Jack is still getting all those different bits coordinated, the shifting snow doesn't make it any easier on him! He's getting quite good at balancing precariously, or spilling tail-over-head down the snowbank...

Oakley is very good at multi-tasking, which is especially good since he has a new little puppy brother on his paws. Here he's just finishing off a combined stretch / play-bow. I may have had a snowball ready for him to chase. :)

(Note: Snow-fetch is an amazing game! If the dog doesn't bring the snow chunk back, you've got more right next to you to throw! Dog's find this -amazing-.)

This may be my favourite photo that I have ever taken. Look at that action! The little tongue! The fact that he's about to chomp my camera! (He was on the ground when I clicked the button.) Jack is astonishingly good at launching himself up from a standstill.

I have photos of this dog spanning a couple years. A little bit shy, she hangs out at the farm where we cut our Christmas trees each winter. I finally asked our tree-man (who is well over 80 and looking good!) what she was called, and found out two things. One, she's called Red, and two, she actually belongs to a doctor that lives on the neighbouring property. Every day she makes her way over to spend the day with him though, and her owner picks her up in the evenings. She might not officially be his dog, but you can tell that she's claimed him as her people.

Chloe's (the Schnauzer) friend from the US, Tucker (the golden retriever), came up to visit. I got to look after both of them while their people went off adventuring. :D

Mac is a rescued stray from Alberta. His people did a dna test out of curiousity and it turns out he's part collie, part shepherd, and part feral - either coyote or wolf! He's such a gorgeous dog and the sweetest thing too.

Oakley is a Golden Retriever / Poodle cross. That or a sheep. Or maybe a cloud? His face is proportioned like a teddy bear's and you just sink into his fur. He doesn't mind being the center of attention in the least and I've discovered that he loves school bus stops - all these little people to give him belly rubs! Oakley can walk twice as far as any of my other dogs in the same amount of time, so I get my exercise whenever we go out. He also really likes to cuddle when he's saturated from a downpour - he doesn't mind in the least!

Otherwise known as Rockstar and the Ewok.

Cleopatra is the black labrador / poodle cross. Bear is the Ewok (also basically a tube with legs, he needs a harness to walk in because he has no neck to keep a collar on). Even when they're looking at you their eyes frequently aren't visible!

My handsome golden retriever neighbour. He likes leaning in for attention.

Spike here is a poodle / schnauzer cross, and he is my pretty little princess. If we come across a puddle and he gets a paw wet, he'll stop, shudder, back up and walk around it to stay dry. So he's not a huge fan of weather.

A wonderful Bernese Mountain Dog. I don't think I ever saw him without that giant grin of his. Ollie is one of the sweetest dogs that I have ever met and had so much personality crammed into him.

A wonderful Bernese Mountain Dog. Ollie is one of the sweetest dogs that I have ever met and had so much personality crammed into him.

I've helped look after a couple of elderly dogs in the neighbourhood as they got older. Goldie in particular I checked in on almost every weekday and several weekends for almost three years towards the end. It can be really rough seeing them wind down, especially on bad days, but there are some brilliant moments too. This is one of those. It was brutally hot that summer, and when there wasn't enough breeze to keep the house cool for her I set up Goldie's fans. She's in all her glory here - just look at that grin!

Johnny Depp is the cat, Rose is the cream-tone golden retriever. As Rose got older she lost all feeling in her feet so her people put down mats inside, and ramps outside, so she could still navigate smoothly. While they had several cats, Johnny here is the only one who came accustomed to spending time inside. Here he's following Rose quite contentedly in for lunch. I'm so glad I had my camera ready to get this adorable event, this is the only time I ever saw it happen.

This is Johnny Depp. He climbed inside my bag while I was over. He didn't even care when I put it over my shoulder and carried him around as seen here. I was so very tempted to zip it closed and bring him home for a visit. (I don't think he would have minded at all!) It turns out getting the cat -out- of the bag is a bigger challenge than the saying suggests.

The first time this happened I only had my sketchbook. Johnny was more than smug to get in again whether I had my camera or not.

Drinking from the tap is a favoured passtime for Johnny.

This will be a very familiar view for many dog walkers, especially if they're walking a pair of schnauzers. They are very good at setting the pace. Jessie (light grey) is definately the leader of the two, but Chloe (dark grey) is definately the attention hog. If I make a lap available for her - even if I'm just crouching down - she will find a way to be on it!

If you look in the lower right corner, that's my camera strap B-W is mauling. But hey, whatever keeps him still long enough for the camera to actually get him in focus! I have so many blurs of this cat.

British Cocker Spaniel, completely blind and amazingly determined.

This was one of Spike's cats. She was very sweet and quiet, but if you gave her your attention she would lean right in for the pet and give a wonderful rumbling purr.

I love how the perspective turned out in this photo. I basically set the camera on the floor in front of the cat, who looked at me with a combination of smugness and distrust that only cats can perfect. It shows doesn't it?

Many years we have lots of these gorgeous metallic damselflies with black wings hanging around the local stream. I managed to get extremely close to this one and am thrilled at clarity of all the details - but especially that colour!

I had to borrow my mom's camera to take these because it was the only one close by, and then the memory card got full! So I only got half a dozen photos of these goldfinches stocking up on edibles for their fall migration. They were thoroughly enjoying the calla lilies in our front garden - both shots taken through the window. It was really fun watching them bopping around between each of the blossoms. There were at least three birds in this group, maybe more. I'm a bit sad I didn't get a clear shot of all of them lined up on one stalk of flowers.

I spotted this Monarch caterpillar looking like it was picking a spot to cocoon in our raspberry patch. I checked back later and it had formed a gorgeous chrysalis in the same spot. I hope the butterfly made out well! We like keeping some milkweed plants around to help keep the monarch caterpillars in our area fed.

Taken on a very brisk and windy day on the Oakville Ontario lakeshore. The waves were so loud and you could feel the sound of them crashing against the stones. I made it carefully out on the pier at one point to just feel the raw force of it all (several stretches were clear of the waves so I wasn't in danger of being washed over if I timed where I was walking carefully). It was like for a moment I could forget I was grounded and just glory in the elements like the gulls thrilling in the spray around me.

I saw a muskrat in the rocks there too that day!

Someday painting something with as many distinct textures as this photo captures is something I aspire too. For now I will continue to be in awe of all the subtleties that catch my eye in what is basically a monochromatic image. Just the contrasts in textures alone between the pavement, feather and water droplets! This picture was taken late August on a day when it was wet and cool and just overall damp outside; but this could not have been as stunning a moment without the uncomfortable weather.

I rescued this little chipmunk from the pool cover late last fall. It was shivering so hard from the cold and wet that it couldn't even sit up and kept falling over when it tried. So adorably ineffectual, poor little dude; my mom and I built it a windbreak with a towel and gave it a bunch of seeds to get it going again. We also stuck around to ward off any potential passing predators but otherwise left it alone so it wouldn't get more anxious.

It's mostly dried off by this point and shortly afterwards was well enough to take care of itself again. You can still see the wet fur clumps on its belly while it stuffs itself with peanuts for the road.

Does this spider count as a 'domesticated animal'? Apparently we weren't the only ones using our laundry room. It was remarkably difficult getting clear photos (I hope he didn't mind us snooping).

I wish I could get a t-shirt like that but I bet it wouldn't fit me as well.

[The clothes were drawn on tissue paper and delicately placed in the web with tweezers. It didn't damage the web at all though the spider did investigate, attempt to eat, and snip loose the various articles of clothing. Sometimes faster than I could take the picture! Eventually we released the guy outside because we were afraid his diet was lacking where he was.]

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Distinguishing Features: Kind of baby proportions yet. The last inch of its tail had no fur at all on it at all!

I rescued a chipmunk from the pool today. I was eating my lunch in the back room and saw critter-indicative type ripples in the pool which registered as 'chipmunk' and I bolted outside to help. I think it was one of this years babies - mostly grown but still a bit baby looking. They've been charging around the pool deck all summer and I was hoping I'd be able to save any if they fell in before it was too late. ( There are normally a few critter casualties each year - we've even lost a little snake earlier this summer D: )

Poor thing just pulled itself over to the plants as soon as I had him equal to ground level (He was swimming into the side of the pool closest to the garden so I just lifted him up to the deck with the net). It fidgeted for a moment before settling in to shivering for quite a while. I left it alone but camped out nearby to make sure it'd be okay and nothing terrorized it. Eventually I grabbed my dad's camera so I could use the zoom and not freak it out more by getting too close.

I think it must have been the cold water as much as anything that sent it into shock as he was shivering so hard for a while that all the plants around it were shaking too! I'm glad the sun was nice and warm today. It seems to have recouped fine and scampered off when I offered it a sunflower so I can happily post this and say he was just adorably waterlogged. <3

Notch is my friendly chipmunk. If shes brave enough to come eat while I'm nearby it sometimes means other critters will think its safe and come over too.

Distinguishing Features: She has a large tear out of her right ear and her back is slightly grey toned.

Notch is named for the tear in her ear, it makes her easy to pick out. Easier still is the fact that she'll hang around even when I'm around the birdfeeder and pond. She's just about fearless. (As you can see since I was less than half a foot away from her to get some of these pictures!!)

Shes brave enough that its even been worthwhile sitting out by the pond and feeder with my sketchbook to practice some life drawing. Its really fun watching all the different reactions the animals have to me just sitting there quietly. You can really start to tell them apart just by how they respond! At least with the some of the chipmunks and squirrels anyway, the birds still tend to flit around too much and are harder to distinguish most of the time. img_chipmunk-notch.jpg img_chipmunk-notch2.jpg img_chipmunk-notch3.jpg img_chipmunk-notch4.jpg

My mom startled this awesome toad by accidentally pouring a waterbottle out on him in our front garden. He posed like a dragon while I got pictures before hopping away. This guy was strong. Really powerfully built but very compact. I just hope it stuck around and ate the demon ants out front for awhile. :/

My family and I went for a walk at Kettle lake. At least I think it was called kettle lake. Theres a neat boardwalk that goes around the whole thing. And while we didn't see any turtles ( D: ) we did see some really pretty dragonflies and damselflies. They were all in jeweltones, so they were pretty awesome. My brother even spotted a catfish! Sunfish were much more common hanging out in the shallows.

Apparently you can tell damselflies because they fold their wings together at rest.

My family and I went for a walk at Kettle lake. At least I think it was called kettle lake. Theres a neat boardwalk that goes around the whole thing. And while we didn't see any turtles ( D: ) we did see some really pretty dragonflies and damselflies. They were all in jeweltones, so they were pretty awesome. My brother even spotted a catfish! Sunfish were much more common hanging out in the shallows.

Dragonflies at rest leave their wings spread out horizontally rather than holding them together. This dragonfly looks like its about to launch at any second.

An elevation survey marker surrounded by stone and patches of vibrant red needles. I love finding these things!

I spent a weekend with my friend Kilian in Bracebridge, it had just snowed lightly the previous week but we had some gorgeous weather for walking. It was cool, but the sun was lovely and warm. The lighting on this day was spectacular for photography and some of the neatest shots you could find. Little mini-environments alternated every few meters between sunny and glowing and little shade puddles still cozied in frost and snow. These are some of my favourite shots from that day. The colours were so pretty with lots of rich reds, greens and blues.

The shape and colours of this draw me in every time. Its a vertical fairy ring of fungi.

I spent a weekend with my friend Kilian in Bracebridge, it had just snowed lightly the previous week but we had some gorgeous weather for walking. It was cool, but the sun was lovely and warm. The lighting on this day was spectacular for photography and some of the neatest shots you could find. Little mini-environments alternated every few meters between sunny and glowing and little shade puddles still cozied in frost and snow. These are some of my favourite shots from that day. The colours were so pretty with lots of rich reds, greens and blues.

Here's some frost melted from the sunlight that caught the light so prettily. Frost makes such interesting designs as it melts and freezes.

I spent a weekend with my friend Kilian in Bracebridge, it had just snowed lightly the previous week but we had some gorgeous weather for walking. It was cool, but the sun was lovely and warm. The lighting on this day was spectacular for photography and some of the neatest shots you could find. Little mini-environments alternated every few meters between sunny and glowing and little shade puddles still cozied in frost and snow. These are some of my favourite shots from that day. The colours were so pretty with lots of rich reds, greens and blues.

I thought the fronds of frost on the tiny plants between planks in the boardwalk was fascinating too. I've always really loved the mix of snow and warmth you get on days like this one once. We had them a lot in spring in northern Alberta, but they are much rarer in Ontario.

I spent a weekend with my friend Kilian in Bracebridge, it had just snowed lightly the previous week but we had some gorgeous weather for walking. It was cool, but the sun was lovely and warm. The lighting on this day was spectacular for photography and some of the neatest shots you could find. Little mini-environments alternated every few meters between sunny and glowing and little shade puddles still cozied in frost and snow. These are some of my favourite shots from that day. The colours were so pretty with lots of rich reds, greens and blues.

A self-portrait of sorts. I like that the shadow and the wet stone are the same colour, almost.

I spent a weekend with my friend Kilian in Bracebridge, it had just snowed lightly the previous week but we had some gorgeous weather for walking. It was cool, but the sun was lovely and warm. The lighting on this day was spectacular for photography and some of the neatest shots you could find. Little mini-environments alternated every few meters between sunny and glowing and little shade puddles still cozied in frost and snow. These are some of my favourite shots from that day. The colours were so pretty with lots of rich reds, greens and blues.

I just liked this shot. All the little gills are so delicate looking from this angle! It was rather an interesting picture to get too. I was leaning upsidedown almost in underneath a bunch of leaning and dead trees to get this, so I had no idea if they were all going to come out blurry or worth anything at all. :3

I pulled this toad, and three others, off the pool cover on a very cool day this spring. This one in particular seemed quite content to warm up sitting in my hands for a bit, and then waited for me while I ran and grabbed my camera. We had a mini-improv photoshoot out on the stones surrounding the fish pond. These two are the best by far! *grin* It did such a good job of tilting its head at just the right angle. It did manage to out macro my camera's macro focus though!

(Slightly edited from the original blog post) Today in my one class there was a little bug/beetle crawling up my pantleg. It was maybe 2-3mm long with six legs, two jointed antennae, and a body/neck/head division going for it. Instead of flicking it off I let it climb around on my hands and then onto my pen. There it wandered for a bit before heading off on a grand adventure down to the pen nib. Where it got one of its feet planted deeply in a blob of ink. It froze there for a second, then visibly shook its ink-covered foot before scurrying back down along my pen. Leaving a trail of tiny bug feet prints behind it!

I discovered that by rotating the pen horizontally while it was walking down it, the little guy would end up walking in the opposite direction, back down to the ink ball where it would once again get its leg inked up and leave another trail! This kept me amused for a good ten minutes. Eventually though I shooed the silly bug away toward the open exterior door. I lidded the pen to keep it protected after admiring my little trail of prints. I can actually write with it without smearing them so hopefully they'll be there for a good long while.

Yay little bug feets! Can you see the two seperate trails here?

Apparently bug feet have three little prong-toes that collect ink when they step in it. The neatest part was when it would step in the ink and then kinda wave its leg as if going 'what is this gunk!?' before completely ignoring it and walking away. :3 Yay class. And its one of my really neat fun insane classes too.

These are few of the pictures I got wandering around my friend's falls up in Bracebridge. The water levels were fast and high with the spring runoff so we didn't get to go wading - very very dangerous. There were some neat side pools I got to go hopping around though. With very few bugs out it was perfect for wandering. Its such a beautiful area to go walking in (especially with good company too). I'll have to bring up a GPS next time and see if we can find some geocaches! I'm sure their would be some good ones and they take you to areas you wouldn't otherwise end up going.

These are few of the pictures I got wandering around my friend's falls up in Bracebridge. The water levels were fast and high with the spring runoff so we didn't get to go wading - very very dangerous. There were some neat side pools I got to go hopping around though. With very few bugs out it was perfect for wandering. Its such a beautiful area to go walking in (and with good company too). I'll have to bring up a GPS next time and see if we can find some geocaches! I'm sure their would be some good ones and they take you to areas you wouldn't otherwise end up going.

I don't usually go looking for them, but can you see the face in the rocks?

These are few of the pictures I got wandering around my friend's falls up in Bracebridge. The water levels were fast and high with the spring runoff so we didn't get to go wading - very very dangerous. There were some neat side pools I got to go hopping around though. With very few bugs out it was perfect for wandering. Its such a beautiful area to go walking in (and with good company too). I'll have to bring up a GPS next time and see if we can find some geocaches! I'm sure their would be some good ones and they take you to areas you wouldn't otherwise end up going.

Since essays have been so draining my mom came up to visit and we went to the Wings of Paradise butterfly gardens for a nice dose of greenery and wildlife. It was cloudy, so there weren't as many butterflies active, but a bunch were just breaking out of cocoons and drying off. You're not supposed to pick them up but the drying ones weren't really coordinated and kept having to be rescued by the attendants so they didn't get trampled. I offered a finger for a few to sit on when there were large groups coming through and no one else around to get them out of the path of feet.

This one was just marvelous. Check out the symmetry of the patterns on those wings. The colour was even more vibrant in person if that seems possible. This was one of the ones I offered a finger to in order to get it off the walkway. Freshly de-chrysalised and joining the winged world. It was so incredible to be able to have it pose on my hand while I got some stunning shots. img_flutter13.jpg -stickbug

Since essays have been so draining my mom came up to visit and we went to the Wings of Paradise butterfly gardens for a nice dose of greenery and wildlife. It was cloudy, so there weren't as many butterflies active, but a bunch were just breaking out of cocoons and drying off.

There was also very friendly bug-keeper carrying this walking stick-girl around to show off. My mom and I swapped bug stories with him while she chilled out on my hand. I've seen a few of these on the side of our house chilling out before, but never any of this size.

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This is the most photogenic, and smallest, of three little toads I carried home from the path because I didn't want them to get trampled. And because they were adorable and I wanted pictures. Its been a long time since we've had this many little hoppy things around so I'm thrilled!

I borrowed my dad's camera to get these, its the same as mine but newer and has ZOOM. I have always been in awe of Great Blue Herons. Then the heron ate Jumbo (a giant pondfish, theres a story there too). I'm starting to forgive it.

No really. The thing is practically posing for me now (to make up for its feast?). I woke up around 4am a few weeks ago and saw it sitting on the fence, it was taller than the fence I think. Its a standard chain link yard fence so its entirely possible. It perched there for a few moments before winging off into the night. This time it was perched remarkably delicately in the top of the evergreen tree and I had a chance to take some photos.

The daft thing is that I really want to pet one.
That wing is over a meter long, rather, its longer than -my- arm.

I included this photo despite that its so blurry because you get a good look at how prehistoric these avians are. It almost looks more like a dinosaur than a modern bird here.

I have always been in awe of Great Blue Herons. I also figured out why they try so hard to look majestic: because when they take off they can look absolutely ridiculous. The thing you need to realize is that for a bird that size 'winging off into the night' is less effortless grace than it is random flailing. Both wings flapping wildly, legs flailing in opposite directions and ridiculously long neck pinwheeling out in front. Managing to somehow perch lightly on branches that a crow weighs down doesn't help the effect much either - like seeing a bear comically clinging to a branch barely able to hold a small cat. It defies logic. And gravity.

You'd try hard to look majestic all the time too if you looked that absurd when you took off.

We trekked around the boardwalk at Pelee Point in Detroit this summer admiring the acres of reeds filled to the brim it seemed with red-winged black birds. They were everywhere! Unfortunately they wouldn't stay still enough close enough for me to get a picture of them. We got back to the lookout tower at the shore just as dusk was beginning to settle and the light wasn't too good anymore. We climbed up to get a few shots before we left and I found these wonderful swallows nesting everywhere. They'd swoop down around my head and watch us inquisitively. The one perched on the light right beneath my feet so I stuck the camera over the edge and got a few shots. The others I shot blindly because the light wasn't enough to register, but when I looked at them later I was thrilled to catch so many of them still in mid flight. Really pretty birds, they have a very neat call too.

We always used to find these when I was little, and my dad told me that they were caddisfly larva. I hadn't found any in a long time and this was in late summer up at my friends new house. They have a waterfall nearby we went climbing around and I found this little guy! I kept telling her to come see, come see, and she suspiciously asked me what it was. I told her it was all old bits of bark and plants and things put together so that it could camouflage, and that there was a bug inside. ... this didn't seem to raise her opinion of it a whole lot, but they are really cool.

I am absolutely fascinated by the detail that came out in this picture. From the pattern on the moth to the veins on the giant leaf its perched on, and the layers upon layers of shadows thrown by the grass.

I wasn't initially going to put this picture up. Its pretty, but not really spectacular in any way. Until I started looking at all the shadows and layers and translucentness of the leaves (not to be confused with tranparentness). The depth created with the shadows of the leaves and the light (particularly up the left side) completely entranced me; so here it is.

If you'd believe it, this is actually the reflection of the sky and trees in the water of the stream. You can see how the reflection is further distorted by the surface tension being wrapped around the rock as the water streams by. I always thought this photo came out really neat with all the layers of depth combined into the one level, it plays tricks on your eyes.

This is an example, one of the best actually, of one of my fluke pictures. I wasn't even looking at the screen when I took this picture, the contrast of the sun and shade was too great so I just snapped a shot in hopes it would turn out and wandered off. It turned out gorgeously clear and remains one of my favourites even years later.

I didn't manage to get a better shot of it as I didn't want to terrorize the poor guy anymore, but this was taken the first day I got my camera! What you are seeing is the top of a baby chicakdees head as s/he suspiciously watched me investigate its hole.