Saturday, April 19, 2008

Staying Close to Home!

What a shock this morning to see this new price at our local gas station. At $1.20 a litre (roughly $4.56 per US gallon), it is going to cost over $70.00 to fill my tank. On the news it was reported that Montreal and the Maritimes are paying around $1.30 a litre for fuel.

I haven't ventured far from work and home this week but there has been lots to see and enjoy in the warm spring (more like summer) temperatures we have had the last couple of days. It is hard to believe we had fresh snow last Sunday.


Blue-winged Teal Ducks were swimming in a vernal pool just five minutes from the hospital. I have never seen these birds before. I also saw a Hermit Thrush at the same location.


A male Downy Woodpecker was working hard on a nearby stump

And this Mourning Cloak butterfly was quite ragged and worn but it was a welcome sight on the damp trail.

I wandered around the field at the end of our street after supper and recorded some more frog sounds. The female Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived and were busy in the nesting areas of the ponds. The evening was beautiful and the moon that will be full in another day hung brightly in the sky. Here is a one minute video taken in our neighbourhood. My guess is that Spring Peepers and American Toads are the songsters, along with the odd Red-winged Blackbird.

13 comments:

  1. Wow, that is a lot and even higher in Europe I see.
    Funny that the big increases are being driven by the North American traders and speculators.
    We just benefit as a result over here, but since we import almost everything we get hit in the back door by rising prices (15-20% inflation).

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  2. you are fortunate to have so much to see near your work and your home--this may be the summer of no recreational driving for all of us. Gas was $3.51/gallon here yesterday.

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  3. Forgot to tell you that I am paying $24 USD to fill up my 20 gallon (US) tank on my Jeep. So I guess I am just off a buck a gallon.
    I do have to go offroad several times a week so forgive my carbon footprint.

    ;)

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  4. What a beautiful video Ruth. You can really hear those red-wings when they call out. And the frogs! :c)

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  5. $1.259 a litre up here for regular though it is cheaper at the Coast ... out in the valley. Vancouver prices are probably around 1.25 as well.

    A snowy day, I'm feeling a little blue!

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  6. We went out of town for a few hours the other day, buying gas at 3.56 before we left. Six hours later, we passed the same station and the gas had gone up to 3.61. I think many people will be rediscovering their own locales for this year's vacation.

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  7. I loved your video Ruth. It was nice to see something beautiful that you can enjoy free of charge, without having to drive somewhere.

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  8. Jean- Uggh! I hope the price predictions for the summer are wrong.

    SLD- Between the speculators and the taxes on gas here, we are being robbed. And I see the ripple effect here in the grocery stores too. But our inflation rate is not as high as yours.

    Beth- We plan to go the New York in June and your prices will seem like a break. But the road trip will still be pricey. We may have to feed the car and not ourselves!

    SLD- You have no taxes either on your gas I would assume.

    Jayne- Thanks. I just checked the frog/toad web page Jennifer suggested and have taken a stab at identifying the sounds.

    CS- So sorry that you are getting winter weather again. I wonder why the coasts are more expensive?

    Jan- The prices can change so fast here too. We usually see daily fluctuations and I hope the trend is downward.

    RuthieJ- Yes, I shouldn't complain because things are handy here and I really don't need to do a lot of driving.

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  9. Anonymous8:27 pm GMT-4

    Our gas price is about the same here, Ruth. But it's expected to go higher in the summer.

    What a lovely butterfly to find on the trail. I'm going to have to get myself a butterfly book if I want to start identifying butterflies, too. But, I'm okay for now, as there are none here yet. It's turned bitterly cold again. Enjoy your weekend. :)

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  10. I just got done visiting Nature Knitter who has a similar observation regarding gas prices. I wish we had more leadership in Washington DC on this issue--but our oil president doesn't see fit to rein in oil companies or demand high fuel efficiency cars.

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  11. Your video is so illustrative of very early spring. Great! All familiar sounds here :o)

    Gas prices are going to keep families home more often. Last week I paid $3.27 for regular gas but my next fill-up will be at least $3.50. I'm combining my errands more often...no more running out for this or that.

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  12. April- I can ID about 3 or 4 butterflies. When I took a guide out of the library I had difficulty with the way it was organized. I continue to learn a lot from other nature blogs.

    KGMom- I agree the government is too closely associated with the big oil companies. Some people are making a lot of money. I will have to ask John Grisham for a solution. ;-)

    Mary- Early spring and middle spring are coming at once. I literally watched my forsythia bloom today and the lilac leaves started to open.

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