The environment here is very clearly dominated by the natural world. There are hatches of various insects that come in waves through the spring and summer that can sometimes make it uncomfortable to be outside. I'm sure the folks that attended yesterday's get together thought that it was an intense day for picking ticks yesterday and they would be right! Everyone was a good sport about whatever difficulties they might have been experiencing.
The ticks were out in full force, but on the bright side, they are slow moving and relatively easy to deal with. In the weeks leading up to this I was scared the mozzies would be so thick we wouldn't be able to breath. There was a good breeze all day and although they were present and accounted for, they weren't nearly bad enough to discourage our bush whacking.
The weather looked iffy all week, but it turned out to be a beautiful day for what we had planned.
Rich, Ashley and Owen arrived in good time and they were polite in waiting for me to get to the chore I'd left to do too late! Thanks guys. We had a look around at what I've managed to put together in the short time I've been interested in these animals and then headed outside to enjoy the weather. Earlier in the morning Manon had found a fresh garter snake shed tucked into the joint between the front step and the foundation and sure enough we soon spotted what looked like a gravid Western Plains Garter Snake enjoying the heat.
We got the BBQ going and set to work polishing off a lot of hot dogs while sitting out in the yard. The conversation was light and fun as usual.
Carlos and Isabelle came along and we got some pictures taken of some of the critters. It's great to have people around that like this sort of animal.
We spent quite a bit of time touring the surrounding bush. The soil type here is all sand and gravel which makes for good spawning beds for a lot of water loving animals. Even the small ditch streams heading down to the river are often filled with various eggs and yesterday's discoveries showed that off. Early in our walk to the river we found some small black eggs in a very small stream of water that some thought were leaches. I'd never seen them before so that was interesting.
There has been quite a bit of rain here in the past several weeks and by the time we were half way through the first walk many people had wet feet and by the end only Rich had escaped with dry feet.
We made about a mile and a half loop back to the house, had a drink and headed back out. Part of the Trans Canada Trail comes right up to our property and then the river crossing at the swinging bridge across the Roseau River is just a mile east of us. We headed up there and trekked down to the bridge. Normally at this time of year the river can be low enough that you can see big snapping turtles going about their business, but the river was flooding and filled to the brim so nothing but lots of fast water was visible there.
Once back to the house our biologist friend Laura, that had joined us for the day, went off to pick the abundant saskatoon berries and we all went off to St. Malo beach for a swim. I love having this little jewel so close to home. I can get there an into the water in ten minutes from home so it's pretty easy to go for a swim at the end of almost any summer day. Yesterday was the first time I'd been into the water this year and it was in prime condition. It's an old gravel pit that there is no sign of now, just a big sandy beach is left. The Rat River flows through to keep the lake flushed well. There is almost no population density upstream and the river flows through extensive wild bush land before arriving in St. Malo so the water is rich in tannin. It's a very nice bit of prairie water to swim in.
We were in and out of the water a few times and played soccer in between swims. By that time we were all showing signs of having been out on a UV index of 8 type of day so we had had enough sun. Swimming worked up some appetite for me and I knew there were some slabs of meat lined up at home which helped get the stomach grumbling.
While we were off on tour, Pierrette had spent a good portion of the day cleaning and preparing the trimmings that make a good meal better. The table was set and the fresh garden salad was green like at no other time of the year. PU had made a lentil stew for those that were lovers of the complex carbs over the protein and Carlos and Isabelle teased us with mussels steamed in white wine and dressed with some butter, onion and garlic. OMG these people have to come back!
We drank beer and wine and talked and laughed our way into the evening. The kids lit a fire in the fire pit and headed out there to enjoy the evening and then it was time to wind it down.
MHS meeting at Timshel's in Senkiw
Owen's post at the MHS forum about the day he had.
Darker Red belly snake
Lighter shot facing the other direction
Two in the bottom of a deli cup
Owen on the grass with the Jungle Carpet Python
The group holding the Jungle Carpet Python
The group crossing the Senkiw swinging bridge on the trans Canada trail
Columbine on the tail to the swinging bridge
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