Red-shafted Flicker

There are plenty of western flickers in the area.  The western red-shafted flicker is native to the western half of North America.  This is one on a tombstone in the Fraser Cemetery, Sapperton.  - V

Sapperton

The top photo is a crop of a larger one and shows the cone on a Monkey Puzzle Tree, this one in Sapperton. Below is the crown of the same tree.
I got out late in the afternoon to check out a new grocery store near the SkyTrain station in Sapperton. The weather was mostly cloudy but with some sunshine getting through the overcast sky. As you can see, it is the usual autumn weather. The rain will be back but for the moment not having it is a relief! I cut through the Fraser Cemetery on the way to East Columbia Street (200 block) in New Westminster where the store is located. The store (Thifty Foods) was about a 20 minute walk away from home, so the exercise was good and needed but walking back was mostly uphill until it leveled out some as I got closer to home. When I returned home, it was time for a quick supper with most of the daylight gone for the day. As the season advances, the sun gets lower on the horizon and the daylight hours decrease. There's a fair bit of dew in the morning but I'll let you know when it gets frosty! - V

Sunday

Its Sunday evening here on the west coast. There's been some resurfacing of the main road being done outside during the evening hours (Thursday and Friday plus some this evening). Back east it would be done during the week days, not after hours or on weekends to save on premium costs of labour. Here I guess they're less concerned with the cost and more with keeping the traffic flowing. The noise just causes an slight issue but I guess that's how they prefer doing things here. I close the bedroom window anyway. Good thing its not as hot as it normally is this time of year.

I cooked up the chorizo venison sausages this evening and had some of them with the leftover rice from the previous night. The sausages are certainly tasty! Now as the evening draws to a close, its time for bed. A new workweek starts in the morning. Have a good night and an awesome week, guys! - V

local traffic bottleneck

Late yesterday afternoon (Friday) I observed the traffic on McBride Blvd locally as I have done many times before. Who designs a highway system that leads northward through Surrey to a bottleneck in New Westminster that leads no where in particular. If this highway connected with Hwy 1 (the Trans Canada Highway), this would make some sense but it doesn't. It connects with local two-lane arterial roads that create this traffic jam. When will the local municipal mayors, Translink and residents get on the same song sheet and design a highway system that actually works? People don't want to spend their free time idling in traffic when they could be with their families, at a favourite restaurant or seeing on of the many parks in the area. Why don't all the local municipal politicians, Translink and the public all get on the same song sheet and design at system that works for everyone, not just for special interests? This would be a novel idea, don't you think? - V

peacock

Once I got to Queens Park I managed to get a good shot of a peacock without the fencing interfering too much. The enclosure has two adult males (peacock) and one juvenile male but it would seem the accommodations for these birds is too small for the number. The female is called a peahen, by the way. Enjoy! - V

red-shafted flicker

Sunday I took a walk south of my place to Queens Park. On the way I noticed a flicker making a determined effort at getting at an ant colony, it lunch for the day, or snack! The Red-shafted Flicker is native to western North America while its related cousin, the Yellow-shafted Flicker is native to the eastern half of the continent. The call is the same and very distinctive. The rock you see in the photo was crawling with ants which the bird was busily eating at leisure! The weather was sunny and warm. - V

on the wild side!

On Sunday I went on a short walk to Queens Park just up the street from where I live. I try to walk each day to get in shape and regain that strength lost on the left side. So far so good!

While observing, I noticed a pair of ears and a head bobbing in the tall grass and buttercups in flower. I turned out to be a coyote, or Canis latrans in Latin! It can also be referred to as the American Jackal or prairie wolf. I managed to get a couple of good shots in before it ran off. This was after track it for a few minutes! I posted the photos on my Facebook page and someone commented that he'd like one. They are unpredictable alone and in a pack can be dangerous! I would re-think that idea! I'll have some other photos soon. - V

snow scene

The winter of 2008-2009 offered us some snow as well, not just in November 2006 as posted previously. Here children are using a snow-covered hill in New Westminster's Queens Park to full advantage with seemingly boundless energy fully absorbed in their task. Snow in the British Columbia's lower mainland is not as rare as people might think. Fifty years ago or so this was the norm! - V

October

Since we're well into the month of October, Halloween is not all that far off. Here are some photo I took in January one year during a warm spell which saw the nearby Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster's Sapperton covered in fog. A rather eerie look, don't you think?!?! Above the fog was clear blue sky. I didn't find any ghouls or ghosts lurking about, so all was safe! It was late morning anyway. Just imagine what it would look like at night?!?! Enjoy the photos!!! - V

Spring-like signs all around!

I was off to buy a new pair of blue jeans this afternoon but to get to the SkyTrain station I decided to walk to take advantage of the fine weather complete with warm temperatures and blue skies. Since my camera was along, these are just some of the photos that resulted from the shoot along the way.

The photo above has a bumblebee busy collecting nectar from heather flowers (Erica) and it was the colours of yellow, green and blue that caught my attention in the photo below!

Tulips are in bloom too and always a plus to add brightness to a spring scene, not to mention a photo. The last image was taken at 8th Avenue and Braid where a Roman Catholic church is located. Again it was the green of the tree and the white of the building against a blue sky that caught my attention. Enjoy the photos, and enjoy your weekend!!! - V.

Thanksgiving

Today being Thanksgiving Day, a statutory holiday here in Canada, I had accepted a shift to work the day from 8 am till 4 pm but since it was a holiday, it meant that the buses were running on a Sunday schedule (which also applies to holidays). This meant walking to the SkyTrain station as opposed to taking the bus since those started later than the trains.

So, I left home at 6:20 am heading south along a major thoroughfare. As I walked briskly, I noticed the light frost on the ground. The grass and the cars were coated with the white stuff, a true sign that autumn was here! Then as I walked along southward, I noticed the quarter moon high in the dark sky. Dawn and the rising sun is later and later as the weeks progress toward Christmas! The moon was at about 85 degrees above the southern horizon and to the south of it were streaks of clouds in parallel as if sprayed by an invisible hand in the night sky. The odd bright star could be seen, those that weren't blotted out by the bright city lights.

As I neared a turn before heading westward, I could see the sky brightening off to the east-southeast, the dark giving way to a lighter blue shade along with rose! The sun rises further south as we near winter. Once winter arrives, the sun is rising from behind the Cascade Mountains near Mount Baker, a volcano in the state of Washington to the south, while during the summer months it is rising from behind the Coast Mountains north of the Fraser River. This means it is rising in the east-northeast but I digress!

So I got to the station, and while waiting for the gates to open, observed a flock of ducks flying eastward over the Fraser River near Columbia station. The southeastern sky continued to brighten as 7 am approached. The rose colour became more obvious and the light chased away the darkness. Then the gates opened shortly after 7 am and I was off on a packed train with others heading to work or to where ever their day's activities would take them.

My day went quick and was over in no time. Well, it certainly seemed that way. Rather than sitting behind a desk all day, I was off doing rounds through the building. This made time fly and before I knew it, it was time to head for home.

Despite it being Thanksgiving, I opted against having any turkey, which is traditional here (as well as during Christmas), and had some sandwiches, nothing particularly fancy, but some with cheese with jalapanos, some with garlic sausage, and later after the hot Italian sausage was ready, I had a couple of those with some hot sausages left over for tomorrow. Now I'm sipping some white wine, some Viognier from the Pays d'Oc in the south of France to be exact, Hugues de Juste 2007. Hugues de Juste by the way was a chevalier cathare (cathar knight) born in 1211 AD and who died in 1244. But I'm digressing once again.

So, as it's getting late and I'm about to head off to bed (5 am comes early), how was your Thanksgiving Day? Care to share your story??? - V.

restful Sunday - not exactly

Well, Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest, sort of, after an active day Saturday. On my journey Saturday I walked down to Queens Park near home and then on toward Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton before heading on to downtown Vancouver by SkyTrain with Stanley Park being the focus that day. I did a bit too much walking and got a bit more sun than was wise, so I thought of staying at home today. That meant a leisurely breakfast, checking emails and such and then getting some needed laundry done and out of the way. After that was done, I cooked up some soup (rice with vegetables, pork) and then prepared a bread dough to bake around suppertime. As the bread (olive) was baking, the aroma of fresh baked bread filled the entire apartment. I'll take some in to work over the next two days along with soup made today. I also spent some time listening to music on Radio Canada's "Espace Musique" that was playing various kinds of music from Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc, and then I got down to playing some cds toward evening (Austrian and Bavarian folk music). With the warmer weather my computer shuts down unannounced at the most inconvenient times, so posts may be sparse during hot weather. It likely has to do with the heat generated by the new hard drive which is not exactly as the old one it replaced but a new one that fits this machine would cost me over $600. I opted for a cheaper hard drive and put the money into a new work station. Anyway, more posts coming, including Saturday's activities. Have a great week!!! - V.

sun and high cloud

Sunday was a beautiful day. It was warm, sunny and had just enough high clouds in the sky to make it interesting. I took the shot above at Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton (New Westminster) along with others before heading off on the SkyTrain for downtown Vancouver. The cloud patterns caught my eye and that's the Fraser River at the bottom right. By evening heavier clouds were moving in and by Monday it was overcast with rain late in the afternoon and into the evening. Its been rather odd weather all winter and into the spring. Let's see what summer brings! - V.

Blossoms and stuff

I finally got out to take some photos Sunday afternoon. This is a selection of what resulted starting near home with the cherry trees along the main road and then Queens Park.

The maple trees are leafing out but the flowers can still be seen in some places as you can see and dandelions are to be found everywhere. The word for dandelion comes from French and means "lion's tooth" as the indented edges of the leaves might suggest. The German word for the plant is Loewenzahn which has the same meaning, "lion's tooth!" I think its such a wonderful plant and with so many uses, such as using fresh, unsprayed leaves (i.e. no chemical pesticides or herbicides) in a salad just to name one.

There is a hillside full of these white flowers above though I can't tell you the name of them and then there are English Daisies as seen in the pic below.

A row of townhomes near the park. Then there is the sign at the entrance to the park.

Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton has its cherry trees too. They're all in flower with the petals collecting everywhere.

Then there are the tulip plantings in and around Stanley Park in Vancouver. I especially love the last one, don't you? The colour red and the underplanting of Forget-Me-Nots make such a wonderful contrast. I had to get down on my knees practically to get the last shot and then getting up was a bit of a chore with my knee being the way it is but it was worth it! The last photo, by the way, was taken on Denman Street near Davie. Enjoy the photos!!! - V.

Fog

The fog we've been experiencing for the last week is continuing. The fog is found in the valley near the Fraser River, in low lying areas such as the city of Richmond, English Bay, Burrard Inlet and the Georgia Strait. Yesterday as I left home for work, New Westminster wasn't too bad except near the river but as we got to Vancouver on the train, the mist became more evident. That's pretty well what was seen all day at work yesterday: fog! The photo above was taken Sunday from the Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton (New Westminster). You can see the mist above the Fraser River in the distance. In Vancouver it was a different story as can be seen in the photo below taken along the seawall in Stanley Park, just past the 2nd beach. English Bay was shrouded in fog and the fog horns from freighters could be heard constantly. There was a photo posted on one of the local papers on the weekend of the office towers in downtown Vancouver poking through the fog, the city fog-shrouded except for that! I believe the photo was taken from Grouse Mountain, which of course enjoyed sun-filled skies! If this continues into the weekend, I will make a trip to Burnaby Mountain, an excellent vantage point, and take some photos from there. Meantime, I'm off to work!

Misty

The sun did appear today (Saturday) but much of it was obscured by a ground fog/mist that hung in the valleys and depressions in the Greater Vancouver Area for much of the day. Above the mist you could see clear blue skies and when I took the train into Vancouver to complete some errands, that fog was less severe in around Metrotown because of the higher elevation than elsewhere. The scene above was taken this afternoon in the mist shrouded Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton, a part of New Westminster, British Columbia. During my walk to Sapperton SkyTrain station I noticed some lichen that was in bloom with the recent warmer temperatures we've been having (well, for us its warmer!). The tombstone in the centre of the photo, by the way, dates from 1886. I had hoped to get to the Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park to feed the birds but it was nearing sunset and it gets dark early yet. We'll have to wait a few more months for longer daylight hours!