Longer Than I Thought...

Hello.  Is anyone still out there?  Thanks to Eva for the "poke" of sorts in way of a comment on an older blog, checking in.  Seeing when I last blogged, I have been gone long than I thought.

Life got pretty busy.  We went through a kitchen reno that took almost a month; and we still don't have a kitchen table to finish the room off.  I found myself being unwell a lot through the first half of the year as well.  I got pretty sick over Christmas and it went on for over 3 weeks.  Then in March I got sick again.  Then in May.  I thought I was finally better but then BOOM, sick again in June.  Knocking on wood that things are better for me health wise.  Plus, just not blogging for a while, I fell out of the want or need to blog.  One other reason, my 500 mm lens is acting up.  I had it in for the auto-focus and then not long after I got it back, the image stabilizer started acting up.  It's temper mental and frustrates me.  I've debated on sending it back in for service.  Angie is pushing me to get a new lens.  But, the thought of dropping over $3,000 for a new lens weirds me out.  That's a lot of money!

Okay, enough rambling...  let's catch up a little bit here.

I recall blogging about finding a dead screech owl on the main road by us.  I was sad, thinking it may have been our backyard visitor Little Al as he went MIA.  Did I ever blog that he came back sometime after me finding that dead one?  He spent less time this past winter with us as it was fairly mild and we didn't get much precipitation.  Little Al seems to visit us when it is bitter cold and especially if the weather is crappy.  I was sooooooooooooooooooo happy to see him back at the box; and yes, I was still sad about finding that other one.  Here's Little Al late this winter.  The Master of Camouflage!  He disappeared sometime in March and we hope returns again later in the fall.

More recently, we just got back from a trip to see Angie's brother and family in Okotoks, Alberta.  It was a mix of seeing family and taking in some of what Alberta has to offer in way of nature.  Angie hired us a guide for one of the days, taking us out to various spots and trying to see birds that we do not get to see in Ontario.  I ended up with over 15 life birds!  I haven't stayed on top of my life list so while we were out there, I had a feeling I was nearing my 300th bird, but not sure how close I was to it.  I ended up surpassing the 300 mark and figured things out after we got home and reviewed my list.  It turns out my 300th bird was a Swainson's hawk.  If only I knew it was my 300th when seeing it, I would have been more excited to see this bird species and I would have tried for a better photo than this one from down the road, shooting out of the car window.

One of the bigger thrills for me on that trip was seeing male mountain bluebirds.  I had seen a female here in Ontario a few years ago.  It was a terribly cold and windy day when we went to see that bird; but seeing the stunning males on a pleasant summer morning sure was better.

Another lifer was the American white pelican.  I saw these birds as a teenager down in Clearwater Beach, Florida; but didn't add it to my list until I saw one as now being a "bird nerd".  We saw about 16 at Frank Lake and another half dozen at a park called Douglasbank in Calgary.

Golden eagle was another life bird.  We saw adults flying and this juvenile still in the nest up and in a cliff.  The views were okay but not great for photos.

A few hundred feet over there was a prairie falcon.  The bird sat on top of the cliff and occasionally took flight, screeching as it circled above us.

I will spare you more crappy life bird shots.  How about one, not a lifer, but prior to this trip, I had only ever seen these birds down in Nevada.  Yellow-headed blackbirds.  A dime a dozen in Alberta but only a few small pockets here in Ontario that I know about.  Stunning birds!

A real highlight from the trip was seeing some bears.  I haven't seen a wild bear since I was 6 or 7 years old when we would be up north and stop in at a dump after dinner.  The bears were all black bears even though a few weren't black; they were cinnamon colored black bears.  Who knew?!?!  Not me, that's for sure.  We saw a "cinnamon" mother with two cubs, one of which was also cinnamon colored.

We also saw a large male black bear on our last full day in Alberta in the foothills.  He was on the other side of the road from us.  I spotted him as we were driving.  I quickly pulled over and we got out.  I slowly and quietly walked along the road, staying on the other side from him and kept going until I was pretty much directly across from the bear.  I wanted a better photo than just "bum shots".  Once I got that photo, knowing the bear was aware of my presence, I backed away, not making too much noise or fuss if you know what I mean.  I have almost no experience around wild bears, and he probably had little concern about me, but I played it extra cautious.

Here at home, Merry and Molly are doing great.  It's hard to believe we just had our 8th anniversary with them.  Where does the time go?

Frankie our rescue budgie is just fine.  We are at 9 months with him here living with us.

Sadly, our rescue leopard gecko Norbert suddenly, and unexpectedly, passed away earlier this week.  Even though he made no sound, the house seems quieter without him.  We enjoyed his company in the living room for nearly 9 years; and we had no idea how old he was when we took him in.

There's more in my head to throw in this blog but I will stop it here.  Hopefully this will entice me to get back on here soon and share something else, like our recent Etobicoke peregrine falcon fledge watch.  I do have a unique story to tell about a rescue I did; but all the rescues are unique.

Anyway, if you happen to catch this blog, please say "hello" in the comments.  It may also help me get back in the swing of blogging more regularly.  

Cheers!