March 31, 2009

Hiking in Algonquin

Of course, we didn't see very much wildlife in Algonquin Park...I think that's a given with us!!! Anyway, we did see a few woodpeckers, bluejays, chickadees and a squirrel or two! While we were there we hiked BAT LAKE TRAIL, which was 5.6 km long and it was VERY long...It took us about 2.5hours and was very snowy, icy with steep inclines at times, which was kind of scary at some points! We did not see another hiker on this trail!

After that we went to the visitor centre, because we were very hungry and thirsty too. We read the notice board where they post wildlife sightings and nobody was seeing anything bigger than a fisher, so I felt a bit better about that! Kevin was going to post that he saw 1 cranky wife and 2 tired and hungry kids, but I'm sure a lot of people saw those!!!

We did go to the Logging Museum Trail as well, which was only about 1.5km, but we didn't walk through the whole thing, just halfway. We also drove from one end of the park to the other, just saw lots of snow and ice!

On the way back to the cottage in Minden, we saw a lot of deer, right beside the road, we saw over 20, I think...the girls were keeping track.

Anyway, on to today's pics....

1st-Keturah standing next to a big icefall
2nd-a scenic shot from the trail
3rd-a woodpecker who was high up in the tree




































March 29, 2009

March Break Fun!

We went to Sandy Lane Resort in scenic Minden, Ontario to spend a few days at a cottage and here are the pictures! We enjoyed Cross-country skiing, snow-tubing and hiking in Algonquin Park. Everyone seemed to have fun, except for maybe the hiking (the trail we picked was 5.6km long and snow covered, icy, hilly, etc.etc, but that's another posting!)

Here are some pictures of the cottage, the girls cross-county skiing, Brooke practising going over the hill (it's harder than it looks!) and Keturah and Dad going down the snow-covered hill...It was quite weird because when we left Napanee, there was NO snow at all and then up there, that's all we saw, plus the girls were skiing and we were walking on Hall's Lake which was still frozen solid! Luckily, it was still quite warm--around plus 8!!

ENJOY!!












































March 20, 2009

Mute Swans

UPDATED: I was told these are Mute Swans and not Trumpeter swans as I previously posted....

We went to Presquile Park last Sunday for their Bird Migration weekend. It was a beautiful day, so we took a picnic lunch and made a day of it...We didn't see too many birds, some ducks, geese and then we saw all these swans, who were quite far away, but, we trekked through the snow/ice to get out to this point where we could get good pics of them (there were footprints from others who went before us, or else I would not have went out there). They didn't seem bothered by us as we sat on the shore shooting them!

1st & 2nd Pics-some Mute swans checking us out
3rd Pic-a swan stretching it's wings
4th Pic-a couple of swans who were being friendly
5th Pic-a male swan chasing off another male swan for getting too close to his girl





























































March 14, 2009

Headshots

Here are a few headshots of critters taken at the farm last weekend. It was a beautiful spring day and I think a few of the horses had the spring fever as they were not being very "cooperative" and were bucking and knocking their riders off and getting spooked by other horses...Luckily, Keturah managed to stay on, when her horse spooked.

We are going up north for a few days as we rented a cottage to have a mini-holiday over the March Break. I know, most people are going down south and here we are going up north...I miss the snow already!! Hopefully we'll see some up near Algonquin. We hope to do some hiking there too and it would be nice to see some critters, but I won't hold my breath....maybe I'll just shoot landscapes and scenics. I'll hopefully have some good shots to post upon our return!

Have a Great Week!

1st-Harmony, the mule, posing, after eating all my carrots.
2nd-Nikki, the horse Keturah rides...she also bought her the halter she has on...doesn't she look cute in pink?
3rd-Kali, a pretty spotted horse hanging out in the barn, after class
4th-Zeus in the barn, looking surprised, by the flash I think!
































































March 8, 2009

Bufflehead Duck

Here are couple of pics of a bufflehead duck...these were taken near the Amherst Island ferry as Keturah and I waited for the ferry last Sunday. We headed over to see if we could find any owls, but had no luck at all! We did see some hawks but these ducks were the best pics of the day!

It's a very cool little duck as they dive down in the water to catch fish and I actually got a shot of him with a fish in his mouth, when he came up, but it wasn't as clear as it should be, so I am not including it.

















March 3, 2009

More Equine Friends!

Here are some pictures from last weekend at the farm...

1st pic-BJ peeking through the door

2nd pic-2 horses posing and waiting for mints

3rd pic-Torrent

4th pic-Windy (the oldest horse at the farm)

5th pic-Casey