Wildlife and Whimsy of the Vermilon River.

The weather has been strange all week with rain, then snow and cold. Harper, under siege by more corruption in the cabinet this time, has decided to deny global warming by trying to muffle Government climatologists.He probably thinks its appropriate with the keystone pipeline debate in the US. I guess if you're an oil company shill that's what you try. However I think people here have caught onto Harper with all the failure that surrounds him.

The whimsy comes from the sandwich recipe given below.

Remember  click any image for the slide show.

A post to I'd Rather be Birding, Our World Tuesday, and WBW.

Female Hairy Woodpecker

Red Squirrel

Crow.

Female Hairy Woodpecker.

Hiding in the branches.

The photos of the Female Hairy Woodpecker show the problems of shooting in shadows in bright sun light. They were shot at F 8, 400 ISO, but were brightened in Photoshop.

Open River.

 The sandwich recipe is a keeper, especially when you're feeling the blahs food wise. So here it is:

1.Take any flat bread and coat it in Dijon mustard
2. Place cheese slices, cheddar or Swiss or your favourite, on the Dijon mustard.
3 Cover in ham slices of any kind.
4. Now the key. the sauce.
In a large pot, pour in a quarter cup of honey, plus a quarter cup of water. Add two teaspoons of dried mustard. Add a third of a cup of dried apricots, cut in thirds. Add a full cup of raisins, three quarters of a cup of dried dates, three quarters of a cup of dried figs, about the same of dried cranberries. (Cut all the dried fruit into thirds.) Allow to boil while stirring until the water is gone. Spread over the sandwich. The sauce keeps in the fridge but you must heat (lukewarm), it before putting on the sandwich. Serve with beer or wine, and eat with a knife and fork.

Redpoll

Crow

Female Hairy

Same

Redpoll

Redpoll

Redpoll

Redpoll

Same

Redpoll in the wind

Open water.

In flight

Little crowded here.

In flight.

Redpoll

River island

Home for rent.

Hiding.

Taking off.

Redpoll

A Sushi Lunch With An Otter Of The Vermilon River.

 I wasn't going to post this week because I got caught up in researching the gun problem in the US. As well the weather has been bad, and then it took a swing for the better, enabling me to get out to the River.It's important to hike now as spring is close, and the four legged critters are on the move despite the ice and snow. The hike was not that great as the ice on the trail was too dangerous for me. But there was a forest lesson even in that brief hike.In a wilderness forest, all senses have to be alert. In addition if something looks strange it likely is, no matter what your brain is saying. The otter shots are the proof. He was at the opposite end of the rock island shown in the photo below,and appeared to my eyes as a black rock outcropping, but of a peculiar shape.
For those who asked, the shots of the otter were all taken with the 70-300 mm lens at F8, 400 ISO at 300 mm. The blowups are all 100 percent, so the shots are solid and not falling apart. At 200 percent they're too noisy or grainy, but just. I was lucky as the snow was bright enough to permit an ISO of 400. At 800 ISO the photos would be grainier, and the blow up size would be more restricted. All but one of the photos was in focus, and are in this post.

The grey background bird shots are shot at F6.3, and 800 ISO.

A post to I'd Rather Be Birding,My World Tuesday, and WBW. I've set the post up for the slide show.

Red Squirrel

Redpolls who I'll soon lose as they move north.

Male Pine Grosbeak-again an immigrant from the north.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Redpoll

Female Pine Grosbeak

Open River, Foggy Ridges

Mourning Doves

Rock Island

Seed Pod

Frosty Branch

Windy Blue Jay

Otter

The otter was at the far end of the rock island shown above.

This series shows really well in the slide show.

Lunch is served.

I think the black is his tail.