Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: December 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Red Skies In The Morning... At The Vermilon River.

With the big snow storm over, the temperature dropped to the mid teens Celsius, but the winds were from the north reducing the temperature,with the wind chill adjustment, some mornings to the mid or late twenties Celsius. No conversion necessary, it's just damn cold Fahrenheit or Celsius when the wind hits in your face. Boom and I draw the line at -27C with the wind chill factored in. The skies were generally overcast with snow flurries.
The skies depicted here were taken the morning of the 30th, and true to the adage the day was overcast, although there was no snow. The morning temperature was -25 C with the wind chill in, so we got a pretty good walk.

I had mentioned dog sledding in the previous post, and lo and behold, there was an interview with a BBC, or German Over Seas Radio interviewer the next morning with a Laplander ( Finland) about his dogs. Laplanders call their dogs Alaskan Huskies, but they're the same as Boom.
Anyway, there were eleven in his team. He said the dogs reached up to forty kms. per hour, and their range was about 200 km per day, not at top speed of course. He too felt the snow mobile was an interloper,although he has of course two choices of mobility, dogs or reindeer. She, the interviewer, rode in the sled, and remarked on the pungent aroma of eleven dogs on a long run with no pit stops. I'd forgotten about that.

CBC, public radio, in Canada links up with the BBC, or German Radio, or Radio Australia at night. I was pretty certain that the interviewer was not an Aussie from the accent, but a lot of Germans speak English with a Brit. accent, and the German network employs UK announcers. As an aside, one of the Germans that I worked years ago with could switch accents in English from American to an Ox-bridge accent mid sentence. Speaking more than one language is common in Europe and the use of multi languages is becoming more common here in addition to the basic English and French.
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The first two bird photos are Pine Grosbeaks. Opposite another shot of the red sky.

Click any photo to activate the slideshow.

A post to I'd- Rather- Be-Birdin' ,Our World Tuesday, and WBW.

Happy New Year from Boom & I.

Red Squirrel using his tail as a coat.

Redpoll

Male Pine Grosbeak.

Frosty snow on seeds.

Blue jay in wind.

Another red sky shot.

Redpoll

Puffed Mourning Dove.

The blue tone did not bring any blue skies.

Two Redpolls

Redpoll

Frost on wild sunflower seeds.

Female Pine Grosbeak

Frost on sunflower pods.

Frost on tree branches.

Male and Female Pine Grosbeaks.

Mourning Doves.

Puffed Mourning Dove.

Male Pine Grosbeak

More frost on seed pods.

Puffed Blue Jay.

Redpoll

Close up

M and F Pine Grosbeak

Same.

Blue Jay

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The Magic of Equinox at The Vermilon River.

You're going to find it strange that Boomer and I find Equinox, Winter Solstice or the 21st of December more interesting than the rest of Christmas week, which we also like. The answer is obvious: it is Boomer's and my birthday. Nature played along and dumped 35 cm., say 15-17 inches, in a 12 hour period. Now I know all you southern types are going to hold your breath, and wonder how we stood it. But first let me tell you that I have camped out over night in such weather and can candidly tell you it was the most wonderful experience. We were not using a dogsled, but snowmobiles the first time. And not on a groomed trail, which appeals only to speed demons, but in a wilderness like this one. The silence is so incredible. Later I would try it with dogs, an Akita team. Dog sledding is what sailing is to boating, the penultimate.

I put in these shots of Boomer as he waits for me to feed the birds. He's eleven now. If you check out the mast head photo, you can see the additional white in his ear area. The cast in his eye is a slight cataract. Boom does however have wolf eyes, which naturally reflect light, especially at night. He's slower so we take it easier now. Let's face it I'm slower also.

Still active.

Still loving the snow.

Blue Jay.

Now You're not going to believe this! But on our morning walk on the 21st, we got an unheard of visit from our friend, Huegin, Broken Beak. There was a Corvid chortle, and down he came. I had some shelled peanuts in my pocket, so I open them and fed him. He's huge by the way.

Click to view slideshow.

A post to: I'd Rather Be Birdin,.WBW,,Our World Tuesday,