Waterton Lakes National Park: Goat Lake Trail

More Rides on the Wild Side

Eric and Jackie descending the Goat... Day 2.

Day two of our horseback ride in Waterton Lakes National Park dawned, and after the exhilaration of Avion Ridge, we were excited about riding from Snowshoe Cabin to Goat Lake. 

As we rode, we passed bikes locked to Engleman spruce at the base of the ascent. Cyclists transformed into hikers to walk up the Goat Trail. Everyone shared greetings when we rode by.

Suddenly, the trail opened to expose the reason why Alpine Stables’ expedition guide, Josh Watson, had not ridden here with guests for four years.

A sheer talus slope greeted us, plunging its way downhill.

The narrow trail clung to the mountainside: to our right, our shoulders would almost brush the cliff face in places.

Off we rode, wondering how we would make it. My horse, Major, slowed his gait, picking his way carefully along the angled trail. Suddenly, we halted.

Josh said, “Dismount, everyone! There’s a big rock here that the horses will have to jump. So get off, take the rains right to their end. Now? Walk ahead of your horses and take care not to get in their way.”

Right!

So? We did just that... And, after negotiating the ascent and having lunch at pretty Goat Lake (with mountain goats as company...) we then faced the descent. 

As all mountain hikers know, the descents are a lot more scary... But? We all made it.

Now? I long to return to do The Goat again.

Waterton Lakes National Park: Avion Ridge

Take a ride on the wild side

We're off! Following Josh Watson on Drover.
Day 1: at Snowshoe Cabin, heading for Avion Pass.

“Do heights bother you?” asked Alpine Stables’ horse expedition guide Josh Watson? “If not, let’s ride the horses up to Avion Ridge.”

No, heights don’t bother me or my husband Eric Fletcher, so off we went, climbing more than 720 metres to reach this windswept, talus ridge—on horseback! We were in Waterton Lakes National Park, located four hours south of Calgary, in Alberta.

My quarterhorse, Major, picked his way carefully, as though each and every placement of his hooves was a tremendous responsibility. He sure inspired confidence... Eric’s quarterhorse, Jackie, was completely opposite in nature, being a real “powerhorse” who powered her way through thick and thin. Both were superb, trustworthy athletes.

Checking the view, with Catherine Reynolds,
Josh Watson, and Eric, and horses on Avion Ridge!

Just as well... the 2,413 metre Avion Ridge inspired us with grand views of ridge after ridge of Rocky Mountains extending to the horizon.

Little did we know another challenge awaited the next day.

“I've not been up Goat Lake trail for four years,” Watson said. “But I think you two could make it. Want to try?”

Of course we did! So, the following day up we went, with Catherine Reynolds of Parks Canada accompanying us.

Australians ask: What are we really burning?

Devastation to biodiversity/wildlife during prescribed fires

My friends and colleagues at the Portland Field Naturalists’ Club (Portland, Victoria, Australia) sent me this video made jointly by them and another (Hamilton) Field Naturalists’ Club. Together, they created this hard-hitting, difficult-to-watch video, published June 24, 2014.

Back story: The state government of Victoria has an ongoing commitment to the prescribed burning of 5% of the Crown Land in the State of Victoria. The government does this in order to prevent wild (or intentional/unintentional human-set) fires from endangering homes, businesses, livestock and other establishments/organizations/etc which are considered at risk from fire and hence, more important than the conservation and respect for environmental biodiversity, including wildlife.

Despite lobbying the various levels of government, the two Field Naturalist Clubs believe their well-considered opposition to the controlled burns has been ignored. They are particularly concerned about the excruciating death by burning experienced by wildlife such as koalas, wombats, kangaroos, echidnas, powerful owls, and frankly, anything that moves. Not to mention the flora.

Please watch this video to learn what prescribed burns really do. Note: because it contains graphic images of burned animals, this may not be appropriate for children.

Then?

Please also consider that this is not “just” a far-away-in-another-land issue. Here in Canada we allow prescribed burns. How do you feel about this? 

What can we do?

My colleagues at the Portland Field Naturalist Club suggest we write to the Victorian Environment Minister Ryan Smith: They wrote:

“Every year the Victorian Government burns large areas of bush under the banner of protecting human lives and assets, but is this really what is happening? Concerned? Contact the Victorian Environment Minister Ryan Smith, the man responsible for overseeing prescribed burning in Victoria on ryan.smith@parliament.vic.gov.au”

Elizabeth Le Geyt: Bird Lady and centenarian

Former Ottawa Citizen bird columnist publishes book... and turns 100!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Today, Elizabeth Le Geyt celebrated her 100th birthday and launched her first book, Bird Lady: A lifelong Love Affair with Birds.

Check this link for some stunning colour images of birds featured in Bird Lady, taken by such renowned Ottawa-area birders as Tony Beck and Bruce di Labio.

Readers of her popular bird column in the Ottawa Citizen can now read Elizabeth’s stories about how her love of birds was transformed into a highly respected column... and book.

I can’t wait to read a copy!

Mud Oven exhibition closing soon!

Still time to see Year of the Horse, until July 4!

Several artist friends celebrated my first show with me.

Yes, you can still see my first solo show, Year of the Horse, which is still on exhibition at The Mud Oven.

Spirit Horses: Youngsters at Play.
Mixed media. Sold.

Read about the inspiration for Year of the Horse at the Mud Oven’s website, where I have written about the process of inspiration for my artwork.

My vernissage surpassed all my expectations! On May 12, forty-one supporters from the Pontiac region, Wakefield, and Ottawa looked at my seventeen artworks, and amazed me with their support.

Where the Unicorns Play.
Collograph.

Eight pieces sold: a mixed-media painting, a mixed-media burlap and acrylic painting, a woodblock print on some of my handmade paper, and four ceramic pieces (two chargers and two 6x6 inch tile trivets).

Plus? Two commissions. I was — and remain — astounded by this support.

I also designed several gift cards from my artwork, as well as notebooks and mouse pads, many of which were very popular with the crowd.

Several works are still available, however.

So before July 4, drop by the Mud Oven located in Ottawa at 1065 Bank Street, just north of Sunnyside in Old Ottawa South — my old neighbourhood!

Spirit Horse: Leap to the Fire

High energy!

My brilliant orange Spirit Horse leaps towards one of three fiery suns in a brilliant blue sky.

The whirling suns are actually a repeated, very special symbol of mine, recalling the nautilus, a multi-chambered seashell. Throughout the ages the nautilus has inspired us with the concept of infinity, eternal life, internal harmony, and yes, let us not forget mystery, too.

This brilliant Spirit Horse – which itself embodies energy and hope – leaps towards the sun. I painted Blackfoot symbols on this “Indian pony.” The zigzag represents a lightning bolt, the dot symbolizes the circle of life.





After creating the image above, I fired it at The Mud Oven in Ottawa, I “framed” the 6 x 6 inch tile in a “simply ornate” frame and voilà! A trivet is born!

Hang it on your wall or use it on your table as functional art... but above all, enjoy it.

Spirit Horses: Whirlwind

Galloping, whirling horses

Spirit Horses: Whirlwind
before firing.

The inspiration behind Spirit Horses: Whirlwind reflects how these beautiful creatures of flight abandon themselves to a joyous gallop, running for pure joie de vivre, just as my two horses Crescent and Trooper do here at Spiritwood. These four swirl about against a blue heaven, where my nautilus symbol “suns” represent the continuum of life into eternity.

On the right, find my tile before it was fired: here you get a muted example of what the final work of art will be.

As anyone who knows my art understands, I am inspired by strong colours. In Whirlwind, the strength of the horses is further enhanced by bold hues.

Spirit Horses: Whirlwind my 6 x 6 inch ceramic tile trivet
is completed, after firing.

Here my four painted “Indian ponies” whirl their way about on the 6 x 6 tile. After firing it at The Mud Oven’s kiln in Ottawa, I dropped them into a “simply ornate” frame.

The frame transforms my art into a trivet – functional art you can hang on your wall, or use at your table.

Enjoy!

Workshop with Jelly Massee

Learning pen and ink techniques at a terrific workshop

I adore horses, as anyone who knows me or who has browsed this blogsite understands.

So I was keen to take a class with Chapeau, Quebec-based artist Jelly Massee, who taught class participants various techniques of using pen and ink to create art from photographs we had taken. Techniques included stippling and crosshatching, among other styles of shading and definition. The class took place in 2012.

Armed with a photograph of my husband Eric’s Friesian-cross-Standardbred gelding, Trooper, I created a pen-and-ink study, using all the techniques being taught during the class.

First, I studied the image I had taken of Trooper. I took this image the day we purchased him, and Eric had just taken him out for a drive in his previous owner’s buggy, on the roads. What a handsome lad he is (I mean Trooper...!)...

Then, I traced my photograph, and started work on Trooper’s face. 

Below right: the image is near completion. Notice how I still have Trooper’s chest to fill in, and there is more detailing to be executed on his neck and  harness.

NEW!

Special note re exhibitions (this note is added later, in 2014): I will first exhibit this pen and ink work, “Trooper” during my first solo show (May 12-July 4, 2014) at The Mud Oven, in Ottawa.

Fire it up! Charger with Spirit Horses

First Nations inspiration!

Compare this image with my former post of March 21, 2014, where I displayed my unfired Spirit Horse charger (large display platter).

After the kiln firing, the colours really pop!

The inspiration for the designs on all of my “Indian ponies” derives from Blackfoot First Nations. The Blackfoot are renowned horse people. The ziz-zag design was used on their war horses, as one symbol indicating a “thunderbolt,” to my recollection. This symbol gave the horse dramatic, frightening presence on the field of battle, and denoted the horse’s ability to stop, “turn on a dime” and “zig-zag” or dart about the enemy, with its rider.

First kestrel of year

Hunched silhouette a giveaway

So many migrants returning... 

This afternoon around 17:20h I spied an American kestrel on an overhead wire alongside Highway 148 Ouest, gazing at the open ground, looking for a meal.

No image... just a sighting!

A deer kind of morning

White-tailed deer at Church Falls, Gatineau Park

The deer are eager to come to the increasingly exposed edges of roads to feast on last year’s leaves and grasses.

This photo, taken with my iPhone, hand-held while I was inside my car, was a quick snap. I thought these four (yes, four... can you spy one in the background?) would dash away into the forest, so shot four quick images.

These deer look healthy. Some which I have spotted, however, are extremely thin and I think that the thinnest look as though they are yearlings. If they can make it through a frigid, extended winter like this one, I think their chances for survival may be excellent...

... if they can outmanoeuvre the predators, that is...

One deer wasn’t so lucky. A hind leg of a deer, partially chewed, was lying on the Steele Line when I drove into Wakefield yesterday. Upon my return, it was gone... Good fortune for whatever critter was hungry that day!

Ungainly looking black blob in tree...

... Is a grazing wild turkey!

So there I am, minding my own business, driving along the back roads of Pontiac, where I live in the Outaouais. Suddenly, I spy it: a large ungainly black “blob” up in the wild apple tree.

Wild turkey!

There it was, gorging on last season’s now-frozen apples on the tree.

Stopped the car, tried to get a shot -- but as many of you will understand, these wily wild birds are shy and so I missed getting any photographs. It’s one of those special memories I will treasure.

Lichens and mosses of the Eardley Escarpment

Exploring the world of primitive plants

A: Eric photographing rock tripe on Eardley Escarpment.

A world of lichens awaits discovery on the Precambrian rocks of the Eardley Escarpment. I do not yet know all of their names: if you can help to identify them, I invite your comments.

Here, Eric is photographing rock tripe, a kind of lichen. Rock tripe is common, and is an edible (though not choice) species of fungi. 

Image B is a photo of several lichens. In particular, one reminds me of cedar. This image depicts several different kinds, all of which I would like to have identified for me, so that I start to know what is growing here at Spiritwood.

B. Several lichens.

Nearby, yet another plant attracted our attention, a series of “circles” which might be spores or “young lichens” or -- are they a mature species of a different type of lichen? 

C. These “circles” mystify me. What are they?

And below? Another perspective of these “circles” surrounded by mosses and framed by dead deciduous and evergreen leaves.

D. Another view of the “dots” or “circles”.

E. Feathery or fern-like moss.

To the left, moss which resembles a small fern or perhaps feather.

G. Another “creeping style” of “feathery” moss.

And above, a “creeping” species, with snow receding from it.

Woods in spring... er, winter...

Spring woods after 15 cm snowfall

Snowshoeing through Spiritwood’s woodland trails revealed plants in their various stages of growth... and death.

A young white birch is losing its “baby bark” and getting its mature white bark. Buds are swelling and before long -- only in a few weeks -- the first furled leaves will appear.

Meanwhile, the trails are blanketed with deep snow. Here, balsam fir and white pine are draped with yesterday’s snowfall while a blue sky peeks through the foliage.

Marcescence: the dead leaves which cling onto twigs is well-illustrated here with the American beech. Isn't that a remarkable blue sky?

Finally, a large poplar windfall reveals a complicated, shallow twist of roots.

Who knows what the morrow will bring? We intend to explore again...

Sightings mid-March

Spring approacheth... despite snow

March 20: Bald eagle flies over Spiritwood. Neighbouring farmer says two are feeding on a dead calf at his place. Lots of wild turkeys on the roads; males displaying their fine plumage.

March 21: lots of white-tail deer on Mountain Road and Highway 148 Ouest feeding on exposed dried grasses/foliage of last year’s grasses and leaves. Deer looked like yearlings: small and they all look very thin, with coats moulting. American goldfinch males starting to show golden breeding plumage.

March 22: 15 cm snowfall. Amid the squall, I hear a robin singing. Filled feeders: Approximately 20 goldfinches, ~ 9 juncos enjoying nyger seed, while black-capped chickadees, jays are consuming the black sunflower seeds. Mourning doves flitting about. Crows and ravens keen on the compost pile I've just replenished.

Spring arrives at Spiritwood?

Morning snowsquall deposits 15 cm snow.

15 centimetre snowfall defeats “spring”?

The early morning snowstorm deposited 15 cm of snow here in the Outaouais (West Quebec) and Ottawa Valley. All is well here at Spiritwood, however: Eric and I are looking forward to getting out in the new (wet) snow.

Before doing so, however, there is work to be accomplished.

Eric clearing path from tractor shed to the driveway.

Eric didn’t need to plug in the tractor: It started immediately in our -2  temperatures.

First on the list was snowblowing our front driveway.

The snow is very wet, very heavy. Perfect for making snow animals... but for now, before it becomes even heavier and sodden, we need to blow the snow from the driveway, which enables us to drive in and out without creating nasty tire tracks.

The snowblower needs to be carefully positioned when operating the tractor, so one doesn't blow snow into the garage or against a window.

I’m being surrounded by a mini-gust of snow
from the blower as I'm standing downwind of it.

Creating ceramic art

Cavorting Spirit Horses 

My Spirit Horses on charger, ready for firing!

Here is my latest creation: Spirit Horses charging about on a charger... a large rimmed plate.

Had great fun creating this while my artist friend Kate Aley created a ceramic work of her own.

Now I have to wait for a week, prior to picking up my finished, brand new work.

After firing, the colours will spring into life...

Plant intelligence: how do we measure it?

Canadian Museum of Nature explores concept of plant intelligence

The latest session of the Museum’s “Nature Talks” series of lectures was held Tuesday March 18. Topic? Globe and Mail science reporter Ivan Semeniuk interviewed Paul Sokoloff, a botany research assistant at the Museum, on the subject of plant intelligence. (Watch a video of this next week at nature.ca.)

Do plants “think”? Not as human beings do. However, Sokoloff said they possess something analogous.

“Electrical pathways are analogous to animals’ central nervous systems,” he said, “Of course, plants have no brain. But even though plants are stationary, they do a lot of what we often consider to be ‘intelligence’' They move in response to light. Roots detect gravity and send their shoots up through the soil to the sky.”

Among many other things, noted Sokoloff, plants detect humidity, minute changes in carbon dioxide, and soil PH. Of special interest to me was his claim that plants can resist being consumed by grazing animals because they can adapt chemically, to become less palatable. (Does this drive hybridization, I wonder, as we develop more tasty and nutritious grazing plants for beef and dairy cattle, for instance?)

During the conversation with Semeniuk, Sokoloff discussed plant memory and learning. He cited a researcher’s lab tests with Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) where plants were repeatedly dropped. At first, as always happens when this species’ leaves are touched, they folded upon impact with the ground. However, after a while, they stopped doing so. The question is: Did these Mimosa plants learn to ignore stimuli which did not hurt them?

In a follow-up interview on Thursday March 20, I asked Sokoloff what types of chemicals plants use to successfully compete for space, light, and hence, survival.

“Black walnut trees emit a chemical called juglone which is released by their roots.” Insodoing, other plants cannot grow in soil adjacent to this species. In fact, Sokoloff told me, “Probably nothing much grows until the chemical is metabolized by the soil.” 

We don't normally think of plants polluting the soil... However, is this intelligence?  Thoughts? For more information, check Oxford Journals: Annals of Botany blog.

 

Exploring the explorer: predators in nature

Tracking on snowshoes reveals curious predator

Beautiful day for a snowshoe on  March 16, with snow still very deep despite the approach of spring...

Here my friend and I have discovered a sheltered piece of ground, evidently where creatures such as mice, voles and squirrels hang out for protection.

The pawprints of a curious coyote tell the story of what happened here. The carnivore has checked out this hiding spot more than once.

No blood. No fur. So perhaps sheltering critters have escaped... for now...

White-tail deer eating wild apples

Why I love where I live!

Driving along back roads of the Pontiac region of the Outaouais, where I live, often brings me face to face with the wildlife which shares my world.

Today I spied a white-tail deer feeding on a wild apple tree’s late harvest of fruit. I couldn’t believe my good fortune: I slowed my vehicle, prepped my iPhone, and approached the deer very slowly.

It was not sure what I was doing, and turned as if to slip away a few times. I simply paused, then crept forward, to finally win this image. No, it is not technically anywhere near “perfect” because I took it through my windscreen. However, it is an image depicting the spectacular beauty within which I live.

When I was simply too close for comfort, it slipped off into the woods of Gatineau Park.