Why I am looking Forward to Spring - Part 2: Ice Formations

At the mouth of The Forty, the winds off Lake Ontario blow spray onto shore. As it hits the shore and any trees, shrubs, or anything else, it deposits a coating that builds up over time in directions determined by the then prevailing winds, leaving a surreal environment.

In the first image, the gulls are sitting on about one meter (3 feet for our American friends) of ice on a pier located near the old pump house at the mouth of The Forty.

The next three show how ice forms on the branches of shrubs on the lake shore. The effect is like teeth at times and the weight can be great enough to break branches.

The next two show ice formed on the North side of a tree trunk facing Lake Ontario. My wife decided the formation resembled a white witch guarding the entrance to the creek mouth.

The next one is icicles hanging from a low hanging branch reaching out over the water.

The second-last image is a branch hanging out over the lake with the typical teeth-like icicle formations.

The last image is the remnants of the ice on The Forty.

As beautiful as the winter can be, it has been a long cold, snowy one and I, for one, am ready for Spring.

Why I am Looking Forward to Spring - Part 1: The Awd Goose

Here in Grimsby, we live in an old town, at least by Canadian standards. Grimsby was settled about 250 years ago. Once the town was established, it's original name was “The Forty” which, for those of you unfamiliar with the history and geography of the area, may seem odd.

When Europeans moved into the area, travel was by boat on Lake Ontario. Landmarks used by the sailors were the mouths of streams feeding into Lake Ontario. The naming convention they adopted on the south shore was based on the distance in miles from the mouth of the Niagara River. If you look at a map of Ontario you can still find streams/rivers with these distance-based names. In Grimsby, the town name became that of a town in England but the stream that runs through Grimsby into Lake Ontario is still called “The Forty”.

My wife and I, encouraged by our dog, took one of our regular walks down to the mouth of The Forty to see how the snow and ice were melting. Much is gone but with the long, cold, snowy winter, there is still a large amount of snow and ice in that area. And of course there are seagulls, ducks and geese.

The First image is of a confused Canada Goose who seemed to think the block of ice with a stick frozen in it, was in actual fact a rival goose posing a challenge, This made for an amusing few minutes of entertainment for us.

The second image is of a group of seagulls trying to keep warm.

The last three images are interesting because of the goose with the white “cheeks” and orange legs. This appears to be a cross between a Canada Goose and some variety of domestic goose. This goose has been around for some time it seems. According to a gentleman we met there, he has seen it regularly for many years. In fact he has posted some information on the goose at his website http://marvejohn.ca/Nature/awdgoose/ so you may want to look at that if you are curious.