Spring (May) at Bayfield Mews: Blue water, Eagles and Orioles.

Bayfield River outlet, pier and navigation light

May was really nice around here this year (maybe this is normal, but it's our first). We continued to drop in on the eagle family from time to time.

Parent calling to the eaglets, maybe saying "Fly!"

Eaglets were growing quickly

Stretching its wings

Bigger and better

The "little" eaglets

The day came when we saw a young one in flight

 

This young one had a premature landing. Back in the nest next day though.

 

Pioneer Park was greening up:

The little Mews lending library opened up. It's handy, right next to the central mailboxes:

We had a number of colourful visitors to our back patio and the hummingbird feeder: 

The female Oriole preferred the orange

The male Oriole and the hummingbirds preferred the feeder:

Note the one larger hole for Oriole access to the feeder

It was really nice to see the Bayfield Marina open up, near the mouth of the Bayfield River:

These slips filled up as summer neared

Part of the Mews property is a 6-acre woods. Some of the residents like to add whimsical touches to the hiking trail:

We had some very pleasant pre-bug hikes in nearby conservation areas:

See Cathie on the trail?

April at Bayfield Mews

As winter released its grip, we continued to enjoy our new-ish surroundings.

Our back patio area slowly took shape:

Things were pretty bare at first

Gradually comforts were added

Then the sod came in and the pond fountain turned on

The village of Bayfield has a number of public walkways right in town, on unopened road allowances:

We often see birds on the walks, like this Northern Flicker that thinks it's hidden:

Down at the main Bayfield beach on Lake Huron, high water and high winds have taken their toll, very little beach left this spring:  

Over the winter a temporary bridge was built across the Bayfield River for Hwy 21 traffic. The old bridge will be demolished and a new one built, in the same spot as the old one. I'm not sure what the target is, but it's a big project:

Here's some of the steel reinforcement that came out of the old bridge concrete as it was demolished:

Definitely signs of spring budding:

Watching birds in the spring is something we enjoy. This year we especially enjoyed a pair of Bald Eagles nesting nearby (about a 5 minute drive, or 15 minute bike ride) and raising two youngsters. 

And following the new fashion trend this year:

Winter at Bayfield Mews

Now that we have been at our new home in Bayfield Mews for 6 months or more, we thought it was time for an update even though we're not travelling very far. I was going to just do one post for the 6 months, but too many pictures for that. So there will be 3 posts, one each for winter, spring and early summer. This post will be the intro, although some of the winter activity was covered in the  previous 2 (February) posts.

Since we were later than expected moving in to the new place, we had decided to not head south to Arizona this winter. We did intend to head south in late winter or spring though, maybe along the US Atlantic coast to the Carolinas or so. However the virus laid those plans to rest, as it has for the plans of many others. That's been our major disappointment in our new digs; now that we have the freedom to lock the door and travel, we can't. Not really complaining though, we know we have things so much better than some.

It was a mild winter here, but still "real winter". There were few major storms though, and local travel was generally no problem.

The Lake Huron shores are only a 15 minute walk from our home, so we walked there quite often and watched the lake freeze and thaw over time:

Even though it was a mild winter, we did get some snow and drifting:

Looking at a drift out our back door

We don't get snow removal service at the back

I kept the patio clear, so we could use the door if needed

In March we took a short day trip to a beach in Kincardine, which is also on Lake Huron:

Ice pack on the summer beach

Looking back at the shoreline

Also in March we went to a nearby area that is host to migrating waterfowl, mainly Tundra Swans. This is near the Lambton Heritage Museum, off Hwy 21 near the Pinery Provincial Park. We found lots of swans:

Two of the many hundreds of swans

A very windy day, the windmills in the background were really going

As mentioned earlier, we saw many freeze/thaw cycles in the lake on our walks. As March wore on, the lake opened up:

Looking at the Bayfield River mouth and pier from Pioneer Park

We also got for another walk at the Bannockburn Conservation Area, much less snow than in February: