Fauquier BC

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lake

/ Peter Klopp / 31 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Late Bloomers

So many people living in the northern parts of the world keep complaining about Spring taking too much time in coming. The good news from the Arrow Lake is that Winter is on the retreat although slowly and reluctantly. Where the snow has disappeared I found three kinds of flowers: one, not quite open and still hidden under a fuzzy blanket, the flower of a magnolia bush, the second, the crocuses, single and in groups, and the third, the beautiful snowdrops more than two months late. According to a German single record by Heintje snowdrops are making their appearance in February. Enjoy the photos.

IMG_2903MagnoliaIMG_2898CrocusIMG_2889SnowdropIMG_2887Crocus

IMG_2888Snowdrops

Here is the song in German Snowdrops in February:

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lake

/ Peter Klopp / 23 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

In Search for a Sign of Spring

Spring equinox has come and gone, and there is still snow on the ground. In my desperate search for a sign of the elusive Spring, I resorted to all kinds of tricks. Looking for animals, which read Nature’s sign posts much better than we humans can, I discovered the geese pair on the bare patches down at the Fauquier golf course and a robin on our yard pulling out from softening ground the very first earthworm. Taking a shot of the acorn I felt a little bit like I was cheating, since an acorn is a nut maturing in the fall. But it falls to the ground only in the spring to bring forth another tree. Surely. the crocus vigorously pushing through layers of leaves is a sign of spring For the hazelnut flower I had to set my macro setting to less than one cm to capture one of the tiniest flowers in the plant world. Enjoy!

Geese

When will Spring finally come? –  I guess, when the snow will be gone.

hazel nut

Hazelnut Flower

Robin

Robin looking for an Earthworm

acorn

Acorn ready to pop out

Crocus

How does the tender crocus manage to push through the leaves?

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 39 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Occasionally I will post a video highlighting the natural splendour of the Arrow Lake region in the West Kootenays, BC, Canada. Technically, a video consists of thousands of individual images, which when strung together create the illusion of motion. The original one hour long video recording was reduced to just over a minute. It creates an impressive video effect. In my video editing program I accelerated the slowly moving clouds by a factor of 50 and 75. Because no frames have been lost in the process, the video file still kept a size of over 40 MB. The Fauquier-Needles ferry takes  five minutes to cross the lake, while on this accelerated video it takes only a few seconds. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 34 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Photo Essay

After so much praise Winter should say good-bye and let Spring have her say.
Arriving at the Fauquier Boat Dock

Arriving at the Fauquier Boat Dock

Rose Hips Ready for Spring

Rose Hips Ready for Spring

Fungus Growth on a Birch Tree

Fungus Growth on a Birch Tree

There are three human figures hidden in the ice. Can you see them?

There are three human figures hidden in the ice. Can you see them?

Beautiful Ingorsol Mountain

Beautiful Ingersoll Mountain Viewed through a Frame of Driftwood

You can also view my photo stream at flickr.com. Photos are taken mostly from the Arrow Lakes area. Simply search for Peter Klopp under people.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 39 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Incredible Accumulations of Snow

There seems to be no proper balance of climate on this planet of ours. Some regions, even though they are located on the same latitude, get very little or no snow at all. People from these snow poverty stricken areas complain when they look at my pictures. And I reply you can have half of this white stuff, and we would still have more than enough. Oh well, as President Carter so wisely once stated, nothing is fair in life. I hope when viewing my pictures, you get a sense how our winters have been in the last couple of years. Enjoy!

Backyard Accumulations

Masses of Snow in our Backyard

Casting Shadows

Casting Shadows

Golf Course

Ingersol Mountain on a Wintery Day

Snow Sculpture

Snow Sculpture at the Boat Dock

Snow Tunnel

Giant Snow Tunnel at Taite Creek

You can also view my photo stream at flickr.com. Photos are taken mostly from the Arrow Lakes area. Simply search for Peter Klopp under people.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 36 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Crossing the Lake on the Needles-Fauquier Ferry

The Needles ferry is part of the provincial highway system and therefore using it is free of charge. The ferry leaves each side of the lake every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. After that the ferry is on call during the night. Last week I had to do some shopping in the nearby village of Edgewood. Since it was a brilliant and almost cloudless day, I took my camera with me and captured the following images. As you can see, we are still in the grip of winter. Enjoy!

ferry 1

While waiting for the ferry, I captured the brilliant sunshine upon the lake.

ferry 2

The fully loaded Needles Ferry arrives.

ferry 3

Looking south from the Ferry

ferry 4

The Canada and BC flags against a Cloudless Sky

ferry 5

Looking North with Ingersol Mountain in the Background