We are slowly seeing the signs and reaping rewards of warmer
weather. The typical trials and
tribulations of rising water from winter run-off is still reminding us that
summer has not arrived yet but our May long weekend was a great one for
weather.
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Canada Geese couple and their new chicks |
We’d made an early May visit to McArthur Park and were able
to see some very young and fuzzy chicks with their vigilante mother and father
watching over them on the beach by the boat launch. I doubt these chicks were very old. I stayed a great distance away so as not to
disturb them, I use my favorite lenses that allows me to get photos like this.
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McArthur Park Marmots |
These little fellows are fun to watch. They are yellow-bellied marmots which are one
of 14 recognized species of marmots. The
others include woodchucks and groundhogs, which are the same. They are all a rodent related to ground
squirrels and prairie dogs….. do I have you confused yet?? and the yellow-bellied are considered the
king of these rodents, if I haven’t confused myself too much. On our next visit with higher waters, we saw
none of them, their river bank caves must have been flooded and chased them
away, but they will return.
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Little Farmer Petting Zoo in Westsyde |
An early May visit to Little Farmers Petting Zoo at Westsyde
Centennial Park with our grandson was a fun one. I love to see the faces of these two. The Emu is very interested in having a
close-up look, although I am on the other side of the fence with the long
lenses again. There are two of them and
they are quite tall with a lot of oily feeling feathers. The Llama, which I believe this one to be fairly new
to the park was interested for only a moment, I had to be quick with the camera. I would have liked to brush that straw out of
his ‘hair’ but thought better not to try, he was more interested in grazing for
lunch.
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Pigs, Goats and Kids |
The little ‘kids' are definitely a big draw here at the
Little Farmers. We are able to buy some
food for them at a vending machine there and feed them through the
fence. Our little grandson loves to feed
them all, young and old, they are excited but amazingly gentle when they take
the food. One very pregnant goat was
happy to just rest while a friendly Vietnamese potbellied pig (I believe) gave
her snuggles.
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Three Little Pigs |
I just had to take a picture of these “3 little pigs” as they
slept side by side in their house made of wood.
An old nursery rhyme comes to mind! How they managed to get in there in
this position would be quite a sight to see, I am sure it could take awhile. Afternoon naps are always a good thing. See more at the new webpage that the Little Farmer Petting Zoo is developing, it is a work in progress but tells you more:
click here.
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Quail |
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Golden Pheasant |
The feathers of these two birds are absolutely
beautiful. They are so perfectly marked,
they move so quickly it is hard to get a full photo but they both have very
long tails. The breed of
the one in the top photo may be a quail and I took a guess that the bottom was a pheasant and by
doing some research was able to learn it is a Golden Pheasant from New Zealand. He’s been here quite a long while now if it
is the same one we’ve seen over the years.
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Turkey displays his beauty |
This
turkey just could not be outdone after seeing our reaction to the beautiful
birds in the nearby pen. He was showing
off his feathers, too. We’d seen the
white turkeys on an earlier visit but remember a Bronze Turkey from our visits
over the years. One of those was quite a
friendly fella and made the attempt to be sociable with me. To see him,
click here.
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Soccer at McArthur Park |
We are back at McArthur Park on the Victoria Day weekend in
May and what wonderful weather it is for all the sport tournaments that are
filling the park with all these athletes and their fans.
There were several baseball games going on at the same time. The park was full and enjoyed by many.
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Boating on the Thompson River |
I am not sure a boat ride on the Thompson River is the best
thing to do during high water times due to all the debris in there, but this
boat was heading upriver at a good speed and seemed to be oblivious to anything
but having fun. I am guessing it was too
hard to resist the temptation on such a great sunny day.
The signs of summer are happening and after what seemed like
a long and very chilly wet springtime, we hope to get a summer full of great
weather and enjoy the many treasures of our home town of Kamloops, B.C.