Dooryard news

On our daily dogwalk yesterday there were four adults---Nancy, Sherry, Sheila and myself---Sherry's two kids, and four dogs. At one point Sherry was wondering about writing a Harbour newsletter, in particular how one could report the local news and gossip without actually mentioning names. In a small place like this there's no way you'd get away with that! Then Sherry said she'd like to write a novel about the place, and would we mind being in it if she changed our names. We discussed possible name changes for her novel.

Nancy first said she'd be Glenda but that was quickly voted down, so she proposed Destiny, which we accepted. I said I'd be Lizzie, and Sheila picked Fawn. We pressed Sherry for her nom de plume and she suggested Prudence, but we thought she wasn't old enough for that, so she is as yet nameless.

So if I use those names here, you'll know who I am talking about!

This is a picture of the tip of Cape Split in the Bay of Fundy from the Harbour road. That faint white line extending leftward from the tip of the Cape is the Cape Split Rips. You might want to click on the photo to see a larger version.

There are incredible currents around the Cape, especially as the tide comes in or out. The Rips are a standing wave, one aspect of those tidal currents. The fact that you can see it from several kilometers away is an indicator of its awesome strength. There's a pilot tidal power project in place out there to take advantage of that strength, a great turbine under the water driven by the movement of the tides.

I am hoping I'll get a chance to hike the Split sometime this summer, it's a long but very rewarding hike. I've done it a couple of times but a very long time ago. According to Miq'mah legend, the Split is Glooscap's stone canoe, left there awaiting his return to his people here. Interestingly, it is now privately owned by a logging company but deliberately left unlogged and open to the public.

I got my hummingbird feeder up finally, I had a little difficulty getting it aligned properly and the hummers were buzzing my head impatiently. They knew exactly what I was up to! I have as yet not managed to photograph them, I am often working directly underneath the feeder and I hear them buzzing (humming?) in, but by the time I look up they're gone. So far I've seen at least two females and one male. Ruby Throated of course.

My regular feeder is obviously attracting visitors but I have only seen a blue jay and one small bird that flew away too quickly for me to identify.

The other evening I went out to pee (no indoor plumbing) and saw two owls sitting in trees watching me. One flew silently back into the woods, the other continued to watch for several minutes before flying away also. Unfortunately I did not look them up in my bird book right away, and by the time I did I had forgotten details of their appearance, so I'm not sure but think they might be Great Horned or Barred Owls. Their silent flight is downright eerie. And the way they tip themselves forward as they spread their wings to take off. They don't fly over the forest but through it, easily navigating between the close-packed trees. Scary birds, glad they aren't big enough to hunt humans.

And that's Lizzie's Dooryard News for today!