Orchid love

 

Two posts in one day…well, when the mood strikes…

Cattleya Sun Mei Gold

The orchids have been growing buds for several weeks and now the first blooms are opening, bringing summer colours to a winter palette.

Cattleya Shinfong Little Sun

Phalaenopsis

Oncidium Shari Baby

They love the east facing windows, soaking in the morning sun when it appears, blooming for weeks. 

Last year some of the flowers lasted till May and into June. A visual feast for the eyes. 

As more start blooming, I will post photos.

Enjoy!

Louise

Phalaenopsis

Every season has it’s beauty

The deep freeze is upon us; chilly winds, snow squalls and endless snowdrifts. All this on top of the ice storm that left at least one inch of hard ice under the snow. I pity the owls, hawks, foxes, deer…really all wildlife trying to find food in these hostile conditions. For humans, it’s business as usual, just open the fridge…imagine our ancestors and how difficult it was to stay alive.

Snow!

An icy coating on everything

It is comforting to know that in 6 or so weeks, Redwing Blackbirds will be returning from their southern digs, red epaulettes flashing against the blue sky, singing their raucous greetings. 

.In the meantime admire the changing scenery; snow sculpted by the wind, elongated purple shadows on white, iridescent sunrises, crimson sunsets…there is beauty everywhere!

Who said snow was white....

Late afternoon shadows

Winter Sunrise

Winter Sunset

Morning Sun halo

 Look beyond the salty sidewalks and you will see clouds dotting cerulean skies, sun halos and dark night skies with a generous sprinkling of diamond stars. 
 Sun halo, preceding a storm

Take a moment to breathe in the fresh crisp air and listen to the snow crunching underfoot. Dress for it and you will enjoy these moments. Each day is a gift, waiting to be unwrapped. Open it carefully, for it is special ...

Louise

Underwing Moths

It was hot and muggy today, warmer than usual for September, the evening is humid with a clear sky and a sliver of moon. It will soon be time for the Sweetheart Underwing Catocala amatrix moths that spent the day hiding in plain view on the north side of our brown brick house, to set aloft in the darkness. 

Every year I have been delighted to find one or more species of the large beautiful Underwing moths in our yard. The attraction for the Sweetheart must be a row of Cottonwoods on the north side of the property, they are a host plant. These large moths, that look remarkably like the bark of their host trees, hide colourful underwings, visible only in flight. When under attack, it is thought that this colourful display startles potential attackers momentarily, allowing the moths to escape predation. The eggs overwinter in crevices under the bark of host trees.

Here are photos of the moth at rest and with wings open showing part of the underwings:

An ocean of plastic

It has been a long time since I posted.  Last January I was diagnosed with breast cancer and so a new journey began. It was made easier with the love of friends and family and I am very grateful for all their caring.

 More strongly than ever, I believe in protecting what is left of our natural world. We are biological beings that need the soil, air and water our planet provides. Sadly we are slowly destroying that which sustains us.  

I was sent a link to a film that shows us how profoundly plastic pollution is affecting our oceans. We are not immune, for one, our bodies are full of chemicals from plastics. That's not all, plastic pollution is everywhere and it kills! 

If you care for the planet, take a moment to view this short film and please share this link with others.

http://www.midwayfilm.com/

Winter escape

It's been a long time since I've had time to post. Home renovations kept me busy. Last week we took a break and went for a Caribbean Cruise. Not really my kind of holiday, but we were joining friends in scattering a departed friend's ashes in the warm tropical islands. It turned out to be lovely, the sun shone all day, the waters were warm and clear, islands beautiful and company terrific. We avoided the casinos, the shake n bake near the pool etc and enjoyed exploring the islands and sipping wine on our balcony while watching sunsets over the sea.

We visited San Juan, St. Thomas USVI, Tortola BVI, Antigua, Dominica and Barbados.

Smuggler's Cove Tortola

St. Thomas, Tortola and Barbados are well known to us and we enjoyed them again.

Antigua and Dominica were new to me and were very beautiful. Dominica is lush and mountainous and relatively untouched as the black volcanic sand beaches are not what the tourists like. It suited us just fine, many birds, butterflies, rivers, waterfalls, fumeroles, orchids and thick tropical forests. A river for every day of the year.

Roseau, Dominica

Frangipani Hornworm

Bougainvillae

Orchids hanging on lianas

Antigua was somewhat flatter and more arid with many cacti, century plants, scenic views, historical sights and a beach for every day of the year. Very pretty with tons of very expensive sailboats to make us envious.

We visited the old city of San Juan (Puerto Rico) with very old spanish architecture. We enjoyed regional fare in a local restaurant.

A highlight was seeing White-tailed Tropicbirds, Northern Gannets, Brown Boobies, Great Frigatebirds and Sooty Terns while at sea.
Now it's back to the realities of a Canadian winter, albeit a very mild one with little snow. I miss the warm humid tropical air with the scent of flowers and the briny sea. Ahh....

Autumn lingers

Watching the news makes one realize how winter has unofficially arrived in many parts of Canada with snowy blustery days and even major snowstorms. The closest we’ve come is one night of freezing rain which coated everything but luckily the ice melted by noon the next day. Now the warmer weather has returned and with it fog follows the cooler nights. In the morning the ground is covered in frost before the sun melts it. I love how the grasses and fallen leaves are outlined in ice crystals.

This morning, the sun was shining on one side of the yard and there I found a Periwinkle flower.

Blue Bell still blooming.

White fluffy Milkweed seeds were caught in groundcover.

By contrast, in the shaded parts of the yard, the green foliage, grasses and fallen leaves were covered in a frosty coating; each leaf veins and hairs outlined in rime creating exquisite patterns.

When the leaves are down it’s a good time to examine trees and shrubs for nests and cavities which are so well camouflaged in the summer. There are discoveries to be made such as the now easily seen pendulous Baltimore Oriole nests hanging towards the end of sturdy twigs; I found 3 of these marvels in the yard.  

Baltimore Oriole nest in Birch



 I love birch trees, the tiny twigs and seeds creating stark shadows on the white bark.

Even the weedy brown Mulleins stalks stand tall looking a bit like skinny Saguaro cacti. The birds love to perch on these vantage points in the summer, to catch passing insects on the fly. Now they serve to remind me of those warmer days. I will clean the yard up in the spring but for now I leave all undisturbed, places for winter species to hide and feed during the harsh winter months.

Louise

Mullein stalks

Preventing Bird Window Collisions

Each year countless birds die as a result of collisions with windows or reflective glass. New windows in particular are very reflective so a bird will only see the outdoors, perhaps the sky or trees, reflected back and it will keep flying right into the glass thinking it has a clear path ahead. The resulting injury is usually immediately fatal or permanent (fractures, head or eye injuries) and even if the bird flies off apparently uninjured, it may perch somewhere, disoriented, and die later of a slow bleed or shock or fall prey to a cat or other predator.

I recently installed a window film called CollidEscape on the outside of a patio door, to stop birds from trying to fly through the house. I found out about this product from the Fatal Light Awareness Project (FLAP) newsletter.

FLAP is a non-profit group started by a group of dedicated volunteers who pick up injured or dead migrating birds from the base of high-rise buildings in downtown Toronto. The birds that recover are released outside the city. It has evolved into a very effective organization dedicated to stopping the deaths of birds hitting reflective glass or lit buildings at night. They have helped with establishing changes in building codes and are now in a legal battle with the owners of one particularly deadly building. Their work has brought attention to the plight of our migrating songbirds and similar projects have started in other major cities in North America. If you care about the fate of millions of migrating birds, please go to the FLAP website and get informed. http://www.flap.org/

After installing this window film, the results are quite dramatic and effective from the outside and do not impede our view at all. The first photo shows our view through the film from the inside; it's like looking through a regular screen. The other photo shows the view from the outside. It almost looks like a solid white window, giving privacy. It allows the sun to shine in and the view but the birds no longer try to fly in.



The cost was $130 for two patio door panels which came in 2 rolls. I cut them to size before installing so that I have enough leftover to do a couple windows.  The life of even one bird saved is worth it for me. I ordered directly from this website http://collidescape.ca/ .

The customer service was excellent, I ordered the patio door set and there is plenty of material and it is easy to cut to whatever size you need. It's worth checking out this site if you have a troublesome window or door in your house. There are also other ways of reducing window collisions described in the FLAP website so please check it out.

Louise