The Toronto Zoo

Visited the zoo last summer with some friends. I have mixed feelings about zoo's, some animals seem happy to be there and others seem very unhappy. It was a beautiful sunny day and amazingly all the animals were not asleep in the shade. I hope you enjoy these shots and as usual just click on an image to see a larger version. Thank you!

This little guy really got to me, he just looked so unhappy.

Kayak Adventures – Part 2

These photo's were taken at Luther Marsh. It was a crazy day because one minute it would be sunny and the next it was raining. When we were out on the water we only saw two other people who were far off in the distance in a canoe. The marsh is huge with several islands. In the 3 hours that we were there we managed to get around one large island.

The silhouette of a bird against the stormy clouds.

This little guy was keeping guard, I managed to get quite close to him before he flew away.


A firefly resting on a reed.


A beautiful blossom.


A bird defending its giant nest.


Next stop was a trip up to Elliot Lake and a few of the lakes around there.

These butterflies were consuming something of which I have no idea what the origin was.


Their colours were absolutely beautiful.


We were paddling on Ompa Lake with some friends. This lake is just north of Elliot Lake and seemed to go on forever. It was like we owned the lake because we were the only 5 people there. One part of it was just covered with the colourful palette you see above.

A beautiful day for a paddle.


Love the colours but hard to paddle through.


The glimmer of light off the water.


More beautiful colours.

This piece of driftwood is affectionately known as Barney because it kind of looks like a whale. While we were all kayaking on the lake, Karen decided she liked the look of this piece of driftwood and just had to have it. Never mind that it was about 16 ft long and very fragile. It was like a comedy to watch me balance it on the front of my kayak while two others tried to tow me across the lake. Then it had to be carefully carried up a hill to the truck. A few beers were in order after that.


We stayed out at a camp on Dunlop Lake and on the last day we decided to go out for a morning paddle before the long drive home. It was a cool morning so there was lots of fog and mist.

As the fog lifted it started to reveal all the islands.

A plant growing through a crack in the rock.


Love the contrast of the blue sky against the dark water.


Very dark and mysterious.


The water was like glass.


Almost seems surreal.


The lake had such a different feel than when we paddled it on a clear day.


The sun is trying to peak through.


A couple of broken webs, lots of spiders to be found. Eeeeeewwwwww....


The water almost seemed "inky". Love the effect on this one.


It seemed magical as the fog lifted and the blue sky shine through.


The winds started to pick up a little, everything has that "choppy" feel.


The last trip of the season was to Long Point on Lake Erie. It was a sunny, hot day and the water was a little choppy but a nice blue colour. We had never been on a "big" lake before so stayed pretty close to the shore. Plus it was hunting season then so we had to watch for hunters and a lot of motor boats.


Coming around the reeds towards shore.


Peaking through the grasses and reeds to the open waters.


Even though it is only January I look forward to even more time on the water in the spring and summer to come. Thanks for viewing our photo's!