new beginnings

 With changing seasons come new beginnings!

After close to three weeks of not being "out & about" locally, I was curious as to what transpired while I was away!  For these recent three days in a row, transitioning from official spring to official summer, I went in search of new beginnings. What I discovered along the way rendered me as wide eyed as the bug-eyed babies.  From my three favourite locations for "chasing & catching" Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Confluence Park, Carburn Park, I am sharing my sights of new beginnings!  

Note:  Baby ducks are obvious but sometimes I may not be 100% positive if what I think is a baby bird is a baby bird or not.  Baby bird give-aways can be the shape of the beak, the awkwardness and being fluffy balls of sweetness.  They tend to not move as I approach or flap away in a slow scattered like manner.  If that is their behaviour then I back away. This is what I use as my criteria to call it a baby bird or not. I still have lots to learn on this topic and I am open to being let known otherwise if my ids are incorrect.   

I open this post with a promo photo of a young Robin with its Mom.  I watched them for a few minutes. The young one stuck very close to the Mom, following her in every flight then perching by her side, all the while having something to say.   

This young Wood Duck nestled up close then eventually tucked in underneath Mom to join the five others that were already beneath her.  It was a little while later, I saw them swimming about in a tight knit group, the little ones too young yet to venture off in another direction on their own.  

This Downy Woodpecker is an example of where I made the ID of age from its looks and behaviour.  While it is full size, its feathers were not neat, tidy and as settled as an adults. It was not quick to move, yet when it did, it did with unsteadiness.   

While this is a full grown House Sparrow, it's just a baby!  It still has the odd beak shape and oh what a ball of fluff it was.  It was a sweet sight to see the Mom bring food to it.  It had lots to say just before she dove in with the treat.  

I saw on the e-bird website there were sightings of baby Red Breasted Nuthatches.  Now I can confirm there are babies.  I saw two, this is one of them.  I had to zoom in quite a bit to get this capture.  I knew it was a baby of a sort but it was when I got home I was able to make the confirmation of it being a baby Red Breasted Nuthatch. 

Obvious big baby!  House Sparrow!  There were a few hanging out and flitting about in the bushes.  Until the beak fully develops, it will have that sad looking look. 

Baby Wood Duck! Nap time!

I believe this to be a baby Clay-Coloured Sparrow!  Those frazzled looking feathers, being unsteady on its legs and not being quick to flee when I approached are the reasons I say this is a baby. I am just not 100% sure on making this call though! Like I said, I have lots to learn!

It's definitely a Robin!  I am making the call that it's a baby!  On a tree close by stood an obvious adult Robin that this one watched intently.  I waited! I watched! This one did not move, it had a few words here and there yet its feathers never settled!  

It's now a Juvenile Eagle! Back on May 5th, I shared photos of the Eaglet. Oh my how they grow!  While watching it and chatting with two bird enthusiasts, I learned this new eagle is believed to be a female because it is already larger than the Dad.  It is still being fed by both parents, it's very unsteady on its legs and will sit on the same branch in the same spot for hours on end.  It has not yet been shown how to dive for food.

Back and forth activity in the bushes by a Yellow Warbler led me to this sweet surprise.  There are four baby Yellow Warblers in the nest.  After this quick capture, off I went chasing again.   

This was a very vocal baby Northern Flicker!  Being high in the tree, I needed quite the zoom to capture this photo.  There appeared to be only the one baby.  Mom was back and forth with many treats.

I watched as this male Downy Woodpecker brought something to this hole in the tree. I heard squawking coming from the area then looked way up and spied this.  After the Woodpecker flew away.....

.....this head popped out!  That's not a Woodpecker!  My Bird ID App tells me it's a European Starling! Oh boy do I have lots to learn!   

These new beginnings that are coming 

with the changing of the seasons, 

are like a breathe of fresh air! 

over the Strawberry Moon

The full moon for June is called the Strawberry Moon and will be at peak illumination on Friday, June 21, 2024 at 7:10pm mountain time.  Best to check it when it is at its loftiest position of the night. This full moon is special this year as it coincides with summer solstice.  The same day the sun is at its highest of the year, the moon will be at its very lowest, it will be at the lowest its been in years.  In Alaska and in Iceland, the moon will not even clear the horizon, they will have no June full moon.  

This moon is close to the horizon, light has to pass through the densest layers of the atmosphere which gives the moon the reddish colour, hence the name.  Native American Tribes used the name Strawberry Moon because June is the time when strawberries ripen and are ready to be harvested.  

This is my watercolour painting of the Strawberry Moon.  It will represent June in my 2025 calendar.  I added a strawberry laying on its side in the centre of the moon. I painted it very close to the horizon and added pinkish glow near it.  Just like some of the other full moons I painted, I now see ways I could have improved the painting but at the time needed to declare it complete. 

For this painting, I used photos that I took while on a road trip to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in June of 2012  That was an incredible road trip through Idaho and into Wyoming where I spent time in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.  Working on this painting gave me the opportunity to relive this adventure.  

 Wherever I am on the evening of June 21st, 

I will be over the moon if I get to admire the full Strawberry Moon!

Amsterdam Austria Adventure June 2024 "A Final Framing"

Slowly but surely that jet lag embrace is loosening its grip although I'm not fully fighting it.  In the wee hours of these two mornings, I let my mind wander back to the first seventeen days of June and put together "A Final Framing" of this dream adventure!  I remember as a little girl, Austria looked like a world all of its own, a world away, unreachable, untouchable.  Right now, this trip to Amsterdam and Austria is so very fresh yet I am sure as the days, weeks and months pass, it will feel like a dream!  I will be sure to remember this dream that came true with the wonderful memories I made!

As I sat with my feet up donned in my new felt clog slippers, I perused though the 1700 special seconds in time that I captured and picked out a few from Amsterdam, Innsbruck and Neustift that very easily brought me back to that special second and made me feel the feeling I felt so vividly.  

Everything about Amsterdam and both Innsbruck & Neustift Austria far exceeded my expectations even though they were as I dreamed they might be.  This style of adventure suited me to a "T".  For the price paid to travel to this other world, I wanted no regrets or disappointments.  I was on my own time schedule.    The only times that were set in stone were flights and dining at the resort.   Never once did I feel uncomfortable or unsafe being in any location.  Even though at times in Amsterdam, I needed to use google maps to find my way around, I still needed at times to ask for additional help in finding my way.  Anyone I spoke with spoke fluent English and were very helpful.

I was so very fortunate that all accommodations, other than one, were ready upon my arrival even if I did arrive four hours earlier than check in time.  All four flights were on time, two with KLM and two with Transavia.  For all four flights the online check-in, baggage check, security and passport control were a breeze.  The one flight I was most anxious about was managing the whole process at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to fly back home.  I stayed at an airport hotel the night before.  The hotel shuttle left at 8:30 am, dropped me off at the airport at 8:40am, I did self baggage check, went through passport control, went through security, came out the other end.  I looked at my watch, it was 9:15am.  The two shuttle services that I used along with taxi services and taking a bus, all went well.  

The resort I stayed at in Neustift was absolutely amazing.  The employees were all so very friendly and all spoke english.  My room was extra special, it came with many added unique touches.  I enjoyed lots of time on the balcony savouring my morning coffee and sunrise, sipping a cold beer at the end of a hike and listening to the village turn quiet at night fall. I did not use any of the pools nor the spa nor the fitness facilities. The food was outstanding and all meals were included!  Breakfast was buffet style and included anything and everything you would want to start your day.  A few of the days I was back for a late lunch, it was buffet style also and there were more than enough delicious items to choose from. Dinner was another story!  It was by candle light with a fresh flower in a vase.  White linen covered the table.  At breakfast you picked your dinner choices.  The courses were called salad, starter, soup, main, desert. In amongst those there were breads, buns and cheeses if you so desired, which I did.  I had wine each evening which I paid extra for.  

Upon arrival for your first dinner, you are given a table and that is where you would sit for each of the breakfasts and dinners.  I got to know most of the people in my section. A couple from West Germany sat next to me, beside them was a young couple also from West Germany with a two year old boy and also a couple from London sat in my section. I met another couple from East Germany who sat in my area.  The couple from West Germany who sat by me for six of the seven days purchased a wood carving from a local carver who had his crafts on display in the lobby.  I wanted one, so went out and asked the gentleman if he had another one like theirs, he did not, he offered to make me one and would drop it off the next day.  This is mine, it says "in love with the mountains".  It is made from an Austrian stone pine tree.   

Also made from the Austrian stone pine tree is pine schnapps.  On the second last evening for the couple beside me, at the end of all the dinner courses, they offered to buy me a pine schnapps.  I accepted even though I had already had three glasses of wine.  We made a toast!  It was oh WOW delicious!  They told me the story out these pine trees.  They also told me if I dampen the piece of pine wood, the pine fragrance will fine the air, I tried it and oh WOW again!  

I made detailed maps of my walk and hikes in Neustift using the tracks recorded on my garmin and loaded them onto google earth.  They could use a little more work and detail but I am content with the outcome of each. I did not record my outing for the 10th.   

My laundry is all done and my suitcase is back in the basement.  My two hearts now hang on my fairy light tree.  I ate three stroopwafels so far. My journaling is complete, I paid the last visa payment and this blog post will be the last for this amazing adventure.  I will linger longer with the memories over the next little while. I'm not ready yet to let go of Austria!  The visions will fade as time passes but you can be sure I will be checking back here when I want to relive this dream!   

When the father from West Germany, in my dining section, told his young son Oscar, that I was from Canada away on the other side of the world, Oscar's eyes opened wide as did his month,  as if he knew what his Dad meant.  Maybe one day Oscar will dream that Canada is a world so far away, unreachable, untouchable but will wonder about it and will one day make an adventure dream trip to Canada come true!  

Neustift & Innsbruck, Austria June 15, 2024

When I saw this view once I walked out onto my balcony first thing this morning, I sat with my coffee and luxuriated longer than all other mornings here. Time was on my side as I was not rushing to catch the cable car. 

After luxuriating, after breakfast and after packing my suitcase, I went for a two hour walk along the path that runs through Neustift and onto the next village.  The early morning light cast gorgeous colours.

not sure what those stacks of grass are

a white wag tail

European Goldfinch

Black Redstart 

a beautiful morning for a wander along Austrian paths 

I waited until almost deadline time to check out. I was not in a hurry to leave.  The resort offered me shuttle service to my hotel in Innsbruck and I accepted.  How lucky, once again my room was ready early. I was given a corner room with this view out one window…..

…..and this view out the other window!  The view above is down one of the streets in Old Town Innsbruck.  That yellow/gold roof in the middle at far end is the famous Golden Roof Palace.

I had a late lunch beside the Golden Roof Palace, at the restaurant with the grey canopies.  Wedding after wedding after wedding took place at the Palace today, and the wedding parties emerged from the front door after their ceremonies.  It was great entertainment!  

my beverage 

schnitzel and potato salad 

I luxuriated long over the late lunch!  Next on the agenda was to spend some time strolling the streets of Old Town, shop a little then retreat to my sweet suite for the night!

Neustift, Austria June 14, 2024

This morning I will have…..!

A new day dawns in Neustift and I greet it while enjoying a cup of coffee on my balcony.  

Breakfast time rolled around and I arrived first.  My dining friends came a few minutes later.

I decided to wear my new shirt hiking today!

Hiking!  Yes!  That’s what I came here for!  There are many options for hiking once you step off the Elfer Cable Car when it arrives at the top.  Today I headed off in a different direction with hopes of seeing pretty sights and finding that restaurant that’s up there some where.  Very soon after hitting the trail, the views appear.  

There were a few junctions along the way, the signage is excellent, no need to have the navigation app running but I did anyway, it does not use data.

After an hour or so, I arrived at a restaurant but it was not the one I wanted to find.  

The views were amazing even with the bit of cloud. 

After a few more kilometres, I saw something promising through the trees.  After rounding a corner then ascending some more, thee it was.  People were already there and I was ready to join them.

passing by the bar on my way to a table 

 cows were everywhere

I had an idea what the beer menu said but I had no idea what the food menu said.  He brought me an English version of the menu when I asked if he could tell me what the items were. The German menu said Hauswurst mit Rostkartoffeln und Sauerkraut, the English menu said fried sausage with fried potatoes and sauerkraut.  I spent about an hour here enjoying the beauty and working my way through the meal.  I knew I had some elevation gain ahead of me, I knew the beer and the food would not work in my favour for that but I just thought I would suck it up when the time game.

It was a slow go when I had to suck it up, but I did it!  I was so thankful when it was time to descend. I needed to be down there somewhere eventually.

I passed back by that other restaurant and it called my name, it looked so inviting!  I ignored the call and carried on down.

looking back at that restaurant as I passed by

The trail down was very steep, there were many short switchbacks.  It also followed along side a creek flowing downhill. 

A familiar sight that church is!  

Praise be I am  not far from my home away from home now.

pass through the gate 

round the corner 

ten more minutes and I was back 

blue is the cable car ride up

green dot is where I started from the cable car station 

red is my route

orange is where I had lunch

black grid is back home

When I arrived back to my home away from home the wood carving I requested from a local gentleman was waiting for me at the front desk.