Dog light

From Photo of the day (2009)

I decided to try and take some dark pictures seeing as I am not out that much right now. I am currently on my first 2-week practicum for my Secondary Teaching PDPP program, so I am in school from 8:30-3 just like the old days. When I am out, it is generally dark, or I have the hawk out and bird + dog + camera is a few too many things to handle (or I simply forget the cam at home).

Anyways - I get up and take the dog out at 6am so she gets a good run before I have to get to school and now its not light until after 7am. She wears a little LED contraption on her collar so I can see her bounding all over the park. I was hoping to get a time lapse sort of thing with the light showing a trail of all the places she had been but it just wasn't going to work without the tripod. Maybe next time. I had her sit and did a 1 sec exposure with some obscenely high ISO and this is what I got. You can make out some of her spotted fur on her chest right around the light and if you look closely you can make out her chin above and to the right. It is kind of a neat effect on the computer screen. I was planning on posting a different shot but this one came out better.

Shadow of a Falconer

From Photo of the day (2009)

I took this on Sunday, October 4. I had Fowler and Meg out for some basic training - well the hawk was in training and doing well.. but the dog was all over the place. Oh well. The sun was out and, on heading back to the car, I saw this. I tried to get the dog in it to - but in that shot I cut off her head. It's remarkably hard to shoot an SLR from your waistline - I didn't want my shadow to show I was taking a picture. Anyways, she wouldn't hang around for a second try. I haven't been out shooting since, hopefully I can get some pictures over Thanksgiving and my upcoming school practicum.

I increased the shadows in this shot a bit as the camera made them grey - that's what happens when you shoot in automatic on a sunny day. I also cropped out the excess ground.

And back at it..

Ok.. ok. My attitude when I fall so far behind in a routine thing is that when I take it up again I start from scratch. I got behind on my Road trip - you can see the rest of the pictures with captions Here - some of them are quite neat - and when I got back to Agassiz I worked 18 days straight (long days) and had to focus on packing to move to Victoria. Now I have more or less settled in, got my university classes organized and am taking this back up.

One point of note - I am not really a "Hawkless Falconer" any more, as I have purchased a young male harris hawk who I named Fowler. He will probably show up more and more in here as I get going. If you want to see pictures of him now, go here. No captions for him yet, but he just flew free for his first time yesterday. Anything new with him will be posted there, as he will not always feature on this site.

As for this site - it is likely to be downgraded to a weekly posting of several pictures as I no longer have the time every day to shoot pictures, let alone update this. I hope you will still find it interesting.

Now to business!

From Photo of the day (2009)

A branch of wet maple leaves near the Clearihue building on the University of Victoria (UVic) campus. I had just got out of class and was headed to the buses in the pouring rain. They stuck out after I had already stopped to look at a single leaf in the ivy below. This one turned out better. I sharpened it a bit, nothing else.

From Photo of the day (2009)

A very large wasp's nest at the dog park I take Meg to every morning. It is currently deserted, which made taking the shot a lot less risky. Of course as soon as I stop to look at something, Meg wants to stick her her nose in it and check it out too. I managed to get this one without her nose in it - I took some other angles after this which, when I looked at them on the camera, I thought I liked better. This is why I always do my editing on the computer screen - unless I was taking a metering shot or missed the subject etc. Anyways, this nest is about the size of a soccer ball, and attached all along the top to a big branch. Pity or I'd take it home as a future teaching resource. This shot was sharpened only.

Road trip - day 1

Ok, yesterday was a long driving day so I postponed the posting and working with photos until today.

Started off early from Agassiz - on the hwy by about 7:30 - 8 am after picking some lettuce in my garden and dropping it off at Anita's. I did a few stops along the way, but not many. First stop was in Rhododendron Flats in Manning park in hopes of catching the rhodo bloom that happens in June but I guess I missed it.

From Day 1

Or at least most of it... I did find a few in the shade. These are wild Pacific Rhodos.

From Day 1

Next stop was Hadley - I spotted a neat rock and stopped for pictures. Ended up learning there is an old gold mine up on the cliff, meeting some.. interesting characters including one particularly odd shop keeper who built "art" out of bits and pieces of washing machines, gearboxes and other machine bits. Also spotted this happy scarecrow which made me laugh. If you look close on the left ridge you can just make out the gold mine on the mountain.

From Day 1

From Day 1

Kept going, listening to my audio tapes, and stopped at the top of the hill coming out of Osoyoos for a scenic panorama.

From Day 1

Lunch was had at boundary Creek Provincial Park - it had a creek for the dog to lie in and we were both getting a bit warm. I found this caterpillar while the dog was wading and I was trying to read.

From Day 1

Got to Nelson in the evening - had dinner with the neighbours and am quite enjoying staying at the Grandparents cabin with my Aunt. I took some other pictues on a hike today but that I will update tonight. More stuff will probably happen between now and then!

Macro

From Photo of the day (2009)

Spotted this flower while out walking the dog this morning. It struck me that every part of it was blue. Picture came out not bad.

I got this other one of a bee later on the same walk, figured I missed so many pictures this month I could put in two.

From Photo of the day (2009)

Stave lake

From Photo of the day (2009)

Drove out to Maple Ridge to drop off some hoods and falconry equipment I made to Karen Kamstra of Raptors Ridge and see some of her birds and what not. Had a good day trying on hoods, clipping beaks, installing anklets and other such occasional jobs. On the way home I had planned to stop at the Stave Falls Powerhouse National Historic site, but I was running out of time and there was masses of construction so I'm not sure it was even open. I stopped further up from the dam and walked the dog on a trail called the "Railway Trail". There were lots of old trestles so I assume there used to be a railway there. They were working on the dam so the water levels were really low, the shores really muddy. I got this one of the dog's footprints on the beach when I spotted the colour difference in the sand/mud.

Some other shots I got of the "dead forest" of drowned tree stumps that would normally be underwater, and a foxglove on the side of the path.

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Cats

From Photo of the day (2009)

I came out of the goat barn at work after milking in the morning yesterday to see Fuzzy the cat play-mauling her long haired orange kitten. He had her paws round her head, and she was chewing on his neck and underside. My truck with camera was right there but on getting out my camera they spooked and so I missed the better shot. I got this one instead, where momma's heart just isn't quite in it anymore and baby is suspiciously eyeing me.

Beaver

From Photo of the day (2009)

I went camping - for the first time since 2007 - at Deer lake with the dog and the young adults from the Chilliwack Alliance Church on Saturday night. Sunday a few of us tried a trail that was supposed to take us up to another small lake called Moss Lake. We lost Matt part way up as he couldn't keep up and we couldn't wait as there were too many bugs. We got up and found.. a smallish lake. The bugs were horrible so we crawled up on top of a cleared area in the breeze. On going down we came across an arrow and a bottle that Matt had left us and we figured we must have left him behind, at the top. So we went back looking for him incase he had gone too far and was still looking for us. While Steve and I were waiting for the girls to check around another path we spotted this beaver in the lake, so I took a few shots. And yes, we did find Matt in the end, he'd made it back to camp.

Float plane

From Photo of the day (2009)

Last Friday I went into Chilliwack for some groceries and other things that are just too expensive or not available in Agassiz (which means I probably won't go back into Chilliwack for at least another 2 weeks). I took the dog out to Island 22 before doing the shopping so she could run and we met some model float plane pilots. I didn't even know they made model float planes. We walked around a bit before they started flying them and then made our way back (dog on leash) once they had the planes out. Meg seemed to think they were ducks and wanted to chase. I thought this shot was kind of cool because there is no scale, and really, it could have been a big plane.

Kamloops

Ok I know this is really bad. Almost July and not a singe June post. I have been busy with lots of things - falconry hoodmaking, ordering things, teaching, work, camping... anyways. These photos from my trip to Kamloops the first of the month have been on my camera until a few days ago.

From Photo of the day (2009)

A yellow-headed blackbird - one of hundreds - at a marsh I went to with Jay down the road from the house he lived in growing up. I hadn't seen one of these guys before so I was pretty enthused. Now I even know what they sound like!

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

And a couple Red-winged blackbirds at the same marsh. I liked the reed look.

Manning Day Trip

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took a six hour hike around the lightening lakes chain in Manning Park on saturday. Unfortunately the trail to the last lake was washed out in a rock scree slide so I didn't make it there, but it was still about 24 km walk. Needless to say I was a bit tired to sort through and post the photos yesterday. Lots of wildlife, and more of an Alpine setting than coastal forest so that was neat. I guess the snow is in full melt, all the streams along the paths were full on torrents and seemed to run wherever they felt as opposed to staying within an obvious bed. Columbian Ground squirrels had colonies in anything resembling a grassy meadow, which included the picnic sites at the lake and green spaces in front of the resort. Some were really tame, but they all had to stand up and stare at the dog. There was also Common Loon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Spruce grouse, though we only heard the Varied Thrushes, Swainson's Thrushes and other random small birds I don't know the calls for. Only one Bald Eagle, but lots of Ravens. Here are some of my better pictures, more can be seen in the same album on my Picasa photo site.

Classic Car

From Photo of the day (2009)

The A&W across the street had their Crusin' the Dub party across the street from my apartment. I stopped in after work and garden watering to see the band and the classic cars that they had out. I missed the free chicken and root beer but thought Dad might like this older British car. Hope I took it from the proper angle.

Tractor

From Photo of the day (2009)

This came with a load of hay the other week when George was away. It used to belong to Debra's father, and George has got it to run the feed mixer here. He shipped his old (actually newer than this one) to Alberta, and got this "new" one. Not sure what year it's from, but there isn't a window without a crack. Neat old thing.

Cliff Swallows

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Noticed these little guys yesterday starting up a new colony under the eaves of the cow barn. I want to keep up to date on them as within a few weeks their nests will be round balls with tunnel entrances. There are about 8-10 started nests, and lots of squabbling about who gets which space. They are always coming and going with big mouthfuls of mud to build with and I spent probably 10 -15 minutes just watching them and taking pictures - until a cow came up and starting nudging me with her big wet nose. If you look close at the shot of the fight, you can see that one bird is biting the others foot... what a commotion!

Beans

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took this yesterday, but no time to post. Stopped in at my community garden and, while my garlic has grown a lot, I'm not sure if it would show that well in a new picture. Took this shot of two growing bean plants though - they've got it a bit rough in the clay-ey soil after that hard rain last weekend. Oh well. Beans are tough.

Hicks lake

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took the dog up to Hicks Lake provincial park today - partially to make use of my annual BC Parks parking pass, and partially as I haven't hiked around the lake in over a year. Last time I did it Meg was little. Anyways, its a lovely hike, took me about an hour and a half of good walking. Somehow it felt longer than that though. Anyways, around the back part of the lake in the trees there are a lot of old stumps from the hand-tool logging era with springboard pockets in them (so they could get up where the wood was not too wide for their tools). Here are two of the stumps, the first one you can see the pocket in, the other was just so wide I made it a full frame shot. It had 2-3 rather large trees growing out of the top of it. Pretty cool!

Canyon Daytrip

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

I'm taking my long weekend after the real long weekend - most of the tourists are gone but things are open. I drove up past Hope and Yale to Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park. The park is little more than a rest stop, but the trail leads down where the old Caribou highway was put in when they realized train travel wasn't going to be enough. The original bridge was built in 1862 (BC's first suspension bridge), but torn down in 1915 when it was usurped by the completion of the CPR railway. When cars became prevalent, they rebuilt the bridge on the same site and it was used from 1926 to 1964 when the new one, still in use now, was built a ways downstream. If you are interested, this site has a variety of photos and info on the bridge and area.

After the photo shoot there, I stopped in to visit "The History that is Yale". I was a bit disappointed to tell you the truth. The museum was very good, but the walking tour was a let down. All the points on the map are long gone, but you can walk to where they were and read about them - oh and I couldn't actually find two of the "points of interest" which included an old cemetery that I would have enjoyed. The lady at the museum took me around to some of the things on site - namely one of the oldest Churches in BC (disputed as to whether it or one in hope holds the title (I got to pull the bell rope!), some recreated 1800's style tent buildings, and a very old Red Beech tree planted by a young girl with some relation to or friendship with the Church priest.

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Stopped in Hope on the way home, and actually felt like I've been somewhere! I think more Daytrips will be in order in the next few months.

Flower

From Photo of the day (2009)

Well - now I have a real excuse, been running the farm with minimal help (Anita and Janey your work is appreciated!) and between helping cows calve, pumping milk from one tank to another for several people, and not having any inspiration I just don't get around to taking photos. I do take my cam though, so when I see something...

Anyways. Got this one on my morning walk with the dog under the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge before going out grocery shopping etc in Chilliwack. I sharpened it a bit, nothing else.

Hooligans

From Photo of the day (2009)

We've taken down the board and hay bale door we put up in December to replace the roll away one that got torn off in the winter winds. This is partly because we used all the hay to feed the goats, and partly because its warm enough not to have it. Oh and the pen was in need of a cleaning. Anyways, these guys have been spying on me as a feed the goats in a shed directly across from them and I figured they would make a good shot. Hopped over after milking this evening and got this one.

Garlic

From Photo of the day (2009)

Stopped in at my garden plot on the way home yesterday for the first time in a few days. Its been raining off and on so I'm not worried about water and no time to plant anything more right now (most of it is in anyways). The garlic has really taken off - some are over 3" tall and they were planted only 2 weeks ago. Everything else is on the verge of sprouting, though the lettuce seems to have produce a row of minute seedlings. If they weren't so straight I would have thought they were weeds. I took this from ground level and then cropped it to get a better composition.

Wisteria

From Photo of the day (2009)

Very busy at work, but found a shred of time to take this shot in the evening of the wisteria blooming on the garden fence. Not much to say about it really.

Volcanic knoll

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took a hike with Anita and the family today. We drove up the the Mt Woodside paragliding take-off site and stopped in at this old volcanic column on the way. There is a hole at the top, and part way up the hike to the top is a crack in the side of the hill going all the way up which spills out very cold air all year round. Very cool. Lots of columnar granite from a solidified lava plug, now the rest of the hill has eroded. Very cool. My shot of the crack does not do it justice in terms of scale - the shot is actually 3 wide angle shots stuck together. The view from the top is fantastic - and no Anita isn't chucking the kid down the hole, she's hanging on to him so he can throw a rock in and here it ping and bounce all the way down. Very neat.

From Photo of the day (2009)

Dandelion

From Photo of the day (2009)

No shots between Tuesday and today, missed 3 days.. horrors. I am really getting bad at this. Anyways. Took the dog out on the dyke under the Agassiz-rosedale bridge this morning before garage sale-ing. I got inspired by a shot a friend took (I have a print of it) and tried some shots of the dandelion seeds. Liked this one the best.

Tree revisited

From Photo of the day (2009)

Back to work Tuesday, took this on the way back from Paul's. I took a shot of this tree in January in a blizzard and now it's getting some leaves. I thought another shot of it was due.

From Photo of the day (2009)

Patience, or Stupidity?

From Photo of the day (2009)

Monday I took the dog back out to Harrison. I didn't want to hike all the way out to the sandy cove on the Whipoorwill Point trail because of time, and I wasn't sure if there would be a sandy cove as the water has come up a fair bit. Instead I scrambled around on the rocks surrounding the sewage treatment plant out by the hot springs source and found a new sandy cove. Sat in the sand a bit, tried to get the dog to come but she figured I was going to throw a stick. Sat like this for ages, shivering in the water. I finally took a picture. Silly dog. I threw a stick a while later. We found some neat tracks in the sand too, not good enough for photos - best guess they were otter tracks, but they seemed to be in pairs.

Goose

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took this on the third, haven't had time to post it with work and whatnot. Ok so I nearly forgot about it and had little motivation. Comments would help...

Took Meg to the Lagoon at Harrison lake on Sunday morning before church. We walked around on the beach, no one out yet so she can still run there. These geese figured the lagoon was theirs and kept following Meg around in the water. Caught this one as it gave me a menacing glance.

Tu-Lips and Swallow

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took the dog out in the morning before heading out to the annual Tulips of the Valley Tulipfest on Seabird Island. A local producer of tulips grows bulbs for greenhouse and public sale and each spring they have all 40 acres of young tulips blooming for 3 weeks or so. I managed to catch the last weekend of it and took some shots. Here's a panorama I made of the whole field, I have some of groups of tulips as well but this came out better.

Oh and here's one I took while out with the dog that I liked. I did manage to get a salvagable shot of a Wilson's Warbler as well, I will keep it but it doesnt make the cut for here. This is a male Tree Swallow I spotted that was kind enough to sit and sing while I took pictures.

From Photo of the day (2009)