A Walk in the Park

Here are some sights that I caught on a recent walk around the Lost Lagoon area of Stanley Park. It was a slightly overcast day but there were a lot of people out strolling, cycling and jogging and lots to see.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir

The Magnolias were in full bloom.

The swans (Mute Swans) were resting along the side of the path, drawing a lot of attention, but almost oblivious to it.

You can recognise a Mute Swan by the noticeable nob or lump on top of its bill.

The swan above is dozing, or trying to and the one below seemed to be grazing on under water plants, and creating beautiful reflections in the water.

Back on the path, still resting.

A little further along, these goslings (4 total) were grazing under the watchful eyes of their parents. At one point someone got too close to the little ones and the Gander started head bobbing and opened its beak and hissed; at which point the offender backed off.

The goslings were awfully sleepy, I saw them nod off several times while grazing.

The gander looking a bit comical with a feather sticking out of its beak. Mum below watching carefully.

 These ferns seemed to be imitating the geese and swans, with their fronds curled like long elegant necks.

More swans were just along the shore, this one was determined to share a woman's lunch; seeming quite eager to eat small morsels of her tuna sandwich.

Further around the lagoon there was another pair of swans enjoying an early afternoon nap; on a Sunday afternoon, I think this is a grand plan too!

 Would you just go away and let a bird get some rest, humph!

 The mallards further along were also in nap mode.

This juvenile raccoon was sitting in the shallows of the lagoon, maybe thinking he was hidden?

He seems to have a scratch on his nose, anyway he finally decided that it was time to move to a drier location; you can see below that his paws and belly were drenched when he moved out of the lagoon.

There were at least a dozen turtles on rocks or logs in the lagoon; these three were absorbing every bit of heat that was available on this overcast day.

The Stanley Park Explorer identifies the turtles as Red-eared Slider Turtles and gives this description of them:

"Red-eared Slider Turtle gets its common names from the fact that it carries a distinctive red (sometimes yellow) stripe behind the eye and that, if disturbed on its basking site, it will "slide" into the water."

"The turtles often stack themselves up on favoured basking sites. Large adults with shells up to 22 cm in length reappear on Lost lagoon on days when the sun is shining and the temperature climbs to 10 degrees Celsius or more. Basking is the art that so called "cold-blooded" creatures employ to regulate their body temperature. I suspect that a turtle in the sun is really quite comfortably warm".

Canada Geese looking for, and getting a handout.

A crow finds a prize of its own.

Camellia bushes were also in bloom, with beautiful pink, white and red blossoms.

I saw this white tulip with a single stripe of red among the bachelor buttons, looking very beautiful.

As I was almost ready to leave I spotted this tree with its odd gnarly bark.

Well the post started with a John Muir quote and here is another:

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." John Muir

For me the walk offered fresh air, some exercise and fascinating creatures and plants, a Sunday afternoon well spent I'd say!

"Slow down and enjoy life.
It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast -
you also miss the sense
of where you are going and why."

Eddie Cantor

This week I completed this watercolour of Stellar's Jays:

"The Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the Long-crested Jay, Mountain Jay, and Pine Jay. It is the only crested jay west of the Rocky Mountains." (Wikipedia)



Thank you for dropping by, happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ....

Just Dandy!

I think Dandelions are resourceful, stubborn and resilient little flowers. Of course when they grow in the garden they can be a real pest, but in the fields, on the side of the roads and pathways they are a wonderful splash of colour. Hello yellow!

The flowers are little orbs of sunshine, and quite an interesting flower if you take a close look at them. In fact while I was taking pictures for this post at one point I was lying on the ground taking a closeup and a runner stopped to see if I was in trouble and needed help. I was a bit embarrassed by the encounter but when I got closeup this is what I saw:

Little curly-ques of stamens covered in pollen.

"Taraxacum officinal, the common dandelion (often simply called "dandelion"), is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae). It can be found growing in temperate regions of the world, in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils." (Wikipedia)

The common dandelion is recognized for bright yellow flower heads that later turn into white or silver globes (these are the fruits and are called cypselae) that blow away on the wind. The globes or fruits are composed of pappi (the individual seed parachutes) that can drift several hundred metres on the wind and can lie dormant for years until conditions are right for germination.

No creature is fully itself till it is, like the dandelion, opened in the bloom of pure relationship to the sun, the entire living cosmos.
- D.H. Lawrence

"It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun."  Henry Ward Beecher

"I was a dandelion puff...Some saw the beauty in me and stooped quietly to admire my innocence. Others saw the potential of what I could do for them, so they uprooted me, seeking to shape me around their needs. They blew at my head, scattering my hair from the roots, changing me to suit them. Yet still others saw me as something that was unworthy and needed to be erased.”    Nicole Bailey-Williams

Next time you see a dandelion, don't think of it as an aggressive nuisance but instead as highly adaptive, spontaneous and assertive. Doesn't it have a lot of qualities that we value and strive for?

Close your eyes, blow and then make a wish, after all most of us are children at heart.

 I think seeing nature's wonders through child-like eyes makes us more human.

In these last two pictures I have caught a small spider sheltering on the seed head of a Dandelion after most of the "parachutes" have blown away in the wind.

 

Here is a larger picture:

"Even when we grow up we can still whisper our wishes upon the wind, as a child does in innocence, breathing their wishes at a dandelion." Jill Hanna



Here's an old favorite from Donovan, "Mellow Yellow":

Here is another splash of yellow, a watercolour of a tulip that  I call "Rays of Sunshine".

"Rays of Sunshine"

 

Here is another new work, it is a poured watercolour, called "Path of Light".

Thank you for stopping by, I love to hear your feedback.

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week...