Controversial Lord Jeffrey Archer died today at the age of 86.
I snapped this photo of him in central London years ago during his encounter with Leo the Clown. At this point in his career he was one of the world’s most succesful authors.
AVE ATQUE VALE
Managed to shoot the following sequence on a recent outing.
(As per usual, if on a lap or desk top computer, click on each image to magnify).
GREAT BLUE HERON CATCHES YOUNG MUSKRAT
FLIGHT OF NO RETURN
A quiet walk through local countryside revealed the following encounters with garter snakes.
GARTER SNAKE
An unlucky frog is captured by a garter snake.
Final throes of the encounter.
The Lady Slippers are out in full bloom in the Purdon Conservation Area, Purdon, Ontario.
LADY SLIPPER ORCHID
Because they require specific soil fungi to grow, you cannot transplant them, meaning you must see them in the wild. You’re welcome!!
PURPLE PITCHER PLANT
Also known as the Northern Pitcher Plant, it is a carnivorous plant that thrives in nutrient-poor acidic bogs and wetlands like that of Purdon.
The Purple Pitcher Plant traps insects using a water-filled, tubular leaf with downward-pointing hairs that prevent escape.
Lionel Messi
Soccer fan, professor Gad Saad, says that Lionel Messi might just be proof of the existence of God. Blasphemy you say!! Maybe yes, maybe no.
But the divine has a habit of hovering over the fate of the Argentinian teams. 40 years ago this week, Diego Maradona punched in the infamous “Hand of God Goal” in the match that saw Argentina defeat England. With God on your side, how can you lose??
I was fortunate to capture this image of the world’s best footballer way down under in Ushuaia, Argentina.
Pope Leo recently visited Barcelona to consecrate the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ in the cathedral of La Sagrada Familia. Here’s a shot of the complex I took several years ago prior to the start of the Camino de Santiago.
A good flow of warblers through the Ottawa area in the past few days. (As per usual, click on each image for full screen display on laptop or desktop, then click again for even greater expansion.)
ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER TAKES FLIGHT
NORTHERN PARULA IN FLIGHT
BLACKBURNIAN TAKES FLIGHT
TENNESSE WARBLER FEEDING ON AN INCH WORM
SPRING ODDITY…….WILD TURKEY
PILEATED WOODPECKER
(NB: For those using a desktop computer, click on each image for full screen display)
YELLOW WARBLER
NORTHERN PARULA
BLACK THROATED GREEN
NASHVILLE WARBLER
A slow start to the spring migration so far.
“Oh to be in England, Now that Spring is there”
Robert Browning’s Home Thought From Abroad was never more appropriate. The season is off to a great start with a Cambridge win in the annual Boat Race last weekend down on a very choppy Thames. Another sure sign of the season is the “Grand National” held at Aintree, Merseyside this weekend. The most challenging hunt race in the world with twice round 30 jumps. The race went international in 1944 with the success of the movie “National Velvet”, starring Mickey Rooney and a young Liz Taylor.
Whether they enjoy horse racing or not, almost everyone in the UK places a flutter on the race.
Final warning to the “Runners and Riders” before the “OFF”.
“BEWARE THE CANAL TURN!!!“
Here’s hoping for no casualties.
LOADING PLATFORM MANCHESTER TRAIN STATION PRIOR TO THE RACES
MANCUNIAN LOVELIES STRUTTING THEIR FINEST ON LADIES’ DAY
