Sunday, November 8, 2009

My Sunday walk


I just got back from my cyber walk with the latest posts since this morning when I last looked at them. My habit in the morning over a cup of tea is to read the news online and see who of the people I follow has left something new. I have just enjoyed several photography blogs, some funny ones, and then I remembered that I took pictures of my walk this morning just to share with you!

The walk to the beach is less than a mile from my house. I set out with my gloves, coat, and camera. The Squalicum Beach walk is just a few blocks down Pinewood Avenue. Here's a picture of the trailhead:

As you can see, the trail is very well maintained and although it says .7 miles I don't believe it. Either they are overestimating or I am a very fast walker. I actually suspect it's more like a half mile from this point. The trail follows a rail track that comes from the lumber mill we pass along the way. We also see this interesting house with bee colonies. I can't help but think of how loud the train must be to these bees as the train comes rolling by.

There's a sign towards the upper middle of the picture, so I used my trusty telephoto lens to see what it says:

I hear from my neighbors that it's really good honey. Since I don't eat it and Husband is trying to cut back on sugar, I'll just keep on walking. I wonder if he sells the beeswax to people for candle making. There were plenty of bees still coming and going out of those square white boxes, so there must be flowers somewhere that they are visiting.

Here's a picture of the beach at high tide. This is the highest that I've ever seen it. Never before did I live in a place that publishes high and low tide in the paper along with the weather. On this walk at about 10:00 in the morning I saw maybe a half dozen people, some with their dogs. If you look closely you can see a woman with her dog on the left. Just a few minutes before I took this picture, it was sunny. Then the clouds blew across the sky. I love the feeling of that picture, though.

There's a long pier out at Squalicum Beach. I liked the picture with the clouds, the pier, the water, and the logs in the foreground. I didn't stay long, because there was no beach to walk along, being high tide and all, so I turned around the went back home.

The apartments where we live aren't very fancy, but enough for us. Our place is at the top left, and if you enlarge the picture you can see all the bird feeders hanging out there that provide me with my feathered enjoyment. Yesterday, though, we had a visitor on the porch that, although he is beautiful, I know he is looking forward to EATING my birdies, not my bird seed! This is a Cooper's hawk, and the description in the bird book says he swoops in at lightning speed to catch these birds. At least I can be assured that the birds he catches are well fed.

:-(

15 comments:

  1. Hi Djan... One of these fellows frequented our feeder last winter, too. I wanted to shoo him away but was reminded that the larger birds are struggling too. I got a wonderful picture of him with a kill.

    Thanks for leaving your comments on my blog. I WISH I were 25 again, but I am fast approaching 60. Still having fun though.....

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  2. Oh DJ, that was quite an interesting tour around your place. It seems that you live in a very peaceful and clean place. The trail going to the beach is very inviting,especially for those who loves brisk walking and jogging. I would love to walk along that trail with you, laugh with you and share stories.

    AL

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  3. What an awesome photo of the hawk. Did you shoo him away?

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  4. I really liked the walking tour. The beach and pier would be a place I would frequent often. I am drawn to water and waves. It provides a good backdrop setting for thinking.
    We had a hawk perched in our tree last week. It was awesome to watch when he took flight. It was graceful and effortless. Plus it was silent. I guess that is what makes them so efficient at capturing their prey.

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  5. Great shot of the hawk, he is beautiful. I am seeing the ones here more and more, they love to hunt in the nearby fields. While our birds are in some danger the field mice seem to be at the top of the menu.

    You have a lovely place to walk, the trail looks so inviting. I love the view of the pier and the clouds.

    Judy

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  6. Wow! He is beautiful! Maybe if you don't feed them, they won't look so appetizing. Poor little birdies...

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  7. that hawk is so handsome!
    you could make a calendar of your birds with shots like that and some easy software :)

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  8. oh that looks like paradise to me.. absolutely paradise!

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  9. Great photos. My favorite is the one of the pier and clouds. Super photo of Mr. Hawk.

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  10. The photo of the beach at high tide is amazing. Framable. The lighting and color give it a very ethereal feel.
    It seems that everyone was walking or hiking or being productive this weekend; I'm going to let that inspire me to do a bit of exercising myself!
    Thank you for taking us along on your walk.
    I hope all your little birdies survive the big bad hawk!

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  11. I enlarged the picture and it looks like most of the apartments have bird feeders so it must be a favorable place for the birds. The hawks seldom get the fastest birds but usually get those who are older or sick or sly slowest. It is a beautiful shot of that guy. An immature one to be sure.

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  12. Wow that first beach scene at high tide is AWESOME. Haunting..it needs to be blown up to an 11 X 14..it is wonderful! Seriously!
    And that hawk? Too cool! I have only been able to catch one hawk on camera and the sun was so bright in the background that I couldn't get it well enough to keep.
    Wonderful catches!!

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  13. Great photo of the hungry Hawk..he is about as miserable as the Eagles..but in Nature it is the survival of the fittest!
    What a nice walk down to the beach, I would spend way too much time there!
    Far guy feeds the birds too:)

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  14. I love your pictures in this post, particularly the first one and the one of the beach. Your apartment looks lovely too. You no doubt enjoy living so near to the beach. What joy to be so near to the sea.
    Hope that hawk didn't linger too long.
    Blessings, Star

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