Thursday, January 31, 2013

JANUARY REWIND

Me and my Dad on his 75th birthday.
Wow, can't believe it's the last day of January, the month flew by! I returned to work on January 7th after having two lovely, long weeks off for the Christmas season. On the morning of January 16th I flew to Nova Scotia to spend my Dad's 75th birthday with him and have a visit for a few days. It was my first trip back since my Mother's funeral, and I had a bit of anxiety about it, but it was fine.

I had a good visit with my Dad, got to see some old friends and family members, enjoyed some Nova Scotia cuisine and even enjoyed a bit of birding. I also visited my Mother's final resting spot. It's in a beautiful spot, lots of trees. I had brought some bird seed and sprinkled the top of her headstone with it. I hope some pretty birds came to visit.

I returned the morning of January 20th, went to work on the 21st, and then was off the rest of the week with a sinus and ear infection.

It's been a busy week at work this week catching up and I'm amazed that it's February 1st tomorrow already.

I have lots of fun adventures coming up in the next couple months; a trip to Algonquin Park, Alberta trip in March and then off to Las Vegas for the first time to see my favorite band, Def Leppard. Doing the VIP experience again, and I can't wait.

Hoping the new year is being good to you all.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

"SNOWY" NEW YEARS DAY

My favorite bird, the Snowy Owl.
It's become a New Years Day tradition for Rob and I to go birding, as long as the weather cooperates, and today it did.

Being in bed just after midnight has us up and outta the house quite early to enjoy a good morning of birding. Today we went just about an hour north of Toronto to an area where we knew our chances of seeing a Snowy Owl were pretty good. We ended up seeing 3, a record for us in that particular spot.

I had another "snow" bird on my mind though, Snow Buntings. A friend had let us know he had seen some there the day before.  As in every birding outing there isn't any guarantee the birds will be there, but today they were, and I was thrilled to see this winter visitor for the first time this season. I can still remember the thrill of seeing them for the first time ever, last year. I did a blog about it then.

Such pretty birds.

I love the aerial show they put on when they fly.
  The 2013 birding year is off to a good start!