A broken eggshell on the sidewalk is such an ambiguous thing, really. Did the chick hatch, and the eggshell get pushed out of the nest? Did the egg itself break, dooming the chick? Questions, questions, questions ...
Results tagged “nature” from TWISIA
A broken eggshell on the sidewalk is such an ambiguous thing, really. Did the chick hatch, and the eggshell get pushed out of the nest? Did the egg itself break, dooming the chick? Questions, questions, questions ...
We took a nice walk around what will become our new neighbourhood, and stopped in at a local park to shoot the foliage. This weekend has been particularly good for fall colours and falling leaves, and it's a chilly reminder that winter is coming.
More peaceful denizens of the Bruce Peninsula - slowly decomposing the litter on the floor of the forest.
This were wonderfully slow up in the Bruce - a perfect antidote to the frenetic pace we seemed to be maintaining coming up to the wedding. We didn't slow down quite this much, but enough to actually catch our breath. Good thing, too, as we came back to another period of crazy activity that now (hopefully) seems to be waning.
Looking out onto Georgian Bay from "The Grotto". I'd love to come back here in the middle of summer and do more hiking on the trail. It was beautiful there, but we didn't get nearly enough time to hike. After the preparations for the wedding, we didn't have too much energy, either.
I have no idea if the red leaves are because the plants are starting to turn their fall colours, but these red and green ferns were all over the roadside near our cottage. They're tiny little things in this shot, but they're fascinating to see popping up through the (mostly evergreen) foliage we saw so much of. Note to self - when going to see fall colours, don't go to a mostly cedar and pine forested area. The results are not what are expected.
It's definitely fall now - the squashes are starting to make an appearance at the market, and even at the convenience store down the street.
Coming in for a landing on one of the many rainwater ponds down at Ashbridge's Bay. Do you ever get the idea that it's been a wet summer? Or is it just me?
This peacock startled me by wandering past, outside of any cage or enclosure, at the Toronto Zoo. It wandered by, put a show on for the crowd just by walking, and then jumped to the top of a six foot wall to continue it's journey. As they say in Monty Python, though, beautiful plumage.
We got a tour of a greenhouse from a friend of mine. It's amazing what kinds of flowers will bloom in a greenhouse - things you wouldn't expect to see growing in Ontario. Once again - thanks for the tour, Norm.
Lonely dead tree in Prince Edward County. The whole area is old Loyalist territory, and the villages and towns have been there for over two hundred years now - much longer than this tree has been there.
Everything is so fresh and clean after the rain.
The lupins are blooming in our front yard. I wish there was some way to have them bloom more than once, but they're a June flower - they'll be fading by the middle of July, if I recall correctly. But they're cool, the way their flowers appear on the stem. They start out like you see at the top, and then the colours appear, and the individual flowers bloom.
Oh dear, the blossoms are already fading and wilting. Spring is racing past us, as we enjoy the warmer weather. Summer will be here soon, and I'm looking forward to long walks after work, watching the city life in the evenings.
One of my neighbours seems to have missed the garden when planting these. They've sprouted up all over his front lawn, and I have to say that the effect is wonderful.
Warm weather has arrived, and the magnolia trees on our street are starting to blossom. Yay!
Ducks fly past seagulls standing on the the frozen bay down at Cherry Beach.
I have no idea who the sculptor is, but we found this on our walk through High Park. I'd never been to High Park before, and it was wonderful to tramp around through the woods on a warm winter day. Of course, the very next day, it dropped to -18 Celsius, plus wind chill, and I wanted to spend the whole day indoors.
Taken with my fiance's 100mm Macro/f2.8 Canon lens. I have to start borrowing it from her more often - look at that gorgeous bokeh in the background. Look at the wonderful detail on the rush. I wonder what else I can take pictures of with it. Stay tuned!
Summer is long gone, and the weather is getting nippy. Thanksgiving has come and gone. At least we have Christmas to look forward to! (or is it too early to talk about that?)
I'm not sure what kind of seed pods these are - maybe they're milkweed? Found beside the rails on the bike path to Cherry Beach.
After a shower, I found these droplets on some of the garden plants. I love how they form little spheres of brightness on the leaves.
Okay - so you're a horse. The mosquitoes and blackflies are the worst they've been in years, and you're outside in the sun. What can you do to prevent bites along your back? That's right! Roll in the mud, scratching those hard to reach places, and coating yourself in dirt to boot.Taken at the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at over the Canada Day long weekend.
Another shot from our walk around the interior of Algonquin Park. This tree has wrapped its roots around a rather large boulder, and seems to be crushing it. Or maybe that's just my imagination
On the long weekend, my sweetheart and I spent some time tramping around Algonquin Park. We came across this tree, which had fallen over in some storm. It has a very "Lord of the Rings" feel to it when your wandering through the forest - you see all kinds of things that are straight out of the books.
Went out for a stroll this weekend, visiting some of the Contact photography installations around the west end of the city. It was the first time I stopped in the Trinity Bellwoods park in a long time, and I found this maple leaf hanging at just the right height to be easily snapped.
I love the spring. Have I mentioned that on this blog? I love the appearance of the colors other than white and brown that we see so much over the winter. That being said - I love the white flowers.
More closeups of foliage again today. Before the leaves started appearing on this vine, I was thinking that it was dead. It's very refreshing to see the greenery popping up all over the place. Reminds me that there is warm weather and sunshine coming soon.
Somebody told me it was a cherry tree. Whatever it is, the flowers are very pretty - it really brightens up the front yard of our house.
I don't know what this tree is, but the flowers look seriously weird. Once again, more evidence that the long winter is over, and we're starting to look at definite springness.
Spring is in full swing, and the trees are blooming everywhere. There are two of these trees on our street, and the blossoms are all out.
I loved the juxtaposition of the child in the background with the tiger on the hill. It was a pretty nice afternoon at the Toronto Zoo, and the tigers actually got up out of their den, and walked around for us.
My grandfather always used to call them tree rats. They were all over the back yard at his place in Scarborough. This little guy was sharing a lunch with someone at Nathan Phillips Square the other day.
Lots of people out at Nathan Philips Square the other day, enjoying the warm weather. I don't know if these two came together, but they were having lunch together.
I don't know what kind of tree this is, but it's had these fuzzy buds on the branches since the leaves fell off. It's taken me a few tries, but I finally managed to get a decent macro shot of them.
Another flower shot, taken at the Allen Gardens Conservatory on my birthday.
I spent part of my birthday at the Allan Gardens Conservatory. Very peaceful place, and, even deep into the winter, lots of blooming plants. It's a pretty cool place, all in all.
There are two (TWO!) wasp nests hanging from branches of trees on my street. I used my 75-300 to get this shot, standing directly underneath the nest. I always wonder - do the wasps sleep all winter in these? How many of them survive the winter? Is this one abandoned, or still active? I guess I'll figure all these things out when the spring arrives.
I loved seeing the red stems of the plants peeking up out of the snow cover.
Weeds are less hearty than the trees, but they burst forth every year, regardless. Seeing them with snow on them is a reminder, to me, that although things end, they also renew, in time. Also taken on the Leslie Street Spit.
There's something interesting about a tree in winter. It sits and waits - to all intents and purposes, dead. But in spring, it bursts forth with new growth, leaves, and buds. Taken on the Leslie Street Spit on New Year's day
Somewhere, deep inside that warm, warm coat is my darling fiance. We went on a photowalk at the Leslie Street Spit (aka Tommy Thompson Park) on New Year's day, after dropping off the rugrats with their mother. It was cold, and I'd forgotten my gloves, but we got some great shots, nonetheless.
Taken after a snow/rain storm between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The barbed wire is around the parking lot of a former Volvo dealership.
George looked on helplessly as Martha threw herself at Raul. She was shameless - rubbing herself up against her lover, oblivious to the distress she was causing in George.
Yesterday afternoon, we had a visitor at work. Apparently, this falcon ran into the window, and sat on the ledge for the better part of an hour. I took a bunch of pictures, but unfortunately, the bird was a little bit camera shy. This was the best of the two that turned out in focus. Also seen on Flickr
Seen near Queen and Broadview. It reminded me of the walks I used to take in the conservation area when I was growing up. Early morning, covered with dew, or gently raining, I'd see piles of leaves, building up on the debris that covered the forest floor.
It's autumn again in Toronto. In previous years, this time of year meant that I'd start hiding inside, meeting with friends at home instead of wandering around downtown. Not this year - the photography bug has hit, and that means that there's all kinds of new things for me to photograph. I get out more, I get more exercise, and I get great pictures along the way.
