Thursday, December 22, 2011

More Whimsy At the Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

.The weather is still changeable, alternating between cold, and warm temperatures. Mostly the skies are a sullen gray, except for the occasional surprise visit of the sun. We will have a virtually snow less Christmas

 I heard recently on the CBC , public radio, that Tom Thompson's paintings are selling for record high amounts. Thompson in case you don't know is the lead painter of the Group Of Seven, a uniquely Canadian group of painters, who painted the Canadian Shield in revolt to the popular vogue of  painters who were painting in the genre of the Lake District in the UK or Mediterranean scenes in Europe. The difference is of course in the light and ruggedness of the scene. Not putting me in the same class as Thompson, you can see the power in the white water shown here. 

While the shield is unique to Canada, you can find the same ruggedness in other sites on the web, when photos of the sea, especially the Atlantic are shown. But in the shield it is common. 

But I feel this ruggedness is part of the Canadian character. Also I feel we can not lose this aspect of ourselves. The photo on the right is of a Vermilon River wetland

Across from the wetland are side channels of the River, which flow quite rapidly.

More Fairy Lights of the Vermilon River Forest as the light passes through the frost.

This photo is a bit different as it's a piece of the above photo blown up to catch the highlight in the ice crystals.

What would the world be without these vain capricious creatures, the Blue Jay.

I actually think he's going to tell you here what life is all about.

All these photos are shot with the 70-300 lens at an ISO of 800 as the sky is so gray.

I was fortunate last week to get a visit from these Goldfinch.

There was a bit of sun and I forgot to change the white balance you can see how warm their plumage is.

I like the warming effect that the darker white balance gave.

These little guys are another of our winter birds that brighten the day.

Back again for another display of cuteness, the Red Squirrel.

 Just a little gymnastic display this time. And for all that work, lunch. A Post to SWF @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/ and Camera Critters@ http://camercritters.blogspot.com/ and Scenic Sunday @ http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/   And to everyone Season's Greetings from Boom and I at the Vermilon River.

31 comments:

  1. Love the shots of the running water. And the goldfinch. Is the only thing on the red squirrel that's red is the tail? You really see the red there. I don't think I've seen one before.

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  2. i always love your adorable red squirrels! and i believe you that that jay had a lot of wisdom to impart - kind of a 'lend me your ear' pose. :)

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  3. The fast flowing river is my favourite, beautiful.

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  4. The water images are so pretty. :) It's nice the birds dropped by for portraits, too. Merry Christmas.

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  5. Really superb captures, Gary, as always! I love the fast flowing water, too! It is beautiful! And, of course, the jay and my favorite squirrel! Hope you have a lovely holiday weekend! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  6. So beautiful photo of nature!Lovely!Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  7. So love these cameo glimpses of scenes and wildlife in your world! The heaving waters are so dramatic and the little feathered characters + squirrel have so much character!

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  8. Gary, I do hope you are feeling better. Your birds and squirrels seem well fed so you must be able to go out and fill up their feasting trays.

    The ruggedness of Canada and it's people on the land has always impressed me as have the poems of Robert Service.

    Happy Christmas to you and Boomer!

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  9. Nice to see and her that your area is not totally frozen yet, Gary.

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  10. I love the Blue Jay and the Red Squirrel! We have neither in Australia.

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  11. Merry Christmas to you and all critters. :)

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  12. Wishing you and Boomer a very Happy Christmas!

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  13. Such powerful rushing water, well-captured! The birds and squirrels are beautiful.
    Have a Happy Christmas!

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  14. These are all fantastic shots. I love how well you capture the water and rugged lanscape as well as the animals.

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  15. Awesome shots!
    I wish you a Merry Christmas!

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  16. Gary, Are the first 3 pictures your captures or from the artist? They are really amazingly wonderful!
    Our weather has been hot and cold also. I have yet to see a Goldfinch at my feeders.
    Love the Red Squirrel shots...but glad I don't have them in my yard. :)

    Merry Christmas to you and Boomer!!!

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  17. Thank you for sharing your photos with us this year and happy Christmas to you. The lighting reflected through snow and ice is simply beautiful.

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  18. What lovely whimsical shots. Those jays are lovely!

    Most of our snow has melted here too... ;-(

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  19. Another awesome series!
    Merry Christmas to you:)

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  20. I love those beautiful pictures, the first two with moving water are my favorites, greetings.

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  21. Lovely photos, indeed!
    Thank you for being there!
    BShell

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  22. I've always loved shots of water, especially white water. The Blue Jay and the Red Squirrel are beautiful, I'd love to see some of the latter visit my yard, we only have grey squirrel in Yorkshire. Our Goldfinches are back too, tucking in to sunflower seed hearts and Niger seed, it doesn't take them long to empty all three large feeders, we have quite a flock.
    Wishing you a Happy Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. Unfortunately our Christmas will not be a particularly happy one, due to some devastating news received yesterday.

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  23. I love your Holiday whimsy! And I'm bookmarking this post so I can look up the painters when I get caught up with my blogreading. Rugged would be high on my list of adjectives for Canada. That's how I think of it.

    I hope your Holiday is as perfect as can be (even if there's no snow)!

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  24. your photos are wonderful. those birds and the squirrel are just gorgeous. Merry Christmas.

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  25. Hi there - almost Christmas here! Hope you and B have a good time.

    See you in 2012!

    Stewart M - Australia

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  26. trekking your amazing blog! keep blogging! happy holidays!

    cheers!
    ...TREK...

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  27. Great shots, I love the bluejay captures. Merry Christmas!

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  28. ♫♫♫ Feliz Natal!!!


    …………(¯`O´¯)
    …………*./ | \ .*
    …………..*♫*.
    ………, • '*♥* ' • ,
    ……. '*• ♫♫♫•*'
    ….. ' *, • '♫ ' • ,* '
    ….' * • ♫*♥*♫• * '
    … * , • Feliz' • , * '
    …* ' •♫♫*♥*♫♫ • ' * '
    ' ' • . Navidad . • ' ' '
    ' ' • ♫♫♫*♥*♫♫♫• * ' '
    …………..x♥x
    …………….♥
    Que o Natal não seja apenas uma data, mas um estado de espírito a nos orientar a vida.

    FELIZ NATAL!!!
    Beijinhos.
    Brasil

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  29. Those songbird images are wonderful, but that little squirrel sure takes over a scene,how cute! Merry Christmas~

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  30. The squirrel captures are fantastic!

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