Didn't get out and about quite as much as sometimes, but a variety of sights still caught my eye.
Catching up with Santa.
These were taken in late November at Upper Canada Village but I held them over thinking they fit December a little better.
With Covid still around (Omnicron hadn't arrived yet) Santa's stand-in stayed in his house (keeping warm😀🎅) and talked to his guests out the door or, via an audio system, from his chair.
We had talked to Santa's stand-in during the summer before he grew his beard a bit longer and changed into his warmer clothes.
We had talked to Santa's stand-in during the summer before he grew his beard a bit longer and changed into his warmer clothes.
What a difference three weeks made at Mud Lake.
It was quite quiet walking around Mud Lake, but a few photo ops appeared.
Queen Anne's Lace
Wild turkey glistening in the sun
Gertrude and her brood
Nuthatch
Female downy woodpecker
Female downy woodpecker
Male and female mallard duck
Male and female mallard duck
Peter Cottontail
If we thought Mud Lake was quiet, we drove at least a kilometre into Parc Omega before we saw anything other than a wild boar.
There had been a wind storm the night before and we assumed the deer and elk were sheltering back in the forest.
The antlers of the male elks given female hormones to calm them in the rut (see last month) were continuing to grow back slowly.
Three silver foxes, living with the mountain goats, co-operated for a quasi portrait image. I couldn't persuade them to get closer together.
While the elk and red deer can easily reach into the car to get their carrots, the fallow deer have a little more trouble as they are "vertically challenged".
They at least are better behaved than the Alpine ibex that stand up leaning their front hooves on the car door, scratching the paint in the process.
Miscellaneous pics from the drive through the Parc.
Bison, including the big guy, taking it easy
Wild turkeys
Coyote playing kin of the castle
ARctic wolves
Five arctic wolves enjoying the day
Fallow deer
Fallow deer buck
In my continuing quest to find and photograph murals, we spent part of a morning walking the downtown streets of Kitchener.
One morning frost crystals and light fallen snow appeared on the brown-eyed susans and honeysuckle in the garden.
Brown-eyed susan
Honeysuckle berries
Honeysuckle blossom trying to hang on
Christmas lights
Every year there are lights downtown with the Parliament Building's Peace Tower having a sound and light show projected on it. This year's production was not as good as prior years. A few samples projected pictures.
(The construction cranes are part of the 10 year renovation of the Centre Block.)
In nearby areas of downtown there were other lights, included a park with floodlit trees in lieu of branches covered by strings of lights.
One evening we toured the east end of the city to look at house decorations. Some were "over the top" others were more "normal".
Illumi, a display of 25,000,000 lights returned for its third year in Laval, Quebec.
Last day of the year.....
Went for a walk on a nearby trail at Mer Bleue. A few small flitty birds (that didn't condescend to pose); but not much more than fungi.
Turkey tail on trunk
Turkey tail on beaver stump
Bracket fungi
Snow covered fungus
Oak leaves
Bird nest for rent
