Day 298 - 25th October 2014 - Canada Geese, Mushrooms and Lexi

A good night's sleep for a change. My upper arms are hurting this morning, must be from the push ups we did Thursday night at exercise class. Have no idea what we are up to today. Need to go grocery shopping and hoping to get somewhere to look for birds, but not sure where yet. Weather sounds a bit better - only a "30-40 % chance" of showers.
At least it stopped raining on Friday. A little drizzle off and on, grey and overcast but better than it has been this wee. I got out with my camera for my morning walk, first day since Tuesday - felt good. Lexi and I went later in the morning and she had a good run too. The swamps are full and the water is rising - lake is definitely high and will get higher over the next few days.  Still have a Hermit Thrush in the yard along with some Song Sparrows, Chickadees and Goldfinches. Nothing exciting in the woods though. Stopped putting off the fall cleaning and got one room cleaned, plus the normal stuff.

 Imagine my surprise this morning when I spied 12 Canada Geese in one of the coves.

 It was also a morning of mushrooms - this one seems to have a mouth full of teeth.

 Reminds me of a melting candle.

 And my lovely Lexi enjoyed a little wade in the lake. That's about all she does is wade - not much of a swimmer.

 Some appear to have crumpled under the heavy rainfall.

Nature's debris along the shore line - spills, leaves and foam.








Enjoy your day!

Day 297 - 24th October 2014 - Gull, Grasses and Sanderling

Friday - maybe the last day of rain?? Lets hope so. I hear that flooding has already started in some areas - on Cape Sable Island  people are having issues with basements flooded and the fire department has been pumping them out. The water will rise for 3 days and then begin to recede, so even if the rain stops today look for lots of water over the weekend. The private road I walk sometimes has issues so I'll be interested to get out and see how things are there. So today I've got to actually dig in and get some things done, pick a room and start cleaning/purging. Of course it's another day of no new photos, so I went back to one of our beach days.
More rain - what can I say, except it's getting very tiresome.  Hoping by Saturday it's fit to escape for a while and see if there is anything in bird land. I did see one lone Hermit Thrush a couple times taking shelter in the Honeysuckle bush. Instead of cleaning I spent most of the day in front of the computer doing research and not even the stuff I should have been doing. I needed a change of pace so traced my cousin's paternal line which is mostly Annapolis County. Periodically I like to chase after new names and places other than those in Shelburne County. I was lucky today and got one branch back to Mayflower Passenger Thomas Rogers. It was also a day that I felt like having something simmering on the stove for supper - a combination of a soup/stew - very tasty on a damp, miserable day.

Gull plays sentry.

One of the cute little Sanderlings feeding along the waterline.

Spent flowers and grasses on the sand dunes.

These guys are pretty big.

One lone dandelion among the grasses.

Perhaps someone was making a wood sculpture?







Enjoy your day!

Day 296 - 23rd October 2014 - Waves, Mist and a Hand Pump

Wind is still howling, rain still coming down - kind of like that movie "Ground Hog Day" - we are going to do it all over again today. Power has started to flicker a couple of times, but I've got my coffee made and grabbed a flashlight.  Since there seems to be no let up in this system, today will definitely be a purging/cleaning day. No sun to lure me outside, although I will have to walk Lexi - but she doesn't like playing in the rain so it will be short jaunts that's for sure. Exercise class tonight, which I'm going to make - need to get back to regular workouts again.
The weathermen were not wrong this time, boy I'm big time tired of the rain already and we aren't even half way through it. I spent most of Wednesday wet, every time I went out I got caught in the worst of the downpours. The only thing dry were my feet - I wore my Muck boots. Note to Santa - Kim needs rain gear!  Had my yearly check up with the Doctor yesterday, so now off for blood work next Wednesday when I'm in town. I'm loving her scales - they weigh in about 7 lbs lighter than mine do at home, so the good news is I've lost a lot of weight! It's amazing how we believe whatever those gadgets tell us. Needless to say it wasn't a photo op day, I left Big B at home out of the weather, but felt a little lonesome without her.

A few leftovers from other days - The Hawk Beach.

Down at the end of the point at Pubnico.

I like this old hand pump that I see through a neighbourhood cottage.

Floating Island in the lake.

Jut a little web.









Enjoy your day!

Day 295 - 22nd October 2014 - Foggy Morning, Sun and Harbour

So I'm off to town again today. I have visions of being wet frequently since I'll need to go to the post office and the bank at some time. Not to mention I've got a Doctor's appointment this morning as well.  Going to be a busy day. The weather site has the big red bar out - "rainfall warning", they are referring to it as a long episode with a slow moving system which equals lots of rain over a number of days. Doesn't look like a break until the weekend. We will need a boat by then to get around! Fingers crossed the power holds.
Tuesday went well, but I really would have rather been home to enjoy the beautiful day we had. It was warm and sunny. Had a good afternoon at the library - a few people stopped by my table and asked questions and another I helped get started on some genealogy. Was happy to be part of their "living library". Finally remembered to pick up a light bulb for the oven, nothing I dislike more than cooking in a dark oven. Just one of my pet peeves.  Leftovers for supper and a lazy evening. Checked out the yard after supper - and spied one of the Hermit Thrushes still hanging out.

 A very foggy morning on the lake, but you could still see the bright colors in this neighbour's flag.

 In some spots it was beginning to lift.

 But in other places you could hardly see across the lake.

 I could just see a glimmer of the sun breaking through.

 When I got to town, a lot had lifted from the harbour.

Very small in the foreground you can see two Cormorants drying the wings on a rock.







Stay dry and enjoy your day!

Day 294 - 21st October 2014 - Pumpkins, Chairs, Sunlight and Chickadee

Cool and crisp with stars in the sky  this morning, at least I feel better and stayed in bed til almost 5 am.  Sounds like we have a nor'easter coming our way for the next few days - with lots of rain. Usually we think of those systems as our worst snow storms, but rain comes the same way and may be a lot. This will open the door for winter, as the old timers said "winter doesn't come til the swamps are full". This should do it. I'm off to town today - yes two days this week. I'm volunteering at the library this afternoon in the "living library" program they are holding this afternoon.  Anyway I'll spend a couple of hours answering questions about how to research genealogy and showing people how to get started.
When the weather changes it really changes. Man what a drop in the temperature yesterday. I put gloves on for my morning walk, glad I did as it keep my trigger finger warmer. It was pretty quiet, only saw Robins, Blue Jays and Chickadees.  Had every intention of starting another room to purge when I got back home, but my cousin messaged me about a dress fitting which I had forgotten about. She's getting married next summer and her dress needs some minor alterations. In my past life (about 15 years ago) I was a seamstress, and still do the odd job for family and friends. So I decided it wasn't a day to rip a room apart that I couldn't put back together the same day. Molasses cookies baked and some other cleaning finished off the morning and she arrived after lunch. By the time she left my head was throbbing and the effects of the early morning had kicked in. An early night for me.

Perfect looking fall day in the country. Some of the neighbours love to decorate.

 The sun was slow and lazy breaking through.

 The trees in the background maybe bare of leaves but these bushes along the bank are still beautiful.

 Nice idea of the pumpkin in the basket.

 The Mallards were getting all prettied up.

 Can always count on seeing a Chickadee or two.

 Whatca' want Lady?

It was back lite by the sun, but I like the soft almost black/white effect.










Enjoy your day!

Day 293 - 20th October 2014 - Lupin, Woodpecker and Northern Parula

Here we are back at Monday again, temperature is a little cooler than the weekend at +5.6 and there was a bit of rain overnight. I'm up before 4 am so it's going to be a long day, making me tired and out of sorts by this afternoon. Wish I knew the secret to sleeping. I`m thinking if I go at things hard today, I`ll sleep from exhaustion tonight. A good long walk this morning, tackle some purging and cleaning, then exercise class tonight.
Another nice day, maybe not quite as warm as Saturday but still pretty good. I resisted twitching when someone posted about a Clay Coloured Sparrow on Cape Sable Island and remained in the hood. It's pretty quiet here these days, mostly feeder type birds around, but I still have two Hermit Thrushes and a Northern Parula in the yard. Larry made his freezer pickles(his thing not mine) first thing in the morning then spent the day outside in the woodpile. We have enough (I hope) done for this year, but it never hurts to get a head start on the next season. I made the ever asked for Pumpkin Whoppie pies for some special girlfriends and for Larry's work colleagues. Hoping they taste good, Larry  tested several so they should be fine.

 Still a lupin along the roadside.

 Female Downy Woodpecker at Lois' suet.

The White-Throated Sparrow is getting a little friendlier.

 Preening time for the Mallards.

A Northern Parula still hanging around the yard. Seems to spend a lot of time in the Honeysuckle bush.

The trees are definitely looking naked these days.








Enjoy your day!

Day 292 - 19th October 2014 - Yellow Legs, Dunlin, Canada Geese and Downy Woodpecker

Today we'll probably stay home, Larry's got some yard work and other things to be done outside. We won't have too many really nice days left I'm sure this stretch of warm weather will pass again soon. I'll roam around the hood this morning just to see if anything is still hanging here. I did spy two of the Hermit Thrushes in the yard again last evening. Might even keep my eyes open for the Great Horned Owl I heard early Saturday. I'm sure there are two, but it would be very lucky to spy one.
Saturday was a perfect day in July, hard to believe it's the middle of October. What a hot day! It was interesting to say the least, but not a great bird day for me. We headed off to Cape Sable Island first, checked out The Guzzle, some shorebirds still there - Yellow Legs, Black Bellied Plover, Dunlin (new for me) and a possible Dowitcher. Not great shots. Took at quick look on the Hawk Beach, heard lots of gun shots - it's ducking season. Mostly Gulls in attendance there. On the South Side Flats again were lots of Gulls with small peeps - probably Semi-Palmated Plovers and Sanderlings, but too far to get photos. A large flock of Common Eiders flew past the Daniels Head Beach. We headed to Pubnico in search of the Wilson's Snipe, but no luck, took a walk down around the point where the Wind Turbines are, cutting through a path on the way back, but guess we got the wrong path since we ended up with wet feet and fighting through bushes. Onward to Yarmouth and Bunker's Island, lots of Canada Geese hanging around there, heard a Pheasant but no way was he coming out. A few errands and then homeward. I've come to the conclusion that I tried to cover too big of an area therefore I don't have time to really concentrate on what may be in one place.

A little fog in the background made this show up against the old fence.

 Possible Dowitcher, Yellow Legs and Black Bellied Plover.

Yellow Legs and Dunlin (lifer for me).

 All those Gulls sitting in a row.

 A little more obliging - Yellow Legs.

 Common Eiders.

 Still lots of Butterflies.

 Song Sparrow with a little attitude.

 Downy Woodpecker near the Wind Turbines.

 Canada Geese at Bunker's Island, Yarmouth.

Some lovely red berries, I'm surprised they haven't been eaten.







Enjoy your day!