Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sunny Skies Bring Changes On the Vermilon River. A Post to Sky Watch.


Vermilon Looking NW


 Spring comes to the Vermilon in fits and starts, but a bright day makes the river come alive as the photos show with open spots appearing in the ice and rapids starting to flow.
Thawing Wetland
 Even portions of the wetlands and small lakes begin to thaw. The thawing, and spring weather brings in the young geese eager to get started on the family ritual.
In Flight



Getting Closer
 

Even in flight and landing these guys although graceful are funny. Did you notice the comments he got on his three point landing, although maybe he cut it a little close.
Final Landing


Just Hanging Out


All in All About 12 Early Arrivals



Close Up



Near a Bit of Open Water


Two Loners



Click to enlarge. A Post to Sky Watch Friday @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/  


Open Rapids


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: Bohemian Waxwings of the Vermilon River. A Post to...

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: Bohemian Waxwings of the Vermilon River. A Post to...: "Cedar Waxwing   Bohemian Waxwing   Boom & I are blessed beyond thousands when you figure that we shoot pictures in a ..."

Bohemian Waxwings of the Vermilon River. A Post to WBW.

Cedar Waxwing



Bohemian Waxwing
   Boom & I are blessed beyond thousands when you figure that we shoot pictures in a wilderness  right outside our door. The birds, animals, insects, and scenery are there for the watching, no looking in some cases required. We don't drive, we walk, no carbon imprint at all. But this was even an easier photo session as these Bohemians turned up outside my apartment front one day to harvest the ornamental crab apple trees at the front of the building.

First a bit of a description difference. The Bohemians have the red rump and the more ornate feather striations if that is the word. Note the difference between photo one and two. The Cedar Waxwing has a yellow rump( under the tail feather, and not shown). The Bohemians are bigger, but who has a tape measure when you're in the woods. Bohemians normally live further north than the Cedars. Cedars restrict themselves to NA, while Bohemians like RedPolls wander the world. There is a Japanese Waxwing, but we don't need to worry about him here.



Bohemian Waxwing
Both are incredibly social birds flying in large flocks not just in a common search for food, but for fun, play and courting. They prefer coniferous forests, and are voracious feeders mainly on berries, but eat insects also. Bohemians incorporate food into their courting rituals where the male and female will exchange food, as well waxwings will exchange food as part of their playful interaction.

Bohemian Waxwing


Bohemian Waxwing
Few birds, whether Cedar or Bohemian, are as attractive, especially with that Mohawk and incredible face mask,and we have both.
Just A Quick Note: I caught up to a note on a post on my blog about the danger of the Alberta Tar Sands. Statoil, the Norwegian state oil company, is a participant, and is in court this week for removing too much fresh water from the area. Norwegian Grandparents, an organization of 2000 grandparents is running a public apology in the Edmonton newspaper to Canadians on behalf of Norway for being involved in the tar sands. There is a very concerned group in Norway including banks, an insurance investor, and citizens that want Statoil out of the tar sands because of destruction to the boreal forest. You can catch it by googling Norwegian grandparents and the tar sands. Hope you'll take a look, read the other posts and pressure for the shut down of the Tar Sands, because we do not have the technology.

A Post to WBW @ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

A further note: my work screen is showing the format of this blog fine, but the preview which is even missing part of the header, is not so I hope everything is OK.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: A Touch of Spring at the Vermilon River, Canada. A...

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: A Touch of Spring at the Vermilon River, Canada. A...: "The Vermilon Sunday brought a touch of spring with bright sunshine and warm temperatures to the area. As well, I saw pass over head ..."

A Touch of Spring at the Vermilon River, Canada. A Post to My World Tuesday.

The Vermilon
 Sunday brought a touch of spring with bright sunshine and warm temperatures to the area. As well, I saw pass over head some Canada Geese in small flights of one or two birds. These are last year's one year olds who are now prepared to go on their own. They a tad early as open spots are still limited as the side photos show. Although the Vermilon flows all year, the little lakes and wetlands are still mostly frozen over.

See how cold that water looks


The far bank showing the remaining snow pack.
 Open spots exist but the water here is too fast for the Geese. This particular small falls flows into a small lake area which is still frozen over. March 20Th may be your spring but it's just another day at the Vermilon. The rule of thumb here is you don't plant your garden until the 24th of May to avoid frost, and even then you may have to cover the plants against frost.

Last night we had about 2 inches of snow which has now turned to rain. The weatherman is calling for more snow tonight. Spring comes hard to The Vermilon River. As a sort of snow bonus my RedPolls have returned.



Canada Geese arriving.


Beautiful Flyers.
These are the small flights arriving. If you look closely in the photo, you'll see the flight leader giving commands.
Click to Enlarge.


The true sign of spring.
  The Robin is of course the true harbinger of spring.This welcome guy was right by the river.

The other one is Boomer's fur coat which he is now starting to shed in what we Malamute owners call a blow. I brush him in the woods,creating quite a mass of undercoat which is surprisingly gone in one or two days.



The beginning of a spat.

This is the weirdest sequence. He yells at her and she reluctantly moves.
Alright I'll move crabby!!


That's the spot I want!!
 Ever seen such a bully? Remember these are non-habituated or non-urban Geese. And they're not too exited by Boomer and I even being here. So, there's lots of honking and hissing going on.

A Post to My World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/?





On my preview on the dashboard I'm still missing half the header and the photo upload doesn't show all the actual pictures although it does upload alright.Now the preview is totally blank. It would be nice to know when Blogger is doing M&R or adding code.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: Birds of the Vermilon River, Canada. A Post to Cam...

Me, Boomer and The Vermilon River: Birds of the Vermilon River, Canada. A Post to Cam...: " Northern Crow.   Close Up Northern Crow Hope you're not getting tired of these guys. But have you ever seen such a majestic fe..."

Birds of the Vermilon River, Canada. A Post to Camera Critters


Northern Crow.


Close Up Northern Crow
Hope you're not getting tired of these guys. But have you ever seen such a majestic fellow?

Male RedPoll


Female RedPoll
My own RedPolls are gone, and Boomer and I miss the constant activity, sort of one long feeding cycle.










It's the same woodpecker that's how I know he has the male red patch.

Male Hairy Woodpecker

Male Hairy Woodpecker


Black-capped Chickadee


Black-capped Chickadee
Some shots of my favourites, the Black-capped Chickadee.

Chickadee


Chickadee
 A Post to Camera Critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/




A note to Hilke: You once said you transferred to your hard drive directly from your camera. Did you mean external hard drive and how did you do that?

Blogger's preview on my set up is all distorted and
missing the header. Anyone else having the same problem?