned it herself. She did most of the driving including all of the driving in the city itself...with no nicks or bangs or losses! We used taxis, subways and our feet to get around once we were in Manhattan.

NYC Subway...lots of stairs required to access the trains!

This city is well designed for walking, and that seemed to be the preferred way to get around for the many pedestrians. We pounded many, many miles of pavement in a short period of time.

Fortunately the weather was cool and it was overcast most of the time. KGMom commented that NYC is one of the greenest cities in America and she was surprised that we felt it was smoggy. I agree that the environment is taken very seriously in this urban centre.

FedEx Convoy

The streets were clean, public transit was readily available and the citizens appeared healthy and fit on the whole. But with such a high population density, smog is inevitable, especially on days when there is little wind and considerable humidity. The air quality was listed as unhealthy for sensitive groups when we were there according to the AIRNow web site. But compared to other giant cities of the world, the air pollution was negligible. Mexico City is one city that I have visited where the smog and dirt is likely beyond measure.

Bus Convoy at Central Park

In Central Park, the air quality is noticeably better and the breezes on Liberty and Ellis Islands were refreshing compared to the vehicle exhaust in the urban canyons of Manhattan Island.

Police Convoy near Times Square

My initial impressions of the city were that...

...it was surprisingly clean
...the people were friendly and helpful
...I felt safe day and night in the areas we visited
...taxis and public transit were reasonably priced
...hotels and food were expensive
...it is a city of great diversity

Taxi Convoy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

My friend, Dr. Jim compared New York City to Rome. It is a cross-cultural meeting place and an important hub of our society, politically, financially and socially. Toronto, Ontario is a smaller metropolitan area but shares the diverse ethnic neighbourhoods, cultural and business centres, extensive parks and an interesting historical waterfront like New York City.

In our first day, I was impressed by the long lines of people, taxis, buses, and service vehicles. The police cars travelled in long lines together with sirens and lights flashing. People and vehicles merged and flowed in controlled chaos. We purchased NYC passes which provided admission to many attractions for one price of $106.00 for three days. We made good use of them, but I doubt many people would get their money's worth out of them unless they had the tolerance to be on their feet sightseeing for 9-12 hours a day.

Worthwhile trip? Yes!
Glad to be home? Yes!

Wordless Wednesday: Where am I?

Friday Flowers: Wild and White

Chokecherry bush along the Grand River

May has rushed by very quickly and each day has presented something new to admire in the spring lineup. I have taken many pictures on my walks of birds and trees and rivers and flowers. The domestic fruit trees have almost finished flowering but the wild shrubs and bushes along the river are just coming to their peak of bloom. These pictures were taken along one of my favourite trails at the confluence of the Speed and Grand Rivers.

Chokecherry Blossoms

Flowering shrubs protect many small birds and will provide important fruit later in the season. The river along with the many fruit-bearing shrubs on its banks make this a great area for birding. I like Chokecherry blossoms with their elegant white spikes of flowers.

Dogwood in bloom

Dogwood is beautiful in all seasons, even in the winter when the red stems stand out against the snow. I would like to plant Dogwood in my yard, but our soil is far to dry and sandy.

Hawthorn Blossoms

The thorns on the Hawthorn bushes are impressively long and sharp. I often see small sparrows, warblers and kinglets hidden among the protective spikes.

I had posted a picture of this tight purple bud last month. I have looked at many guides and internet pages and tried unsuccessfully and identify this shrub.


This is what it looks like now as it grows on the edges of the woods. Does anyone recognize it?

Wildflower identification can be a challenge. These flowers look like Field Chickweed, but the leaves do not match the description given. They are very pretty nevertheless.

We are taking our first week of "summer" vacation starting this weekend and I will be taking a break from blogging. I will look forward to catching up with my blog roll later!

Seasons of Life

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3

I have posted pictures of the Sheave Tower in Blair, Ontario three times now, in the summer, fall and winter. I wanted a spring picture to complete the set and was able to take one earlier this month. We experience four definite seasons in Canada and I do enjoy each of them in particular ways. Sandland brother is living in the United Arab Emirates. He misses our seasons and greenery even though he does make the best of what the desert has to offer.

We pass through seasons of life and each has its own beauty too. I am definitely done with spring and will not speculate on whether this is my summer or early autumn. Working with elderly people I have learned that inside of them there still lives someone who is perhaps 30 or 40 years old. Our bodies age faster than the perception of ourselves does.

My mother and her older brother Bill are shown skating in this picture in the 1940's. I am sure this does not seem that long ago to Mom even though she has done a lot of living since her teenage years. She is with her brother and father in the picture below.


About 12 hours ago Uncle Bill passed away peacefully after a long illness. It is a relief for his family that he is no longer suffering, but I know the loss is felt and that Mom is wondering where the years have gone. She came to Canada to see him this past Christmas when he was able to recognize her and enjoy the visit. I also have fine memories of my uncle and he kept in touch with me regularly until the past year or so when his health was failing.

Transitions are not easy and my thoughts and prayers are with my aunt, cousins and mother as a chapter in their lives has closed. When my cousin called me with the news she said, "It was time..."

There is a time for everything under heaven...

More River Raptors

These pictures were taken the same evening I saw the Red-winged Blackbird attacking the Red-tailed Hawk. On the hospital grounds is a large house that was once part of the TB Sanatorium. It is in sad disrepair with a big hole in the roof and is situated fairly close to the river. It is not unusual to see several Turkey Vultures perched on the building and this evening, six of them were lined up. As we walked down the trail the birds flew off and landed on some dead branches ahead of us. The vulture above sat with wings opened in the evening sun.

Another one took a less spectacular pose nearby. The group continued to move ahead until they got to the river and gathered on a rocky shoal near the bridge. I admire how these homely looking birds can soar so elegantly in the air.


We crossed the bridge and approached a hydro pole right on the trail where a pair of Osprey are building a new nest. A few weeks ago we watched them near the hospital as they broke branches off the tops of dead trees while in flight. This building project continues.

Below the nest and under the pole the trail is strewn with branches that have fallen to the ground. I would call this pair beginners. There are other Osprey along this river who tolerate human activity without too much anxiety. These birds start making a lot of noise when people are approaching the nest from a distance on the pathway. (It is a public trail) As my daughter and I came closer, one of the birds flew out, hovered over us and dropped a big stream of fecal material directly at us.

Fortunately it was windy and the stream overshot us, but my daughter ran very quickly in the other direction. I would not purposely harass a nesting bird and did not stay around long but I do hope they get used to people soon.

I have difficulty spotting little warblers and vireos in the trees, but these big birds are hard to miss.

Note to Cheryl... In your comment yesterday you mentioned the eagle nest that is supposed to be at the river near Breslau. I am sure this is an Osprey nest. There are four Osprey nests on the Grand River that I know of between Bloomingdale and Cambridge.

Haughty Hawk

Last week while walking below the hospital along the river at noon, we spotted this Red-tailed hawk in a nearby tree, I stopped and took a number of pictures of the very indifferent raptor as it stood on one foot and groomed itself. As we returned to work, the hawk was still there on the same branch, so still that it looked like part of the old tree itself.


I returned to the same trail in the evening with my daughter for another walk. The wild life is abundant down here and we saw a deer, a muskrat and a good variety of birds. I heard an awful racket in a shrubby area under the bridge where the highway crosses the river.


A Red-tailed hawk was sitting motionless again on a branch while a frantic and noisy male Red-winged blackbird attacked the much bigger bird over and over again. The little bird would fly down from a higher branch and shriek as it flew into the hawk. I watched it do this at least ten times...and the hawk did not flinch.


I have seen a Red-tailed hawk eat a Red-winged blackbird near our home and I have watched smaller birds pursue hawks across the sky. This blackbird must have been protecting a nearby nest and had no regard for its personal safety at this close range.

I wonder if both hawks were one and the same bird? They were both fearless and confident and took their prideful position on the river bank. I attended a raptor show last fall and the bird handler felt the Red-tailed hawk would be a good choice for a national bird as they are found in all Canadian provinces. (We do not have a national bird) A number of different hawks are found locally but in my experience the Red-tailed is seen most commonly.

Nature is harsh, but I do hope the brave blackbird was able to defend his nest this time.

Evening Bird Song

Orchard Oriole

When Mom visits from Mexico in the spring, she comments on the bird songs that awaken us in the morning. In Mexico, roosters and braying animals bring a harsh and noisy start to the day before dawn, but song birds are not heard. I love having the bedroom window open a little to hear our birds greet the day.

Song Sparrow

Those who are not morning people can hear an even larger bird song mix in the evening. I never understand why people walk on trails plugged into their MP3 players. When we got our first colour Macintosh Performa computer in 1995 (the girls called it our first real computer), we had a game called Amazon Trail.

Grey Catbird

As you trekked through the rain forest, flashes of colourful birds and bird sounds came from the screen. Last evening I felt like I was in a movie or bird game. The birds and songs were everywhere. I caught a few singers but many more were hidden in the trees.

Yellow Warbler

What a great way to end the day!