A Bit of a Vacay
The family has arrived. With four guests in our house
for the past five days and two more on the way to
join us tomorrow, we've been having a fun, busy time.
We had planned to go to the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay
of Fundy today but the weather has gotten in the way.
So it's a quiet day for catching up on sleep and
nosing around Fredericton, I guess.
We went whale watching on Tuesday, down in St.
Andrews by the Sea. This was my second experience
with the whales and trip two was just as fantastic as
trip one. Our first visit, we went out on the zodiac,
which was very exciting. This time, we went out on
the catamaran of Quoddy Link Marine, a more sedate
trip but just as great. We saw lots of amazing
things, including minke and finback whales close up
(within 20 feet of the boat), harbour porpoises,
harbour seals, grey seals and black guillemots.
Really quite amazing.
Of course taking pictures of whales is not as
easy as you might think, given their massive size.
Sometimes, all you get is their spray but, at other
times, you're lucky enough to get much of the back
and the fin. We all had a blast on the trip and it
might just happen that some of us go again when the
other members of the family arrive.
Other adventures so far include bowling at Kingswood, the place where I play golf. We never did solve the mystery of the candlestick pins but had a lot of fun trying. We've wandered Fredericton and have plans to visit the beach at Mactaquac as well as Kings Landing at some point during the visit.
On a birding note, Patti came across a little fellow nestled in the grass under our dining room window. It would seem he knocked himself loopy by flying into the glass. We scooped him up to keep him safe from predators and then placed him in a box with food, water and some cedar leaves to give him time to recover. We're happy to report that the little guy enjoyed a brief stay in our bird hotel and then, his wits recovered, flew off into the world again. Nice to see a happy ending.
Now if I could only make a definite ID on the kind of bird he is. I know, pathetic that I can't figure it out with such a clear picture! If anyone out there can help me, I'd very much appreciate it. I've taken a quick look through my various books but I'm not getting anywhere. He's got a little yellow patch on his upper back, yellow on his chest and white patches on his wings. Otherwise, he seems to be black/grey/olive all over. And he's tiny, no more than four inches. Help!!!
Other adventures so far include bowling at Kingswood, the place where I play golf. We never did solve the mystery of the candlestick pins but had a lot of fun trying. We've wandered Fredericton and have plans to visit the beach at Mactaquac as well as Kings Landing at some point during the visit.
On a birding note, Patti came across a little fellow nestled in the grass under our dining room window. It would seem he knocked himself loopy by flying into the glass. We scooped him up to keep him safe from predators and then placed him in a box with food, water and some cedar leaves to give him time to recover. We're happy to report that the little guy enjoyed a brief stay in our bird hotel and then, his wits recovered, flew off into the world again. Nice to see a happy ending.
Now if I could only make a definite ID on the kind of bird he is. I know, pathetic that I can't figure it out with such a clear picture! If anyone out there can help me, I'd very much appreciate it. I've taken a quick look through my various books but I'm not getting anywhere. He's got a little yellow patch on his upper back, yellow on his chest and white patches on his wings. Otherwise, he seems to be black/grey/olive all over. And he's tiny, no more than four inches. Help!!!