A Little Imagery

A Little Bit of Imagery

Close your eyes and imagine this.
No, you'd better not close your eyes,
or you can't read what's next!

Your sitting quietly at the shore,
enjoying a picnic lunch with your children,
when all of a sudden
a dog comes out of nowhere
and he's approaching rather quickly,
teeth bared, the hair on its back raised.
In that one instant,
just how does that make you feel?

Now, try to imagine you are a little bird, instead
Or a doe on the fringe with her young.




Uncontrolled dogs are becoming common along our wild shores.
And people don't seem to understand why it is important
to keep their dogs controlled,
I don't know,
like maybe
leashed?

Forget that it's the law.



 



Other Egypt Falls Treasures

The magnificent waterfall wasn't the only treasure

that beautiful fall day.

Along the trail were some little treats

to stop and admire,

and take a breath!

These little moths were flitting around everywhere.

I love mosses and lichens!

An opportunistic fern.

These were lined up like stacked coins
along the entire length of this fallen tree.

Have a great day!

Making Quite a Splash

Egypt Falls

Cape Breton, NS

One crisp, clear fall day,

when I was asked if I would rather sew or go on an adventure,

I'm so glad I chose the adventure!

Although it was a long ride,

we headed off to a mystery destination.

I brought along a book, which I read as we traveled,

looking up and around every few minutes.

Much to my delight, as we passed a farmers field, 

I counted 8 Bald Eagles, so we stopped.,

and counted 48 more!

And as we scanned the trees beyond,

there were even more!  If there weren't 75 Bald Eagles, there wasn't one!

Pictures?  Hmmmm, they were awfully far away.

Too far away for MY camera.

Sorry!

We drove and drove and drove,

until we came to this little path off a dirt road in the Margaree Valley.

The trail was steep, blanketed with wet beech leaves,

and for fear of falling, I hung on to the trees all the way.

Only a half mile trek, it felt like forever...

...until I spotted this through the trees....

As the trail became steeper,

 I was relieved to see that someone had
strategically strung a rope
allowing one  

to hang onto for dear life

in order to descend safely to the bottom.

And OH! My gosh,

The falls feed into this brook.

(I must apologize for the darkened pictures,

as my camera is dying a slow death.

Attempts to lighten them obliterate the deep blue sky

that we enjoyed that day.)

(I wish I knew how to imbed a video.)

If I thought going down was difficult,

you should have seen this old lady on the climb back up!!

But it was worth every moment of discomfort,

believe me!!

Old Growth Forest

Glendyre,

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Glendyre is a small, Scottish gaelic community 

that hosts a very large and almost

obsolete phenomenom - one of the last remaining 

and possibly the best example of an old growth forest.

With white birch and sugar maple trees 

measuring over 10 feet around!!

I was in a total state of bliss.

An off-trail hike of only 1.1 km seemed like 10!

The banks of the brook we crossed were steep

and laden with downed trees covered with moss

and hidden from view by mammoth ferns.

There were treasures everywhere!

Wood Frog
(Rana sylvatica)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker holes.

Artist's Conk
(Ganoderma applanatum)

This is only a small sampling!

Rest assured, this parcel of land is being strongly considered

in the 12 Per Cent Plan,

an effort by the Nova Scotia government

to secure the natural wonders

of the province.

Silly Willet

Eastern Willet

(Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)

Upon my return to Cape Breton late this spring,

(spring was late, too!!),

The Ranger surprised me with 3 completed 

and installed Tree Swallow nesting boxes.

Much to my delight, the Tree Swallows returned the very next day

and after much 'to-do', inhabited all 3 boxes.

What does that have to do with silly Willets, you ask?
Well, they were under the impression that the Tree Swallow houses
were installed for their benefit!

It gives them a perfect vantage point for

keeping an eye on their territory, my 2.5 acre wet meadow.

From spring until mid-July, my airspace is filled with

their relentless, loud, piercing call.

On this particular morning, there were two willets

 really making a racket,

and they were everywhere....

These two birds filled the sky.  

You could have easily thought there were 20!

The Willet is often described as a large, chunky, shore bird with drab brown plumage.

That is until it takes of in flight!!

They were on the house top.

On the shed roof.

On the street lamp and.

even on the road.

This went on all day long.  I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Until around 2:00 when I was taking clothes in from the line.

Yep!  Three baby willets finally emerged from the grass 

and went across the road to the shore, one at a time.

A fourth wasn't too far behind. 

 I grabbed my camera and binoculars 

and sat on the shore,waiting patiently. 

 Almost one hour later, they worked their way through more grass,

and popped out onto the shore, 

where I lost them because they blended in so well.

It took them all day, but those babies made it 

across the 2.5 acres of meadow,

and across the ditch by the side of the road.

I was so impressed with the parent birds.  

They stuck to those babies like glue.

An eagle came down 4 times, 

and they fought him off each time.

They stuck around for a day and a half, 

then worked their way down the shore.

Today I observed them about 1/2 mile away

 at a friend's house.

I will miss them.

The female will eventually take off 

and leave the rest of the parenting to the male.

Reminder:  Tuesday is the last day to enter for a chance to win
a copy of Avian Architecture over at KaHolly.

Silver-bordered Fritillary

Silver-bordered Fritillary

(Boloria selene)

This sweet little butterfly was fluttering

 around the property with it's companion. 

I felt lucky that it decided to land for a few minutes

and that my camera was handy.  

I've seen them before, but they don't usually 

stop long enough for me to grab the camera!

 This is one of the fastest flying of the lesser fritillaries, 

but it regularly visits flowers, such as asters and daisies.

It's host plants are violets.

Measuring approximately 1 3/8 - 2 1/8 inches,

the Silver-bordered Fritillary is the most common 

and widespread lesser Boloria in the Maritimes

and is found in a variety of wet habitats 

- lucky me with over 2 acres of wet meadow!

The underside is distinct with bright, 

metallic silver spots on an orange-brown base.

They have two overlapping broods 

from mid-May to mid-September,

so perhaps they'll grace me with their appearance

a few more times!

Just Another Scene From the World of Inbetween

You never know what you will find,

while hiking interior Cape Breton.

This moose dropped both it's antlers in one spot,

with a mighty shake of his head.

This is a full sized, man sized back pack!

One antler weighed 13 lbs., the other, 17!

(Photos compliments of The Ranger)