I was sitting quietly by Balsam Lake, Ontario, when I noticed this industrious bumble bee. I don’t know what species it is – Ontario has numerous species of native bees and I’m not an expert. I usually avoid them. Bumble bees are large and fuzzy. Their colours and patterns vary – yellows, blacks, white, orange, brown. […]
I don’t always know what kind of flower a wildflower is – do you? We were recently in Balsam Lake Provincial Park and when we were out on a hike, we noticed some small flowers. They were different colours but basically looked like this:This is a closer view.At first we thought we were seeing different […]
When we were at Balsam Lake Provincial Park recently, we were entertained by the chipmunks in the campsite. There was one that was particularly friendly and was anxious to get whatever treats there were around.Sometimes it seemed like he was posing and waiting for me to take his picture.The chipmunk stores food in its pouch […]
One of the first signs of spring is the arrival of the crocuses. I have one small patch of purple ones that keep coming every year and the patch is slowly increasing in size.
When the ice was going out, we noticed something down by the shore. As we got closer, we were able to see that it was a muskrat. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to one in the wild, and so I found it fascinating. I couldn’t figure out what it was eating and […]
Our groundhog has come out of hibernation, as I’m sure its many relatives have. This one was at our neighbours, and looked like he/she was collecting leaves for the nest. It wasn’t very happy to see me, but didn’t run away. I think it thought if it turned its back, I might go away. The […]
When you go to Wayne, Alberta, you see many signs of the past. It used to have a school, hospital, theatre and several stores, but now only has the hotel which was built in 1913. Signs of the past in a ghost town – Wayne, Alberta. Originally in the 1930’s, there were over 6 mines […]
When we were at Lake Louise, we had the opportunity to see a Clark’s Nutcracker. People in the western provinces are used to seeing them, but we don’t see them here, so they are unique for us. They aren’t very afraid of people, especially around Lake Louise where they have a lot of tourists around them. Clark’s […]
We visited Lake Louise several years ago (2003), but didn’t have much time to walk around the lake. We had accidentally locked our keys in our van and had to wait for CAA to help us. This made our time there very short, so I was hoping to have more time last year (2014) when […]
At the east side of the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta is the Burmis Tree. At one time there was a town of Burmis located in close proximity, but it became a ghost town when the coal mines and lumber companies were closed. The Burmis Tree is a historical site showing where the Crowsnest Pass begins. […]