Duck Hunting

You know how sometimes you are just in the right spot at the right time? Well, that happened to me early this morning. An eagle flew past my window, I grabbed my camera and in ten magical minutes this drama unfolded before my eyes... WOW !



Early morning and an eagle peers out over the cove, looking for breakfast…





It circles and spots a flock of Goldeneye ducks near Belcarra.





It swoops down over the flock -- talons out.





It misses. Seagulls scream and chase the eagle.





Alerted, the ducks scramble, bumping into each other in their haste, eyes up, watching for the eagle.





The eagle tries again, soaring in from the other side.





It misses again. Panicked, the flock lifts off.





… and takes to the air.




The ducks fly south to safety …





. . . and the eagle heads north up the fjord.




Not The End …


© Colleen MacDonald 2006

. . .

One Red Paperclip Book

Kyle and I have been working on a kids book for One Red Paperclip.

It's a work in progress and changing all the time as Kyle makes a trade and writes a story for the book. Now that his book has come out, there's lots of behind the scenes stories to read.
But for simple - how did he do each trade, here's the kids book version.

We hope you enjoy it.... Here's the link: http://oneredpaperclipkids.blogspot.com/

Kyle & Mom!

Lots and lots of ducks...

Well, they are actually hard to count, but estimating I'd say there were about a hundred ducks rafted in Indian Arm today.

I think they are on their migration north and are stopping off along the way.

They were busy munching on mussels on the docks, stirring the water when they dove. "Krawking" as they traveled around the island, trailing a V, flying low over the water.

Does anyone have the Goldeneye ducks in their area?
Anyone have pictures to share with me?

Ducks !

I love ducks
Barrow’s Goldeneyes
Winter ducks
black and white
wintering on our fjord

…more duck stuff to follow!

Life on the Fjord ...

Fjord, fiord
An ocean inlet
Connects to the Pacific
Canal, sound, arm
Steep-sided walls
Carved deep by an ancient glacier
Norse fjörðr (fjorthr) means firth or inlet
Indian Arm
30 km long (18 miles)
Stretching from Vancouver north towards Squamish
Home to harbour seals
Diving ducks
Eagles
Kayakers
And us!

© Colleen MacDonald 2006

Looking at you!

I'm looking at you!

I can see by the Site Meter
where you are
around the world
peeking at my world

It's great to imagine
who you are
and what you are doing.

If you feel like sending me an email,
I'd like to know where you live
and what you call it (send the pronunciation)

Thanks for connecting!

Where the heck is Turin?

Are you as confused as me about where Turin is? If you look on a map of Italy, there is no such place. The town referred to as Turin is actually called Torino. If you travel to the Peidmont region in Italia, all signs read Torino.

Place names is an issue that I have pondered for many years. Why don't we call a city or country by what the people who live there call it?

This issue has arisen lately with the confusion of Turin and Torino. When I heard Turin, Italy on TV recently, I asked people in the room: "...but I thought the Olympics were in Torino?" We were all confused and had to look it up.

In this day and age we don't have any need to anglisize or simplify names. We can call places and people by their real names -- what the name really is. It is a bit insulting, don't you think? We can pronounce any name, even names written in other languages and alphabets. Just tell us how to say it and we can do it.

As a teacher I had many students in my class that kept their real names when they moved to Canada, the names on their birth certificates. No more need to make Man Yee a Mandy or a Sushan a Susan. We can pronounce Kon Woo and Soon as easily as Connor and Sean.

A few years back I traveled in China and visited Guangzhou. I wondered if we were close to Canton. I was already there, they told me -- Canton is now called by its rightful Chinese name -- Guangzhou. Of course it is no more difficult to say Guangzhou as it is to say Canton.

I live near Coquitlam and Tswassen, BC and no one has difficulty with those names.
Some places have changed back to their native names -- the Queen Charlotte Islands are now referred to as Haida Gwaii.

We can say it!

If we can pronounce people's names and place names, why on earth can't we call the city hosting the Olympics by it's real name -- Torino?

And for that matter, why not just start calling every place in the world by what the people there call it.

Let's start a movement.



.© Colleen MacDonald 2006

Yahk Yahk Yahk

Look who wants to go to Yahk!
Got everything packed...
all ready for Kyle's haircut.
In Yahk.

I wonder if Yahk has a barber shop?
or an orange cat?

Hopefully Nacho and Diva (not pictured)
will watch Kyle on Thursday Feb 9 at 8pm and 11pm PST
on CBC The Hour (might be cable 26)

Fun !

Where do you get those ideas?

Someone asked me today where Kyle gets his ideas.

I thought about it and thought about it.

He was a regular baby and did all the regular baby things.
His first sentence was "My duck blanket".

Then I remembered that in the Kindergarten Christmas play,
he was a cow. You have to think outside the box to imagine this is a cow.
Or is it thinking outside the circles?

Maybe, just maybe that's what started the ideas...

love, mom!

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Hup two
three four
hup two

Went to Victoria on the weekend to visit our son Scott.
He's going to school there.
On Sunday he took us on a site-seeing tour of the coastline along Esquimalt.
Trees were budding, flowers popping up,
felt like spring was in the air.
Spotted this sign along the way.
As you can see, on this busy stretch of the coast
it's handy to make things clear.
Just in case you want to get through first,
Remember . . .

Ski-s the Day …

Had my list written
the day all planned
Rain was called for
but what is this …. ?
Blue skies,
morning sun bouncing off the snowy mountain.
Gotta seize the day …
might be raining tomorrow.
Pick up the phone,
“Spontaneity check … want to go skiing?”
How could we not?
laugh all the way to Grouse.
The city stretches below us
Sun on our faces
Snow is soft and fast, lots of it.
Wahoo – look at us!
Down the Peak, up the chair
From the top we see
freighters in the harbour
sunshine glistening on Georgia Strait
islands in the distance
over to Blueberry, down Blazes
every run open
every run awesome
found places we’d never been before

… What list was that?


© Colleen MacDonald 2006

Morning Window

Out my window, Mount Seymour catches

the first rays of morning sunshine.

Fresh snow covers the trees.

Glimpses of blue sky beckon.

I wonder if it's a good day to get up to the snow?

Birthday Thanks

Thankyou for

another year

friends and family

laughter and love

hopes and joy

and dreams that really do come true

. . . fun !

Seal and Salmon

Out my window I spot a sea otter pulling a salmon up onto our rock islet. It drags the fish onto a ledge, and tears it apart.
Seagulls and crows hover nearby.

I run for my camera and dash down the stone steps, snapping pictures.
The otter sits up and looks at me, then slides down the rock and into the ocean.

The water is as clear as a swimming pool. The otter glides towards where I'm standing on the dock and slips underneath.

Seagulls and crows land on the island and attack the fish carcass.

An eagle swoops into the cove and clings to the tall fir tree, weighing down the branches.
The sea otter climbs back onto the rock, finishing its catch.

The eagle circles above the otter. The otter looks up then slides away, and the eagle lands and rips the salmon apart. Seagulls and crows scream and swoop overhead. The eagle looks nervous and takes flight. Seagulls chase it in circles around the cove, then out of sight.

Looking out my window at Whiskey Cove.

..............................................................

Bonne Annee

Bonne Annee
Happy New Year
en Quebec

white snow everywhere
blue skies
reflected sunshine
icicles reaching the ground
snow sliding off roofs
looks like a furrowed brow

words swirling in french
grab the occasional word
get the jist
... or not

quebecois christmas trees
no needles or leaves,
sparkling branches

a visit to Grandmere's
homemade donuts
maple butter
-20 outside

lots of relatives at the New Years party
traditional Quebec songs
Dom's aunts singing and playing the spoons
tortierre
Oncle Piero cooking rabbit
and jambalaya
and fruit fondue with maple sauce
a different kind of new years for us
but not for them!
fun to glimpse into another world

and looking forward to coming home
and seeing our world again

Bonne Annee et HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006

Fog lifts

I look out the window...
the fog has lifted slightly
revealing the forgotten shoreline.
A crab fisher drops traps,
drifting in and out of the mist.
Loons circle in the cove.
A mystical morning.

Night Owl

Shakespeare – Belcarra’s Night Owl

We have an owl living in Belcarra. When walking at night its calls echo against the rock cliffs. It is often seen sitting on the gravel near Midden Road or perched in a nearby tree. We’ve named it Shakespeare, as it is a Barred Owl.

The other night we went looking for it ... binoculars, flashlight and camera in hand. We looked for awhile and couldn't see it, but on the way home -- there it was – on a tree branch near Turtlehead and Belcarra Bay Road. We stopped and gazed at it for a long time then it spread its wings and flew high up into a tree.

We bumped into neighbours who were out owl-searching and as we talked, the owl swooped down low over us and we had to duck our heads. It landed in a tree, 10 feet away from us, seemingly as curious about us as we were of it. It wasn’t afraid at all -- it gave us a good show of his head-turning capabilities.

Keep your eyes open, slow down a bit and maybe you will have a chance to see it one day soon!

Wahoo -- or is it Whoo-hoo?

The Barred Owl is a medium-sized gray-brown owl streaked with white horizontal barring on the chest and vertical barring on the belly. It has a round-head, brown eyes, and yellow beak. It is a nocturnal bird and hides in dense foliage during the day, usually high up. The Barred Owl is a highly vocal Owl giving a loud and resounding "hoo, hoo, too-HOO; which is often phrased as "Who, cooks, for-you? A Barred Owl can sometimes be seen hunting before dark for mice, squirrels, bats, and birds.
picture and information from: http://www.owlpages.com/

A boat full of parents.

Now that's funny! Colleen and Ian in a dinghy.
Originally uploaded by youwhocolleen.

Colleen and Ian
in a dinghy
at Belcarra
on the way to the Raven
near Deep Cove
... fun!

blogcouragement

Hy mom, this blogging thing is super-easy to do.

I think you'll have FUN using this for your stories about birds and seals and fun.

It's easy to put pictures up too!

I can change how it looks for you and the URL address too - everything really.

All you'll need to do is write stuff down and send it to a special email address.

anyhow, call me when you're ready to start writing stuff...

kyle

PS
this is a great place for you to post some of your children's book ideas

The Colleen MacDonald Blog

Welcome to Colleen's Window...

The Official Blog of Colleen MacDonald

aka The Colleen MacDonald Blog 

ps. 

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