The Arrival of Raven

The Arrival of Raven
Finals are over and I arrived in Melville for the Christmas break on Friday, but not alone! This is Raven!

Raven is my new 2 year old black lab that I got from a family member who breeds labs in the valley. Unfortunately Raven couldn't get her hip certified for breeding, but she's a CKC registered purebred and learning a lot! Raven was previously an outdoor dog, with a run and an insulated house, she has been inside for the last couple of weeks, learning the basics from the basement about human life, but here in Melville she is getting used to a whole new routine! She has learned really quickly that TV's are noisy and make all kinds of sounds, coasters are not the best things to put in your mouth and no matter how many times you 'fetch' the TV remote, I will not throw it for you to retrieve it!

The best part about Melville for any dog is the freedom to run along the beach without a leash, find sticks to play with and birds to chase, maybe even a seal or two to bark with! Above Raven is exploring the beach for the very first time! She was a little timid at first, staying close to my side and not going more than 3 ft. in front of me, but she's starting to get more comfortable with the thrill of running along the water's edge and sneaking up on nonchalant seagulls on the bedrock!

Christmas preparations are beginning, our tree arrived yesterday and we will be putting it up once everyone arrives on the weekend! Mother Nature is also doing her part by bringing in the white stuff making sure that we get a classic White Christmas in Melville!

Nectar Lovers

Nectar Lovers
Labour Day weekend in Melville is typically the weekend when the parties end and cottages get packed up for the winter. I captured these busy bumblebees collecting the last bit of this season's nectar to take back to their hives in preparation for their winter too!

There are over 400 species of bees in the Canada!! (Halifax Garden Network) and while I am terrified of them getting too close (hence the telescopic lens to capture these pictures!) they are crucial to the agriculture found in our backyards and for produce nationwide.

Another nectar lover in Melville are the Hummingbirds that whizz past looking for something sweet to dip into as well! The name of the hummingbird originated from the unique sound they make as they fly or hover nearby, beating their wings 12-80 times per second! (Wikipedia)

Hummingbirds will additionally gather nutrients and proteins from insects close to their nests amongst the trees and conserve their energy for flying by reducing their metabolic rates down to 1/15th of normal rate during rest and sleep periods!

To send your summer off, I will leave you with a relaxing shot of the crisp waters of the North Cumberland Strait!

Labour Day Weekend!

Labour Day Weekend!
I arrived in Melville on Tuesday after spending a fantastic, exciting and absolutely eye-opening summer in Calgary! School starts next week, but not before enjoying a few well deserved vacation days in Melville at the beach!

All these photos are credited to my mother, who captured above Mr. Tucker, receiving a very satisfying back rub from my brother!

We took a long walk down the beach and found this guy standing at the end of someone's beach staircase, advising of a 'daily event' that is sure to draw some attention!

As we rounded the point we received an announcing presence and captured these seals lounging away the afternoon! Quite a few pups were born this summer and were very curious as we approached with the dogs, leaving the rocks and coming over to where we were walking! This is a great time of year for the seals, as the fishing boats are out catching herring and the seals trail along looking for an easy summer dinner ;)

Just as we started to head up to the house, we found the killdeer chicks, which have done some growing up over the summer! All four have made it and are thriving well, hunting and working together to scale the bedrocks along the beach!

We're off to have some dinner and kick-off this labour day weekend! Enjoy yours and send off summer with a bang!

Canada Day Long Weekend!

Canada Day Long Weekend!

Happy Canada Day everyone! Looking at theweathernetwork it looks as if the whole country is in for some warm weather this long weekend and a chance to get out an enjoy some sunshine! The forecast for Melville this weekend is predicted to reach a high of 23 deg C and sunny skies! 

It must be July in Melville as the seaweed has started piling up on the shore! While a nuisance to beach goers, seaweed has played an important role in the food industry for many centuries in a variety of coastal countries (Wikipedia). When you think of eating seaweed, sushi likely comes to mind and the Nori that it is wrapped in however, there are over 10,000 species of seaweed world wide! (Types of Seaweed). Because of it's gelatinous abilities, dairy producers have used seaweed in tasty products such as ice-cream too!

During mom's walk the other day, she found more signs of a wild summer in Melville! Above a single daisy (another flower with over 22,000 variations!) and below a wild rose making it's debut!

Mom has such an eye for fossils while beach combing in Melville and found a few more pictured above and below! Going to have to check in with her on the one above, but the one below distinctly looks like a few leaves.

Finally, mom caught up with the killdeer chicks and captured this one exploring it's way through the ditch in Melville!

Chickadees and Apple Trees

Chickadees and Apple Trees
With my temporary absence in Melville taking me out West for the summer, I am relying on my mom to keep the blog going over the next few months and by the looks of her recent photos - she will not be disappointing!

The first two pictures are of the apple tree saplings down in the orchard! While only small, the lush green colour and smell will surely be attracting deer to Melville, Mom will have her eyes open for Bucky and keep him and any other four legged wanderers away from the ripening yumminess!

Below, mom captured a fantastic shot of a little Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) that unfortunately had a run in with the window on the house! Interestingly, chickadees mate for life (Wild Birds), so likely it's partner will be along to heal it back to health, otherwise mom will be busy caring for this little guy too and keeping him clear of any future window run-ins!

Summer's Coming!

Summer's Coming!
Summer is definitely on it's way and evident when mom and I found this guy on the beach Monday night. The lobster traps are still out in the straight and the jellyfish have started to make their way in, washing up on the beach as the tide goes out. While the ones we found had no stingers or nematocysts (Wikipedia), we'll have to watch ourselves swimming in the ocean as they can provide quite the shock - from a numbing sensation to anaphylaxis in some people - if you unexpectedly run into one! This jellyfish was an average sized one, but some can measure up to 7ft in diameter across the bell!!! (World's Largest Jellyfish) Yikes!

This morning was my first time taking out the ride on mower and giving the lawn a little TLC. As I made my way down towards the path that leads to the beach I found these beautiful Iris flowers. Wikipedia tells us that the name for an Iris comes from the Greek word for Rainbow describing the variety of colours that they bloom in - between 200-360 colours!!

In the driveway gardens there are more blooms bringing in summer, above are Mandarin Azaleas and below the Lilacs are bursting in colour as well!

And to leave you with a smile, another absolutely beautiful Melville Sunset!

Meringue and The Northern Flicker

Meringue and The Northern Flicker
My first clinical rotation is finished and I arrived in Melville last night in the midst of pouring rain and cloudy skies. The drive to Melville was one of the most bizarre drives, with periods of absolutely beautiful blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the mid twenties and then only minutes down the highway - complete torrential downpour, thunder&lightning and clouds as dark as the night! A pattern that repeated about 3 times from one end of the province to the other!

Tonight my brother drove in from New Brunswick and we invited my grandparents over for dinner and a game of cards. I tried my hand at lemon meringue squares, really nothing fancy (Dr. Oetker; Shirriff Lemon Meringue), but what I wanted a go at, was whipping the egg whites!

The reviews were good! And some even dove in for seconds!

While the meringue was setting in the fridge, we found this little guy outside on the lawn! This is a Northern Flicker or Colaptes auratus native to North America, Central America, Cuba and the Cayman Islands (Wikipedia). It has many common names including yellowhammer, heigh-ho or wick-up to mimic it's colours or bird call.

Above you can clearly see the red "V" distinctive to the back of its neck and below, if you zoom in, the distinctive yellow colour under its tail. The Northern Flicker also has a thick black band across the breast and for males, a red or black spot along the beak which mimics a moustache!

Wikipedia tells us that they consume ants as a major source of their diet, up to 45%! Which is great for us, because that is one less ant that will make it's way into the house!

Sunday Beach Walk

Sunday Beach Walk
Sunday started off with blue skies and another sunny day shining through Melville! I headed into River John with my grandfather for some breakfast and then went for a Sunday stroll with mom down along the beach.

We picked up two potted baskets and replanted them into these tin planters for the stairs yesterday and below are mom's succulent plants in the front garden along the driveway. The succulent plant, as the name suggest offers succulence in the form of retaining water in the leaves, just as it's famous family member the cactus. Something interesting that I learned, is that photosynthesis (capturing the sun's rays and turning it into an energy source for the plant) of succulent plants occur in the stems of the plants, rather than the leaves! (Wikipedia)

The small brook that divides the beach in Melville is starting to close up for the summer and is getting clearer each week.

One of my favourite things about the beach is the long grass that grows to spectacular heights along the sand dunes! Another arid plant that retains water!

Melville has a quite a bit of sand along the shore this year and despite the wind and chilly temperature today, the warmth from the sand is predicting some great beach days in the near future!

I'll leave you with this sunny blue shot to start off your week!

Sailor's Sunsets

Sailor's Sunsets
I arrived safely in Melville this morning, travelling a total of 4 & 1/2 hours through 8 counties, made only 2 pit stops and unfortunately had one casualty... I came upon a pheasant along the Mountain road guiding her chicks along the side for their breakfast and she dashed out onto the road just as I was turning the corner. I'm feeling terrible about orphaning the chicks, but as my mom said "That is nature for you"

She cheered me up however, with these beautiful shots of the sunsets she captured this week and they reminded me of the Sailor's weather lore used prior to barometers for weather predictions. In North America the lore typically goes:

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight

Red sky at morning, sailor's take warning"

The lore extends to many different countries, each saying slightly different, but all predicting the same weather pattern - that a calm day on the water is preceded by a red coloured sunset the night before and rough seas ahead if the red colours come up with the sun! This link has a few more interesting sailor folklore from around the world. One lore that used to get us as kids was an extension of the Flying Dutchman, as our grandparents used to warn of a burning ghost ship off the shore late at night! 

This picture is cool too, as the sun was able to capture the smoke patterns of two jets that had soared across the skies just as dusk was settling!

Killdeer Chicks

Killdeer Chicks
Yesterday I went for a walk with the camera in tow, as talk was spreading around Melville of killdeer chick sitings! Sure enough as I approached the road to the beach, I heard the distinctive cry of the female shorebird and she landed surprisingly close to me on the gravel - a sign that the little ones must be close by!

It took me a while to see them and get the camera focused on them as they blend in so well with the colours in the ditch, but I managed to capture these cute pictures of the babies exploring Melville!

All four chicks were close to their mama, pecking the ground and scooting around on their little oversized legs. I did a bit of research and found that killdeer chicks, like chickens or ducks are Precocial nestlings. Precocial coming from the Latin derivative of "ripened beforehand" (Wikipedia), means that these types of chicks will spend more time than their counterpart hatchlings (such as robins, blue jays), developing in the embryo and are ready to explore the world on their own as soon as their feathers dry after hatching. They only require their parents for the first couple of weeks after being born for protection from predators, as they will soon learn to fly and spend the summer on their own.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides another great source for more reading on the killdeer and their nesting patterns. Because of the long incubation period of the chicks, the eggs are used to their full nutritional value by the young and then carefully discarded by the adults to disguise that a nest had ever been present.

Female and her young

Female

"Broken-wing" technique

Of course as I approached the young to capture some pictures, mama tried to steer me away, allowing me to capture the classic shot of her "broken-wing" distraction method!

Male

Papa was close by as well, keeping a distant watch over his family!

Spring Blooms!

Spring Blooms!
I made it back to Melville for the long weekend and arrived to a warm sea breeze in the evening and another colour filled Melville sunset!

Today is going to be another beautiful spring day, with blue skies, birds singing and the sun shining down, putting us at 21 deg, at only 11 o'clock in the morning!

I'm happy to report that our little Killdeer plover has had her chicks! They have made their way down to the beach and we were unable to capture any pictures because of their speed, but all four made it! As far as the nest, there are no signs that she had even been there over the last month.

Instead I took out mom's camera to capture these beautiful springs blooms that have blossomed around the gardens. The first picture is of mom's Clematis and the second of some purple rock cress.

I am not sure of the names of the yellow flower above or the little pinkish flower below are called, but I think it is funny how the pinkish flower blooms to look like there is a piece missing from the edge of the petals.

Our apple trees in the orchard are also in full bloom, even the little saplings! I did not get too close, because the bees are also taking full advantage of the spring blossoms and I am terrified of anything that has the potential to sting me!

 Hope you are enjoying the spring blooms wherever you are! Happy Victoria Day!