Invasive Plants and Squirrels

I've heard a lot on the news about the Hogweed that is spreading across Canada so when I found a similar looking plant while camping, I took a few pictures.  I didn't have my book to identify it there.


This first picture is a Hogweed but the ones I took are actually maybe Cow Parsnip?
                                            

 

Once I began taking pictures of weeds, I just continued                   

These lovely orange flowers I believe to be Hawk weed still closed in the morning light.   They were quite attractive.

I couldn't identify this pretty little white flower 

And ...finally the squirrel that was so annoyed with me he wouldn't quit chattering for an hour no matter how far I went from him.                                            

Back to Nature

Had a chance to do some back woods camping .  We found a wonderful place with no other campers and no conveniences of course but it was so nice to spend hours in the beauty and quiet of nature.  The only sounds were chipmonks, chickadees and an annoyed squirrel and of course the whine of mosquitoes (but not too many).

 We camped at a small unnamed lake at the top of a very high mountain with no fish but the most beautiful pond lilies. 
I was able to enjoy watching tadpoles, dragonflies, butterflies and a family of little brown birds I still haven't identified.
I wasn't able to zoom in close enough to get pictures of them unfortunately.  Not many people camp here so all the wildlife were very wary of us.
We reached this spot via an old logging road as you can see from the lack of trees in the background that they had already cleared out most of the large trees and a lot of the rest were dying from the mountain pine beetle.

Sorry the picture is tilted.

                                                            

I forgot the happy Dog

Just realized my last post mentioned a happy dog and I forgot to post about it.
My niece rescued a dog about a year ago, found her on the side of the road.  She is so excellent with animals that this dog looks like he's in heaven.

I snapped a photo when he was just lounging around and it was so cute I wanted to share it but forgot.  So here it is.

Adam's Needle and Happy Dogs

I've been waiting for my Yucca - Adam's Needle to come into full bloom and now it is.

I received this (Yucca - Adam's Needle- Spanish Bayonet)  from a friend a few years ago and apparently neglect is causing it to bloom.

A while ago I watched an episode of Survivorman  ( television show explaining how to survive  when stranded in different environments) and he told us why it was called Adam's Needle.

I searched the internet but found very little references to it so I just had to try it myself.

At the end of the leaf is a very sharp needle and if you strip the leaf leaving a few strands of the tough fibers you end up with a needle and thread for emergency use.
I gave it a try and it worked well enough, although I think if the leaf was a bit dryer like in the fall or by letting it dry in the sum, the needle would be harder. It was very sharp and proved it could easily go through the skin on my fingers.

The Yucca is supposed to have roots that you can make soap from, if I ever move it I shall have to try it.

Turkey Vultures

My camera went on vacation without me, my daughter took it and wouldn't you know, last evening, I was just a few feet away from a Turkey Vulture sitting on a fencepost. 

Since I don't have my camera, these pictures were taken by a local person in the same area.  His website is: http://www.andytheflyguy.ca/pages/wildlife.htm  Thank you Andy for the pictures. 

It's kind of exciting because I didn't even  know these birds were here until this spring when I saw huge black birds circling  above the hills and I was high enough to see what they were.

After some online investigation, I discovered that we do have what the old western movies used to call "buzzards". 
But if you check out this link below, apparently http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/TVFacts.html#anchor_13248 buzzard is not used correctly when referring to Turkey Vultures.

Feeling Guilty - Weekly Featured Blogs

I'm feeling guilty about all the time spent on my computer when I have so much to do.  The problem is all of you bloggers have such interesting things to say and wonderful pictures to see. 
For example: I was just on Judy Adamson's new blog.  I checked it out earlier but thought I'd better take a longer look.  I think the layout is very good, you've put a lot of work into it .   http://mugsmousepadsandmore.blogspot.com/ 
Then of course, I had to check out the link to her cards at http://www.yoodoo.com/cardDisplay.aspx?state=cards&cardOffset=0&cardArtist=63&pn=1 because I couldn't find them without the link and by the way, I really like them, even with the borders.

I should have quit then but I went on to Ratty's Nature Center Magazine http://www.nc-mag.com/ which is full of interesting links leading to all kinds of other great blogs and sites and even free wallpaper which took another hour of time. 

Then on to those of you with birding blogs and art blogs, photography etc.  If I start to mention all of you, I will forget some and I don't want to do that so I think I will feature a few blogs every week.

I just watched the new Alice in Wonderland movie and feel like Alice. 
Only instead of falling down a hole, I clicked a button and opened up a whole new world full of talented, interesting and wonderful and often very funny people.

I did also find some time to work and although I don't know this puppy personally, I do remember how many shoes I went through the last time I had a puppy. 

Customize or Congratulations on New Puppy Card by countrymousestudio

Up to my neck in Magpies again

I can't seem to quit painting Magpies.

Magpie Sculpture by countrymousestudio

They are everywhere here.
As I waited for my daughter one morning, I watched the Magpie family that had nested across the street from her.  They'd stuffed nesting material into the top of a pyramid cedar tree.  Most of it was hanging out but somehow they managed to bring a family into the world.
She told me they were annoying because they woke her up every morning so I watched as the family hopped along the eves trough looking for bugs, drinking any standing water and generally poking their beak into every crevice and crack.                                                  
When they were finished with the eaves troughs  they checked out the windowsills, which was what my daughter complained about.  There's nothing like having a bird with a rather large beak tapping on your window first thing in the morning.

When they were done there, they swooped down into the garden where I know they'd eaten her sprouting vegetables and any near ripe fruit like strawberries and peas in the past and were hoping to find more.       
On the whole, it was very pest like behavior but still I can't help liking them. 

Magpie Sculpture by countrymousestudio

Finally, the reason for the name of the post was this necktie, it was fun to make.

Magpie Magnet by countrymousestudio

  

Magpie Neck Tie by countrymousestudio

What are they?

Just finished checking out my photos from Ellison Park.  At the bottom of the valley was an incredible scent.   The whole lower part was filled with these beautiful shrubs covered in white blossoms.
I had an ornamental orange tree as a house plant once and it smelled similar so I was wondering if these might be mock orange?

Then I came across this tree with what looked like someone had painted the leaves.   It probably is some sort of fungus but how beautiful it was.                                  

Yeah! California Quail Chicks

Every year we see the male and female California Quail then we never seem to see any babies.  I know there are large numbers of cats loose in the neighborhood so I assumed they got most of them.

I have been throwing bird feed on the ground for the Mourning Doves and Redwing blackbirds.  My last few bags were a cheaper brand with more corn and I noticed the quail coming around twice a day to check it out too.

Yesterday afternoon, my son heard the familiar call of the quail and we always check for cats but he spotted this family dashing across the yard.  Father Quail was ever watchful while the babies (may be difficult to see) scattered.
In most of the pictures that he took, they were just a blur but he did manage to capture one fairly good one, especially considering it was through the window.

These little ones are approximately 3-4 inches tall  so they must be several weeks old.  I'm glad to see so many survived.

Ellison Park

This is the official description of Ellison Park

Nestled on the northeastern shore of Okanagan Lake, Ellison Provincial Park includes 200 hectares of forested benchlands above a shoreline of scenic headlands and sheltered coves.

This is the entrance. It's quite steep and it was threatening rain so even though the campground was full, I was all alone and loving it.

This was the largest funnel type spider web I'd ever seen. The opening was larger than the  palm of my hand so I didn't wait around for the resident to appear.
A few weeks earlier my daughter found a Hobo spider in her bedroom so now I'm avoiding any places that might house them.

One of the benefits of hiking in this park is the Saskatoon (also known as Serviceberry). I love them and always help myself but usually the chipmunks remind me to leave some for them, although today, I didn't see any of the little guys. Perhaps the campground was full and the campers were providing enough treats to keep them busy.

 Just past the berries is a stiff climb with a beautiful view.
The paths are quite steep with no handrails so I have to not look down at this one spot because the drop off on right side goes straight down into the valley with loose gravel to help you get there.



 
Once you're past the scary part you get to the top with the awesome view.  

                Well, that's enough for today, maybe now that I've had a good day in nature, I'll be able to get back to painting. 

Pine Bark Beetle in BC

The pine trees in our province have been under attack by the Pine Beetle.

 I was almost afraid to go for a walk today in Ellison Provincial Park, which is a popular camping spot about 15 minutes away and my favorite place to go.  Last fall, they began removing beetle kill trees so I worried it would no longer be a forest and would now be a treeless wasteland.                                                                          

I have a few favorite Ponderosa Pines that I always like to visit as they have the most amazing bark.  It fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.  I often wished I could think of an art project that would use the pieces.

                                                                 The previous picture shows how the bark falls off and how much the pieces look like a puzzle.                                            

This red tree is showing damaged bark.                                                                                                                                                                                                  The next picture shows trees marked for removal.                                                            

The final picture shows one of my favorite old trees.  It's been dead a long time and I have no idea what caused it but what an amazing twist to it.  I wonder what caused it to grow that way?
  I didn't just photograph the damaged trees, I will show the rest of the pictures tomorrow as it is a beautiful park.