Interlude

It stopped raining yesterday afternoon. The sun came out. So did half the town, while it lasted. Baikie Island was full of people and dogs. Smiling people.

The ground was covered with fallen leaves, several layers deep. All the trees and shrubs are shedding their leaves; along the shoreline trails leaves kept falling around me, maple and alder mostly now. There were mushrooms, hundreds of them, on the ground, in the mud. But I remembered to look up, as well.

Along the edge of the island. There were ducks; they left when I got within sight of the water.

From the Raven trail, the main bridge to the island.

The slough.

Several new chainsaw carvings and driftwood sculptures have been added recently. At the end of the central trail, there's this bear in a kayak.

And Ma Nature's art. Twisty branches and trunks.

Snowberries and raindrop.

And I had to add at least one mushroom. Amanita.

In the slough and the river, so far away they were just black specks constantly diving and surfacing, were many buffleheads, a few ducks, and a harbour seal. These were the closest, over under the next-door island.

And I have another batch of mushroom photos to process.

Next sunshine in our weather forecast: next Tuesday.  

A Skywatch post. 

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Dejó de llover ayer por la tarde. Salió el sol. También salieron la gente del pueblo, aprovechando el momento. La isla Baikie estaba llena de gente y perros. Todos sonrientos.

Hojas muertas cubrían el suelo, hojas sobre hojas. Todos los árboles y arbustos ahora sueltan sus hojas; mientras caminaba por el borde de la isla seguían cayendo alrededor mio, por la mayor parte, hojas de arce y de aliso.

Y había hongos, cientos de hongos en el suelo, bajo las hojas, en el lodo. Pero me acordé de mirar para arriba, también.

1. Vista desde la orilla de la isla. Había patos; se echaron a volar en cuanto llegué donde podía ver el agua.
2. Desde un sendero en tierra firma, en el sendero "Raven", mirando hacia la isla y el puente que da acceso.
3. Laguna con vista del rio en el fondo.
4. Han añadido recientemente varias esculturas, hechas con motosierra, o con madera flotante. Este osito en su kayak está al fin del camino central de la isla.
5. Arte de la Madre Naturaleza. Tronco y ramas torcidas.
6. "Baya de la nieve", Symphoricarpos albus. Y una gotita de lluvia.
7. Tuve que añadir por lo menos un hongo. Amanita muscaria.
8. En el agua, pero siempre muy lejos, se veían muchos de estos pajaritos, porrones coronados, Bucephala albeola. Apenas se veían como puntitos negros en el agua. También hubo varios patos y una foca.

Y ahora tengo otras fotos de hongos para procesar.

La próxima vez que veremos el sol, según los meteorológicos, será el martes.  

Un post de  Skywatch. 

Riding a wooden wave

 These dolphins overlook the shore at Rock Bay.

Synchronized leaping; three dolphins here.

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Estos tres delfines saltan de un poste en la playa de Rock Bay.

Half a dozen photos of an old branch

We found this beautifully engraved branch jammed in among the logs and rocks in the splash zone at Kwomais Point. At first glance, it looked man-made. But no, it is the work of smaller artists:

Artistry by bark-tunnelling insects.

Look at the designs they have made!

Is that a fish, down in the shadows?

Woman in furs

Untitled

I peeled back the bark from one section. The wood was still damp, and the contents of the tunnels stayed with the bark. See how the raised design on the bark matches the engraving on the wood beneath.



I don't know what type of creature does this. The branch was green wood, still flexible, not driftwood, so it would have been carved on the tree; these are not marine organisms.

And it was too long for the car; maybe we should be carrying a saw on our outings, too.

A mouse logo.

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