Vancouver Day 4,

Greetings Bloggies

I am in Vancouver right now. This is my prelude to the longer stay starting next month when I will be actively in the GIS program. This visit is both a favor and a business venture. The goal of this trip is to meet up with firms that have active GIS departments and areas of operations that are of interest to me.

Without going into specifics I have had a few solid visits and a dialog has been started that is strongly heading where I might want things to go.

I also found out just after I thought it my self, that my camera and sun glasses are in the car I rode down here in. Its no big but a bit of a pain.

In other news the cats which I am here to keep alive and happy are , certainly alive, happy is hard to tell. The one is constantly whining and speaks in a tone that makes you think you have offended her. The other is well, shy.

Death of bird

Greetings bloggies

This morning I was brushing my teeth as I do with the help of the hose outside the log cabin I have made a home for much of the last year. I heard a trrrrrrrrrrr splat, trrrrrrrrrrr splot, trrrrrrrrrrr plop. After the first time I heard it I looked up. A grouse was trying unsuccessfully to fly over the chicken wire mesh that defines the top half of our anti deer garden fence.
At first I thought there was only one bird but a second smaller bird made the same attempt twice, the larger bird tried it only once.

I went in to take a look. They had moved to the south side of the garden and were near the gate but in the tall ferns that mark the used out edge of the garden. As I got closer the larger bird flew away, parallel to the fence not in to it. The smaller bird I could hear in the grass. I gave chase. It did not run fast or far. I managed after a short while to pick it up, with both hands in case it wanted to get defensive.

The poor thing was weak its neck was at an odd angle, not quite holding up its head at the right angle. This closer look told me it was likely this years hatch. It was 90% into its adult plumage but was still scruffy and incomplete looking. I took it down to the house for show and tell, where I noticed that when it did fight back it was only kicking with one leg. It was a hurt bad.

It was suggested that we let it go into the ferns and let nature take its coarse. So I carried it to the edge of the lawn and put it done. It did not move, or run it just flopped weakly. I could not let it die that slowly so I did the better but harder thing.

Knowing that it was doomed, and not wanting to think about the slow suffering I conferred with one of the folks. I looked away and put my hand over its head making sure to close the beak so I could not snap at me and twisted. It was not a pretty feeling. I felt its last twitches which lasted the better part of a minuet. At least it would not suffer any more. Is a bit saddening, but at the same time they are one of natures prey species.

I have to say this, if it was the fully grown bird, or even if it was a little larger I would considered butchering it. It was a healthy young bird, some what like a chicken. Only its size prevented my considering its food value.

Before I relieved it I took some so so photos with my phone.





When I had taken these photos we had not yet decided to terminate the poor thing but I would say my thoughts were heading there.

Science Toads

Greetings Bloggies

As any of you who read this, who know me know that I am a nerd. A bit of a fan of science. So yesterday I tripped across some science by accident. Some time after I realized the last thing I ate was some gummy bears at 2pm and some toast at 11:30m and it was 5:30pm. So Went for some fast food and headed off to summit lake to escape the heat.

I did not end up swimming but the spot was in the shade and the water made for a cool retreat from the blasting heat of the summer. As I was wading to cool off I noticed the mini toads that populate that lake. The populate the shores of that lake in great multitudes the vast majority barely 1cm long, most greyish brown and some yellowie green. I noticed something sciencey after watching them for a while. Surface Tension.

It turns out that the little fellows are so small that like a water-strider or any thing small enough they stick to the surface of the water. So here were these little toads their legs kicking just like you would expect but the tops of there bodies were dry and the water around them was dented in just like the area around a water-striders foot. What stuck me as interesting was that the toads seemed to be right at the upper end of the size range where that kind of interaction is possible. They live at the upper limit of where surface forces dominate.

Silly Politics

I usually reserve this blog for original content but I like Friday's XKCD too much too leave alone.

Nom Nom

Greetings Again Bloggies.

As you know by now our neighbors cat has become some thing of a self imposed guest. Since he does not eat here, or shit here ad we rather like cats he is generally welcome. Today I spied him earning his keep. He pranced out of the flower garden ,as I I was writing the Arrow Park post, with a big fat vole in his mouth. Which he ate. Nom Nom Nom.




I can haz crunchy bits.

Arrow Park

Greetings Bloggies.

I had a fun day. With so many of the people I was planning on looking on vacation today I too the time to get a way from the heat. I had my self a little adventure. I went out to Arrow park, where the Arrow Lakes is near its narrowest and when for a paddle, first up a creek then down a lake. I think I may have got too much sun. I had a good nap on a clay beach and saw a great blue Herron and some odd ducks. I ate good with cheese apples pickeled vegies. The water was calm and I was out and about for the better part of 6 hours.






Above, a series of clay banks and the troubles high water causes for the trees. There were many who had fallen off the bank. I even saw on which seemed healthy evan after having its root ball slide down the back and landed level part way down.

It occurs to me that a good kayak day is like a good day on a bike, you get to go out to new places go slowly an quitly enough that things don't go running off right a way. And with good pacing I can go most of the the day.

It was a good day. And yes I did go for a swim and yes that is my boxer shorts drying on my paddle.
They were wet not from any events happing to me out in the lake, but from some manuvering in a creek. I had gone up a creek past where I had seen motor boats turn back form, slipping between some trees and getting in to the creek proper, where it stopped looking like a flooded drainage. A few hundred meters upstream from there I found my self off of the main channel and getting in to shallow rocky waters. I has to get out and half float half carry the boat to a deeper side pool till I figured out how I was going to get out of there. I also got my shorts wet. I ended up carrying Wessel across the partly submerged gravel bar and getting back in to the boat in the main channel. It was calm enough that I could take my time.

After that I went down stream and pulled in to a little bay and had some cheese and pickeled vegies while keeping an eye on the Blue Herron.

A good day all in all.




 
 
Lunch and Where I ate it.


 
 

The Crossing

Greeting Again Bloggies.

On the last leg of the trip the weather picked up. We came to Shelter bay to find the upper Arrow lake showing meter high waves. There was a difference of opinion, my companion was nervous about the crossing and I was woo hoo its going to be Interesting. The wind was strong I got out of the car to use the out house and got sand blasted. It turns out that the lesser of the two ferries on that lake was moored because of the high seas. I figured it would be safe until the crew said it was not.




Once we got on the boat we were slow in getting started but it was interesting once we were moving, lots of lighting flashes and the gentle rocking of the boat. It was a good show. So here are some photo goodies from an interesting but not very interesting crossing of the arrow lakes