Bald Eagle having a snack

February 5, 2011
I was bound and bent that I was going out on this day. When I woke up in the morning, the temperature was -18 Celsius with a windchill of -25. I waited a couple of hours - got up to -15 so I decided that I just had to go - it wasn't going to improve! I bundled myself up, got on the bike and went for a ride. Am I ever glad I did!
As I was walking the bike through one section that it is impossible to ride on, I looked down at the river and saw something.....


yep, the juvenile bald eagle eating something on the ice. I retreated to get my gear ready and slow myself down. He initially flew away when I approached,


Then I guess he decided I was no threat so he came back!

And landed again...



Until he finally decided to leave!


What a great day that was!

I continued on my ride, and then came back to the Forks of the Thames where I saw the ice on the fountain there and thought that was pretty neat,


And the sun was still shining...



Just about to call it a day, then someone had to come around to say Adios!

Gotta Get Outside

Well, everyone thinks I'm a bit of a kook this winter - we've had a REAL winter here in southern Ontario - lots of snow, lots of cold temperatures. I don't care - I've been out for a bike ride at least once a week. The only time I stopped was when we got our first great big wallop of snow at the beginning of the winter, but since then, I've been out!! The city actually plows a portion of the bike path - better than they clean the sidewalks that's for sure! The hard part is getting there, but where there's a will there's a way. I went out on the 10th of January and was rewarded with these shots!

This mallard was flying from one open area of water in Springbank Park to another!


This Muskovey duck arrived here last year with his mate and has been here ever since. I was quite taken with the iridescence of his feathers.






And I came back downtown just in time to see the sunsetting behind the fountain (the sunsets sure are fleeting in the winter!)



And, as usually seems to be the case, just as I realized I was sooooo pooped I didn't know if I could make it back home (those unplowed sections are really tough!) I saw this guy swoop down -


Now, anybody who has watched or photographed these birds at all knows just how shy they are. So, I hid out of his sight and got everything ready, slowly approached and got his, one of my favorite shots!




Happy winter!

New Years Day 2011. Thaw!!

We just had to go for a bicycle ride today, as the temperature was well above freezing, and, well it just felt soooooo good!!



But is the river going to flood? Looks like it just might. It didn't! It was a good thing we had a thaw, though or it would have flooded in the spring for sure!

Well, maybe it did a little, but it receded and left a bunch of ice in it's wake!!






And the sunset was gorgeous!!

Not very consistent am I?

I seem to be so busy lately that I don't have time to remember to do the things I've said I really want to do!!
I have been taking pictures, though. I'm going to try to post somewhat chronologically, so, for those interested, here they come......
I took these late in the fall. Fot hose of you who don't know, London has an amazing river that we are built on called the Thames River. One of the best things about living here is this river. London has an amazing network of bicycle/walking paths built all along it, and being an avid bicycle/nature lover/photographer, one of the things I am always struck by is the variety of bridges that I see while touring along the river. The city did an amazing job last summer of fixing up a bunch of bridges and spots along the path, so I took a bunch of photos of these "London Bridges".....



Boys fishing at the Forks of the Thames



.

This is the new footbridge they spent all summer re-doing




I love this one too, looking at all the vines growing up underneath...