other lake habitants

We have seen this turtle several times. Fortunately, the dogs are only curious and just sniff it and then leave it alone. The blue thing is a dog leash which I put into the photo for scale, so you can see how large the turtle is. The leash is 1" wide, so the turtle must be 5-6" long.

This is a photo of the face of the turtle. The nostrils remind me of some of the various alien species seen on Star Trek and other sci-fi shows. I didn't realize that turtles had such long nails. I wonder where they get their manicures.

This is Tawny and Taz, waiting and watching for Freda. They may have seen or heard a car drive down the road around the time that Freda gets home from work.

This is the eastern bluebird that has nested in our bluebird box. Sorry for the fuzzy photo but I hope that you can make out that it has a meal for the little uns it is raising - which certainly is good news!

Some nature photos (updated)

Pink Cosmos


Freda found this little robin's egg - it looked perfect, but out of place on some rocks. Then Freda picked it up and saw that the egg was broken.


Sadly, a northern water thrush flew into our window today and broke its neck. UPDATE: We have now put up curtains on these windows, and are keeping them closed for most of the day to keep the heat of the sun out and also to prevent more bird fatalities like this.


An American Robin.

It's a dog's life...

Tawny on pots'n'pans KP duty


Taz cleaning up the toys - here he has three things: two kong toys (with ropes), and a rawhide chew.


Taz the ferocious tadpole hunter, posing in mid-hunt.


The Loch Jiulia Monster
a.k.a. Taz the apparently ferocious tadpole hunter

Some of the birds I have seen

These are photos of some of the birds I saw on May 19th, clockwise from top left:

White crowned sparrow - photo from www.ottawacitizen.com/birds photo gallery.

Red wing blackbird - also from www.ottawacitizen.com/birds photo gallery.

Barn swallow - taken during a light rain shower - I think the birds were enjoying a little shower. The white feathers on the wing are unusual - maybe this is an adolescent? I asked the Ottawa Citizen bird columnist, Elizabeth Le Geyt, about this and she wrote "It must have been desparate for food or perhaps looking for mud for its nest to have been on the ground. Not a very usual place for this superb flyer hawking for insects in the sky". We certainly have a bumper crops of insects this spring, so maybe it was looking for nesting materials.

Eastern bluebird - also from www.ottawacitizen.com/birds photo gallery.

Besides the American Goldfinches (pictures previously posted), I also saw some Chipping Sparrows, Common Grackle (I think), American Robin (who knew that was it's official name?!?!), and a group of Brown Headed Cowbirds. My photos of these birds are far too blurry to be of any use posting. (The barn swallow above is the best of the bunch, and that's not saying much.)

Signs of spring - May 16, 2008

A pretty daffodil

The few remaining tulips that have escaped a deer breakfast table.

Another beautiful daffodil.

Several photos of the American Goldfinches that enjoy our new feeder just outside the kitchen window. They scatter some of the nyger seeds on the rock below as they feed, which is what the bird on the lower left is picking up.

Things Rachel did when she was here

April showers bring May flowers

April 27, 2008

It rained last night for a little bit - we really needed the rain (ironic, given all the snow that we had). And it seems like everything has perked up and is now green (like the grass). The tulips and daffodils are just starting to bloom too.

Tawny catching a frisbee

April 24, 2008

It was a gorgeous day - t-shirt and shorts type of weather. Of course, the cold wetness that western Canada had is coming our way early next week. Oh Joy!

Dog problem solved

April 22, 2008
I had the idea that if I hooked the leashes together, it would be easier to take Tawny and Taz for a walk. Hah! They just get the leash tangled up around their legs, wrapped around trees, etc...


April 22, 2008
L-R: Shelagh, Mary, Tawny, Brody, Taz, Lisa, Riley, Kirby, Freda

Brody and Kirby had been aggressive towards Taz, but they were able to sort out their differences. This photo shows them all getting along well together.

April 18-22 - the end of the ice

April 18, 2008 Panorama
The warm weather put an end to the ice on the lake quite quickly. This panorama was taken from the north-eastern shore of the lake. You can see significant ice is still present, although quite a bit of water opening up at the edges of the lake.


April 19, 2008 Panorama
The ice is looking very waterlogged and is disappearing fast.


April 20, 2008 Panorama
The ice has disappeared.


April 22, 2008 Panorama
Despite the warm weather, there is still snow in the shade. This shows that it there must have been a huge drift there.