November Photo Scavenger Hunt

Yes, another month has fled by!  Here are my photos for November, and thanks, once again, to greenthumb at Made with Love for supplying the Scavenger hunt lists.

1 - Gold
On a recent trip to Victoria, my eyes were drawn to a beautifully lit tree covered in golden lights ~ it even had the new moving icicles that are slightly visible on the right.

2 - Five
Five bucketfuls of people on the ferris wheel also located in Centennial Square.

3 - Patterns
A bit of a different take, but I have noticed a pattern emerging - more electric car plug-ins are being set up ~ well, there is a patterned line of holes in the metal post ~

4 - Bread
Here is a pan of homemade bread rolls that I conjured up during the month ~

5 - Happiness :) 
Could there be a happier face than this?  It looks happy enough to reach for the sky!

6 - Rain
Fortunately, there wasn't much rain this month ~ at least not on any day I was outside with my camera ~ but it was chilly, so here's a photo of a small waterfall raining down and being frozen mid-drip ~

7 - Traffic
On the drive down to Victoria, light traffic at the traffic light ;)

8 - Boxes
There is a large municipal recycling bin on the way to town where flattened cardboard can be deposited through numerous slits.  Somebody either couldn't or wouldn't flatten their boxes, so left them piled beside it.

9 - Staircase
These are the steps down to, or up from, the beach.  I used to run up these things!

Options

10 - Sunset
 An early November sunset captured when I opened my front door  ~ 

11 - Park
I had a photo of a dog park, but thought this children's play park at the beach was much more colourful ~

12 - Pair
Well, you have a choice of a pair of blurry red barns...

or a pair of gulls, (or is it a four-winged, four-legged flying-feathered freak?)

Here's wishing you all a happy and peaceful December!

Chilly!

After some rainy weather, the skies have cleared, the temperatures have dropped and the mountain is sporting a winter coat.

Although still mild compared to much of Canada, the temperatures are dropping slightly below zero at night with highs of 5C to 8C degrees this week.  As long as the sun shines, I'm happy :)

The sun was shining...

...so I was out, heading for Swan country ;)

Today the tide was out farther than the last time I visited. Huge patches of seaweed and other natural debris along the edges were attracting Trumpeter Swans and others.

Here are two female Goldeneye and a male Bufflehead with female companions.

Trumpeter Swans soaking up a natural spa treatment ~

Adding to the available nutrients, numerous dead salmon ~

One Bald Eagle posted for easy viewing ~

Off it flies ~

Meanwhile, the swans feed on the swirling mass of vegetation ~

 

Above, a Bald Eagle circles ~

This was an interesting interlude ~ four swans converged with straight upright necks, and then began a discussion with a lot of head bobbing and chattering.

  Two more Bald Eagles overhead ~

I stood as far back as I could to capture three stills and stitched them for this panoramic view of about 20 of the 30 or more Trumpeter Swans.

I arrived home to find SuperSquirrel(TM) up and about in the oak tree where the Pileated Woodpecker was yesterday.  Do you see the hummingbird by the feeder?

I am happy to be out in the sunshine while it lasts.  The temperature was 11C today, so that was good for the middle of November.

My own wood carver!

A red-head caught my eye today!  The handsome creature began carving my Red Oak tree trunk, and when he was finished, it looked like this ~

In my dreams...the photo of the above carving was taken at the gallery the other day ;)

My wood carver was 'head-bent' and determined to chip away though ~ He definitely looked focussed.

This male pileated woodpecker was striking, in more ways than one.  Check out those eyes!  He held his head way back ....

and then proceeded to chip away:

After leaving his mark, off he flew to the utility pole across the street ~

Here's a short clip of him in action:

Another handsome visitor, in the form of a local fireman collecting for the Christmas food drive ~ my donation was at the end of my driveway, which was picked up with a friendly wave and thanks :)

More swans, Quigley, Mountain drive and Sheep eyes

I searched through my photos of the Trumpeter Swans taken a couple of days ago, and found another close-up of a huge wingspan. 

 

Of course, in order to display grace and serenity, one must practice ~ (1 minute long)

I was quite delighted to see Quigley, the grey squirrel, return to the garden picking up some leftovers.  I thought he'd been run off by that scamp, SuperSquirrel (TM).

Yesterday, I drove up a mountain ~ I hadn't been up this particular mountain since we went as a family when the boys were very young.  It used to be a ski run, but is no longer operating. 

I noticed 3 acre lots for sale for $139,000, and some log cabins tucked into the woods.  This quaint little habitation was located close to the road.

A studio with carved animals was open, and although I didn't venture in, I took a few photos of some of the creatures that were guarding the property. 

and finally I have remembered to post a photo of those weird sheep eyes I've been looking for.  I took this photo near the end of October, and when I focussed in on the photo, I was able to crop out these two.  Weird is right!  Thanks, Snowbird for mentioning this weirdness in the first place :)

I didn't want to type this, but couldn't help it... here's looking at ewe.  Groan!