Spring is in the air

Port Franks opening up

In the spring we look forward to seeing some of the large numbers of migrating Tundra Swans that stop over in Southern Ontario. We haven't seen any yet this year, but about mid-March is usually the peak. If you're interested in swan viewing, here are some links you might be interested in checking:

- General Tundra Swan migration information link from the Lambton County Museum: Lambdon County Swan info

- Swan sightings in the area this year: Lambton Swan calendar

- Similar Swan calendar from the Aylmer Museum: Aylmer Museum Swan info and calendar 

The Lambton Museum area is across from The Pinery Provincial Park here in Ontario. Viewing is mostly from nearby roads. The swans feed on leftover crops in the flooded fields.

The Aylmer area is near the Aylmer Police College, south of Aylmer. They feed the swans there, and have an enclosed raised viewing platform for viewing them in the large pond. 

In earlier years we've also been able to view a pair of Bald Eagles nesting and raising young, just a few minutes drive from our home. The eagles are back now, and updating their nest high up in a large tree. We can't see down into the nest at all, so don't know how far along the nesting is yet:

 

If you are interested in more eagle nesting information, here's a link to some interesting facts:  Eagle Nesting info

Through the winter we've enjoyed various views of the lake, some from our walks to a nearby lookout: 

And some from the Bayfield beach:

Bayfield beach and pier. Nice to see families out enjoying it.

The beach will need some restoration work again this year

Switching to Mews News- last fall the concrete base was poured for the new Activity Centre (officially the Hearthstone Project I think) here at the Bayfield Mews (Bayfield Mews link). Construction of the building started this week. Most of these pictures were taken from our living room window, with just a bit of zoom lens:

Materials arrived Monday Feb 28

3 experienced workers make fast work of framing

 

A bit of snow didn't slow them down much

 

Applying exterior insulation

 

 

By Friday, it's starting to show the final size and shape

A few ice pictures, and the Eagles are back!

 

The winter hasn't been bad around Bayfield (unless you compare it with Arizona!). Towards the end of January though, it was nice to see the sun again, and start to feel that, yes indeed, spring will eventually come.

These pictures of the lake ice were taken on 3 different days, from Jan 30 to Feb 6, all from the same spot about 15 minutes walk from home. The changes from day to day are amazing. It's not really widespread melting, as the days were still cold, but changing winds would cause drastic differences from day to day.

The first day, pretty much frozen over as far as we could see:

 

The next day, lots of open water:

I don't know how these waterfowl stay warm

 And a few days later:

 

Since we moved here a couple of years ago, we've been able to follow the nesting of a pair of Bald Eagles, only a few minutes south of us. We didn't really realize how early the eagles came back to start adding to their old nest for the new brood. However when we took a drive down their road a few days ago, we saw one perched in a nearby tree. 

It was too far away for our cell phone cameras, so today when we went to get eggs from a farm down that way, we took the bigger camera and lens, and...:

 
It looked like one of the eagles (I'd assume the female) has already started brooding. Yes, Spring is coming!

 

A day out, and a Bayfield Mews update

A trail in the Pinery park

Today was a gorgeous day for this time of the year, Our earlier snow has melted, and in spite of some high winds recently it feels more like an extended fall than mid-Dec. 

A naturalist blogger we follow (Nature Nuggets) recently mentioned seeing many Tundra swans stopping over here and there during their southern migration, so we set out to see if we could find some in our area  today.

We drove south from our place to a spot we often go to Swan-watch in the spring. The swans are usually not so concentrated this time of year in that area, but we did see a few passing by: 

 

And a few on the ground, in the distance

This area is behind the Lambton Heritage Museum, which is on Hwy 21 almost across from the entrance to Pinery Provincial Park. 

When talking to a couple of locals, we (of course) found that we should have been there last week, when any water in the fields was chock-full of swans. Nice to see some anyway.

After the swan views we headed across the road to the Pinery for a little light hiking. The Pinery is still open and charging for day use, but we have an annual day-use pass (courtesy of our daughter for last Christmas) for all Ontario Provincial Parks so free for us.

Not far inside the Pinery we parked and took a trail we hadn't been on before. Just a nice trail through the woods, with a lookout stop partway around. Not sure how many steps led up to the lookout, but it felt like we had a workout:

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the long-awaited Mews Activity Center (officially the Hearthstone project) has finally gotten underway. Expected to be completed by mid(ish) 2022, good progress has been made in a fairly short time. Almost all of these pictures were taken from our living room window, so we have a front-row seat.

After initial excavation, pouring the concrete footings...

Then the forms arrived to support the new foundation walls:

After only a day for the concrete to cure somewhat, the wall forms were removed:

 

With 5 more days to allow the walls to more fully cure, backfilling started:

It was interesting to see this guy get up on that dirt pile

Very careful backfilling, as the concrete is still somewhat fragile here

A large trench was then dug to run water lines etc:

 

Then filling and levelling the interior base was started. This will support the concrete floor, poured after utilities etc are placed. The large excavator built a sand ramp to let the Bobcat get in to level out the interior area, as the big excavator scooped in the sand:

Lots of back-and-forth for the Bobcat

Many if not most people at the Mews are quite excited to see this long-awaited addition taking place.

 

 

A short Fall trip to Algonquin Park

 

We had a short trip this past week, heading North to see some colour. We do enjoy a fall trip usually, and this one was special as my eye sight has suddenly improved. On Monday the week before, I had cataract surgery in both eyes. Wednesday morning this week was the second followup in London, and things are "Fantastic" according to the surgeon. So Wed afternoon we were on our way North.

With no particular destination in mind, we expected to end up in a campground in Algonquin. The daylight started to get away from us though, so we checked in to Arrowhead Provincial Park, just north of Huntsville. We were able to get electricity to run our little heater, as the nights are cool.

On the way there we started to see some good colour, around Bracebridge especially, so had hopes for tomorrow.

Our Arrowhead camp in the woods

In the morning we left in good time, getting on Hwy 60 towards Algonquin Park. The drive in and through the Park had some great colour. This looks like it will be an exceptionally good colour year up that way. There's good colour already, and lots of green left to turn. A heavy leaf canopy this year.

Along the Oxtongue River "Hogs Trough" area

The day was pretty bright through Algonquin. 

A curious Raven

Continuing out the East end of Algonquin, we decided to loop down through Haliburton and back up to Arrowhead Park for the night. 

A scenic lookout over the town of Haliburton

Lots of colour and more to come

We arrived back to Arrowhead Park about 4pm, expecting to stay there again with an electrical hookup because of the cool nights. Only to find that the power had been abruptly shut down in the park that day, and would be out for the whole month of October! There were several irate campers in line angrily waving their registrations for electric sites. 

When campground security arrived, complete with bulletproof vest (!) we decided to head elsewhere. Bass Lake Provincial Park is near Barrie and on the way home, so we headed there. The office was closed by then and we were greeted with the printed announcement that reservations were now required for all sites, all the time. Even if we reserved online right there, we wouldn't get a confirmation until the next day, so "no room at the Inn" for us.

Well, there is a KOA on down the road a ways, so try there. They were still open, and we could get a basic site with electricity. When they finally disclosed it would be $76 for the night though, we thanked them and left. We haven't stayed at a KOA for many years, and it looks like it will be many more years before we do again.

At this point it was getting pretty dark.  We were only about 2 1/2 hrs from home though, so decided to stress-test the new eyes and head for home, with Cathie being the backup if I had problems. So away we went, setting a route to avoid the construction detours we encountered on the way north around Wingham.

All went well. Traffic calmed right down, and was not heavy on the less-travelled ways we took. It was a nice clear night, and we made it home safely with no drama. 

The new eyes worked well, better at night than before. Now it's time to put the van away for the winter (after the oil change service next week) and we'll have another trip to remember.

Approximate routes:

Wednesday:

Thursday: