Same old, same old

Today's ride was a little less exciting than yesterday's, as I didn't see much out of the ordinary.

Well, that's not quite true -- There was this strange sight on one of the nesting boxes at the Club pond. At first I thought it was a duck, but it was too big for that. I could tell it was a large bird, but without my bins I wasn't sure what. So I took a closer look, and it turned out to be a Great Blue Heron, all huddled up.

The cormorant was also at Deer Park pond. Maybe it spent the night there. Also saw lots of ducks, as usual.

School only started yesterday, so it seems a little early to be fed up with it already:

And, I am totally envious of this person's tomato plants. I have no idea how they do this, but this is my goal for next summer!

My rides around town also give me a chance to wonder about the minds of bike thieves. I have had two bikes stolen from my yard and another stolen from work. Youngest Son had a bike stolen from a friend's backyard. Second Son has had three or four bike stolen from his backyard. Yet as I ride around, I see bikes everywhere, thrown down on front lawns, sitting on the front porch, and worst of all, lying on the sidewalk in front of the house. There is a certain pink bike that has been there for more than a week. Are my family's bikes really that much more appealing? Maybe.

The Great Egret

Morning ride:

It has been a long time since I recorded anything here, but since I have continued to ride almost daily, I thought maybe I should start up again.

And what better sight to begin with than the Great Egret?  This bird has been a now you see it, now you don't visitor to our area over the past 4 years. We first saw it in May 2021, at Jubilee Park. There were only a few sightings and then it was gone. In 2022, we didn't see it at all, but last summer, it was around regularly at a few different ponds throughout the whole summer.

This summer it has been around, but not as much. There have been sightings reported in Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, and a few other areas.

Today, I left for my ride at about 8:15 and rode to the Deer Park ponds, not expecting anything spectacular. I did a quick scan without seeing anything very interesting, but then when I picked up my binoculars to check on the ducks, a big white thing appeared!

There was also a cormorant, and two barn swallows circling above. 

From Deer Park, I rode past the rejuvenated pond, where there have been flocks of geese, but there was nothing there. Then it was on to Atim Creek and Caledon Pond.

At Caledon, this little fellow greeted me as I entered the path: 

Yesterday I rode through here to turn around, but today my way was blocked. I guess they didn't like people riding through the work area (although no one was working there today).

I ended by riding around Fairhaven Pond, where there were lots of ducks but nothing unusual.

Total distance: about 14 km

Afternoon ride:

The cormorant was still at the Deer Park pond, and we saw another one at Caledon. Also, I was surprised when arriving at Deer Park to see a Great Blue Heron in the same spot I had seen the egret. The two look quite similar in body shape, so I had to look twice to confirm that it was not the egret.

We also rode past the pond the city recently rejuvenated, and there were about 50 geese in the water and on the shore.

This lawn ornament caught my eye. I know what I will buy Third Son as a housewarming gift!

As we finished our ride, we met up with this Pileated Woodpecker. It stayed on the ground, letting us watch it, for a good 3-4 minutes.