Birds of Wheatley, Ontario

Hairy Woodpecker

My brother lives in an amazing little birding town called Wheatley, Ontario. It is also home to the world's largest freshwater fishing port, or so says the sign on the way into town.

Anyhoo, we went for a walk one day in the provincial park that borders his backyard, then sat on his back deck, crushing beers, eating fried perch and snapping pics of cool birds. Now THAT was a good day.

Northern Flickers



Great Crested Flycatchers

Cedar Waxwing

Baltimore Oriole

Arabian Blights

The beach directly behind our hotel/home is very, very nice. It is well manicured and decked out with chaise lounges, umbrellas and waiters. But if you take a short stroll to either end of the beach, wade into the sea and walk around the fence that marks perimeter of the hotel property, you encounter a depressing shitfest.

Note the large flame/oil refinery/plastics plant in the background. Some of the boys and me have had bonfires on this beach. There is plenty of driftwood to burn once the random sneakers, piss jugs and other trash is cleared away. Gross.

Big dead fish


Dead sea turtle
(its shell was about the size of a car tire)


Dead Socotra Cormorant


Dead dolphin

Honeymooned and fortified by home before coming back to the Sand Pit

B and me at Peggy's cove, Nova Scotia.

We also visited P.E.I. and spent the last few days catching up with friends in Toronto. It was a great honeymoon and a swell six weeks and I feel fortified by family, friends, food and drink. We are now ready to spend our second and final year in the Sand Pit. We arrived back at the ol' Beach Hotel/Home two days ago and are back into the full-on swing of it.

I will spend this year dreaming about next year, which I hope takes us to Halifax. We love that city. B will obtain her Canadian permanent residency. Then we'll find jobs and be living there by this time next year. Yes, that is what we will do.

In front of the Anne of Green Gables house, on the north shore of P.E.I. I couldn't be bothered to read the books but I watched a couple episodes of the old CBC series when we got home. Not bad. There were lots of Korean people at the Gables house. Also, P.E. Islanders are ridiculously friendly.

In Charlottetown, asking Sir John A. Macdonald whether it was true that he once puked during a debate becuase he was so wasted.

A big gnarly thunderhead rolling over my folks place in southern Ontario. God, I've missed precipitation.

We had a big ol' summer cookout at my parents farm for the folks that couldn't make it to the wedding down in A'merca. We ordered a giant Subway sandwich. It was awesome. We also played quoits, a type of homemade ring-toss game. The rings were made from pieces of old hydraulic hose and the posts were fashioned from rebar. I see many quoits filled afternoons in my distant future.

East Coast and insanely good eats from the sea

Pelee Island Birds

After the wedding and subsequent libations in Chicago, we retreated back to good ol' Canada for the rest of our vacation, and more libations. We stayed with my folks in southern Ontario and vistied Pelee Island for the day. AWESOME place for birds. We checked out the Pelee Island Winery, grilled some meat and drained three bottles of dry riesling. Libations!

Wild Turkeys

Great Egret
The very same majestic frog-hunter that graced the label of the wine bottle that we thrice drained earlier in the day. Coincidence? I think not.



Tree Swallow

American Gold Finches