newfoundsander

20 seconds of snow

newfoundsander — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:48:08 +0000

The lovely view outside our living room window at this very moment:

Please watch it in HD, standard quality will make the flurry seem blurry.

Snowy days on Beaches Path

newfoundsander — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:51:17 +0000

Both yesterday and today I hiked Beaches Path, from Witless Bay to Little Bald Head and back. The snow is only a few inches deep in most places so that’s nice, the only ‘problem’ with the trail right now is that it has iced over badly in all the wrong places, places where secure footing would in fact be much preferable. It’s no issue for me though, my studded overboots have superb traction on most surfaces, I just love those things.

Yesterday the weather was basically a dud, the forecast lured me outside with promises of sunshine but all I found were clouds and shadow. On the wildlife side, I saw squirrels, a few seals, and of course eagles above. When you’re walking on the beach and looking at seals, they’re looking right back at you, they’re very curious about people. I strolled up and down Camel Beach yesterday and one seal followed me in the water, back and forth:

Curious seal in Camel Cove - Beaches Path

Today the weather was much better, even with a forecast that was less optimistic than yesterday’s. The trail was the same, the wildlife too, all the critters from yesterday were present, in the sky, the trees and the water. Additionally, I saw a Masked Shrew running around in circles underneath the boardwalk. When I stopped to inspect, it was startled and bolted into the forest. Those little guys can really go!

Here’s a few more images from Beaches Path, all from today:

Me on the trail - Beaches Path

The guy standing there is me, you can see this trail is covered in crusty snow, which is the easiest kind of snow to walk in, not too soft and not too hard. The island in the background is Gull Island, one of the major tourist attractions in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. In summer months that island is home to over half a million Atlantic Puffins and well over a million Leach’s Storm Petrels.

Twelve O' Clock Beach - Beaches Path

Twelve O’ Clock Beach is one of the many beaches on Beaches Path, the others are all similar to this one, hard and rocky. Not the kind of place to put down a towel, although I’m sure the local youth will give it a try in the summer time.

Breaking Beach is the rockiest beach of the bunch, it faces the open ocean and literally breaks up the waves coming into it:

Breaking waves on Breaking Beach - Beaches Path

Next up is Green Island, my favourite island in the Reserve, housing the second largest colony of Common Murres in North America. When getting closer to this island on a boat tour, you’ll see an immense cloud of activity surrounding the entire island, these are the birds, they’re flying absolutely everywhere!

Green Island - Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Lastly, a ‘close-up’ of Gull Island. The shack you see on the left is a place where biology students can stay when they’re doing fieldwork with the Puffins and such. The tour guides always call this place the ‘Gull Island Hilton’, or was it the ‘Witless Bay Hilton’? Either way, it’s just a small solar powered shack. I wouldn’t mind staying there myself though!

Gull Island Hilton - Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Rain, rain, go away

newfoundsander — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:28:00 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, this is the 4th or 5th time this winter that a respectable amount of snow has been washed away by an annoying day of rain. Some people appreciate it, I do not. It turns winter wonderland into winter dreary land, just like that:

From Wow! to What!? in 15mm - Quidi Vidi HarbourCam

Resting, uncomfortably

newfoundsander — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:41:43 +0000

Harbour Seals often haul themselves out of the water to rest, this uncomfortable rock wouldn’t be my first choice though:

Planking Harbour Seal - Holyrood

To me, these cushy rocks looked a lot more inviting, and evidently to these seals too:

Harbour Seals on land - Holyrood

Torbay in winter

newfoundsander — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:27:45 +0000

Today was a beautiful winter day in our hometown:

Winter - Torbay

From town to town

newfoundsander — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:27:19 +0000

When I dropped off Marije at work this morning she asked me what my plans were for today. I replied the weather was so lousy it wasn’t specifically suited for doing anything at all. I then asked Marije if perhaps she wanted to see a seal on the blog today, which she did, so I decided to find one on a drive around the northeast Avalon.

In Quidi Vidi I spotted two Bald Eagles on the ice, but they flew off before I got my camera out of the bag. The same tune was playing in Petty Harbour, one Bald Eagle, no other wildlife. Plenty of fog though:

Foggy winter scenery - Petty Harbour

In Bay Bulls I saw a small Dovekie swimming and diving in the harbour. It was Holyrood where I finally found my seal, it was resting on the harbour ice:

Harbour Seal on ice - Holyrood

This was the exact same location where there were dozens of seals last year, but that was a little later in the season.

On the way home I passed Topsail beach, where I took a picture of the ferry and the fog coming off the cliffs:

Ferry returning from Bell Island - Topsail

A little closer to home still I stopped in St. Philip’s, where a Kingfisher was too quick for me, so I took a shot of the frozen wharf side instead:

Idle Speed Only - St. Philip's

All in all, not a bad day.

A stroll around the lake

newfoundsander — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:14:13 +0000

Well, that’s the end of it: after tonight I’m no longer home alone; Marije is coming back from her long visit to Holland. Today I was busy making preparations for her arrival, such as stocking the fridge with scary vegetables, icky meats and other stuff I haven’t seen for a month.

Before getting those groceries I noticed the weather was too good to waste, so I took in some fresh air and a lap around Quid Vidi Lake:

One quarter frozen Quidi Vidi Lake - St. John's

Fresh snow on Stiles Cove Path

newfoundsander — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:09:18 +0000

As expected, today was a marvellous day for a winter hike. The expected wind chill of -26 wasn’t that bad because my hike on Stiles Cove Path was mostly sheltered by the forest, in which of course there wasn’t much wind. The -13 Celsius was enough to freeze the water bottles I had brought though, after a few hours in my jacket pockets the contents had been turned into a barely drinkable icy slush.

Cold weather

My complaints from yesterday about a lack of colour were swept away by the sun, as you can see a little bit of blue does wonders for the scenery:

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto - Flatrock

This shot was taken at the Grotto in Flatrock, which is the preferred parking place for those hiking the East Coast Trail due North.

Here are some more pictures from the hike:

Start of the trail in Flatrock - Stiles Cove Path

Here’s Red Head, an impressively steep cliff about two and a half kilometres from the start. From a viewpoint halfway there you can appreciate how steep it really is:

Wintry Red Head - Stiles Cove Path

On every hike I take, somehow I always end up with pictures of my shadow, I guess they’re my way of documenting that I was actually there:

Shadows on the trail - Stiles Cove Path

Cliffs at Red Head Cove - Stiles Cove Path

Everywhere I walked I found tracks of foxes, hares, squirrels an mice. One fox practically walked the same route as I had for most of the way:

Tracks in the snow - Stiles Cove Path

After five hours I was pretty much done for, I hope the good weather persists this month so I can get into proper hiking shape again.

Feels like -26

newfoundsander — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:38:17 +0000

After two days of snow, tomorrow looks like an ideal day for a winter hike:

Thursday

Sunny. Wind west 50 km/h gusting to 70 diminishing to 30 in the afternoon. High minus 9. Cold wind chill minus 26.

Environment Canada

The reason I’m optimistic is the ‘Sunny’ part in that forecast, because without sunlight most winter photos just end up looking the same. I was out yesterday and everything in sight looked either black, grey or white. Really dull:

Monochromatic winter - Silver Mine Head Path

And yes, that is a colour photo.

Mild winter

newfoundsander — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:57:29 +0000

Patience is a virtue, and this winter requires plenty of it. Since Marije left for Holland the weather has been mostly lousy. With the title ‘Mild winter’ I mean that right now it feels more like a cold version of fall, there has been plenty of snow, but even more rain to wash it all away again, and also lots of strong winds.

So, when the sun pierced through the clouds today, I wasted no time and went outside to get some much needed exercise. After two weeks of dreariness both my legs and back were glad to see something else than the couch.

Sunlight on the trail - Torbay

On the trail I paused several times in places where I faced the sun, I just stood there soaking up the rays. There’s more sunshine in the forecast next week, more snow too, I’m looking forward to that!

Near the end of my hike I passed Manning’s Hill, which is the spot where I get my first good look at the ocean every day, just a minute from our home:

Looking down Manning's Hill - Torbay