Nature – Page 9 – Ripple Effects

Saturday Snapshot May 2: Big is Beautiful

It was a grey and overcast evening sky. I was driving away slowly, resigned that not everyday had to be a fruitful birding day. And then I saw it.

From afar, it looked mythical, like a miniature Loch Ness monster, still as a statue. I quickly and quietly got out of the car and made my way closer.

The Loch Ness monster doesn’t have a beak, does it?

Lock Ness 2

No mistaking now… I’d come face to face (almost) with a Great Blue Heron:

For the next few days, I went back to that pond and experienced some gratifying moments. I saw two Great Blue Herons the next day, albeit hard to get them both together in one frame. Here are some images:

I’m one who often plays down sheer size. I take pleasure in the small things I can find and not derive joy from how big a bird is. However, I must say, this time seeing the Great Blue Heron makes me see that sometimes size does matter. In comparison with the ducks, the Great Blue Heron distinctly stands out:

Aloof and stoic, the Heron is also very sensitive and camera shy.

Seeing me take a few steps closer, it quickly took off. In relatively slow motion, it lifted off with majestic poise. This is what I’ve found: the bigger the bird, the slower the flapping of wings, the more graceful it is in flight. I admit these are not the sharpest pictures, but they are the best shots I could get:

I call that a fruitful day.

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Saturday Snapshot April 18: A Whiter Shade of Spring

We don’t have green grass yet. Flowers, another two months. A hidden stream I saw a few days ago was still in ice. This is our spring. And I’m fine with it, for on a clear day, I can see for miles all the way to the snow-capped Rockies.

These photos were taken earlier this week. On that day, I had to stop my car and capture these sights. The sun was out in full force and the sky was magnificently blue, all clear for me to use just my point-and-shoot camera (mind you, one with a pretty good zoom I admit).

A whiter shade of Spring than most of you are used to:

Ah… the benefit of living right at the foothills of the Rockies:

The wide open space can cast away all claustrophobic wintry blues, and set your imagination free. Have you seen the pyramids of Giza covered in snow? Here they are:

Or flashback to the days when the sky, mountains and grasslands fuse with your homestead. Breathe in the scene; the firewood can wait:

By the next few weeks, these mountains will still be covered with snow (actually they are snow-capped all year). The icy stream will long have melted, colours will return. I’ll show you our birds and other living creatures. But right now, I look beyond the dry, brown grass up to the mountains, and soak in this whiter shade of Spring.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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Saturday Snapshot March 21: Welcome Back

We don’t have to wait for the official date. We’ve been enjoying unusually warm weather in the past few weeks. Creatures great and small come out to greet the early Spring; actually, many of them are here throughout the winter. The warm temperatures bring one creature out in particular, the birder.

Good to hear the Cedar Waxwings among the budding branches. Yes, I always hear their convivial buzz before seeing them:

The White-tailed deer, here all year round, but seldom do I see such a large party:

The curious red squirrel loves company:

I think I saw both the pinkish Common and the white Hoary Redpoll, sent here by Spring and instinct:

I’m always amazed to see our Great Horned Owl Mama and Papa coming back to the same spot to nest every Spring for the past few years. Every time, Mama will give birth to two Owlets in exactly the same hollow tree trunk.

Once they are fledged, the family will move on. Homing instinct will bring Mama and Papa back the next Spring. Where do the young ones go? Nobody knows.

Can you see Papa Owl in the trees?

Right in the middle. Here he is, eyes wide shut:

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The Rite of Spring: Goldeneyes Courting

From afar, I could only see their amusing act through my camera lens. The male Common Goldeneye would let out a sharp call, stretch his neck straight up, drawing attention, then quickly bend his head far backwards, touching his rump, then snap right back, overcompensating by kicking his orange feet out of the water.

Pardon the inadequate description above. Actually looking at them is hilarious, like watching a bunch of class clowns trying desperately to impress. Here’s the sequence.

A sharp call to draw attention:

Stretch neck straight up:

Bend over backwards:

Snap out of it:

Male synchronized swimming – courting en masse:

As for the females, looks like they are not easily moved, or maybe just feigning indifference:

No matter. Spring is at hand.

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If Winter Comes, Can Spring be Far Behind?

The English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley holds one view common with Balzac Billy, our Alberta Groundhog: an early spring is on its way.

Not to rub it in, but we’ve been enjoying a relatively mild winter, even a record high on Jan. 25, when the temperature reached 17C (63F).

These photos were not taken right on that day, but they all show how our ducks and geese shrugged off the icy river, spread their wings and echoed Balzac Billy’s prediction.

Here they are mass sunbathing:

The Mallards show their true colours:

Compared to the Mallards, the Buffleheads are smaller in size, and are distinctly more playful. Why wait for spring to make a splash?

or try walking on water:

The Common Merganser stands out among the crowd with their long, red beaks and eggshell white lower body with a yellow glow:

But my fave is the female Merganser. I like her roll-out-of-bed hairdo and natural mascara. For some reasons, she makes me think of Lucillle Ball:

Nature’s hourglass, every drip brings us closer to Spring:

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All Photos in this post taken by Arti of Ripple Effects

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Saturday Snapshot Feb. 7: Who’s Afraid of A Little Cold?

Dawn broke cold and misty. At -17C (0F) one would not expect too much activity in the early morning hour. So you can see I was surprised by this large gathering of Canada Geese. There must be a couple hundreds of them.

Nothing has been added to these photos. I quite like the natural sepia look as the sun slowly broke through the mist and heavy clouds.

As I approached nearer, the more insecure ones started to fly away. But there were those who sat tight. Come what may, they enjoyed their hub in the frigid water.

My fingers were frozen stiff and I could feel the intense pain, but I stayed still, seizing the moment. Glad too that they didn’t treat me as an intruder, just another creature more vulnerable to the cold, couldn’t fly or wouldn’t get into the water, totally harmless.

Thanks pals, for the photo op.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

Photos taken by Arti of Ripple Effects.

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And Heaven and Nature Sing

In 2014, I’ve been very fortunate in capturing many wonderful sightings. Some may seem mundane, but once loaded onto my laptop, I was delighted at the results, everyone a unique experience.

Here are some I’d easily give 4 Ripples, like the glowing wings of Canada Geese overhead, flying into the sunset, or two dragonflies in their intimate moment, a squirrel in the morning rays, a Monarch sucking nectar, an Owlet spreading wings, a Pelican taking flight, a pure white weasel in the snow, or the very ‘ordinary’ sunset that recurs every twenty-four hours.

It has been a year full of natural beauty and exclamations. These photos were taken in different circumstances, some I’d to wait quietly for quite a while, others serendipitously, giving witness to the variance of life’s happenstance, the joy of seeing creatures that sing with their mere existence, and the awesome Creator that willed them all into being.

Pelican Takes Flight

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And To All A Merry Christmas!

Saturday Snapshot Dec 6: Porky and Wess

I met them just this week.

Porky the baby porcupine was a serendipitous sighting. He (I assume) was going in circle in the snow, apparently lost or disoriented. Poor guy, I wanted to go up there and give him a big hug but restrained myself. Instead, got these sequences of shots.

Porky from afar. See the circling tracks? They are all Porky’s:

A bit closer in:

So cute and cuddly:

Don’t you want to give him a big hug too?

As for Wess the weasel, we’ve been waiting for her appearance for days like paparazzi. Some set up their huge telephoto lens on tripod and stood in the cold for hours. Our perseverance were rewarded with a quick dash of a photo shoot:

Wess the weasel poking out of her hole:

Donning her designer fur coat. See her long, black-tipped tail? No wonder she’s officially called the Long-tailed Weasel.

Dashing through the snow:

And here are the shots that make us weasel waiters feel all worthwhile. Wess posing for us in her professional style on the white carpet:

Wess posing 2

There they are, Porky and Wess, warming every heart in the cold of day.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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Saturday Snapshot Nov. 29: Brrr… arred

It’s -24C now as I type, and it’s not even winter yet.

I haven’t ventured out to the woods in such temperatures. But I’m happy to report that a few days ago, I made a couple of first-time sightings. The title is a big hint. I’ve posted The Great Horned Owl before, but never this one. This is the first time I see…

A Barred Owl:

Here’s the sequence how it (not sure if she/he) turns its head almost 180 degrees from left to right:

The Barred Owl has been described as ‘handsome’, with ‘soulful’ eyes. I’d say this one looks ghostly, or, a bit like a colourless Russian Doll. It blends so well with the bare branches under the dull, grey sky.

Another first for me is spotting the American Three-toed Woodpecker. It was high up on a spruce tree, so couldn’t actually count the number of toes. But, from its plumage I knew I’d just seen something relatively rare, for us anyway.

I can ID her from her barred ‘laddered’ back, black wings, and the lighter-barred sides. It’s a female because the male would have a yellow cap on his crown. Now that would be more photogenic with a spot of colour in a black-and-white landscape, but I’m glad just the same:

The head is blurry because she was pecking away.

Not a colourful collection of photos but my wish was fulfilled with this part of the woods, sighting two new (for me) species of birds for which I’ve been searching these past weeks, upon tips from other birders. Another amazing evidence of the richness of life in the woods even when shrouded in cold and grey.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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Arti of Ripple Effects

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Saturday Snapshot November 22: The Woods are Lovely Still

How a couple of weeks have changed the whole landscape. The Boreal forest that’s my neck of the woods has turned into a winter wonderland.

Cattails in the late afternoon light:

Snow may cover the ground, the woods are lovely still, teeming with life.

Official greeter, The Red Squirrel:

Winter’s friendly ambassador. Take a bow:

But this baby deer doesn’t look too happy… of course, where’s mama?

A Red-breasted Nuthatch, beautiful against the evening sun:

A seed in the beak is better than two in the snow:

Seed or no seed, this Pileated Woodpecker is busy pecking up the right tree:

But the most fascinating of all is my discovery of a Snowy Koala, a rare sighting indeed:

I’d rather be Down Under taking photos of his cousins, but this little tree hugger just made my wintry day more bearable.

The woods are lovely, still.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

All Photos in this post taken by Arti of Ripple Effects

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Saturday Snapshot Nov. 8: Those that stay

Not everyone loves hot weather. Sure there are many who migrate to warmer climates, but there are also those who stay here above the 49th Parallel, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

A walk through the woods in the last couple of days allowed me to check out who my winter friends are. I say friends because, for some of them, they would fly straight to me, greeting and calling. Yes, I know, they all want treats. But hey, not many choose to stay. So, for those that do, they deserve a free lunch.

Here are some of my winter pals. We’re in it together, come snow and storm in the coming weeks and months. The Black-capped Chickadee:

The White-breasted Nuthatch, like the Chickadees, official greeters whenever I visit:

So, a treat for you all:

Female Downy Woodpecker:

The Red Squirrel:

Red Squirel Breakfast time

Of course, there are those who’d want to strike out on their own:

The elusive Blue Jay. Yes I hear their calls all the time, but very hard to actually get a photo:

Here’s a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the evening light:

But my greatest catch is this. From afar, a gigantic furry ball high on a tree:

I thot I thaw a pussy cat, but when he turned his head 180 degrees, almost, then I knew what I thaw was a Great Horned Owl! I’ve followed an Owl Family for a few years now, always thought they fly to warmer places in the winter.

Of course, he didn’t care for my free lunch of sunflower seeds. Looks like he’s captured his prey, keeping it close by his side, uh… looks like a squirrel. His look speaks volumes. I know, I should have brought a bigger lunch:

I can see there are lots of winter birding adventures ahead.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Here are posts on the Great Horned Owl Family I’ve been stalking every Spring:

The Parents

The Babies

Saturday Snapshot November 1: One Fine Day

Yes, it’s still fall. Other than the snow storm we had in early September, we have been getting relatively fine weather, considering it’s November already.

Just two days ago, it was one fine, fall day. The temperature reached 13C (55F) when I took these photos, which is very warm for us, especially with the sun bursting in full force. Joggers were wearing shorts and T-shirts.

The glorious golden yellow has changed to brown now, and tree branches are bare…

but the sun remains the unwavering source of light and warmth: