We Have Been Travelling       

WHERE HAVE WE  BEEN TRAVELING?

Walter and Heather spent several months in Florida this winter, and he has sent us these photos.
 


He tells us that these photos were taken near Lake Kissimmee at a fishing camp in Florida.
There were bald eagles galore, and we were treated to sightings of crested caracaras. The meadowlark was singing its heart out, and posed for a moment.
Whooping cranes seem to hangout where cattle are being fed, so they move around a bit. There are breeding pairs in Florida now. They are the
biggest birds I have seen in Florida.
 

 

Ray and Janet Kiff sent us these photos from Florida, and reported
 

"We visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge today. It is about two miles south of the Kennedy Space Centre. Finally, we had some good sunlight and warmth.
   The Skimmers were on the beach near us;
 The Gnatcatcher was seen at the Eldora Hammock about 10 miles north within the Canaveral National Seashore property.  "
 

 

White Ibis

Eastern Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

American White Pelicans in V flyover formation

 

 

Roseate Spoonbills

Snowy Egret

Northern Shoveller -breeding male and female

 

 

Black Skimmers - on strike?

 
       

Leonore Wianko  spent a week in Providentiales ( Turks and Caicos)  and found 36 life birds
 

Wasp mimicking Day flying moth-Ctenuchid (Empyreuma hero)

Rock iguana

Reddish egret

Flamingo and Black-necked Stilts

Mangroves

Flamingo


Ron Reid and Janet Grand
spent July travelling around Newfoundland.

Janet shows off her hair in a breezy seaside
meadow near St. Andrew on the west coast.

Just some of the steps leading to a spectacular
 view from one of the four corners of the Earth,
according to the Flat Earth Society, on Fogo Island

A roadside nesting colony of Arctic terns at the
mouth of the Codroy valley.

Twillingate harbour had the largest icebergs
seen in many years.

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve near L'Anse Aux
 Meadows.
Another limestone barrens specialist, known as River
 Beautyeven though there are no rivers for miles on
 this dry landscape.

 

A yellow-bellied flycatcher that has just been banded
- the most common flycatcher in Newfoundland.

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve near L'Anse Aux Meadows.
A Black Swallowtail feeding on one of the showiest of the
limestone barrens plants - Elegant Milkvetch.

 

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve near L'Anse Aux
 Meadows. This tiny willow uses masses of fluffy seed
heads to disperse by the wind.

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve near L'Anse Aux
 Meadows is a great example of limestone barrens,
 with Shrubby Cinquefoil and many other specialized flowers.

 

     

 

Gord Michener and Jim Watt, were among a group of 4, who travelled to Iceland in June.
 

There were many spectacular falls, home
 to salmon runs. The rivers of Iceland are the
 last good refuge of Atlantic Salmon

This geyser, among many, is more
 regular than " Old Faithful ( in Yellowstone).

Generating electricity from the ground.
All the hills are still hot, so there is  no
 vegetation on the hills

A fern at a falls - probably a type of Woodsia.

White Mountain Avens

Moss Campion with heather and crowberry

The plants are often similiar to ours in the north, although there are also European plants.

     

Heather and Walter Ewing were in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in June 2009. Walt ran in the half marathon there, as a member of
Team Diabetes Canada.     Easter Island is a lesson for all people, as to what happens to land when there is overpopulation and abuse of the resources.
 What was formerly an island covered by trees is now pasture to horses and cattle. The flora and fauna that were unique have disappeared
since Polynesians settled the island around 300 CE.
     The people of Rapa Nui (about 4,000 live there) depend a great deal on imports for almost all of their needs.
     Tourism to Rapa Nui is expanding, as people go to see the monumental sculptures and stone altars found around the island. Rapa Nui is
a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The enormous stone figures, known as Moai continure to fascinate people throughout the world.
     Rapa Nui is the most remote inhabited island in the world. Pitcairn Island is the nearest landfall.

Heather and Walt Ewing are former members of our club, and have moved back to Orillia. They will participate in the shoulder seasons, since they, like so
 many of our members, winter in the south.

     

Heather in front of an Ahu  with several Moai.

           Common Diuca Finch in Rapa Nui   

 Moai on an Ahu (altar) by the Ocean

 

 

Rapa Nui was formed by volcanoes. The two larger
 craters have small lakes  with reeds similar to
those in Lake Titicaca.

 

Walt by two Moai. The red hat shows that the funerary       person represented was particularly well-to-do.           

     
     

Gord and Sandy Michener visited Brazil, near Rio, in March, for a family wedding. They also took time to hike a difficult forest trail, which ended at a waterfall.
More of their photos of Brazil will be shown at members' night , May 6th.

         
   

Dorothy and Donald Macdonald spent 10 days
 in Florida, and sent us this photo of Sanderlings
on Bonita Beach.
Donald M called them Sandpipers.
They are not really Sanderlings
Final decision: WILLETS :
 note the heavy beak, and the fact that they are
 wading up to their knees.

   
   
Ray and Janet Kiff are spending the winter in Victoria. They sent us this report and these photos.  
"We watched the mist netting and banding of 2 migrating Rufous Hummingbirds under the supervision of Master Bird Bander J Cam Finlay
with the work being done by sub-permitee Dave Lynn under the auspices of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). Cam has banded almost 20,000
humming birds here in Victoria and at 7 spots in B.C."
 

Securing the flannel collar.

Caliper measurement.

Pinning collar

Weighing on scale

 
         
         


Antarctic shag
 

Kelp Gull with chick

Cape Petrels

Black-browed Albatross with chick

Margo Holt and Leonore Wianko
 spent most of January in Antarctica,
 visiting Argentina , Falkland Islands,  South
Georgia, among others, and the continent
 of Antarctica. They saw 8 Species of
penguins, Leonore found 130 lifers on the trip.

Adelie Penguin with 2 chicks

Gentoo Penguin standing on Margo's boots

 

King Penguins

Pat and Jim Woodford visited Africa in November,
 but all they sent me was a picture of elephant dung,
 being biodegraded by fungi  ( ? Stropharia sp.)

Bill and Helen Marie Darker went to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu ( lower photos)  in October /08

Land iguana

Swallow- tailed Gull

Magnificent Frigate Bird - mating plumage

     

Dorothy Macdonald travelled to South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland and Botswana for 3 weeks, mid September to mid October. They were within 10 feet of a 1 month old baby rhino suckling from its mother, also close to herds of elephants, zebras and impalas. She took a helicopter over Victoria Falls. This is a sampling of her photos, and more will be shown at the members’ night in April.

 

Protea, the national flower of South Africa

Maribu Storks

Male Nyala

Giraffe

Fur seals

Lilac breasted Roller

 

Raft of hippos on left

 

Photos by Nancy Barber of Port Carling.


 

 

This page was updated 30/04/2010