Blue Jays at the Feeder

 

Eating a sunflower seed

 

 

 

Looking them over

 

 

 

Choosing the right one

 

 

 

 

What now?

 

 

 

Perhaps this angle is better?

Wisteria Blooms for the Second Time

 

 

Our wisteria vine has bloomed for the second time this summer.  It's never done that before.  I wonder why?

 

 

The bees are busy with the second chance at blossoms.  I am happy to see them together again.

 

Photos are copyright 2011-2013 Carol Steel

Osprey Juveniles on the Nest

I relearned a lesson I know but don't always follow
when posting blogs. 
Do the homework. 
Yesterday I posted photos and claimed the birds
were baby eagles.  I was wrong, they were juvenile ospreys.

I usually check all my facts thoroughly
but was rushing to post a blog, 
because I've not been writing or posting
as much as I want lately. 
Rushing and not checking = bad blogging. 

These are juvenile ospreys on nests built on platforms
near the turnoff from Route 15 to Grand-Barachois
in New Brunswick.  We stayed far away from them
so we wouldn't disturb them
and took the photos with a long lens.

Their parents circled above us and kept a close watch
over our activities.  We stayed in the car
and took the pictures from there. 
The photos seem as if we were closer
because I cropped the photos to enlarge them
after I returned home.

"Ospreys are dark brown above, white below, with white head, prominent dark eye stripe.  The juvenile has plumage fringed
with pale buff above.  They eat mostly fish
and nest near fresh or salt water. 
They build their bulky nests in trees,
on sheds, poles or platforms."   
(Quote from National Geographic Field Guide
to the Birds of Eastern North America.)

Lesson re-learned:  Do the homework,
check the facts and photos,
even if I think I know what I'm looking at.

Immature Ospreys on Nests

 

 

Immature Ospreys Sitting on Nests

We drove on Route 15, left at Exit 43 to Grand-Barachois, New Brunswick and spotted immature ospreys sitting on nests.  We didn't disturb them but used a long lens to capture these photos.  Though we were a distance away from the nest, we looked up and saw that we were being watched by the parent birds, who were spiraling lower and lower toward us. 

We would have stayed longer but felt we were intruding, even though we were careful not to get out and walk closer.  In fact, we stayed in the car and just pulled to the shoulder of the roadway to take photos.  We left, feeling grateful for the sight of babies.

Chickadees at the Feeders

 

 

 

 

Darker Darkness on the Streets of Riverview, NB

This photo was taken about 30 feet away from a street light.  The stop sign shows, as does light reflected
off the white house across from it, but notice how dimly lit the street is.

 

 

Darker Darkness on the Streets of Riverview, NB

It’s about light, isn’t it; about being able to see well after dark on the town’s streets?  Isn’t that the purpose of street lights?

The bulbs in the street lights were changed recently, changed to another type of bulb.  Now the streets in Riverview glow an eerie grey-blue, like a scene in a Stephen King movie.  The streets are darker, feel somehow less safe. There are stretches of impenetrable darkness between street lights.  The new lights shine a pool of grey-blue light below themselves but the light doesn’t spread much further.

I searched the Town of Riverview’s website for information or a notification about this change.  Nothing.  I did find one statement under the heading “Roads and Traffic.”  Did you know it costs $36,000.  a month to power the 2,100 lights used in streetlights, crosswalk lights and traffic control lights?  That’s it.  No other explanations, about anything to do with lighting.

$36,000.  is expensive; my tax dollars contribute to these costs.  I understand the need to be wise financially.  Perhaps the changes are about saving money.  That’s a good thing.  Perhaps the new light bulbs are about saving electricity, putting less demand on the grid.  That’s a great consideration.  Perhaps the dim bulbs are about creating less light pollution so we can more easily star gaze at night.  I doubt that’s it.  There’s still all that light pollution from Moncton across the river.

This photo was taken directly under a street light.  Note the grey-blue fogginess of the light
and how little illumination there is.

 

 

I wonder.  Could there have been another alternative to diminishing illumination on the streets at night, creating expanses of deeper darkness for people walking?  Where does public safety figure into this decision?  Last?  Or, not at all?

I wonder why there is nothing on the town’s website mentioning the changes.  Having streets lit in a dim grey fog seems a big change to me.  Isn’t it worth noting? 

I’ll keep on searching for information.  I’d like to understand why the lights have gone dim and grey-blue.   And why, Riverview is in the dark.

ADDITIONAL NOTE (posted at August 30, 2013):  At the end of this month, there were newspaper and TV news articles explaining the changes.  In summary:

"NB Power is in the process of replacing 72,000 street lights around New Brunswick, a project expected to cost $30 million.  The move to LED (light-emitting diode) street lights is designed to save money and reduce the utility's carbon footprint.  NB Power estimates the new lights will allow the province to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 324,000 tonnes during the next 20 years.  Despite the claimed advantages of switching to the new street lights, NB Power acknowledges some negative feedback from communities where they have already been installed." 

The utility says it is working to educate residents about the change, claiming the light is brighter, more efficient and more direct.  Well, not in Riverview, it isn't.  Does educate mean brainwash?  Do they think if they tell us it's brighter, we'll be convinced?  Have they tried walking early mornings and late evenings in Riverview?
 

Choke Cherry Tree

 

 

A few years ago, town street improvements killed our choke cherry trees.  In exchange, we received a wider paved street, curbs and a retaining wall, as our property was lower than the newly raised street.  Of course, we were billed from the town for these improvements, at a hefty rate per linear foot of frontage.  While the street was smoother, wider, prettier, there were no choke cherry trees.

Now they have returned.  I thought the roots were completely damaged from the backhoe chew-holes in our yard, but, no.  This year for the first time, the trees have grown enough to bear fruit. 

I took a photo or two, as I love the way sunlight shines on the berries and makes them so cheerful and rosy.  I could pick them but won't, much as I like choke cherry jelly.  There really aren't enough berries for that, not yet.  Perhaps another year there will be lots of fruit.

This year, I'm leaving the bounty to the birds in our yard.  They are watching closely and taking the ripest ones as they are ready. 

I have a sense of nature being as it should be again in our yard, with choke cherries glistening in the sun and a tree that was lost, returned.

Some days just feel so good.