Bald Eagles!

 Bald Eagles are a rare sighting here in southern Ontario, but we saw so many in B.C. that they became familiar! They were perched in trees, guarding huge nests, or catching fish.  It was just such a surprise compared to back home here!

It got to the point where it was not unusual to see a large mature Bald Eagle with its white head wherever we were driving.

Yes, this is a picture of those swans, which spend a lot of their winter on the fields of the lower 

Fraser Valley.  But did you notice the eagle?  And the huge nest?

Here's a close-up for you.

And here's an isolated eagle clear against a backdrop of forested hills.

On yet another occasion we visited a Great Blue Heron Sanctuary, spotting an eagle high in the treetops.  Before I could get a picture we heard a high=pitched scream and a second eagle flew in to join the first!

And here's your closer view.

Of course we frequently saw eagles overhead, such majestic birds.  This is the only view I might typically see here in southern Ontario.

Driving toward Chilliwack one day we saw cars parked along the road, and photographers with big telephoto lenses.  Well, that was a signal to stop!  We were overlooking a stretch of the Harrison River known as Nicomen Slough, and there were both eagles and gulls splashing in the shallows.  I think we saw eight Bald Eagles here altogether.

Here are three of them, feeding on salmon on the shallows.  I hope you get the impression that there was another Bald Eagles everywhere we went, for that's what we saw!  Such a memorable experience!

Cascade Falls

 On our first adventure on that trip out west, we headed for Cascade Falls, on the north shore of the Fraser River.  It was a short but steep hike up to see the falls.

We drove over the Fraser river and into the lower mountains.

After a bit of the hike we came to the stairs.

The whole trail passed through more of the west coast rainforest, with prolific moss and Sword Ferns.

And then we came to the falls itself, a beautiful cascade..

Of course I fiddled around with camera settings.

The river below the falls was a pretty as the falls themselves!

And then we were back to the start of the trail.

Back to B.C. 2016

 I'm going to try something different and instead of taking you back to late fall hikes I've done here at home, I'm going to take you out to British Columbia, to Abbotsford specifically, where we visited our daughter.  The two trips out there are among my favourite memories.  First, an introduction to the Fraser Valley.

The Fraser Valley is the location of the big flood a few years back.  The farmland is flat and bumps up right against the mountains.  The Trans-Canada Highway cuts right across the photo in the lower third,

In places the flat farmland really does bump right up against the mountains!  These are blueberry bushes

Development all occurs on the mountains, as you can see.

These are the steps that let you get back up from the Clayburn Creek Trail.  They quickly became our favourite!  Sadly this trail was washed out in the floods  of 2021.  It's still not open.

The narrow valley harbours a Pacific rainforest, with complete walls of Sword Fern, and a thick layer of moss everywhere!

Lichens

 Lichens are there waiting for you to notice them, all year round.  But the business of the woods in summer seems to let them hide.  They do seem much more apparent in the leafless atmosphere of late fall, particularly if it's been raining and the woods is damp.  So I went back over a few years and found some photos for you.  These are from 2014/15.

One place to look for lichens is on big boulders.  At our last place we had an old stone fencerow with some big boulders; they were covered with patches of lichen.

As you zoom in closer you see the growth pattern.

And if you really zoom in you see the tiny dark fruiting bodies.

Nearby we had some large old squared logs, surplus from building the cabin.  They were decorated in a very different style of lichens.

These ones had interesting colour variations, from blue to pink.

This rock had tiny fruiting bodies emerging from the moss.

Tiny fruiting bodies often described as Pixie Cups.

More tiny 'Pixie Cups', different atmospheric conditions making them a delicate green.

*****

I'm struggling with what to post next in my blog.  Some of you read my last post which I later deleted, because I just wasn't satisfied with it.  When I move away from my usual format of pictures with comments, I struggle a lot more.  And it's that time of year when I'm getting used to the fact I'll be trapped indoors for six months too!  Today I've just got a cold and I'm not functioning very well.  It's hard to get new pictures now too, so I've started dipping into past files.  I think I'll take you back to one of our trips out west next.

My Wheelchair Crash!

Thursday, on my way out to lunch, my wheelchair crashed, right off a cliff!  Ok, so the cliff was only 18" tall, but in a power chair weighing something over 200 lb. it was a big crash, and I was trapped!

To understand this dramatic story, you need to know that we have no ramp leading up to our front door.  Instead we have a very simple lift inside the garage.  It's just like the open platform of a small elevator.  It lifts me up 18" going into the house and down 18" going out.  Works well; I've probably used it 2000 times in 7 years.

I typically roll through the garage door from the kitchen into the garage, onto a small landing where I can stop, make sure the door has closed behind me, and press the button to open the garage door.  Then I drive forward 4 feet until I'm parked on the lift, and down I go.  It's obviously essential that anyone using it has left it in the upper position.  (I'm normally the only one who uses it).

But Thursday Mrs. F.G. had left first; she was running a workshop on fabric bowl-making for the Quilting Guild.  She had a lot of stuff with her, including a very heavy sewing machine, so she used the lift to get it down, loaded the van, and left.

You've probably guessed by now.  Yes, she left the lift in the down position, first time in 7 years.  I rolled into the dark garage, pulled the door closed behind me, pressed the button to open the garage door, and started forward.  With the lift in the down position I went right over the edge, and the wheelchair went with me!

I was trapped under a heavy wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down.  After mentally checking to see if anything seemed broken, (bones I mean) I asked myself, how the hell was I going to get out of here!  Eventually I was able to reach back and undo my seatbelt.  My body fell down and I was able to drag myself a few inches forward on my elbows.

Luckily I had reserved a ride with Meaford Moves, and within minutes he had arrived.  Seeing me flat on the garage floor, he came running.  By grabbing my arms he was able to drag me forward a foot or two, and then lift the wheelchair into its normal upright position.  It took me about 5 seconds to realize we needed help, so I called 911, expecting to ask for the fire department.  

Turns out it's the paramedics who deal with falls, and we live three blocks from the hospital, so they were there pretty quick!  First they asked me questions, then they rolled me onto my back, then they asked me more questions.  Did I hit my head? (no).  Is there any bleeding? (no), do I hurt anywhere? (no), etc.  They took my blood pressure, which was a little high, and then they positioned me and lifted me back into my chair in about 3 seconds.  They said they'd had lots of practice; it's their most common callout.

I mosied around the garage a bit, reassured them I felt fine, and said they didn't need to hang around.  They did make me sign an electronic form saying I had declined the opportunity t go to the hospital.  They said to watch for any swelling.

Then the ambulance left and I went for a short ride on the street.  I felt mostly recovered, even if I was in shock!  After a few deep breaths I decided I was going to head out for lunch anyway, and I did!

Sandhill Cranes in the Past

 Just so you don't think I'm fooling you, these are some pictures from past years, all from the last week of October or the firsat of November.  They are quite incredible birds, and have been increasing in numbers around here quite quickly!

Birds we saw near where we visited with the cattle in my last post, 2024.

\A long line of cranes against a dark fencerow, from 2024.

A closer look, 2021!

Cranes in flight, 2021!

Cranes we saw the first year we went looking, 2018.

Perhaps we'll have better luck next year!

In Search of Sandhill Cranes

Well we went searching for Sandhill Cranes, as we have every year at this time, but we didn't find a single one!  We drove past a dozen spots where we've seen them in recent years, but nada, nothing - just a few beef cattle and lots of rural farms northwest of Owen Sound.   

In past years the cranes have gathered in huge flocks in the last week of October or the first of November.  I've posted pictures for several years now.  Have they left early, or is their migration late this year?

We were driving down a sideroad where we've seen the cranes off in the distance, but the only thing we saw was this herd of cattle just beyond the fence.

Cattle are always curious in my experience, and they turned our way or lumbered to their feet.  It reminded me of taking university students out to visit a farm, some of whom had never seen live cattle before.

Mrs. F.G. took all these photos from the car.  It made me want to get out and position myself to get the photos, but of course no such luck.

Across the road was a smaller herd of Holstein steers - but no Sandhill Cranes!  Thanks to Mrs. F.G. for the great photos!