Breakfast with a Dark-Eyed Junco

We are finding this spring that a lot of feathered visitors are coming by. I suppose they are encouraged by the seed that is being left out for them. This morning, it was a cute little Dark-Eyed Junco. He had his fill, then looked over, smiled and left.

You could set your clock by him …

We have a Rabbit Buddy, who regular visitor in the evenings. At 6.30pm out he comes to take care of our dandelion stems. After his nightly feast he sits by the wood shed for a couple of hours before returning to his hideaway.

Tonight, he had the company of our other regular visitor ~ “Little Guy”, he too seems to have a set time for his daily top-up on sweetness.

ND'ing at Sunnybrook Waterfall …

With this being such a lovely warm day, I took a drive to Mahone Bay and came back via Maders Cove, Sunnybrook and Lunenburg. The return route was somewhat deliberate, to allow a stop at the Waterfall adjacent to the Sunnybrook Mill Market. 

The following are part of my continuing experimentation with long exposure photography using ND Filters. All the pictures below, are taken with a ND64 at 100ASA, with the exception of the first one which was taken with the ND1000 at 100ASA and a resulting much longer exposure.

ND1000 ~ F-Stop 16 with 8 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 0.8 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 1.3 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 0.4 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 0.5 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 0.8 Second Exposure

Back to the beach …

For the first time in 62 days, I am back to the beach. …

Up until recently, if I had gone for a beach wander, I would have faced a fine for violating the provincial guidelines on staying at home.

It was an absolute joy to be out there this afternoon in beautiful bright warm sunshine. Crescent beach looked huge and wonderful at low tide, everything seemed fresh, colourful and perfect ~ it was good to be back.

The LaHave River from the other side ..

Out for a nice scenic wander to the other side of the LaHave River at Miller Point Peace Park. The park has many winding trails, all lined with towering pines and great views of the river and Horseshoe Cove.

The LaHave River is 60 miles long, running from its source in Annapolis County to the Atlantic Ocean. Tides affect water levels for about 12 miles up the river, on my visit the tide was low.

I came across three families of Canada Geese out with the young ones …

I can see you …

Today’s morning visitor was Ruffed Grouse. This is first grouse that we have seen in the backyard, unfortunately he (or she) did not want to come out in full display, but kept a close eye on us.

Morning visitors

Morning wander up a stream

On the heals of my recent discovery of a nice stream in the forest, I went out this morning in low sun and long shadows for a wander up the lovely natural body of water. After following it for a good distance it soon disappeared. The source is from underground, with water percolating from beneath the surface without a defined channel or course, before being filtered through the thick carpet of moss.

An absolutely necessary requirement for such pastimes during this lockdown, is a good pair of Wellies. While equipped with such necessities, experience has taught me, that one should be careful to acknowledge the depth of water, in comparison to the height of the rubber … !!!

All photos are taken with a 6-Stop Reduction (ND64) Filter at 100ASA.

F-Stop 16 with 2 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 2 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 2 Second Exposure

F-Stop 9 with 0.6 Second Exposure

F-Stop 10 with 0.6 Second Exposure

F-Stop 13 with 2 Second Exposure

F-Stop 10 with 2 Second Exposure

F-Stop 11 with 3 Second Exposure

F-Stop 14 with 3 Second Exposure

F-Stop 11 with 4 Second Exposure

F-Stop 9 with 4 Second Exposure

F-Stop 14 with 4 Second Exposure

F-Stop 16 with 3 Second Exposure