All My Blogs

Members of the Corvidea that I have photographed over the years. The chances are that you are familiar with three or four of these birds, if you live in North America, that is.  If you are a birder, you may have seen them all.  There are a few I haven't included here, like the yellow-billed magpie, green jay, and pinion jay, as I have never photographed them (one day!).  Many of them are very comfortable around humans and are often found in urban areas or where people hang out.   The behaviours they have in common is that they tend to be very vocal, they are gregarious, and they have opportunistic eating habits - they will eat just about anything they can catch, steal, or find.  They are also relatively smart, capable of problem-solving, have good memories, and can recognize human faces.  They all tend to be relatively large birds, with the raven being the biggest of the bunch.   As a group, they can be found over most of North America, with ...

Munson Pond has a healthy western turtle population.  That may change if the road goes through. A thesis, written by Jessica D. Derksen, states that "Road development threatens freshwater turtles globally."  In her paper, titled " The impact of roadway mortality on a long-lived freshwater turtle ", she states that even small changes in mortality can have "a significant impact on western painted turtle populations." Those for the road construction would argue that the pond has a significantly sizeable area of land for breeding.  Their position relies on the existing land area surrounding the pond, as shown in the above photograph.  Not all of it is suitable for turtles to lay their eggs, however.  There are ditches (to the north), swamps (to the south), and a school field (to the west).  Each of these may have additional barriers, such as fences, that prevent turtles from accessing nesting sites.   While barriers can be constructed to prevent turtl...

This young man found that no cattail could stand up to his mighty swing with a stick. Boys and sticks.  They're like peanut butter and jam, Tom and Jerry, or flowers and honeybees.  The pairing is inevitable, guaranteed, a certainty upon which you could bet wildly.  Not all sticks qualify as the eminent rapier or throttling club, for twigs break easily and logs are too hefty to lift.  But, when found, the perfect stick can be wielded with force, cunning, and charisma.  And it just so happened that  I was there when I witnessed the event in person. It was destiny.  There, on the ground, in front of the blue-clad boy, was a stick.  And not just any stick, it was the perfect stick.  About as long as his arm, strong but not too heavy, and smooth.  The bark had all but gone and the wood grain was clearly visible.  It made a very satisfying whoosh when it was swung with vigour.  His hand gripped it well, almost as if it had been made...

It takes three years for a male red-winged blackbird to fully develop its characteristic red epaulettes. I used to wonder why the epaulettes on some red-winged blackbird males were less spectacular than on others.  It turns out that it takes a few years for the familiar patches to develop. In first-year males, the shoulder feathers are brownish or somewhat yellowed.  Very little red appears.  In the following year, the males show a transitional phase.  A significant red patch is present, unlike in the first year males, but it is not the fully developed spectacle present in the mature adult.  It takes another year before the epaulettes have blossomed to their full potential. The bird's feathering also changes over time, with there being a brownish hue to them in the first and second year.  By the third year, the somatic feathers are fully black.  You can see the tinge of brown on the first three images above. The strong, fully developed shoulder patches...

Photograph I took of the Bow River in Calgary. What colour is snow?  We know from experience that it is white.  And yet, the above photo would seem to indicate that it may sometimes be blue.  On the same day.  In the same photo.  In fact, snow can be both blue or white and be right beside each other.  And if all that wasn't enough, the shade of blue can also differ depending on the situation. So, what sort of devilry is going on here?  You may already know the answer to that, and it isn't some tweak of Photoshop that has created it.  This is Nature herself and the wonderful world of white balance. Snow reflects all the wavelengths of visible light.  The light falling upon the snow is called incident light, and it is the spectral makeup of that light causing the would-be colour change.  On a cloudy, gray day, you may find that the snow is pretty much the same colour.  Yet, on this day in April of 2017, there was an open blue sky. Dir...

From left to right:  Nora, Josh, Daisy, Chanelle, Emma I am proud of my son.  Without going into detail, he has made his way through his own share of trials to become the proud father he is today.  The road ahead itself won't be without its own share of struggles, but he has a good foundation upon which to build.  And he has a good moral center with lots of support upon which to draw courage and strength from.   I read a quote somewhere that, paraphrased, said, "Any man can be a father, but not every man can be a dad."  The difference between the two being fathering a child versus raising one.  To father a child is to be half of the equation to create life from a single cell to a living, breathing being.  To be a dad to a child is to be physically, emotionally, spiritually, and morally present as the young person grows up into adulthood, and even then, to be there as part of the family in some supportive capacity. My own father had a difficul...