Winter's Winding Down in Quinte, Ontario

Winter can take a while to leave here in Ontario. In fact, there was one time that our family went to a reunion in Western Ontario on May 20th, and we had a sprinkling of snow!

Overall, though, the signs of winter losing its power are already here. Longer days, strong sunshine and melting snow are all welcome signs.

Before winter leaves, though, I thought you might enjoy a few pics:

1) A pick-up game of friends playing hockey on the mill pond in Stirling, Ontario.



2) A Great Grey Owl. We had one of these that decided to feast on a dead rabbit near our driveway, just after dusk each day, for about a week this winter. If we were coming in late, we needed to drive slowly to persuade him to fly away. My wife and I each learned that after close calls when he almost became a hood ornament by flying out in front of the car. He certainly wasn't afraid of us.

I'm glad things turned out ok. What a beautiful bird. I took this pic of another great grey about a mile from our home.



3) Down at Glenora, near Picton, Ontario, we have a ferry that operates year round to take people from the highway on one shore to its next section on the other in a place where it has not made economic sense to build a bridge. The operators tell me that the constant runs of the two ferries manage to keep the ice broken up, and that it is only in really nasty weather that they have to close down.

4) And this will be happening very soon. Already with the cold nights, warms days, and lots of sunshine, the sap is running and people will soon be collecting enough to turn it into delicious maple syrup. The equipment has obviously been updated since the natives used to collect sap and boil it in birchbark containers, but the taste always says, SPRING!

- Bob Foster