Springtime in Kamloops, BC

The Easter Bunny has come and gone today and with the sun shining so nicely, we decided to go for a drive to capture some spring shots of Kamloops.  It didn’t take long and that cloud moved in and stole the sunshine!  Not to be discouraged by this, as none of the subjects were, I took the photos anyway.

Baseball tournament

Kamloops is the Tournament Capital of Canada and McArthur Park is a great sport location that has several fields for many different kinds of sports.  Today is a sure sign of spring when there are some baseball tournaments going on at the park.  The parking lot is full at the Stadium for that game and there are several filled chairs lining the road to watch this one.

McArthur Island Slough

McArthur Park is an island surrounded by the McArthur Park Slough and is the home of so many waterfowl.  At this time of year, when the water level is low, the slough has limited water and in places it has none.  This does not seem to matter to the ducks as they are congregated close to the footbridge where there is some water enjoying the quiet times.

Boat launch at the slough

This is the Thompson River’s mouth of the slough which houses the boat launch, a very busy place in the summer but at this point in time, getting ready for goslings and ducks to hatch as they did at this time last year.  They may be waiting for this wet chillier weather to leave before the babies arrive, Mother Nature’s good planning!

Quiet view of Kamloops

This view offers very little movement at this time of year.  Other than movement in the river as it slowly rises from the rain and snow melts, there are a couple of dogs on the river’s bank retrieving from the river, doing one thing that so many dogs love to do and enjoying themselves, no matter what the weather is.

Bench awaits a visitor

The new growth has just begun to spring out on the trees that line the river.  Very few blossoms have been seen yet but as they say, “April showers brings May flowers” so we’ll just have to wait a bit more time to see the blossoms appear on other trees.   This lonely bench will have more visitors soon.

A fallen tree

This tree once stood on the bank but likely due to high waters, the edge gave away and the tree fell, but with it took the roots, allowing it to stay alive.  These new leaves can attest to that.  Time will tell if it can continue to survive but so far, so good.

Curious Marmot

Look who I found!  As I’d walked above the river’s edge, I’d been looking for any sign of marmots as they live in their tunnel homes along the banks at the park.  I’d seen nothing and as much as I didn’t expect much, I was sure they didn’t relocate during the winter.  Then this one pops his head out and sits right in front of his home!  We had a nice little chat, his part silent but I'm sure I ‘heard’ his thoughts!

Hungry marmot

I noticed several carrots scraps that someone had fed them, and tossed them toward him trying not to scare him away.  Each one would come close but bounce away, and he was watching it all with interest.  I finally decided I would have to get closer in order to reach the carrot he seemed to have his eye on and once I got that close, he dove back into his home.  I gave it a toss and it hit the opening and rolled down!  Bet he was happy to have dinner delivered!

McDonald Park

This is MacDonald Park, a smaller neighborhood park on the North shore with lots of playground entertainment for the young ones.  There are several here visiting in spite of the weather and by the sounds we hear, they are enjoying themselves.  We took our Maggie for a walk and she was happily greeted by Oscar, a very friendly young dog looking to make her acquaintance.  Of course, Maggie doesn’t consider herself a dog so one sniff was enough! lol

Happy Easter to all!