Posts Tagged ‘Bird’

Had a chance to walk the dog down by Woodbine Park again today, and finally got a good look at the Mallard ducklings that I have only seen from a distance before, occasionally peeking out from the bulrushes. The mother Mallard was keeping a close eye on her little flock, which included making sure a seagull didn’t get too close.

Here are the pics:

Mallard Ducklings 1

Our dog YoBob is back from the cottage as the girls head to Camp Couchiching for the rest of the month, so he needed a walk. A good excuse for me to head to Woodbine Park, where I took pictures of the various fauna I saw down there on what was a hot day.

Here’s my favourite, of a Monarch Butterfly on an Echinacea Flower:

Monarch Butterfly on an Echinacea Flower

Here’s the rest:

Most of the time when I am up at the cottage in Georgian Bay, I feel I am lucky if I manage to get to see and photograph a single loon, usually from a great distance.

So I was thrilled to find no less than three loons had landed relatively close by in Oberlin Bay early this morning, just in view from the deck of the cottage. At first I thought maybe it was a family with a fledged chick, but from their behaviour I could tell that this was simply one round in a fight for territory by at least one of the birds.

This is the best picture I took of the trio, of what are presumably two males sizing each other up with a female watching the outcome:

A Trio of Loons Sizing Each Other Up

Here’s the “fight sequence” that came immediately before it; mainly a lot of posturing with none of the birds actually taking a stab at each other.

A pair of Trumpeter Swans have taken up temporary residence in the pond at Woodbine Park. Many pictures were taken — and here are some of them.

While I was taking the pictures, I was approached by a pair of teenage girls, and one of them asked whether these swans had walked here. Not sure where she got that idea, but I set her straight. 😉

I was invited to join the members from the firm that was hosting the localization summit for a team building event at a place called Chateau Changyu, about an hour-and-a-half’s drive north of Beijing.

I considered staying in Beijing to go see The Forbidden City and The Great Wall, but I had visited both on my last trip here and wanted to see and hopefully explore some of the countryside, which this trip offered.

Chateau Changyu is an interesting place. First and foremost, it is a winery, which was one of the draws of the place for me, a chance to do some comparisons to what I have seen at home, in France and in Southern California. It is also basically a theme park, the “theme” being a chance to visit a old French (or German?)-style village while still in China. It was a popular place for brides and grooms to be photographed against a faux-European background featuring a Neuschwanstein-ish castle (which is where the winery cellars are housed). So you get the incongruous setting of a small European village surrounded by extensive vineyards set among iconic eroded Chinese mountains in the distance.

I attended some of the presentations, ventured into the cellars, and waited out a thunderstorm. After the storm passed, the bright late afternoon light set against a dark sky made for some very striking shots, which can be seen in the gallery below.

I was given some wine to taste while there, and while it was not the best I’ve ever had, it was also far from being the worst. I am pretty sure we will be hearing more about Chinese wine, since they seemed determined to make a dent in the market. The consensus though is that the local market needs to be educated first, as there were several stories of a locals chugging back expensive wine like pop. Am sure that too will change, and clearly there is an enormous market for good wine emerging here.

Saw this guy (a Green Heron) awkwardly perched in a tree down by Woodbine Park this morning.

Green Heron in a Tree at Woodbine Park

I lucked out and managed to get a good picture of the first robin I have seen this year. The previously day I had heard one, but never could see it. So this is the first one I had actually seen. As you can see, he posed for me.

First Robin of Spring 2011

Shot a picture of this little chickadee while out on a walk with the dog down by Woodbine Beach.

Love the details of the fine feathers on its back.

Chickadee Close-up

Another walk down by Woodbine Beach with the dog, and more pictures of birds.

Nice shot of a seagull silhouetted:

Seagull Silhouette

A wind-blown long-tailed duck:

Wind-blown Male Long-tailed Duck

YoBob loves being in the snow, as this photograph shows:

YoBob's Snowy Face

Went for a walk with YoBob down by Woodbine Park, and brought along some sunflower seeds to feed the birds down there. Last time I only managed to attract some Chickadees, but this time I caught the attention of a pair of cardinals, who posed for me while they assessing the risk of flying down to grab their share of seeds while a large predator was nearby with a funny-looking device pointed at them… 😉

Male Cardinal Close-up

Female Cardinal on Tree Branch