From my Maskwa trip: the 11-year-old daughter of the guy that owned the cabin we rented found this snapping turtle on the riverbank. She’s the one holding it, so keep that in mind when you try to judge how small it is.
I used my Nikon 50mm with a +4 close-up filter. Depending on what definition you use, it qualifies as macro-photography. On a regular sized print (15x10cm, 6x4in), it would be very close to 1:1.
See the previous post, Maskwa.
Here’s a sunset shot. It was so incredibly clear, the colours were really stark. And it was completely quiet… except for the rustling of the wind, the tweeting of birds… not a manmade sound to be heard… very tranquil. I miss that.
Around this time we saw a beaver swimming past. It came back several times. I followed it upriver, and as I came through some bushes I was right on the riverbank, and I saw bubbles right by the shore. I point my camera in that direction and the beaver surfaced, scarcely two metres away! It was more surprised than I was; it made a big splash and disappeared. I got a great picture of the splash. Fun though.
Ahh, it’s been too long since the last post. Get ready for a flurry of pictures.
I went with some colleagues from work to a cabin at a place called Maskwa. It’s a couple of hours north of Winnipeg, east of Lake Winnipeg, on a small river. This was a few weeks ago, mid-June. This being Manitoba, spring was just starting to really get under way. It was the first really warm weekend; until then it was rather cold.
We had a really good time there, canoeing a little on the river, sitting by the fire grilling hot dogs and enjoying the first hint of summer. It was beautiful there, and it reminded me a great deal of Norwegian nature. This is the first I’ve seen of Canadian wilderness (I know, it’s a shame… I’ve been here for five years now).
This picture shows some rapids. Yes, actual rapids. Manitoba is pretty flat, but go a little north and you’ll at least get some ‘gentle sloping’. And — totally off-topic, but can you believe it — Winnipeg has a ski hill! Yes! It’s located on the inside of the giant floodway that circles the city, with a drop of something like 30 metres (I’m guesstimating). Saw it on our way back.
I saw this funny little guy, a prairie dog, in Assiniboine Park Zoo, Winnipeg. Prairie dog chillin’.
I haven’t said anything about why I’m in Winnipeg . So what exactly what am I doing in this city in Manitoba, on the Canadian prairie?
I have an internship this summer at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). IISD is dedicated to precisely the kind of issues I care about: climate change mitigation and adaptation, natural resource management, sustainable international development and trade and more. I’m very happy (and lucky I gather) to be there, although it means I have to be away from Jenna and the two furballs for until the end of August (Jenna will hopefully visit :).
While I’m here I’m going to research Arctic governance. There’s been a lot of noise over who get’s the right to the fabulous riches hiding under the Arctic seabed (or not: the calculations by the US Geological Survey about how much oil and gas there is under there are pretty sketchy (I’ll find a source for this later)). At any rate, the polar bear care very little about the sabre rattling by the Great Powers and more about what’s happening to it’s habitat — the ice. There are some serious environmental challenges that will have to be resolved in the Arctic. Not just climate change, which will hit the Arctic and its inhabitants both human and animal disproportionately hard, but also pollution, increased shipping and overfishing. And this is where I come in; I will be writing recommendations for where the Canadian government should put its resources in the future. Principally, that means recommending that Canada continues its tradition as a multilateralist and internationalist, and put its weight behind the Arctic Council — the environmental governance and cooperation agency of the Arctic.
I have some other tasks too, relating mostly to updating and playing with a community website for Arctic youth (ookpik.org).
And that’s how I came to be here.
So I’m in Winnipeg right now, and for the rest of the summer (why? More on that later, maybe tomorrow — I should have written about this sooner). As I was walking around, taking in the sights, I was looking for scenes that would capture the essence of this prairie city. Winnipeg is a fairly large city and downtown is dominated by highrises. But nothing you haven’t seen elsewhere. I settled on the Manitoba Legislature — the stately home of the provincial assembly — built during an age of tremendous optimism, when Manitoba’ s future looked golden. It still is — though not fantastically rich (at least not in a Beverly Hills 90210 sense) , it looks like Winnipeggers have done a lot to make this a very liveable and friendly place. I look forward to exploring more of what this city has to offer, and hopefully see some of the rest of the province.
Trying to get a little bird perched on the bench, I scared it away, leaving me with a picture of just the bench instead. I like it, standing there in the midst of the tall grass.
And this one is actually clutching a fish — well, half a fish (as opposed to this one)!
This osprey lives in a state park on Honeymoon Island in Florida, near Clearwater (and Tampa). Birds are fun — and difficult — to photograph.
I also saw a baby bald eagle in its nest this day, from 330 feet, the closest you are allowed to an eagle’s nest under federal rules. I never saw his (her?) parents though, but it was still cool to see a (not yet) bald eagle (the characteristic white head is developed later). Here is the baby, which was born around Valentine’s Day and was appropriately named Cupid.
There were lots of osprey, however, bringing fish in to feed their young ones. Yes, I realise this particular one doesn’t clutch a fish, but it’s one of the better pictures I took. I used the 300mm, which is an okay lens despite being very basic and cheap ($200).
I caught these pussy willows (Norwegian: gåsunger, which translates as goslings) down by the Welland Canal with my 50mm.
