September 23, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 29 Comments

Valor

It’s good to have a hobby. In the case of the Captain, fly fishing is no longer just a hobby, it’s … well … to use his father’s words, “an obsession.” But when you’re obsessed with something, and you do it a lot, you get to be good at it. Fishing from the beach in the fall when the cohos are hovering nearby, is one of the big thrills of the Captain’s life.

Photo by Ken Thorne

Here is a coho, thumbing his nose at the Cap, just after the line has been laid. Chances are good that this very salmon might swim near where the Cap has gently landed a fly he has tied. The coho won’t be able to help himself. He’ll snap at the fly and then wonder why he is being dragged slowly towards the shore, no matter how hard he fights to swim the other way.

Photo by Ken Thorne

But things are not always so easy. Sometimes the Cap arrives at his favourite beach to find that it is already occupied. It’s a family having a picnic. Mama Bear is near the shore, easily turning over 70+-pound rocks with one flick of her wrist, to expose little rock crabs that scurry for cover after they get over the shock of the sudden daylight. Mama Bear grunts for her two cubs to come have breakfast. See the second cub way over on the right, by the big log?

This day, the Cap putters on a little farther in his skiff to find another beach. Mama Bear can get a bit tetchy over unexpected company coming near her cubs.

This photo was taken by the Cap with his point-and-click Fuji. A bit blurry, but it’s the best that tiny camera can do.

The Cap gets up very early to take his place on the beach, but apparently bears get up even earlier, and since they are bigger than he is, he abides by the well-known saying, “Discretion is the better part of valor.”

July 31, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 27 Comments

Housebound

“Throw your head back, open your mouth wide, and look hungry,” chirped Robbie Robin. “And, oh yeah, peep as loud as you can. Ya gotta sound desperate … like this: PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!”

“Is that you making trouble again, Robbie? You know I can only feed one of you at a time. Maybe two. Good thing your father is helping out for a change.”

“Sorry, Mom! But we’re all kind of hungry here … not to mention BORED! We’ve been in this one-bedroom nest for over 10 days now. It’s so bohhhhh-ring.”

“Hah! Four more days, she says. We’re going to be falling out of the nest by then. I mean there’s hardly room for me, and then there’s Ryan, Ross, and Roberta. I don’t even know if Roberta’s going to make it. She’s kind of small and getting squished. Can you blame me for being a bit grumpy these days?”

“Hey! There’s Anneli with her shaky video camera. Maybe I’ll show her how I can do my exercises and stretches, and scratch my itches. ”

“Oh Robbie, you’re so boring. You put me to sleep.” Roberta yawned and nodded off.

See for yourself. Roberta nods off and so does Ryan.

July 16, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 44 Comments

Weeding Words

Here is my garden, looking a little bit neglected as I spend more time copy-editing than I do gardening. I suppose you could say I’m weeding, but it’s words I’m weeding out, not “weed” weeds.

A western flycatcher flew over to the fence and gave me a condescending look.

Ooooooh! Anneli! That doesn’t look good. You’ve got to get out there and clean up that mess you call a garden.

So I asked if he’d like to help me weed.

“Tell me you’re joking!” he said.

“I don’t think so!” he said. “… Awww … don’t look like that. You should have gotten on top of the job right at the start!”

Call me when the work is done.

“Weeding words,” she calls her job,

Didn’t know she’s such a snob.

Doesn’t get her hands too dirty

Asks for help from this lil birdie.

I’m no weeder, I must say,

Must learn that another day,

Weeding plants is bad enough,

Weading books is way too tough.

July 12, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 37 Comments

Breakfast Interruptus

See how I can multi-task? I can chew a sunflower seed while tossing the shell away.

Oh, darn it all. There’s Emma. “Hey! What’re YOU doing here? Can’t a squirrel eat breakfast in peace?”

See how I did that? I told her! Cool, eh?

Uh-oh! What if she gets out of the backyard? Sometimes the people let her into the front.

I think … yup … it’s time … to RUN!

I bet I could catch you! I can jump, you know.

Not this high, you can’t. Nyah-na-na-naa-na!

Heeheeheeheeheeeeeee!

July 6, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 29 Comments

Brave or Foolish?

Mother merganser had her hands full. Her brood was something to be proud of, but the full-time babysitting was nerve-racking to say the least. It was especially bad when one (there is always one!) had to march to his own drum.

“I just saw a little fish go by. See him there, just under the surface? He flipped me the fin and said, ‘Bite me!’ So I thought, ‘Why not? It’s what mergansers do.'”

“Seems he got away, but wait a minute. Where’s my mother?”

And yikes! Look who’s giving me the hairy eyeball.

“Muh – muh – muh – mu-u-u-u-um! Help!”

“Oh whew! Those people in the boat scared the eagle away. Wait up, Mom! … What’s that? I should stick with the group? But, er … I was … just trying to catch us a fish.”

July 4, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 42 Comments

Birds at Vernon Lake

We parked our trailer and unloaded the skiff to have it ready for use at the edge of Vernon Lake.

The campsite was visited by many birds. Here are only a few of them. Many stayed hidden though they sang their hearts out all day.

This is a hairy woodpecker. I thought at first it was a downy, which looks very similar, but the hairy woodpecker has a much heavier and longer beak than the downy.

One of the birds I heard a lot, was Swainson’s thrush. I love the song he sings, “You’re pretty, you’re pretty, oh really.” But he is very elusive and I couldn’t get a photo of him.

He’s a very plain version of an immature robin but without any hint of black or red. If you click on this link you’ll see a photo on the bird site: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/id

Next to visit, was a Steller’s jay, but I almost mistook him for something else. He is a bit pale and scruffy, and this has me wondering if it is an immature bird.

Below, we have the red-breasted sapsucker, probably the very one I took pictures of for a previous post. He was hanging around the campsite the whole time we were there.

And no wonder! He has already made quite an investment in this tree, sipping sap and nabbing insects.

But do you see what I see? Circling the tree just below the chipped bark is a nasty looking petrified snake. I think he’s guarding the dinner table for the sapsucker.

You won’t see me trying to get near him. He looks mean. Is that blood on his lips?

May 21, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Going Squirrely!

The Captain said the other day, “I think that’s enough Lincoln posts. They’re cute and all, but I think it’s time for something different.”

I agreed. I know I have a thing for Lincoln and his girlfriend, Della, but okay, enough is enough. No more squirrel posts.

But today, the Captain yelled, “Anneli, come quick and bring the camera. Della’s got three babies!”

I took about nine videos of them but a lot are blurry or there is background noise (someone mowing a lawn). I picked one that shows Della grooming her babies. They all have fleas or some other little parasites. If you watch closely you can see Della groom the babies and eat the pests that are “bugging” them.

Thanks for enduring yet another squirrel post. I had not intended to inflict any more on you, but you see, with these new additions, they’re so cute I couldn’t resist.

PS Don’t bother to look for Lincoln. Now that the kids have arrived, he’s “gone fishing.”

Della had a big surprise,

We could not believe our eyes,

Three young children showed today,

Leaping, turning, every way.

Della’s nerves are wearing thin.

Squirrel One, where have you been?

Squirrel Two, sit still and wait,

For your grooming though it’s late.

I will find that pesky flea

I will eat it, you’ll be free

Of those bites and itchy pain