BAM! The glorious sun!

I don't know how I made it through this week!  I couldn't get outside enough in all this snow.  I had to go walk my dad's dog for him since he can't get out in this weather and managed to snap these.

Hope you like them!

BAM! Winter happened!

And it happened in such a big way that the city actually shut down and we got grown up snow days off work.

I immediately seized the opportunity to get out with my camera!

My first stop was Victoria Park in Downtown London

These drifts really remind me of being up north in a true winter!

How deep does the snow have to be before it's declared a "snowmageddon"?

I guess if the snow is almost completely covering the doorways of the school, you can't get in!

Fall - how ever will I pick only a few?

That will be the hard part of this post - I went out and took so many photos this fall - it was truly spectacular. I'll just put up one from each different spot we went to!!

I am always overwhelmed each fall and almost taken off guard by the beauty of this season.  No matter how many pictures I take and how often I look through them, I always feel like a little child looking around in awe at the beauty of this earth when fall rolls around again.

This is one of my friend Bonnie's favourite spots - in Springbank Park. We always stop here to have a rest and look at the view.

This next one is probably my favourite this year - taken driving along the lake Erie shoreline between Long Point and Port Bruce

While driving along the Lake Erie shoreline, we always have to stop at Hawk's Cliff.  Every fall, thousands and thousands of birds migrate south along this route.  I think there are people there for the whole season that sit and count the birds flying over.

Monarch butterflies also migrate along this route on their way to Mexico!

This post wouldn't be complete without a close up of some glowing leaves.  They look like they're on fire.

And last but never least, Gibbons Park here in London. No matter how far I go or where I look, I always end up here.  In my opinion, there is no more beautiful place around here in the fall.

Springwater is part of The Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and is an important part of our environment.  Please take some time to find out why protecting it and other important areas is important. Catfish Creek.

So very often we get overwhelmed because"saving the world" seems like an impossible task. Finding places locally that need our help is a way to find out that each and every one of our small gestures has an impact.

You can do it.  WE can do it.

The end of the dog days of summer are approaching.  It's the end of August and it's one of my favourite reasons to get out into nature!

Every year I go to Springwater Conservation Area for the Fred Eaglesmith charity picnic. If you are not familiar with Fred, you should check him out here. He is a homegrown southern Ontario native who is an amazing and oh so entertaining singer songwriter. One of the best parts of the picnic after the music, naturally, is the conservation area itself click here! There are 150 acres of mature Carolinian forest to explore, with lots of trails swimming and exploring to do.

 This year, my brother Michael and I went for a walk and found an amazing array of fungi.

Check it out!

One word that comes to mind is "otherworldly"

Endlessly fascinating

And the swamps... I could stay here for days.

I have always been a nature lover.  There is one way to get my head right sometimes, and that's to get out into nature.  Since I found photography, it's been even more therapeutic.

I have recently become obsessed with birds - all birds, but Raptors in particular! It all started one day last February when my friend Bonnie and I went for a bike ride and saw a juvenile bald eagle flying over our heads. Then we saw a tree full of robins and a bunch of great blue herons and then the young bald eagle sitting in a tree with the adult!

It seemed like all of a sudden they were everywhere I looked.  I started to "hunt" them with my camera.

Since then we have had many such adventures, here are a couple of photos...


This is a Great Blue Heron. I would not even try to guess how many hours I've spent trying to get a good shot of one of these! They are very shy birds and, in my experience, as soon as you stop and try to get a look, they fly away. I got this picture on a very hot and muggy day. I went for a bike ride to Springbank Park here in London, and happened to see this guy across the river from me. I locked up my bike and climbed down the river bank, expecting him to take off with every step I took. But he didn't - too darned hot!

Another bike ride - this one was before a road trip that we were going to take that afternoon. All of a sudden as we were riding out of one of London's beautiful parks I saw this guy fly across the road and land in a tree.

He wasn't nearly as shy as the heron!

The again, on another bike ride I hear a call and look up

Then flying up from the side of the road!

This guy sat there eating his lunch and didn't seem concerned by me in the least.

And the vultures on the beach - hey, they're raptors too, and although their faces may be ugly, they are huge and beautiful as well!

I just know this is going to be an amazing adventure!

My Inspiration

Wow!

I was extremely fortunate to have been raised in Canada's arctic - you can see more about that in my about me page, and I feel like everything I learned being immersed in aboriginal cultures as a child has now begun to come back to me as an adult.

Eagles hold such a special place in my heart, and have really been a catalyst in my renewed interest in nature.

When I was born, Eagles did not exist here in Southern Ontario anymore.  They had all been killed off by a variety of means including habitat loss and the big one  - DDT's. There is a great article from National Geographic here.

When I saw my first eagle riding my bicycle along the Thames river here in London, I was astonished and it set me on this path that I now find myself on.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

Eagles have made such a comeback and have changed my life.

We CAN change things, maybe we do have a chance at making things right and honouring this beautiful planet that we all call home.

Can we also maybe, perhaps, rid ourselves of the imaginary things that divide us?

After all, we all have this planet in common and the Eagles are proof to me that people DO care and than we can affect change in our environment if we work together.


We'd heard a rumour that there was and eagle nest somewhere on Fanshawe Lake so off we went.

We rounded a corner and there, sitting on a tree was this eagle.

If I wasn't passionate about this earth before, this picture cemented it for me!

Birds along the way

Not getting my picture taken today!

Another favourite raptor - The American Kestrel or sparrow hawk.

I only saw this Kingfisher because it has such a unique call.

And who can resist the friendly little chickadee?