Moody Spring Weather

Typical Spring weather on Northern Vancouver Island... Rain, Sun, Rain, Sun etc... Not that I'm complaining, this is better than snow any day!

Is that a drop of water on my head?

Until I can get an ultra-wide lens I guess this will have to do. This was from two days ago on a trip up a small valley looking for "things".

Must get out more...

OK I admit I'm having to scramble to take enough interesting pictures to post here every day! Good excuse though to keep the camera within arms reach wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Here are some Frog or Salamander eggs I've been keeping an eye on for the past week or so. Not much change yet since I first noticed them. Be interesting to see what they turn out to be.

The view from up here

I went for another hike today and came across some old gold mine claim markers. This one was on top of the ridge about 40 feet above one of the old mines. There were two mines within fifty feet of each other and both were within the same claim. I was hoping to find the last claim marker because you can sometimes still find the old claim titles stuck inside a jar or can inside one of the claim markers.

I couldn't go into either of the mines because they were both filled with water.

Beach critters

Interestingly enough both the "China Caps" above and "Snails" below belong to the same family as "Slugs","Oysters" and "Clams" all are "Mollusks". A bit of trivia to keep in mind next time you sit down at a fancy resturant to enjoy "Oysters Rockefeller" or a steaming plate of "Escargots". YECH!!

The take off

I thought I would stay with the bird theme and put up this photo of a buzzard just taking off from his roost. He was about 100 yards away and way up hill from me so I had to shoot fast and through some tree branches. I think he had just gotten one flap of his wings when I snapped the shot.

Get your ducks in a row...

I don't know who came up with that phrase or what exactly it means but it seemed like a good title for this picture!
This picture is another from my poor old Nikon 70 300g. It was very soft and fuzzy which would be great if you were looking for slippers or something, so I worked it over in PhotoShop for awhile and here's what I came up with.

Stalking the big game

I went for another long hike yesterday and came across this big fella. I was able to get about 300 yards from him before he got spooked and headed off to a hiding spot. I really am going to have to get a bigger zoom!

So totally busted!

Need I say more? I'll let the picture speak for it's self...

The Intrepid Photographer

Do I try to make the jump or not? I decided I was too old and fat and it was still a little cool to end up on my back side in a couple of feet of water so I looked for a better place to cross this creek. I do look good in shadow form though! LoL

Interesting rock formations

Found this interesting sandstone rock formation last weekend. Sandstone is common enough around this part of Vancouver Island though finding it with groves worn into it like this is not. Just goes to show you never know what you are going to find when you start hiking around some.

This shot was a real turkey!

I came across two of these toms the day after it snowed here, the first day of spring if you remember. They were scavenging the ground to see what they could find to eat.

What is that!

Looks kind of futuristic, like something you would see in a sci-fi movie or something.

In reality this is a gravel loading facility for ocean going ships. Leading up to this is a 1/2 mile long series of conveyor belts and a number of huge piles of gravel of different grades and sizes. Most of the gravel is shipped south to California, Oregon and Hawaii.

Leave it to someone to figure out how to get rich selling rocks... by the shipload at that!

Clouds on the water

I went for an early morning walk yesterday and came across this scene on the nearby lake. The small picture on the blog doesn't really do it justice because everything seemed to be reflecting off the water at the time and it's hard to see in a small photo.

Airborne! The flying dog...

Check out this lucky shot, caught "Maggie" in mid air!

Gone to the Dogs!

Last few days have found us with a third dog as my Son is working a great deal of overtime... Two dogs is alot of work, three dogs is a handfull! A few more dogs and I'll be looking for a sled and some snow to go with! LOL

The First Day of Spring

I think daylight savings time has got Mother Nature all screwed up. I went out yesterday for a while to get some shots of the first day of spring. It was a pretty miserable day and I think the animals would agree with me!

It was 28 degrees with snow and 30 mph winds. The day before was 75 degrees and sunny.

Down at the Seine Floats

When time permits I grab the camera and head for the waterfront. There always seems to be something or other to take a picture of down around the docks.


Todays picture is of several fellows taking the net off a Seiner. There are several of these large nets piled neatly on the nearby floats. As I understand it, different nets are reqired for different locations and species of fish and most of these boats are able to carry only one net at a time.

Heart Rocks

Was it real? The first heart on a pedestal was a real photo. The heart rock is a well known landmark in the mountains here. If you talk to the big brains around here they all say it is a natural formation but if you actually look at it and pay attention to where it is it becomes obvious that it was placed where it is by humans. The pedestal and heart are all one piece of granite.

The heart I posted today is also a man made shape (and real) and points to a valley that has several more man made "things" in it. The photo is a little decieving because I took it from across the valley. The large tree just above this heart is about 20 feet tall if that gives you any perspective on the size of this heart.

Full load

Loaded "dragger" heading into Hardy Bay with a full load of fish.

This is an extreem crop out of a much larger picture, through a steamed up resturant window, hand held, no vr and with the 18 to 135 lens... This picture really should never have turned out, but here it is.

Is it real??

A granite rock set on a pedistal in the middle of a mountain range?

I've been had!!

Thank you Paul for yanking my chain and doing such a wonderful job with the photo shop!! For those of you that didn't read the comments with Paul's last post, his last photo was reworked in photo shop just to give me a hard time. And I fell for it. Watch for the payback, it will happen when you least expect it! :~)

But until then, here is one I took yesterday while looking for more of those balancing rocks.

Oklahoma Historic Sites

Found this picture on the Oklahoma Historic Sites web site. Before the Wagon Trains the Cherokee used to call this place "Nv-gi ani-nv-ya e-qua-ni" which roughly translated means "Four Rocks Ridge" I wonder what it is called now?

Will they fall or won't they?

These have been sitting undisturbed for centuries, well maybe not completely. I'm sure somebody has had the bright idea to try to push them off but have been unable to. Even though they look like they could fall any minute, these two boulders are bigger than a car and weigh several tons each and aren't going anywhere any time soon.

A couple more bird shots.

If you have ever tried to take a picture of a Crow or Raven you will know that usually the bird comes out way too dark! For whatever reason these birds suck all the light and reflect very little if any. This picture is a pleasant suprise, I think the muted sunlight was reflecting just so...

Can you say cold feet? I would last about 2 minutes standing barefoot on a big chunk of cast iron on a cold rainy day unlike this Seagull.

Nap Time

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time for this one! Man I need a bigger zoom lens!!

Bird pics.

Here are some recent bird pictures. First is a Grey Heron, middle one is a Loon (All our $1 coins have a picture of a Loon, that's why we call em "LOONIES") and the last pic is a Bald Eagle shot today.

Heron with 70-300 at 300

Loon with 18-135 at 135

Eagle with 70-300 at 300 (I took about 20 pics of this guy this was the only one that was any good all the rest were fuzzy... Typical nikon 70-300 g lens)

Been looking at lenses... Thinking about a longer lens in the 400-500mm range. As far as I can see the Nikon 80-400 vr would be the most versitile of the bunch for the type of photography I do. Small enough to pack around and can still be handheld at 400mm not to mention that it has good reviews on sharpness even wide open at 400mm.

Home on the range

We had a big thunderstorm here yesterday and after it cleared off I was able to get a few shots of a nice blue sky with just enough clouds to give some contrast. This is looking to the northeast on the road to my house.

In my sights!

Carefull where you aim that dog it might be loaded!

With utmost precision the little dog lined the big dog up in his sights. The big dog stood there like a deer in the headlights. Then like a bullet the little dog charged in for the kill!

The new lawn service

They mow and fertilize all at the same time!

Big equipment

Guess I'll give this guy the right of way...

To get an idea of the size of this rig have a look at the size of the fellow standing beside the front tire of the tractor for scale.

My new yard

I have finally moved into my dream spot, although the move itself was not a dream! I still have a few more things to bring down but I am now located in the southwest part of Oklahoma and should be out taking photos in just a few days. This is part of the land I am now living on, 60,000 acres of it!

Cob Webs & Fog

Kind of sounds like me in the morning before I've had my coffee! LOL


Took these two pictures two pictures this morning while up to Quatse Lake to check on the pumps for the water plant.