Bruder Campground

 The Luck of the Irish was with us as we celebrated family this past weekend at our family reunion. The weather was hot and humid but not a drop of rain fell on us. Liz and Fred once again offered their home and wonderful piece of property in the country for us to gather for the weekend. Some of us camped out for the duration and others came for the main gathering on Saturday. It is always so much fun when we gather and the relatives that don't come have no idea what a great time they are missing out on. We celebrated our Irish heritage this year and we had a great time wearing our  Irish green clothes and accessories. As usual there was too much food but we managed to eat most of it during the coarse of the weekend. We also enjoyed a wee bit of Baileys and some Guinness beer. Thanks to Fred for making some of his yummy sausage for us to enjoy as well as fresh tomatoes from the garden. Pat baked an Irish potato cake that was amazing. Everyone brought great food that we enjoyed over the coarse of the weekend. We had the pleasure of a special guest as well. My nephew James brought his 9 week old german sheppard puppy for all of us to enjoy. Breeze is her name and she was so well behaved and such a cutie. We enjoyed two wonderful evenings by the campfire.  The partiers who were up late enough on Saturday evening had the pleasure of watching Fred and Cindy singing Tom Jones song, Delilah. They did an amazing job and their acting deserves an oscar. Sunday was a much more relaxing day and gave us a chance to chat a little more with the cousins and family that were still around. We always look forward to this special weekend and there is only 357 more sleeps until our next reunion......lol
P.S. A group picture will be attached when I get it from Joanne......hint, hint.

The gold of Ireland in Fridays sunset

Liz with her great nieces in their Irish head wear

 

The elusive Bluebird, a first for me

I walked part of the trail both evenings

Some of the campers visiting Saturday morning

Fred gathering wood for our campfire

 

Breeze was adored and received much attention

Liz has many roses in her garden

The cows were enjoying their green

 

Donny, Diana and John looking a wee bit Irish

Diana even did her nails

 

Savannah Sparrow in the evening sun

Another first for me

Sweet peas flowers in the morning shadow

Cindy has fallen in love with Breeze

Pat & Geoff testing their new camera on an evening stroll

Pollinator at work

Cupid in the clouds on Saturday evening

Green tents decorated for the Clancy Clan gathering

Breeze enjoyed the red cup party

Wheatley, July 17-19 2015

 This was a true summer weekend. Hazy, hot and humid. We were fortunate to have a nice shady campsite by the marsh with a nice breeze most of the weekend. If you went out into other parts of the park it was quite HOT. Unfortunately the bacteria levels were high in the lake so there was no swimming at the beach. The water level is up 2 feet so there is not much beach area left for our strolls along the water. The erosion damage along the shore was hard to believe. Saturday we drove to Kingsville to go to the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. It was interesting to learn about all that he had done for bird conservancy. We were able to see a few different birds that they take care of on the property. We did a tour of the Kingsville and then stopped in Leamington at the Lakeside Cafe for a late lunch. On our way back to the park we found a Bald Eagle sitting up in a tree at the Wheatley harbour. That is the closest we have been to one and it was great to observe it for awhile. The robins were trying to scare it away but it wasn't working. At one point an Osprey flew at it as well but it did not faze the eagle at all. We enjoyed two nice evenings watching the campfire for a distance as it was to warm to be close to it. We had the opportunity to enjoy a Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker and her two young ones at our site over the weekend and on Sunday a Red-breasted Woodpecker with her young one was there for awhile. Always something interesting to see when we are there. I enjoyed a hike each morning before it got to hot. Saturday evening we saw a doe and her two fawns enjoying an evening snack along one of the park roads. I have yet to get any pictures of herons this year. Wheatley is usually a good spot to watch them but I only saw them fly by our site once and they were not at the creek area at anytime that we were there. I will have to keep trying to find some as they are amazing to watch when they are looking for food in the water. It was another enjoyable adventure and we are looking forward to the family reunion in Arris this weekend. May the luck of the Irish be with us as we celebrate family.

It was too hot for bunny to stand to eat

 

Narrow beach and bank erosion

Manly looking fungus...

Wee Robin just out of the nest napping

Something has eaten all the green from the leaves

Admiral Butterfly resting on the road

Spiders web in the morning light

Flowering milkweed with a milkweed bug

 

Mom Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker and her 2 young

Young Flicker visiting our campsite

Yellow feathers on the wings and tail

Doe keeping her eyes on me

The twin fawns are getting big

Always some kind of wildflowers to enjoy

Young Red-breasted Woodpecker looking for bugs

Their tongues can get under the tree bark

 

Bald Eagle eyeing the area

Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary

Amazing colours on the male Peacock

Baby Peacock

Ty Cobb was a good friend of Jack Miner

and visited quite often

 

Young Guinea Hen Checking me out

 

Old Wagon on the property

Female Peacock trying to keep cool in the dirt

Port Burwell, July 10-12 2015

This was a great beach weekend. We took full advantage of the warm weather and spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon enjoying the sand and the sounds of the water rolling into the shoreline. It made me think of how mom always talked about missing the sound of the waves when she moved to Canada. Sunday the water was very calm but we still enjoyed the bit of noise that the water made as it reached the shore. It was great to walk along the beach and soak up the amazing views at the waters edge. We enjoyed two restful evenings by the campfire and I was able to sleep in both mornings. Must have had something to do with all the time we spent at the beach. I also enjoyed a hike on Saturday morning. Friday when we went down to the beach we spotted a family of Killdeer in the parking lot. I was able to get a few photos of the little ones that could only walk as their wings had not developed enough for flying yet. There were four young ones so I wondered if they were the ones that were in the eggs that I got pictures of on our last trip to Port Burwell in June. We also saw twin fawns in the field by the docks. One of them actually jumped over the other when they started to run to get back into the wooded area across the road. It was quite funny to see that. I am hoping that since we have had 2 nice weekends in a row that the summer weather will continue and we will be able to enjoy many more nice dry weekends away.

This cat greeted us at the park.

Looks like it needs a nap

I'm hiding and you can't see me.....lol

Art in the water. The remains of an old dock.

Mr. Purple Martin feeding the young ones

Where are they? We're hungry!

The Mrs. taking a break

A young red squirrel enjoying an evening snack

Very young Killdeer

A little fuzz ball with long legs and wee wings

Ring-billed seagulls in the sunset light

Sunset at the edge of the lake

Twin fawns in the evening glow

The one on the right just jumped over the other

Mrs. Cardinal in the morning light

Geometry on the pond. Can you find the heart shape?

Seagull enjoying the nice weather

Can you find my head as I do my preening?

Feather with dew drops in the moist sand

Common Tern voicing its opinion

Ready for take off

Twelve-spotted skimmer in the afternoon sun