Water on Ice

A small stream thawed earlier this week. Temperatures plunge to -25 degrees Celsius refreezing most of the surface. The volume of water is so great it overflows the ice creating mini falls and ice ridges. The sun's slanting light adds a touch of warmth to the cold mix.

Snow Falling On .....

Winter Thursdays we snowshoe with a group of friends called the TamaLOUPs. This day out the temperatures were mild, the winds calm. Large, gently-falling snowflakes coated stationary trees and mobile walkers alike. This delicate fairyland was blown away the next morning as a cold front dropped temperatures and accelerated wind speeds.

You can see other snowny pictures on Picasaweb, public album, Le Montagnard

Hoarfrost

Snowshoeing down the ravine to the rivière des Hurons (St-Adolphe de Stoneham) we passed this branch unnoticed in the deep shade. Returning later along the same trail, the hoar frosted twig stood out in the strong backlight. The ice crystals look like small down feathers says Paulette. Even at f/16, part of the photo is unfortunately out of focus. However, I don’t think it distracts too much from the overall composition .

Liquid Light

The Saint Lawrence River has many moods. Luckily, walkers have year-round access to its north shore along the “Parc de la Plage Jacques-Cartier”. November 26 2009 was an overcast day, the colours saturated by rainfall the night before. I took this picture on the way home as sunlight pierced the cloud cover and reflected off the water’s smooth wavy surface. The highlights in sky and water are dramatically framed by the dark band of gray at the top and bottom of the image.

Click here for more pictures from this walk.

Here's Looking at You

Louise, Press, Marie-Andrée, Cory and Émilie are heading to Costa Rica next month to see its diverse flora and fauna. The flamboyant Scarlet Macaw (Lapa Rojo or Ara macao) is a plentiful resident of the Pacific Rain Forest and specifically the Corcovado National Park at the south end of the Osa Peninsula. Macaws are seed predators. Early in the morning they crack open almond nuts and spit the shells out on the beach below.

Barbara Kingsolver's essay "Seeing Scarlet" is a delightful description of her trip to Costa Rica to see this globally endangered species. The first sentence:

Picture a scarlet macaw: a fierce, full meter of royal red feathers head to tail, a soldier's rainbow-coloured epaulets, a skeptic's eye staring out from a naked white face, a beak that takes no prisoners.

Paulette found the link to the entire essay. Hope the guacamayos are still up close and personal during their visit.

I've posted more Costa Rican wildlife pictures on flickr from our February 2004 trip.