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Ricoh 500G and Ricoh 500 (type 2). Photographed with Olympus OM-2, Soligor 35-105 C/D f3.5 macro, Delta 400
I should know better than to trust weather forecasters, yes? Today they promised sunny, Saturday (my next day off) they promise clouds. Without a good, cloudy sky today, I decided to save the beach for Saturday - today I would check out a new location (new for me), Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. So of course, the entire time at the refuge I'm seeing really great cloudy skies - and thinking about all the long exposures I could be doing. I thought of dashing down to the beach but decided against it. I figured as soon as I did the clouds would break and I did want to explore Bombay Hook. I'd had enough after five hours and almost headed home - then thought, oh what the hell, the beach was an hour away. I had time, I might not get clouds but I had time.
Well, the clouds did break a little, not as dramatic as they had been earlier. But as I walked onto the beach, I saw that I'd caught low tide. As many times as I've been to this spot, I have never managed to catch it at low tide - I always thought there were just six of these pilings. I'm glad I didn't give in to my pessimist! :)
My thoughts are with all those affected by yesterday's horrific killings in Paris. A sad, sad day, indeed.
This is the fourth, and I think it will be the last, photo of one of two Common Loons seen at Emerald Lake, British Columbia, on 11 July 2015. Rather a distant shot, but I didn't dare crop it any closer than I did. That day, I had a wonderful day out with friend Sandy, driving westwards from Calgary and eventually reaching the next province, British Columbia (B.C.). Sandy had two destinations in mind - a stop at the Spiral Tunnels and then to explore the forest around Emerald Lake. I had only been to B.C. a handful of times in 37 years, so this was an absolute treat.
"The lake is enclosed by mountains of the President Range, as well as Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain. This basin traps storms, causing frequent rain in summer and heavy snowfalls in winter. This influx of moisture works with the lake's low elevation to produce a unique selection of flora. Trees found here are more typical of B.C.'s wet interior forests, such as western red cedar, western yew, western hemlock and western white pine. The alluvial fan on the northeast shore produces wildflowers in abundance during late June and early July.
Due to its high altitude, the lake is frozen from November until June. The vivid turquoise color of the water, caused by powdered limestone, is most spectacular in July as the snow melts from the surrounding mountains.
The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers: "For a few moments I sat [on] my horse and enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene." It was Wilson who gave the lake its name because of its remarkable colour, caused by fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water. However, this was not the first time Wilson had dubbed a lake 'Emerald'. Earlier that same year he had discovered another lake which he had given the same moniker, and the name even appeared briefly on the official map. This first lake however, was shortly renamed Lake Louise." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Lake_(British_Columbia)
Our trip started just after 7:00 am, to get a good, early start, especially before the temperature soared. The drive from Calgary to Emerald Lake takes about 2 and a half hours and is a 218.5 km drive via Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W. We took a quieter route home at the end of the day. Rain arrived just in time for this drive home and, by the time I got back to my car in Calgary, the rain was really heavy and a few of the roads were beginning to flood very quickly. It was raining again this morning. I was kind of hoping for a few rainy days, as I suddenly have a build-up of quite a few very major, very urgent things to deal with and I didn't want to be tempted to go out with my camera.
Shortly after we began our walk though the forest along the right hand side of the lake, we heard a commotion coming from the water. When we found a place to see through the trees, we could see two beautiful Common Loons and a female duck with several babies, possibly Common Mergansers. My guess would be that the Merganser mother kept chasing away the Loons, creating a lot of splashing. This distant photo of one of the Loons was taken at the end of our walk. It was in the smaller section of the lake at Emerald Lake and we noticed it when we were walking along the boardwalk/bridge. It was swimming towards us and I managed to get one quick shot. Then it swam under the boardwalk and was disappearing into the distance by the time I took this shot. This photo also shows why this lake is named Emerald Lake : )
Also, at the beginning and the end of our "hike", we watched a family of Violet-green Swallows that were nesting. Not sure how many young ones there were, but I saw three. Though we do get these birds in Calgary, I've never seen one properly - just when a mass of Swallows swarms over the Bow River and someone calls out "Violet-green!" The adults flew to feed their babies at top speed and barely stayed a second at the nest hole. I was just thrilled to see one of these birds - thanks, Sandy, for your patience, allowing me to try and get a few photos! Thanks, too, for such a great day, as usual!
I am no friend of the night. I really really hate staying up all, or even most, of the night for any reason. I sleep early and wake up early. This has been going on since my study for BA (YEARS ago)
It is 3.30 am now. I can't sleep. I don't know why. By the way, I drink decaffeinated coffee and I drink my last cup of tea by 4pm.
I have never posted a photo in such a time.
Khalid, my son, has a kind of a party in his kindergarten tomorrow. He will never forgive me if I oversleep,
Pray for me to be able to sleep.
Hope you like the photo.
During a warm spell in winter these beavers came out of their lodge looking for food.
Seen in Hendrie Valley marsh behind the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario.
Update: This photo was published in The Eye On The Area section of The Hamilton Spectator on Thursday January 9, 2025.
Two snow leopard cubs interacting together. Sadly the quality is quite bad because of the thick windows...
"We are spectators in the shade here", the bikes told me - "The show is opposite, in the sunny side of the street..."
These two fat Indians seem to have lost weight since the restaurant was closed due to earthquake damage
October 1st. Saturday. Laurel Homecoming.
This right here is Andre. He's one of the best people I have ever met.
I love him more than life itself and I don't know what I would do or where
I would be with my life without him. One of my best friends forever and ever.
Tonight was so much fun, honestly. Being with my friends and them alone.
I met a lot of people and smiled a lot - even cried too. Christy's was a good time.
All of my friends looked so beautiful - I love you all so, so much. I hope your first
homecoming was just as lovely as my third. You're all the best people ever.
A 1968 registered blue Triumph TR250 side by side with a green Triumph Stag registered on the first day of 1971. These two were at the May 2019 Humber Bridge classic car show organised by a local car club.
Not long after arriving at Iron Junction for the morning, we found a loaded taconite train swinging off the wye heading for Two Harbors. With temps still around 28 degrees, a small amount of steam was still coming off the fresh pellets.