January Photo Scavenger Hunt

First month of 2014 over all ready!  Thanks to greenthumb for hosting these monthly scavenger hunts ~ here's my contribution.  Other links and the list for next month's hunt can be found here.  All of my photos will enlarge with a click.

1.  J is for Junco
The dark-eyed Junco is a very common visitor to my garden all winter.  This is a male, with its very dark head. 

2. 1 p.m.

This heart-shaped clock was a gift a few years ago, and pointed its way to 1:00 p.m.!

3. Measurement

Here's a large machine digging up my front lawn while a group of workers measured and dug down with shovels to locate the natural gas pipeline.  The new neighbour across the street was changing her wood burning fireplace to a natural gas one, and they needed to join up the line under the road.   

4.  Colour

I have chosen an Arbutus tree with its interesting colours and textures set against a beautiful blue sky background, taken on my walk along the trails. The Arbutus tree is Canada's only native broad-leafed evergreen tree, and usually resides not farther than 8 km from the pounding waves of the Pacific ocean. 

5.  A corner

On the same trail, a dog had enjoyed a dip in a pool over the bank on the left side, and was thinking about catching up with his walking companion just disappearing from view.

6.  Hats

This is a basket filled with hats made by a neighbour.

7.  Stamp

Well, this is a project I put together just for this category.  I had some pressed flowers that I photographed, and photoshopped them into a stamp!  Introducing the Pressed Flower Fairy Stamp :)

8.  Looking down

This one made me laugh.  If you saw my previous post with a Bald Eagle photo or two ~ well, of course I took many photos of it, and in one of them it obligingly looked down ~

Okay, sorry, I didn't mean to laugh...the next shot looks like I'm getting the evil eagle eye!  Click to enlarge to see what I mean. 

9.  Crowd

When I visited the estuary the last time, hundreds of gulls lined the shoreline, and here is a just a small section of them crowded together.

10.  Natural

Back to nature,  'where the river meets the sea', three Trumpeter Swans were readying for take off...

11.  Fruit

Fruit in the form of berries shimmering on red stalks in the sunshine ~

12.  Roof

The first photo shows the steam evaporating from the roof across the street as the temperature rises ~

and the next photo is of an interesting looking roof line of a building I noticed near the marina.  Also visible is the sea fog we experienced for quite a few days.

Unfortunately, no more blue sky days recently, but a lot of fog...today rain came to wash the fog away! 

February's photo Scavenger Hunt is as follows if you'd like to join in

1. F is for ?
2. 3pm
3. Grain
4. Lamp
5. Clock
6. Honey
7. Fountain
8. Round
9. Shadow
10. Group
11. Repurpose
12. Clouds

Eagle eye!

After a clear, cold night hovering around the freezing mark, the day awakened brightly.  We have been enveloped in sea fog for a few days, however, today it was obvious that blue sky would be visible not too far inland.

My photo of the day belongs to this Bald Eagle perched on a tree overlooking the river ~

Eagle eye:

 and check out that blue sky!!  Certainly lifted the spirits.

Going for a little hike along paths through open areas intermingled with trees, offered a wonderful way to spend time in the sunshine.

Mountain views, leathery leaves, and chirping birds added to the pleasurable walk.

A very pleasant meander ~ and did I mention the blue sky?

More tomorrow please :)

Fog lifted!

After the wet and windy weather, sea fog descended ~ however, today brightened up a bit, and so off I went to a different estuary.  The tide was out making much of the area a mudflat.  Here are some flora and fauna taken in and around the estuary and river. 

The little dog looked so sweet, peering through the fence of some property near the path.

Dinner is cooking away in the oven while I am writing this blog post, so I am looking forward to a delicious meal after spending a lovely afternoon out in the fresh air :)

Wet and Windy

It's been wet and windy, so I have not ventured too far...

Before the grey skies descended, I took a photo of the mountain with its fresh snow ~

In the front garden, the hummingbird continues to visit.  In this photo, its gorget can be seen (iridescent throat feathers) if you look really closely ;)

The squirrel is wondering if and when I'm going to fill the woodpecker feeder with a new block of nuts and sunflowers. There are enough seeds and stuff on the ground, and also, perhaps it could try to remember where it buried all the acorns in the autumn!

After a very blustery night and day, the skies cleared, and I saw this sight out of the front window:

I enjoyed watching the colours change as the sun set.   I was hoping today would be clear, but it was another dull one, and around 6 Celsius.   I dressed for the day, and headed out.

Something caught my eye at the first place I stopped ~

A fellow was enjoying the large waves and the yellow board lent a touch of brightness.

A big puddle ~

On to the estuary.

This guy was perched on the top of a dead tree ~

Overhead, three Trumpeter Swans were honking my way ~

Looks like a Merganser flying low ~

A gathering ~

Have you ever had the feeling of being watched, and then being startled when you saw the reason?

It was good to breathe in some fresh sea air, and I enjoyed my little outing.