Observations by jack_from_ontario

We had a lunch in Bemidji State Park—and suddenly I saw a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker! I just love these birds, they are so pretty, yet relatively rare and whereas I had seen them in the past, they were usually gone before I had the time to reach for my camera. This particular Woodpecker must have been used to people, as it hung around for quite a long time, completely ignoring me and everyone else.

I have visited Grundy Lake Park about 10 times since the late 1990s, mostly spending a night or two before or after my canoeing trips on the French River or Georgian Bay. This time we spent 4 nights at Poplar Campground, from Sunday to Thursday.

Upon arrival at the park, we were warned about active bears. A few hours later we saw a smallish black bear which was inspecting our neighbor’s campsite.
The next day, as we were engaged in a conversation, the bear walked across our campsite, totally undisturbed by our presence, and proceeded to the one on the other side of the road.
Then on the third day, while I was alone at the campsite, just about to prepare & have my breakfast, the bear emerged from the forest, sniffed at my tent and walked straight to the table, to the bag containing food—which I had just brought from the car. I was standing on the other side of the table, banging on it with a stick, shouting, banging on the car and even honking the horn-but the bear did not care at all and continued consuming the food. Only when I lifted a chair, it took off and went into the forest, carrying the bag in his mouth. Fortunately, bears are clumsy and it quickly lost the bag, which I managed to grab, along with a few other items from the table, and put into the car. Just 10 seconds later the bear was back at the table, dissecting a box of fiber (i.e., my breakfast) which I did not get a chance to snatch. Again, I shouted and pounded a piece of wood on the table, yet to no avail—the bear was just totally preoccupied with consuming the content of the box. Eventually it grabbed the box in his mouth and went into the forest, a few meters from my tent, when it finished eating it.

I have had a lot of encounters with black bears, but this was the first time when I came across a bear that was totally unafraid of me and that showed up at the campsite while I was sitting at the table, about to have breakfast.

In September, 2021, I spent one week camping in Silent Lake Provincial Park, south of Bancroft, Ontario. Except for numerous chipmunks, I did not spot any raccoons or foxes. I was told there were black bear sightings this summer along park trails, but not on campgrounds. On several occasions I spotted blue jays, which were curiously observing me, but later flew away. At night it was sometimes possible to pick up distant loon calls, but more often the very distinctive sounds made by barred owls were heard!

One night, around 1 a.m., I was awaken by a barred owl—it must have been just meters from my tent, as the sound was so loud (and for novices, probably scary, too). Even though I had tried to locate barred owls by following their calls for years, I never succeeded—until now! A few days later, as I was walking at night to the comfort station, I saw a movement between trees—it was a barred owl flying soundlessly from one tree to another. I shone my flashlight—and there it was, sitting on a tree branch! I even managed to take a few photographs, albeit not very sharp.

While staying at the Hotel Club Amigo Caracol in Santa Lucia, Cuba in November/December, 2013, we visited the beautiful city of Camagüey.

After the mass we went to a nearby coffee shop (Café Ciudad) for cappuccino and cake at Parque Agramonte. In its center was a bronze and pink granite equestrian statue of Ignacio Agramonte, the most famous citizen of Camagüey. Born in 1841, he studied in Spain and Havana and became a lawyer. In 1868 he joined the war of independence against the Spanish and became one of its leaders and later became a Major-General. He was killed at the Battle of Jimaguayu in 1873. The equestrian statue of Agramonte in the park was unveiled by his widow Amalia Simoni in 1912. Each corner of the park was marked by a tall royal palm, planted to covertly pay tribute to four Camagüey martyrs of the struggle for independence, executed in the square by Spanish forces.

In July, 2011, we were canoeing in the Massasauga Park, Ontario. On July 19, 2011, after listening to the weather forecast, we canoed Frying Pan Island, to a small store that also carried beer and other alcoholic beverages. The area was relatively sheltered, but in the event of stronger winds it would be difficult for us to paddle. We passed by a few islands, several cottages and striking rock formations. I was trolling all this time and near Breen Island caught a nice, 3 kg. pike. Upon arrival at the LCBO store dock, we were helped by its employees to tie the boat (not that we needed that!) and proceeded to make a number of purchases, including beer and ice.

An hour later we were on our way back to our campsite—and while paddling near Breen Island, I caught another pike, at almost exactly the same location I had caught the first pike! Once we were back, I cleaned the pikes and filleted them, albeit with some difficulty. So, we enjoyed grilled pike and cold beer—and so did some marauding animal, who stole the leftovers, unbeknownst to us; because some sizable bags were dragged a few meters from the campsite, we think that it might even be a small black bear.