Gray's new hobby

We've often said that Gray allows us to live here, now he's even installed mourning doves for his enterainment. Well, that's a bit of a stretch but a pair is now nesting on the thin strip of frame between our front door and the transom window above it. Gray seems to think they're there for his amusement. Now if he could only figure out that he'd have a more comfortable view from half way up our stairs instead of getting a crick in his neck by sitting four feet in front of the door and looking up.....

This is the view of the pair from our stairs, granted it's with a 10x optical zoom on the camera, but you get the idea.

I'm not sure they'll settle there for long as our comings and goings through this door may eventually drive them to seek a quieter spot to nest.

Short road trip

On my way to visit my friend Lorraine in Springford today I stopped to snap theses beautiful farm horses along County Road 13. There are so many old order Mennonite farms in the area that Tim Horton's in Norwich on Highway 59 has a hitching post for the Mennonite buggies (left in the photo below). Years ago, before the Town Centre Mall expanded in Tillsonburg there was a hitching post behind the old Post Office. I wonder how many hitching posts are tucked away in towns in this area? Hmmm, sounds like a mission to me.......if I find more I'll record them for a future entry.

Lucky in work

I'm fortunate enough to spend every Monday to Friday with good friends, a good part of the time laughing my a#@ off, doing work I love - all this and I get paid to do it, go figure. Yesterday happened to be Administrative Professional's Day and we ( "we" being the power chicks here at work) received lovely treats and thanks from some of our co-workers. Chocolates from the staff of the Southern Network of Specialized Care, tea and a martini chocolate from Maureen and these lovely flowers from Patricia, Darren and Donna the Clinical Supervisors here at Regional Support Associates. Thanks to everyone who made the day special!

Other critters at Hawk Creek

There are lots of non-flying critters at Hawk Creek. This female river otter , Misu, was caught in a leg hold trap, causing her leg and many teeth to be surgically removed. She was brought to the veterinary hospital at the University of Iowa where she underwent five surgeries. Having difficulty placing her due to her handicap, Hawk Creek provided her a permanent home. Misu’s very playful and knows the best angles for her close-ups. Tundra is a Siberian Lynx. She was placed at Hawk Creek from a family when they found out that it was illegal to own exotic cats in their state. Exotic cats form strong bonds to their owners, making them difficult to transfer from owner to owner. Tundra was still young enough when she went to Hawk Creek to build a bond with her handlers. She was in a sleepy mood when we saw her on Saturday - how unlike a cat!
Laguna, a North American Ocelot, came from the Carnivore Preservation Trust in North Carolina. Housing over 170 felines, they were in desperate need of placing some cats after a hurricane destroyed many cages. Overcrowding produced an Ocelot kitten, Laguna. Habitat & research was being done in the US to help this severely endangered cat but at the time, there were no breeding or release programs. Fortunately, Hawk Creek was able to provide a home for this very rare cat. This shot was taken during the Earth Day Expedition live show, she was chewing a treat - hence the grimace. While I would have happily stood near a creature like Laguna, I was having no part of going near the Bearded Dragon. Thank God for a zoom lens.

Hawk Creek Earth Day Expedition, April 19, 2008

This past Saturday, April 19th was the Earth Day Expedition at Hawk Creek Wildlife Inc. in East Aurora, New York in recoginition of Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22. Hawk Creek has become one of our favorite places to visit and, as it's only open to the public a scant 5 days per year to the public, we decided to take the cameras and head off to this event.

Dart arrived at Hawk Creek as a tiny, fuzzy baby in the summer of 2005. He was raised with five other kestrels, and later he was placed with Arrow, the resident kestrel, so he would have a role model and company. When all the other baby kestrels were released successfully, this little bird was still in care. He has permanent physical problem that prevents him from flying beyond little flits from perch to perch, making him unable to survive in the wild. No one was sure what the next step would be in his care, and then he decided for himself by jumping up from the ground and landing on a volunteer’s glove, just like he was on an education program! Dash seems to enjoy his role and an education bird.

Arrow came to Hawk Creek from a nature center in Rochester. This small falcon was “dive-bombing” everyone at a park. He was brought to a rehab facility and could not be released because he was raised by humans and became imprinted. This episode shows the dangers of imprinting wild animals on humans for both the animal and people.
Legend, a male red-tailed hawk, was hit by a car and broke his wing. After three surgeries, his bones healed, but his tendons were permanently ruptured. He is now a favorite for education programs because although often seen in the wild, it is not often that people get to see this common hawk up-close. He can have quite a bossy "air" about him...
The natural defense mechanism in turkey vultures like Barf (below) cannot be understated: when frightened or under threat, they have a unique ability to puke—up to several feet! There are two other "p" words associated with turkey vultures. They often poop on their own legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and/or urine to cool themselves, a process known as urohydrosis. It cools the blood vessels in the unfeathered tarsi and feet, and causes white uric acid to streak the legs. The final "p" is pick - a turkey vulture will pick it's nostrils with it's claws - 'nuff said....

Barf is also a human imprint; three attempts to release him resulted in him simply following people around until he was fed, which is why he will remain at Hawk Creek as an example of what happens to releasable birds that are improperly kept.
Dragon is a female Eurasian eagle owl. She arrived at the center from the World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis, where she was bred for education. The largest owl species in the world, Dragon is aptly named with a fiery personality and huge wings. I took all photos in this entry and the one entitled "Other critters at Hawk Creek" with a Canon SX100.

The biggest little concert in Oxford County

Last night we attended a private, in-home concert by Lennie Gallant of Rustico, Prince Edward Island. He is touring in our area and was performing at the home of Ted and Sherry Comiskey in Ingersoll. Geoff knows Ted so we were lucky enough to find out about it and we invited my friend Maureen to join us. Thirty people attended the concert in the beautiful home "pub" that Ted and Sherry have in their basement. Lennie was accompanied by Brad Davidge (originally from Gander, now Halifax) and they were joined for a couple of numbers by Lori Anna Reid a singer originally from St. John's but now living in Toronto. What a night!
A simply amazing evening of enterainment.

Here are some of Geoff's photos from the event.

l-r Lori Anna Reid, Lennie Gallant and Brad Davidge

Ah yes, spring.....

............the view from my office window at 7:40 am this morning.......TGIF! The good thing is that this downpour will help to wash away some of the winter hangover and give the grass, trees and bulbs a boost.

Spring in rural southwestern Ontario

Here in Woodstock we have many of the trappings of a small city (population approximately 34,000) - a hospital, a library, industry etc. However, you don't have to go far to remember that we're in the heart of farm county, especially this time of year. In the photo above it's becoming obvious that it will soon be time to take down the bit of snow fencing in this farm field near Thamesford.
Someone out for a Sunday drive?
The Thames River showing evidence of spring run-off.

Can you spot the Robin hiding behind the garden debris?

It was great to see the sun shining this weekend. It almost made me forget that my nose is still running, I'm still wheezing and - apparently - I'm still complaining!

My sign of spring

We've had our snowiest winter in years here in Woodstock. This week it has finally been mild enough here to do some serious damage to the banks and, in the process, we found our March 5th Globe and Mail. Otherwise we might never have discovered that McCain had nailed down the Republican nomination.... Also, ya gotta love the header "Foie gras of the sea. Repulsive to the eye, sublime on the palate".
As Cousin 1 (by virtue of seniority) has pointed out, I've been remiss in my blogging duties of late. I have plenty of excuses - including 10 days of vertigo followed closely by a cold from hell which, touch wood, might be starting to wane.

I'm now looking forward to spring and eventually summer when I'll visit Cousin 2 and partner with Cousin 1. Ah yes, now that the rooms have stopped spinning an my nose has stopped running, life is good.