Andrew Hayden Park visit

Ducks, Geese and seagulls; that's about all the wildlife you'll see living in and around the large pond at Andrew Hayden Park. I took a walk today around a section along the banks of the pond, and the only animal life I saw, at first, were a few very tiny fish. Not seeing more life other than plants, I kept walking. I visited the waterfall which runs into the pond. The water made a soothing sound and drowned out the noise of vehicle traffic from the road, a short distance away. As I walked further along and looked into the water near the shore, I spotted a dead crayfish close to the bank. I poked it with a stick, thinking it might be alive, but unfortunately it had died. A dead snail shell floated on the surface, nearby.

Messy bird droppings littered the grassy banks and rocks in several areas around the pond, and made walking a delicate and difficult task. Seeing all of that mess made me wonder what the water quality was like.

I didn't spot any large fish anywhere in the pond, but near the end of my walk, I spotted a large Grey Heron walking stealthily on the opposite bank. I wondered if it was not very smart, because there didn't appear to be anything close to meal size in the pond.

Afterward, I sat on a bench (Envirobench on the label) when I noticed a mother and young daughter crouching near the water edge and looking at something in the water. The mom took out her cell phone and took a picture of something near the shore, but I couldn't see what it was from my vantage point. A few minutes after they left, I walked over out of curiosity. I was expecting to see nothing out of the ordinary. I crouched down and looked in the same area that the mother and daughter had been, but didn't see anything. As I stood up to leave, my eye caught something on a rock right next to the bank. It was a small turtle laying motionless in the sun. I crouched down again to get a better look. It was about eight inches long and five or six inches wide with a greenish-gray shell. Dried seaweed was stuck on top of it. The turtle didn't move at all, and I thought it might have been dead for awhile. Then as I looked closer it shifted its neck and the eyes appeared to look at me. Then it pulled its head and front legs into its shell a little further. It was only about four feet away from me, but didn't appear alarmed or frightened. At that same time I noticed a small frog floating among the weeds on the water surface. It was also remaining motionless.

I noticed a man and his young son near the water's edge, a little further up from where I had been sitting on the bench. I walked over closer as he was taking pictures of the heron. He was using a camera with an extremely long zoom lens, although he was only a few meters away from the bird. I mentioned the turtle I had seen on the rock as I thought he and his son might be interested. His son came over in my direction, so I pointed out the rock where the turtle was still sitting. The young boy had a pair of binoculars and was looking through them as he walked a little closer to the rock. The boy's father thanked me as he went past, and walked over to where his son was. They both sat down and the father took pictures of the turtle as it rested motionless on the rock.

I was just checking out my last posting and realized it was June since I last updated this nature blog. Well, the seasons have changed, and in turn, so has the weather. It's getting much colder here in Ottawa now that it's December and snow is staying on the ground rather than melting.

As the armchair naturalist that I've become, since the weather is now much cooler, I decided to look back through the pictures taken during the summer and post a few of them. I am hoping to get motivated enough to walk along the river and take some pictures before it snows too much. In the meanwhile, enjoy these photos.

Prince of Wales rail bridge Ottawa

Sunset over the Ottawa River

How nature affects us

I hate to start off on a sad note, but sometimes it's necessary. Yesterday on my bike trip along the Ottawa River, I stopped at one of my favourite spots to check out the geese and ducks. While sitting on the wall of rocks, I looked down and saw the shell of this turtle partially sticking out from under a rock . I thought this was a terrific find, as I don't often see turtles along my route. When I climbed down to get a closeup picture I noticed this fellow wasn't moving and its limbs looked withered. It was motionless. I took a stick and moved it in the open to get a better look. It didn't move and I knew it was dead. I couldn't tell how it died, because there were no visible signs of injury. It was sad to see. I always had a liking for turtles and had one as a pet when I was a kid. That's long before I (or my parents, I think) heard that they are well known carrier's of Salmonella, a potentially deadly bacteria, in which young children are especially vulnerable. I remember handling and playing with it on the living room carpet, along with my small infantry of plastic soldiers. It was used to transport the injured from the battlefield.


Yesterday morning was a miserable looking day. It was rainy and cool and miserable. Yes I know I repeated the word miserable, and that's because it's the best word I can think of to describe it. Later in the day it lightened up and was nice enough to go for a bike ride, or so at least I thought. It started out nice enough and when the sun came out, it was beautiful. I stopped once and sat on the rocks and felt the warmth of the sun. It was theraputic. I even found a small rubber superball (you know the kind that seem like they will never stop bouncing) beside some rocks and although it was abondoned and broken in a couple of spots, and rubber was coming off in flakes, I decided it was worth rescuing. Since it was still so nice out, I decided to go further down the pathway. Well, naturally, the nice weather didn't last, and soon it was clouding over, and I was ducking for shelter from the rain. After finding a covered overpass to wait under, I occupied my time by playing with the "superball." It was great fun throwing it against the cement wall and watching it bounce erattically in many directions. I discovered that my reflexes, although pretty quick, were not close to what they were when I got my first superball several decades ago. Well, nearly a half an hour went by before it started clearing up, and when it did, I took off further down the bike path. The weather was beautiful again and the cool wind had died down completely. Further east, I stopped to look at the river and noticed how calm it was. That's what triggered me to take the picture above. I seldom see the river this calm, so it was worthy of a few photos, and I think this one captured the scene the best. After studying it for a few minutes, the water surface brought to mind an image of an ice covered lake without any snow on the surface. Notice the reflection of the buildings and the clouds on the water, I thought that was cool. The weather stayed nice for another hour or more.


Heading home, the weather changed once again, and it began raining with lightning and thunder in the distance. I found another overpass to take refuge under and waited it out. Bored, I once again played with my superball, at least until a couple of other people showed up seeking shelter. I'm sure nobody would have said anything, but my self consciounsess, told me to stop playing and act "normal." The idea of a middle aged guy playing with a rubber ball in front of an audience was too much, and besides, what would happen if I hit somebody with it? I can't afford to be beaten up.

When the sky started to clear up, I headed out again, even though it was still sprinkling. To the South I happened to catch a glimpse of a rainbow and thought it was worth a photo, even if I had to tempt fate and get caught in a downpour. Well that didn't happen and thankfully the rain continued to fall lightly. Notice how you can see a "double" rainbow in the picture above. It was very captivating and I took several pics. It's too bad I couldn't capture the entire rainbow as it formed a complete 180 degree arc. The photo below is taken further along the trail, as the clouds were scattering and from my vantage point, the rainbow had almost the glow of a burning fire with the clouds resembling smoke.

Life in the slow lane

Maybe we should take a hint from animals. Do you notice that animals don't seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere, except for the occasional free meal offered up by a human being perhaps. After watching how people in the city act, it's no wonder there are so many stress related illnesses. Of course animals have their problems occasionally; males typically squabble over territory, food or the attractive brunette displaying the latest season's fashions.

When they aren't squabbling with one another, animals appear to be relaxed and enjoying each other's company. They rest, sleep and take casual walks together in the woods. They really seem to be enjoying life. I can't say humans enjoy it as much. We are always in a hurry, worried about making money and buying things. So much of our life revolves around money; making it and spending it. Our lives seem so much more complicated than those in the animal kingdom. We have to plan our future and prepare our children's future. We have to follow a nine to five schedule most days and then worry about saving money and paying bills. Of course it's not all rosy for our feathered friends either, especially geese and ducks. It's not that they don't have anything else to do other than lay around and look food for when they are hungry. In fact, ducks and geese have to fly hundreds or more like thousands of miles every year migrating and risking their lives every step of the way. You know how paranoid people get when hearing of some nutcase taking pot shots with a rifle at passing motorists traveling south for the winter. Even if birds have limited thinking capacity, wouldn't you think they must wonder what the hell humans are doing out in the woods, shooting at them with shotguns? Well probably not, because they don't have the same appreciation for the sport of hunting as people do.



I go for bike rides or walks as much as possible when the weather is warm. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't more people outside doing the same thing. Yesterday, I walked for almost two hours, which is way, way more than I usually do. It was a bit cool, but a long sleeve shirt and long pants was plenty of clothing to be comfortable in. I seen very few people out walking, and wondered why. It is so enjoyable and refreshing to be outdoors. I'm not saying I am a good example of an outdoors person, because I'm not. Most of the time I'm inside using my computer or watching television, when I should be outside enjoying nature. But if you can get up and go outside for a little while each day, you will be amazed how beneficial it is to you. If I can put it in different words, I would say it is very addictive, but an addiction that is a healthy one.



After saying all that to promote outdoor activities, today is cool and rainy here in Ottawa, unlike the picture above, and the only exercise I'm planning on getting is doing the laundry. You can see the temperature didn't warm up very much by mid afternoon. That's Celsius on the left and Farenheit on the right, at mid afternoon. Of course, my two thermometers are not as accurate as the weather network, who said it was warmer. But it was still cold as far as I'm concerned, so don't let them fool you!