Happy Canada Day

Half-past six on a July morning! The Mariposa Belle is at the wharf, decked in flags, with steam up ready to start.

Excursion day!

Half past six on a July morning, and Lake Wissanotti lying in the sun as calm as glass. The opal colours of the morning light are shot from the surface of the water.

Out on the lake the last thin threads of the mist are clearing away like flecks of cotton wool.

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…it's not looking quite like Stephen Leacocks description this Canada Day morning on Lake Muskoka.

However the sun is supposed to come out later today and a bright blue sky will be the perfect background for our wonderful flag.

Happy Canada Day

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Look at the lights and the crowd! If only the federal census taker could count us now! Hear them calling and shouting back and forward from the deck to the shore! Listen! There is the rattle of the shore ropes as they get them ready, and there's the Mariposa band,--actually forming in a circle on the upper deck just as she docks, and the leader with his baton,--one--two--ready now,--

"O CAN-A-DA!"

Seven ducklings

Yesterday afternoon while sitting upstairs on the deck, I heard a rustling and a low, and different, quacking sound coming from along the shore.

I went down to investigate and to my surprise, it was Muriel with 7 newly hatched babies.

I've seen her at this same spot every evening for at least the past three weeks and thought her nest might be nearby.
It turns out, it was in the tall ferns beside our boathouse.

I guess her different quacking sound was to call them out of the ferns and to her side in the water.

I tossed out a little bit of seed for her and she gobbled it up. Her ducklings stayed behind her and weren't making the familiar peeping sound just yet.

The babies watched their mum feed and copied her.  They also began making the familiar peeping sound.

It didn't take long for these new little lives adapt to their environment. I guess that's why there's the term "a duck takes to water".

Now they have a huge battle for survival.
There's a massive snapping turtle at the end of the bay that regularly cruises the shoreline.
A Blue Heron also scopes out potential food on the shoreline on a daily basis as it sits motionless in shallow water. And of course there are big fish that will snatch a duckling from underneath the surface, while owls and hawks will swoop down from above.

Human activity, dogs, boats…you name it also pose threat.
In a few weeks the "Duck Whisperer" (a.k.a. the neighbours nephew) will be here and perhaps he can aid as guardian for these precious little lives.

Loons

For quite a few days lately, there have been loons calling in our bay. 

This morning I was able to capture their haunting call using my little camera. 

There are two calls in the following video.

One loon seemed to be calling another. When the other loon arrived, the two danced around on the water flapping their wings, then began bobbing up and down and finally went underwater. Maybe they were doing an Ester Williams type of synchronized swim thing.
At any rate, this extremely poor quality video shows them frolicking just above the pine branch.

Their call sure is haunting and they are truly magnificent creatures.

Wharf walking

It was such a lovely day today, we stopped to go for a walk along the wharf in town.

There was a lovely scent coming from the flowers blooming in the bushes.

In the small marsh area, a red-winged blackbird was singing as it sat on top on one of the small trees.

And over by the town dock,  the Segwun was busy taking passengers out for a cruise.

Stalking Muriel

Over the past few days the 4 male mallards in our bay have been stalking Muriel.  I guess she's in heat again, although I doubt in the duck world it's called heat as it is in the canine world.

At any rate, poor Muriel has been nearly drowned several times as she has become the 'town bicycle' in that everyone is trying to ride her.

Yesterday I noticed a male Mallard watching the goings on from our boathouse roof deck.  It's a good spotting location.

He marched back and forth just waiting to make his 'moves' on poor unsuspecting Muriel who was paddling peacefully just below.

Just look at him peering over the edge as he's stalking dear sweet Muriel.

Later in the day when we went to town, Muriel was walking along our roadway with a male mallard in  pursuit. He wouldn't even get out of the way of our car.

Wenonah II

After dinner Saturday night, the Wenonah II came in the bay.

It was such a lovely evening. Perfect for an evening cruise.

When it got near the end of the bay, the ship turned around.

It passed right in front of our boathouse.
Our grandchildren were here so they had a front row seat on the boathouse roof deck.

Then it headed out to the open part of the lake to continue the evening cruise.

Tree Art

I was chatting with a neighbour about local arborists and suggested using a fellow who not only can fell trees but is also an artist.
Then quite by coincidence the same day, that fellow was nearby cutting and pruning another neighbours trees, so I stopped and got his business card.

His method of painting is pointillism, which is small dots of colour. Impressionist artists like Seurat and Signac used that method.

To advertise his tree cutting service, he has also applied his business card art to his truck.
It looks so cool when you see it on the highway. It's like the forest is driving by.

I think my neighbour ought to hire this fellow to cut down his trees and then have him paint his boat with the same art.
That way, when he goes out on the lake and disengages the muffler to give 'er, his boat will be cleverly disguised as the distant shoreline. Bwahahahahaha!