Remembering a Mother's Love
What's in a Name?
Eastern Phoebe- April 10, 2024 |
Say’s phoebe, Cooper’s hawk, Steller’s jay, Clark’s grebe, Baird’s sandpiper, Wilson’s snipe, Lincoln’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, Clark’s nutcracker, and Lewis’s woodpecker. In the project's initial phase, 70-80 North American birds will get new names. I will have to start a new bird list!
Great Blue Herons in the air and on their nest, Northern Flicker |
The Total Eclipse, a Killdeer and the Power of a Crowd
Port Burwell Lighthouse and sky-gazers at the time of totality |
Four Killdeer Eggs |
Looking south at Lake Erie during totality |
Preparing for the Total Solar Eclipse
Midafternoon sun on April 5, 2024 |
This afternoon, we prepared for the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. I bought a sheet of Solar Shield film and made filters for my camera and binoculars. I have taken many pictures of the moon and sunrises but have little experience photographing the afternoon sun.
Annular solar eclipse June 10, 2021 |
The last solar eclipse in our area was an annular eclipse at dawn on June 10, 2021. The sun rose at 5:35 AM and I took this picture at 5:41 AM. The sun was too bright within ten minutes to see the moon's shadow.
Partial Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017 |
End of March Birding Observations
Bald Eagle |
I finally saw a Bald Eagle at the local eyrie on March 28th. This nest was well established before I first found it in 2014. Bald Eagles take five years to reach maturity and live an average of 20 years in the wild. I assumed that the same pair of birds have occupied this nest for the past ten-plus years but they may be nearing the end of their reproductive cycle. I have yet to see an eagle sitting on the nest this year which is unusual. Time will tell if there will be young eagles here this season. In the meantime, this Bald Eagle presides over the river from a high perch like a judge on a bench.
Eastern Meadowlark |
I am enjoying the Merlin Bird ID app on my phone. I can record bird songs and the app identifies the singers. Birds generally have more than one call, especially during the nesting season, so the app is useful for unfamiliar sounds. After the birds are identified by their call, I can look for them in earnest. I knew several Eastern Meadowlarks were in the field, but they generally stay on the ground and are difficult to see from a distance. I saw a pair fly up in a mating ritual and then one landed on a nearby fence and began to sing loudly. Our North American Meadowlarks are not true Larks but are beautiful relatives of blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles and orioles. Sadly, their numbers have decreased by over 75% in the past 50 years due to the loss of meadowlands from changes in farming practices. I think of this every time I see field after field of corn and soybeans in the summer, much of it used for livestock feed.
Male Hooded Merganser (hood down) |
Song Sparrow |
Male and Female Hooded Mergansers |
Osprey platform and the rightful Osprey tenant |
Servant Song
Pascal Moonrise March 2024 |
The full Pascal moon rose at dusk this weekend, the first full moon after the Spring equinox and thus the marker of the Easter season. This year it came the evening of Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week.
This year's weekly Wednesday Lenten services focused on the last Servant Song in Isaiah 52:13 through the end of the 53rd chapter. I memorized Isaiah 53 as a nine-year-old to win a prize in Sunday School. The language of the King James Bible obscured the full meaning at the time but the words stayed with me.
Fossilized or Alive and Growing?
The Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa ON |
We visited the Nature Museum in Ottawa, Canada at the beginning of the month with our grandchildren and daughters. The beautiful structure was the first building in Canada specifically designed to house a national museum. The Victoria Memorial Museum opened to the public in 1912. The first fossil gallery in Canada featuring the fossilized dinosaur bones of a hadrosaur named Edmontosaurus regalis opened in 1913. One mile away, The Canadian parliament buildings burned in 1916 and the Victoria Museum became the Canadian government's emergency headquarters for the next four years. The building was named the Canadian Museum of Nature in 1990 and it houses eight permanent galleries and various temporary exhibitions.
Interactive dinosaur room, Extinct Passenger Pigeon, Fossilized dinosaurs, mounted Broad-winged Hawk |
My grandson's favourite exhibit was called Bugs Alive and he wanted to visit it twice. Our granddaughter loved the Arctic Gallery where large chunks of ice are displayed on a chilled floor. I was excited to see the Bird Gallery and the 500-mounted bird specimens arranged in interactive stations. I saw a mounted Passenger Pigeon which became extinct around the time the museum was built.
Alive! Bald Eagle, 6-year-old girl under ice, Goliath Stick Insect, Barred Owl |
It is interesting to see things from the ancient past and near past. I do love history! Our world has changed in every era and continues to do so today. Our grandchildren liked the live displays best, the bugs, the ice, the live birds. I was surprised that they were not that interested in dinosaurs. As we age, we can become sentimentally enamoured with the past, losing interest in the present and resisting change.
Kate Bowler writes less philosophically about ordinary life in her book Have a Beautiful Terrible Day!,
Early March Nature Observations
FOY Great Blue Heron |
At this time last year, I walked along the trail at the confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers and stepped carefully through the snow and ice that still covered the ground. Spring is definitely early this year compared to last and the birds and plants are aware of this too. Yesterday, at midday, I briefly checked three of my favourite birding spots in the region.
Carolina Wren- A year-round resident here unlike its cousin the House Wren |
Red-bellied Woodpecker- another non-migrating species |
L-R, top to bottom: Skunk Cabbage, Red Maple flowers, Crocus, Snowdrops, Pussywillow, Snowdrops |
International Women's Day 2024
Women of Strength |
1918 2023 |
Sunshine, Moonlight
Sunset |
Full Snow Moon in the upper atmosphere, February 24, 2024 |
Revisiting the Past on Google Maps
Today I decided to look up the addresses of the homes I remember living in during the years I was in school. Surprisingly, all of the houses are standing after fifty to sixty years and they still look familiar. So here is a brief history of 15 years of my life illustrated by Google Maps.
Lighthouse Rd, Durban. The bus stop is still near the house |
We moved to 207 Lighthouse Rd in Durban, South Africa when I was four years old. My brother Philip was born the next year. I remember my mother teaching me to read and I spent hours practicing with my hoola hoop in the front yard. The yard was fenced but there was no wall or gate when we lived here. I remember a bus stop in front of the house and my brother Nathan used to talk to people who were standing there. I started school at the nearby Marlborough Park Primary School and was terrified of my strict teacher. I remember throwing up my breakfast each morning due to anxiety about school but it never gave me license to stay home. The scary teacher became ill partway through the year and my mother, who was also a teacher, taught our class for a few weeks making me very happy.
My first school is behind this wall |
26 Piedmont Rd. The mango grove is still behind the house in the aerial view |
My second school- I walked about 2 km each way with other children from the neighbourhood |
Centre St Aurora ON |
Willowdale, ON- the pine tree was planted when we lived there |
Kitchener ON |
Very Early Arrivals
Red-winged Blackbird (m) and American Robin |
I usually start looking for returning male Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles and American Robins around the first week of March. It is not unusual to see the odd Robin in January as a few of them overwinter in protected areas. I was surprised to see a male Red-winged Blackbird on February 10 and another male doing a territorial call on February 11th at the local park. My husband returned from a walk with the dog on February 11th and reported that there were a dozen Robins in a tree at the end of our street. I hurried out and heard them before I saw them. Yes, there were 14 Robins in the trees and shrubs at a neighbour's house. This is an early record for my first-of-year sightings.
I was looking at Grandma D's Roger Tory Peterson's A Guide to The Birds of Eastern North America, 1947 edition. Several birds, including the Northern Mockingbird, Tufted Titmouse, and Sandhill Crane were not found in Southern Ontario at that time. Bird ranges shift and populations rise and fall for many reasons. Birds move where there is food and there a plenty of local berries for Robins around here.
Here are some more photos taken on February 10th and 11th in our region.
Confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers, Cambridge ON |
A group of Golden-eye Ducks, winter visitors to southern Ontario, hold their place at the edge of the river