Recently I observed a woodpecker preoccupied with drilling holes into the old tree stump that has served as a stand for our wash basket. It did not notice me with my movie camera. So I managed to get as close as five metres away from this colourful bird. The result is this short video. Enjoy.
Last week I indulged in capturing a hover-fly feasting on the pollen of a daisy. On that same canoe trip, I could not resist taking photos of a driftwood sculpture and a beautifully shaped root formation laid bare by the constantly rising and falling lake level. Also the first rose hips have made their appearance, a sure sign that the fall season is upon us. Enjoy.
On a recent canoe ride, heading south from our favourite Taite Creek campground, we stopped at a deserted apple orchard a few kilometres from the Taite Creek bay. Biene spotted an abundance of apples in the abandoned orchard and being the inveterate gathering she started picking claiming they make excellent apple sauce. Myself being inspired by my blogging friend Steve Schwartzman was eagerly looking for some wildflower. But all I could find was a bedraggled daisy with its petals curved downward. Great was my joy when I discovered a hoverfly sitting down for a late pollen dinner. She was so preoccupied with feasting on the pollen that she paid no attention to my camera a mere five cm away from the flower. Here are five photos of the same insect and the same flower. Enjoy.
In the past few weeks, my wife and I crossed the Arrow Lake and the Needles Ferry Path a number of times. I proudly announced that we travelled up the Whatshan River to the waterfalls. When I recognized that I had made a mistake and heard that the waterfalls were far more inland, I invited my wife to go exploring. Attempting to climb the steep embankment almost turned into a disaster. Biene struggled very hard on all fours to inch her way up to the top from which I could only shout words of encouragement. When she finally stood on safe and stable ground, she was very happy that she did not give up. We were both rewarded with a splendid view and hike to the elusive waterfalls, which is the content of the video below. Enjoy!
Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis – Ovid
The days are getting shorter, the air is crisp in the early morning hours, bees and bumblebees slumber longer on our sunflowers, the redfish are spawning, the signs of autumn are written on Nature’s colourful pages. As we journey from one season into another, it is seems fitting to devote a blog post to the eternal cycle of our four seasons country. I selected a few images from my archive presenting Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter in that order. Enjoy.
A beautiful beetle was drowning in a sprinkling can. I filled up the can, so the beetle was able to crawl out. It was so exhausted from floating in the water for such a long time that it lay still on the top giving me time to study that poor little thing. I quickly got my movie camera and placed the beetle on a lettuce leaf. By now it had become active and was looking for a way to get off the lettuce leaf. Much later when I was editing the video clip, I discovered that apart from almost having drowned in the sprinkling can, the beetle also suffered from an invasion of lice that were roaming all over him. I wanted to help it get rid of these little pests but when I returned the next day to the garden the beetle was gone.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 