Lise's Ramblings

The Veendam: 2013's first cruise ship in our port As an avid birder, I welcome the sight of returning warblers, hummingbirds, terns and plovers. At this time of year, they charm me more than usual.  Soon they’ll flock to our woods and shores in greater numbers, but for now I count every migratory songbird or endangered shorebird I spot.  Gardens have harbingers of warmer days too. Well before anything else grows outdoors, those crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths paint our yards with colour. Last year, I blogged about spring peepers , amphibians that are shorter than your pinkie finger. These frogs overcompensate for their diminutive size with a trill chorus to mark the season. I know to take out my spring jackets when I hear the male peepers.     Our longer stretches of sunshine and spring weather also mean retro cars escape from winter storage, cruise ships return to our ports, crab and lobster boats set out to sea, and farmers return to the...

Now that snow has arrived, our chances of spotting large flocks of snow buntings increase. source: Brian Zwiebel on Naturescapes.net These birds are aptly nicknamed snowflakes and snowbirds. Their white plumage and seasonal arrival are obvious reasons for their names, but their behaviour also seems fitting. When snow buntings move, they do so in sudden blasts of activity. Flitting up from the roadside, in a single blustery motion, the flock ressembles a winter wind gust. If you're fortunate enough to observe a flock before something disturbs the birds, you may even spot a horned lark or two milling about with the snow buntings. Winter is my least favourite season, but these fluffy snow buntings surprise me by scattering joy on cold days.       AWE SOME!

Birds, bats, bees, butterflies and bountiful beneficial bugs: Thank you for pollinating our crops, gardens and forests. Without you, we Canadians would miss 70 per cent of our food. 1 We also appreciate all you do to make our flowers and trees multiply and thrive. Even our medicines, spices, coffee, tea and chocolate are possible due to your efforts moving pollen from here to there. Special mention to busy chipmunks and other small mammals who pitch in as pollinators too, but who didn’t fit with the alliteration in my salutation. Without question, you pollinators are…       AWESOME!!!

If you had a chance to seize a once-in-a-lifetime experience, would you go for it? All too often, obligations and daily life cause us to hesitate to take the leap, let alone plan for the leap. On Saturday, traditional and social media gave us play-by-play coverage of Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk across Niagara Falls : a risky feat he dreamed of accomplishing since he was a six-year-old child. That reminded me of a half-finished blog entry I’d written about a friend who chose not to let the window close on a similarly daring pursuit. This past fall and winter, my friend Fiep sailed to Antarctica . Not on a luxurious cruiseship. Not on a mighty icebreaker. No, Fiep traveled there and back as part of the crew on the bark Europa―a traditional tall ship, which was built back in 1911 and looks like something Geoffrey Rush or Johnny Depp would sail in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  Click image for larger view of the Europa in the Strait of Georgia How’s that for adventurous...

Magnolia Warbler belts out his tune along the Desable River, PEI. Right now, spring migratory birds dot treetops, power lines and feeders. As the days and weeks pass, foliage becomes denser making it more difficult to spot the songbirds. Lucky for us, the males go to great lengths to attract their mates.   The boys sing cheery melodies and show off bright plumage. The bonus for the rest of us: both those activities help us spot the tiny songsters. It is next to impossible not to smile when you hear or see those colourful flirts.        AWESOME!!!

Choices galore. Casting my eyes on a  slew of new-to-me books promises hours of future enjoyment. A sampling of my reading selections from the Christmas loot. Sure, ebooks are convenient, but they’ll never give me the same rush as spotting a physical stack of as-of-yet unread books.       AWESOME!

Our newest resident is an Eastern Screech Owl who has decided to move in to our wood duck nesting box. We've named our nocturnal feathered friend Pigwidgeon, after a small owl from the Harry Potter series (Thanks for the idea, Rachelle!). Guess we'll have to set up another wood duck box before the colourful fowl return during the spring migration.