Hunting birds: respectfully

I have come to a decision. We had planned to visit a particular spot on Amherst Island (population 450) to spot some owls. It is a famous place to view owls. I'm not going into their woods. I have visited the island, but we did not go into them. I found out, later, that they permit visitors, for now.
I have written about it before: Amherst Island Birding Ethics. A perfect habitat for them in our wicked winters. There is food, shelter, and few predators, until now. The landowners have permitted people to visit and photograph owls on their property. The road leading to the woods is rough. I'm sure it is deliberately so.

There is a wide amateur photographer community, who sometimes use professionals to lead tours to the island. It is ubiquitous, and increasing. I understand the need for professionals to earn a living leading tours, and they can teach ethics, one hopes. You cannot teach respect, however. It's not limited to Ontario:

Phil Slade said...

It happens just the same over here Jen. We don't have Snowy Owls but most owls are now targetes for birders and toggers. "Toggers" are people who have no real interest in birds just photography. It's all become a huge problem.

Amateurs, and professionals alike have been owl baiting to lure the owls towards their cameras. This is bad for many reasons; I'm sure I need not explain it, others have.

Thinking of feeding or baiting owls for your photo? Here's why you shouldn't do it: https://t.co/asusIC7m66 pic.twitter.com/Wq4CpYe04S

— Audubon Society (@audubonsociety) January 5, 2019

By the way, there is a difference between short-term baiting birds with live food, and putting out backyard bird feeders [Audubon Society, Jul. 13, 2017]

‏Verified accounMor

We have many owls in care in rehabilitation centres in the province. Birds hit by cars are quite common. Not that taming them is an issue here, but road speed and distracted driving means there are quite a few animals hit on our highways. Hubby found this one on the road. I took the opportunity to photograph this fine creature, then set it in the forest to let nature take its course.


Baiting owls has been an issue for a few years, now. With Social Media, people share photos and locations. This should stop. It won't, however. Ethical birders have been mum about owl locations lately. I only share a location with trusted photographers.

These are the behaviours people have witnessed on Amherst Island:

• people climbing into fenced, out of bounds areas
• people climbing fences to shake them and make snowy owls to fly
• trespassing at night, with lights, to get photos
• another man picked up a saw-whet owl, a wild owl, and put it in his coat
• landowners are kicking people off of private property as they are trespassing
• a man with a cooler full of mice, to lure the owls.

And now: drones...

This is a collection of my owl photos. The joy of photographing them and the luck of finding one, is sheer joy.

The week thus far...

Well, the news is discouraging on both sides of the North American border, and across the pond. Family dynamics weigh heavily. I wake at 4 a.m., and listen to podcasts. What did I learn?

I learned about Russian Twitter accounts, widely shared by the far right, spewing lies. It's called 'confirmation bias', to look for posts which confirm one's opinions. We are insulated in our bubbles of  similarly-minded people. We must filter what we read through the lens of facts, and do research to ensure we spread truth and light. It is called 'individual agency', when we must stand up to negative influences around it. Red posted a similar piece [Some Facebook Friends Are  A Nuisance], so I know it's not just me.

Retirement has changed with our generation. We have more time to read and reflect, and worry. My mom worked until she was 66-years-old. I retired at 50, burned out with work and caregiving.

“A 30 to 40-year #retirement is very different than a 10 or 20-year retirement.” @Cath_Collinson in “Rethinking retirement: the view from around the globe”.

I think it important to call people out. Too many have time to throw stuff up on social media. For the first time, yesterday, Twitter posted a Fox news interview by Chris Wallace, of Sarah Sanders wherein the interviewer called out her lies by rebutting them with facts. I think the tide is turning.

People have asked how I did with my cord repair. It was brilliant! I watched this video, which showed a little bit of what to do. This nice young man showed how to knead it and get it flexible. I watched and learned!
I flattened and wrapped it. It was amazing.

We had a situation. Isabelle left behind her sleep toy. She had tentatively decided not to sleep with her any more, but she changed her mind. They visited last week, her toy was wrapped in the blankets I threw in the washing machine. Whoopsie.
I packed 'Be-Be' up in a little box, and Grampa mailed it to her in the city. We won't be visiting Ottawa soon. He has to have a PSA test this week, and his treatment next week.

Hooper, meantime, is a biter. I brought a stick in for him to chew, but JB bought him a teething toy for cats. What a cat! He vaulted himself off the floor onto my leg as I reclined on my chair. I trimmed his claws last week, but he still scratched me.

You'll recall the December frog pond photos, melt and thaw, after each freeze. There was both an ATV and a car that went through the ice on nearby Mississippi Lake. Things were pretty bad on the weekend for first responders. This is a place where the water flows quickly, under the ice, and it is really unstable. I feel so badly for the families.
"Police responded to the initial call of a passenger vehicle through the ice near Craig Shore at 3:45 a.m. on Jan. 6. "

More @CBCNews: OPP recover man's body from lake south of Ottawa. https://t.co/0UB27I40is

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) January 7, 2019

It's not as slippery, but we had a big storm last night. They were worried about it being freezing rain. My rain gauge contained snow
and hail.

Poor hubby has to dispatch meals this morning, I go sit with my client. I've seen the snowplow go by twice (good thing), as well as an ambulance. We'll cross our fingers.

We ended up with... 2 cm, melted it was about 3 mm of liquid. We are anticipating above zero rain and a melt today.

Last week's deer selfie! Isn't she cute?!


It was a chilly trek down to the trailcam, at -14 C. It was very, very cold. I'm figuring out the settings. Crouched in the cold, rain and snow, squinted at the screen, and referring to the manual.


I looked and looked for the wee trailcam manual. I put it into the videocam bag, and could refer to it down in the forest or meadow. I looked in pockets. Nada. Sadly, I should have looked in pockets BEFORE I did laundry!
Yes, I downloaded one, but I can't take my laptop down to the meadow. sigh.

I spent the afternoon reading, yesterday, under a blanket. That's all I've been up to. How about you?!

Winter birds mosaic

Mosaic Monday #9 - December Delights

A funny story about Sugru

Faithful readers would remember that Daisy has a penchant for chewing cords (the Christmas tree, my computer cords, etc.). Her trick, when she's bored, and she wants me to play with her, is to detach the power cord from the laptop. I caught her in the act, when the camera was ready. BUSTED!

March, 2017

PLAN A – Dec. 23

Jesse noticed my cord, when they visited in December.

He told me about a brilliant item. (He's always full of ideas.) It's mouldable glue. You wrap it around a computer cable, for example, and it repairs them. I ordered it from Canadian Tire, to pick up at the store. Sadly, after TWO WEEKS, they said they didn't have it and couldn't fulfill my order.

PLAN B – Dec. 31

Back online, I found it at Home hardware. Terrific. I added hubby's name for pick-up, and placed the order. They sent an email Friday, saying it was ready for pick up. But, beware!

This order can only be picked up by the owner of the credit card used to make the purchase or the pickup party designated in checkout. Bring a government-issued ID with your picture on it (such as a driver's license or passport).

So, I sent him to the store to pick up an order I'd placed online. Often, I send him in and he has trouble finding things. It's not him. It's the staff who don't always know things. I sent him in, once, for chandelier light bulbs, and they told him they didn't have that kind. They do! I found them.

Anyway, hubby suggested we go out for dinner. I needed a new bra, and I suggested with split up. He dropped me off. I tried 6 bras, and found one that suited me. In the meantime, he was to pick up my order and buy me a new bathtub plug. He talked about buying an on-sale hat.
I met him at the restaurant.

I heard the story about my order. He asked for an order for him. Nada. He looked at the customer service counter. He looked in the back. Still nada. Then, they looked in the computer cable section. There was nothing like this there.

Then, Joe said it might be under Jilks. The guy didn't bother to look. The clerk gave up. We had a lovely dinner. Everyone liked his hat.

PLAN C – Saturday, Jan. 5

Hubby is persistent. Back to Home Hardware, printed order in hand. It's even addressed to him!

Remember the warning (above) in red? He went to the clerk. She looked and looked. As she did, JB looked up at the large banner advertising their: Home Furniture

"Free shipping to a store near you"

They looked in the front. They looked in the back. They finally found it. Someone was growing weary, though. Hubby needed to present his ID, as well as his credit card. He asked –why the credit card, as the order is prepaid and it wasn't on his card. That threw her.  Then, he was about to leave, and she called him back. She talked about it with someone else, for a moment. Then asked someone else. Nope. Good to go. The poor man! 

Voila. Note the 'Jilks' on it.

Big box stores really have to get their acts together, says JB. No wonder Amazon is dominating. It's much easier to find a product, order it, and get it shipped to your door. I loathe it. We try to buy locally.
This stuff was designed by an Irish woman. I'll let you know how it goes. I have to remove the danged duct tape first!

 

Ta da!

Twin week!

Well, my middle son, and family, have gone home to Vancouver after 10 days in Ontario. I looked back at the photos, and it struck me...

We were dressed alike! 

Dec. 23

Dec. 25


Dec. 26


Dec. 27

A sleepover!

Wed., Jan. 2nd

We had a last minute grandies visit. Papa had to work. I'd suggested they bring their skates. Josee didn't have any, she'd outgrown hers, so they popped into the 2nd hand skate shop on their way here. The skating was wonderful. I don't have skates, so I slid around. We'd had rain, thawing and freezing, and it was fairly smooth.


The ice was fairly thick, although where it drains into the wetland, on the other side of the trail, it was wet on the edge where the sun shines. The ice freezes from the outside in and thaws from the outside in, as well. It's clear under the dock and looks to be about 8 cm (3") thick, or so.


There they are!


As we skated, we noticed cracks. The water is draining underneath, the ice cracks and we could hear the noise. It didn't affect our skating, though. Caitlin told me the ice is better than the famous Ottawa canal! What a bonus! It was just a fluke of rain and melt and freeze (Frogpond Photos) and subzero temperatures this week.


I have a new hat. My late father followed the Maple Leafs. It's quite cozy!


There was an isabella caterpillar frozen into the ice. It must have awoken in the thaw, and fallen in the water. I'd found another caterpillar, which I'd rescued Dec. 29th, also fallen in.

I finally seem to have a handle on the new trailcam settings. Here we are, in the meadow, making our way back up to the house.


Grampa wrote a poem about dessert. What a nutbar! He's wearing his new hat, which I'd ordered online for him. It's perfect, isn't it?!


After dinner, Josee made a pretend box. It's a game to see if the cats will sit in it.
BTW – We're keeping *Daisy in the kennel for another two weeks. We'll see if she is suitably daunted when she returns home. I've worked through the grieving process, and weep internally each time I see a photo of her in my files. Hooper is getting braver. I've heard that kennel life can modify a cat's temperament. Fingers crossed. Besides, the laneway into the kennel is 200m of all ice, so there we go.


Isn't this fun?!

Thursday, Jan. 3rd

It snowed overnight. We have six female turkeys hanging about, although Caitlin counted seven the other day.


Note the time stamps, the deer were wandering about before and during our 2nd skate.


I was up at the house, hoping the maintenance people will call. Our 'new' 2017 toilet is leaking, again. Sigh. New toilet, old floor.
Caitlin posted some photos from down below, on the frogpond. They wanted a skate before they headed home. Laughter ensued.


Apparently, they didn't have to shovel the 7 cm of snow. It was light snow and an easy skate!