Street Lamp/CDP Theme Day

Lights, camera, er...action!

Too much action at this intersection might get you into BIG trouble.

Today is the first of the month and City Daily Photo is celebrating STREET LAMPS. Yes, I'm stretching the theme a bit but this is sooo weird looking (to my eyes) that I just had to share it. Looking around at street lamps tuned me into this.

You can help us celebrate CDP Theme Day by clicking  HERE

K/Alphabe-Thursday

 Boy admiring his new face in a mirror

K is for KIDS

Maybe kids have changed since we were young, and perhaps they are a lot the same. What do you think?

When you were a kid, would you have liked to have a face painter invent a new you for an afternoon?

Future tycoon

Okay, every kid has liked making money, right? Well, don't mess with this guy - buy some of his lemonade! You hear?!

 Yesterday's kids or today's?

Kids in 2013 enjoying an old-fashioned game of tug-o-war.

Waiting on the dock for the ferry to arrive

Here the pink and purple plus the characters on the suitcases are very today, otherwise these girls could almost be from another time.

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Great Egret/Wild Bird

 Great Egret (Ardea alba) and Canada goose

Egrets are such elegant looking birds, don't you think. The great egret was quietly fishing in shallow water, slowly bending  for a better look.  Then with surprising speed this bird bent down and...

 YUM!

caught a fish. A little more than a century ago egrets were nearly hunted to extinction - their feathers were used as hat plumes - but they are making a comeback.

Eating the fish

I am joining Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Nature Notes - End of July

End of July

This bluebird was sitting on utility wires over a dirt road just one county to the east of where I live, which was a  pleasant surprise as bluebirds have been  uncommon here in the recent past but seem to be increasing.  The light is golden as the bird was reflecting evening light as the sun was going down.

Moving clockwise: bumblebee in chicory (Chichorium intintybus), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), showy tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense), long-leaved speedwell (Veronica longifolia). and Tickseed sunflower (Bidens aristosa).

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Old Mill/Our World

 Back side of Balls Mill in the middle of a paint job

I LOVE it when my husband and I are searching for something and something else wonderful pops into view! We were looking for a conservation area (we found it) but on our way we happened upon an old mill in the midst of being renovated.

 Fence behind heritage mill in Baltimore, Ontario

 Front side of mill

In its latter days of operation, this mill was indeed a flour mill.

 Built in 1842

But in it's earliest days it was a carding  (to make yarn) and saw mill.

 The original clapboard, painted white

Apparently the building has also housed a cooper's shop but has also been used for storage.

A peek through one window but mostly reflection

I hope I get to go inside one day to see what's there!

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Yellowlegs/Wild Bird

 Yellowlegs 

A few yellowlegs are again passing through central Ontario, this time on their way south having left their breeding grounds in the Hudson Bay lowlands where they nest in bogs or natural openings near water.

Wading in shallow water looking for small fish or aquatic invertebrates

They often wade up to their knees.

AH! Found something!

I am linking with I'd Rather B Birdin'  HERE.

Harbour at Owen Sound/Top Shot

Near sundown, Owen Sound

The water is low in Georgian Bay and swimmers are mostly waders at this beach. But the channel into the yacht club has been dredged so boats can come and go.

I am linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot.

Driftwood/Weekend Reflections

Driftwood in shallow marsh water

I liked the way the light was shining on this driftwood and reflection.


To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Sunset/Friday Fences

Country road, Uxbridge

Last week a few minutes before sunset.

I am linking to Friday Fences here.

J/Alphabe-Thursday

 JULY at the cottage

J  is for JULY

 The cottage

 Boating with family

 Treasures on the beach

Whale  watching in the parking lot

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Green Heron Encore/Wild Bird

 Green heron (Butorides virescens) scratching an itch

Watching a green heron can be hysterical. This one was particularly funny, but I didn't laugh out loud because I didn't want it to know I was spying on it.

Still scratching

This is a continuation of last week's post, which you can see HERE.

 Crouching down looking for a fish

This is what a heron's rear end looks like when it's crouched down.

A more familiar angle for when it's crouched down

I am joining Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Bee, Butterfly & Milkweed/Nature Notes

Milkweed nectar must be delicious!

Bees and some butterflies can't resist common milkweed (Asclepias syriacus), and my camera couldn't resist taking photos of the bee on this plant.

Largest square: closeup of viceroy, a butterfly that looks a lot like a monarch. It's here you so you can see what this butterfly looks like since - as you can see in the next photo (moving clockwise) - the viceroy didn't want to stop to have its portrait taken. In the next four squares, a bee is fascinated by the fading blossoms on common milkweed.

* Please note that I include botanical names because common names differ from area to area.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Evening at the Beach/Our World

A lazy, crazy, hazy evening in Owen Sound

 A few were reluctant to leave the beach

The sun was lowering in the sky

It was still warm but after 7,  so time to go home.

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Surprisingly Colourful/Birding

 Starling with feather

European starlings are often disliked birds, nevertheless in bright light their colours are dazzling - a shiny purple and green, not simply black as they appear from a distance.

Perhaps this starling was trying to "feather its nest."

Side view

I am linking with I'd Rather B Birdin'  HERE.

Bubbles/Top Shot

Mom taking photos of son making bubbles

One subject I dearly love to photograph is other people taking photos. I wonder if I was in the photo she was taking.


I am linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot.

Wild Garden/Weekend Reflections

Elgin Pond, Uxbridge

This photo was taken shortly before sunset a week ago.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Shed and Garden/Friday Fences

Entrance into fenced-in area

This shed has attitude, still hanging in there - though I haven't a clue as to how long it will stand.  Here you can see the gateway into a small grassy area and...

Garden inside fenced-in area

a small garden.

I am linking to Friday Fences here.

I/Alphabe-Thursday

 Outside a collectibles store

I is for INSIDE

There's something different INSIDE each wooden box. 

Store selling miniatures in Port Perry

Dolls and dollhouses  are for sale INSIDE this store.

St. George's Anglican Church, Sutton West

This door is open in hopes passersby will check out what's INSIDE.

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

Green Heron/Wild Bird

 Green heron (Butorides virescens) on a log in Tiny Marsh

This heron is patiently crouching with it's eyes focused to below the water. It's hoping to surprise a fish. No luck so far but...

 Bending down to catch a fish

a little later it captured this fish. Notice how in the first photo the heron's neck looked short and fat but in this photo it's actually quite long.

Eating the fish

Here the heron doesn't look green. But close up and in good light, it's back  is a deep green.
I am joining Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

Mid-July/Nature Notes

Wildflowers along a boardwalk in a swamp

Largest square: Wood nymph (Cercyonis pegala) on a blade of grass.

Moving clockwise: field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis); moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria), blue vervain (Verbena hastata), Marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustra) and blue flag (Iris versicolour)  still in bloom.

* Please note that I include botanical names because common names differ from area to area.
Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Billy Bishop/Our World

 Billy Bishop Home and Museum

I confess that when I first saw this Victorian house in Owen Sound (on Georgian Bay), I had no idea it was a museum. I wanted to take photos of this place because it looked so interesting with...

 Atop the house

a shuttered cupola for a third floor.

 Below the cupola

And this lovely dormer on the second floor.

It was only after I had taken a few photos that I noticed the sign that said the house was "the birthplace and childhood home of Billy Bishop, the legendary flying ace who won renown with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in the First World War."

 Porch on the first floor

Truth be told, my knowledge of First World War flying aces was/is sparse, which is not surprising since I distinctly remember a high school history teacher saying she didn't think airplanes were used in that war.  (She hadn't yet heard of Snoopy and the Red Baron, I guess.)

 Windows to right of porch

But I digress. The sign made Billy Bishop sound like the Canadian equivalent of the Red Baron, having shot down 72 enemy planes which earned him the Victoria Cross.

Bishop must have been quite the daredevil - fearless.  There's a story about him at age 15 that claims he built a plane out of wooden crates, cardboard and string and flew off the roof of his house. Apparently he was not injured. Lucky, eh?

Stained glass to right of windows shown above

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.