Birding at 70 miles/hour

Since we have seen so many photos of the prairie on Peter's blog,

I rather wanted to show you what else there was to see while we raced along the American highways.

I always keep my eyes open for the feathered creatures around.
Boy is it ever so difficult to get a decent shot out of the side window while driving at a speed of 70m/h! So bear with me for the blurriness.

A hawk on a pole. Probably a red tailed, because of the colour of it's tail feathers.

This long legged shore birds were hard to find,

but their colours where so distinct that I opted for "American avocets" in non breeding mode.

On a photo I borrowed from the net you see what it was that I actually saw.


When we had lunch the other day I looked at a huge coal shovel parked on the ground.

Movement around these holes in the side of it captured my eye.

 Clever sparrows had taken the openings in the metal as their dwellings.

 When we slowly drove bye I could take these shots.

 Cute.

Finally I found out: it helps to put the camera on manual. Then keep tuning the viewfinder while shooting multiple frames.

One of the shots will be sharp! :))

Another day I was scanning the darkening evening sky. What was that? See all those dots in the air!

Hundreds of migrating Canada geese up there.

An amazing view. A sure sign of the winter to come.

And of course - the vast prairie landscape and endless sky. 

For ever captivating.

@@@

The poem of the day

Saskatchewan Summer (Charles Nichols)

Wide the open spaces lie, 

Fields of yellow cheerfulness, 

Circled all by wheat and trees, 

Ruled soft by blue and white

Roads to nowhere but afar, 

Scattered perfectly with farms, 

Fences sent for ages outward, 

Clear broadness touched by prairie towns

Rippled ponds enclosed by rushes, 

Distant rivers pulling streams, 

Rolling earth, arms widely steady, 

Fields and cattle, wooden barns 

With a quote of Hamlet

For quite a while I was looking for words that would best describe the memories of a summer I am about to leave behind.

Finally I found them.

Solitude, Serenity, Elation

Solitude:
state of being alone or solitary, by oneself.

• The state of being serene:
• calmness; peacefulness.
• A lack of agitation or disturbance.

Elation: 

a feeling or state of great joy or pride; 

exultant gladness; high spirits.

I want to thank all my friends, visitors and co-workers 

who contributed to it and made it happen.

See you again next year!

I will end this posting with (part of) a quote of

HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.

Seeing pink elephants?

Some people see pink elephants, I saw - what?

I went like this:

Our area experienced the first rainy day in a long time. 

Grey skies and a drizzle all day long.

When I went out to pick some of my last carrots for supper I realized how beautifully decorated my sweat peas where. 

Every bit of the plant was covered with beads of silvery water. 

 In I went, got my camera and took some shots.

 Isn't that pretty?

Too bad that I cannot bring the fragrance out as well.

 While I cropped the photos my imagination suddenly run wild. 

An animal materialized in all these flowery pictures.

Can you see it as well?

Splashing in all the purple and mauve was a SEAL.

Fancy!

Last days of September - 'gals' out

3 more days and we are in OCTOBER already, can you believe it?!
Summer has gone by so fast.

Today was the last day before "Jocie's Porch" closed for the season.

We had our 'gals' day out on that occasion, though one of us was not able to attend. She became a grandmother very recently and was asked to help as an instant baby sitter. The kids where overwhelmed with their new baby and suffering from severe sleep deprivation. Isn't that something mothers know about?

Well, the rest of us (Deborah, Miada, Susan and I) had a great time with excellent tea, coffee and tea cakes.

Sitting on the porch, enjoying the warm sunshine (81 F) by 26 C, and the great view, we caught up with the news since not all of us had seen each other this summer.

On the way back I took a photo of this cute cabin. John (and Barbara) built and decorated this shed for their grand-kids. Very decorative!

The sun settled and bathed everything in mauve, red and gold. So beautiful.

When I read the news today there was a note and a video clip about "Rare Killer Whale (Orca) sighting in the Bay of Fundy" on CBC. Right here around the other big island "Grand Manan". You find the link to the article here.