Fall in the Ferry

So it's been a long time since I've added any photos to my blog; hopefully I'll be able to get my act together and post on a more regular basis from now on.

Brannon and I went home and had Thanksgiving Dinner with both of our families. This view might be a bit familiar :)
They've been cropped and I added a signature and a frame, but the photos themselves (in terms of colour, etc.) are straight-out-of-the-camera.

Life on the dock

I'm sure my parents were wondering what the eff I was doing down on the dock on Sunday (seriously though....what else?)! I was crouched right down at the level of the boards and this is what came from it.

It's Trillium Time!

Could Ontario be represented by a more beautiful flower?!?!?! I took these photos while I was visiting my parents yesterday. I didn't want to miss my chance since the next time I'm there they'll likely be done for the season. For some reason, the red ones never look as healthy as the white ones. Apparently, it's not because they're 'unhealthy' but because they tend to turn pink as they age. Who knew?!?!

In case you're interested, there are ~43 known trillium species - I'm pretty sure the ones shown above are of the T. graniflorum spp, meaning they have large flowers. Everyone thinks it's illegal to pick them but according to wikipedia (great source, I know - haha) that's not actually the case, except for one species.

Harry

This one's for mom. Meet Harry, up close and personal :)

Wind at my back

This is what I wish I was doing today....

Sunset Ski

As the sun was starting to set yesterday this quite seasoned water-skier took to the lake.

As the sun continued its descent the sky turned red and orange.

Later on the pinks came out.

I wasn't able to photograph the fireworks in Rideau Ferry and Perth last night even though we could see them. We were WAY across the lake for the former and could only just see the biggest displays way off in the distance in Perth. Of course it was pitch black and there wasn't close to enough light to take any pictures of them, not to mention I don't have a tripod. Even knowing that, I tried anyway and here's the best I could come up with :)

Water birds

I've been trying to photograph the osprey all spring/summer. There are nesting boxes built all over the place in the Rideau Ferry area but every time I'm there no one happens to be sitting on them. I lucked out and came across this guy today. It's difficult to grasp how big they are from a photo but in case you're interested they can be as tall as 2' with a wingspan of 6'; definitely not a small bird/raptor. I'm happy to have found him today.

Also, this loon decided to fish in the shallow water just off the dock so I spent some time snapping shots of him when he wasn't underwater. I particularly love the second shot because it demonstrates their gorgeous markings (check out his neck) but you can also see water droplets on his head from his fishing expedition :)

Quiet serenity

I LOVE hangin' out on the dock, especially in the morning. There's no nicer view to wake up to (yup, when I visit my parents this is what's outside of the patio door in the guest bedroom) or enjoy whilst drinking a cup of coffee (or vino if we're talkin' about later on in the day!). I try to spend as much time as possible here in the summer; I've only been twice so far this spring/summer but plan to make a few return visits! I love my new house but I still love theirs more...haha....maybe Stacie (my younger sister) has the right idea..... :)

Even the damselflies enjoy the experience!

Harry puts on a show!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I took a lot of photos, including a whole array of Harry, our resident Blue Heron, hence his name. I had one heck of a time photographing him because i) he was flying relatively far away (these are all shot with my 70-300 zoom lens), ii) he was flying fast, and iii) because of those 2 issues, focusing was incredibly difficult. These shots aren't perfect but I'm pretty happy with them regardless. Thanks again to mom for waking me up and don't worry, I'll send you the unmarked files :)
I took more of him later on when he flying by with a fish hanging out of his beak but I wasn't able to focus well enough so they weren't really worth posting. This guy very regularly comes and hangs out on the dock where the water is more shallow and the fishin' is good!

Loonie

I took a bajillion photos today but it's late and I'm going to bed so I'm literally posting the first one to come out of my camera. I have to thank my mom for dragging me out of bed at 9 am (I arrived at her house before 7 am; after an hour's drive, and had to take a nap!) to watch the wildlife. As soon as I grabbed a coffee and got my butt down to the lake, this lovely loon passed by the dock. They're hard to photograph because they tend to spend more time under water than above it and when they go down they always come back up somewhere far far away from where they dove.
More of today's photos tomorrow.....

Through the fence

You can't tell that the first shot was taken through a chain-link fence; but the second is self-explanatory.

First one of the season

My parents have a spectacular view (in fact, when people see it in our wedding photos, they don't even think it's real!), with beautiful pink/red sunsets all summer that, unfortunately, disappear during the winter months. I was at home yesterday for Easter dinner and witnessed my first pretty sunset of the season. Apparently it was nothing compared to the one on Sunday but I was still pleased to see it. It seems strange to see a pink sunset over a snowy horizon :)

The Calm After the Storm

Not a creature was stirring.....

5-minute Sunrise

I had decided that I wasn't going to post any more photos of the sky for a while since I've been doing a lot of that lately but I couldn't help myself this time. Like much of Ontario and the rest of Canada, we had miserable weather yesterday; we experienced rain, freezing rain, snow...you name it we saw it! But before all that started I woke up to this; it only lasted for about 5 minutes and I'm so thankful the dogs (I'm also dog-sitting this week) dragged my sleepy butt out of bed to see it. This is straight out of my camera with absolutely no editing at all....Mother Nature really does provide the best inspiration :)

Summer Sunset

Brigitte and Craig are coming over tonight; with everything that's been going on in our lives we haven't been able to get-together since before the holidays (this is odd for us!). We'll be having a dinner of munchies and probably drinking some wine too.....
The point of this story is that it's unlikely I'll find the time to post any photos today after work so I've gone through my very small collection of personal shots on my computer in the lab and I came across these. I took these photos with my P&S on June 30, 2006; just days after my parents moved into a new home on the Lower Rideau Lake. After 2 full summers of visiting my parents there and seeing such sunsets I still can't get enough of them and it makes me so sad when they "go away" at the end of August.
This makes me wish I was going on a trip down south...hope you're having a great time Pam!

Arranged Shadow

It was that time of day on the lake.....

Puddles in January

The snow has literally all melted in Rideau Ferry but it's back to being cold again so I'm expecting some more snow to fall shortly. For now though, we have puddles everywhere and flooded fields, etc. As I drove to my parents' home I stopped and took this picture from the road of the reflection of the broken-off cornstalks in the flooded field.

**Please note, this is from my point-and-shoot, at quite a distance.

Skies

The sky underwent a number of transformations today; I wish I'd been able to capture them all on film.

Moments of illustrious brightness!

I particularly like this one because it appeared like the sun was shining only on this one branch.