Apparently Bears Pretty Active This Year

[Ally]

Axeman, I am going to Parry Sound area this weekend. What areas should I be looking for for eagles and owls?

I lost my two newer cameras during a recent trip in Quebec City. I am debating if I should bring my telephoto lens with an older camera for this trip. If I lost this camera, I will be out of business.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Hope things will be Okay soon and you get to see eagles and owls this weekend.

[Charline]

SS and Ally, thanks for your sympathy.

I didn't bring my 100－400mm for fear of losing my head again. I saw a lot of small birds and turkey vultures in my previous trips. Just hope to capture some decent fall colors or landscape shots.

[Axeman]

Charline -- sorry for not responding sooner (although my response is of no value lol)....I could not tell you where to look in the Parry Sound area although there are a number of local parks for a start like Oastler Lake Provincial Park...we have only recently acquired a cottage in the area (mid June) and I'm still getting the lay of the land...that said, I have seen posts on FB from members of the cottage association showing Red Backed Woodpeckers (at a humming bird feeder!) and bald eagles at our lake (Manitouwabing)......from my deck all I get are some jays, ravens (which for me, is very cool)...and lbj's......and I am sorry that you lost your cameras....that sounds painful.....


I took a hike recently on a local trail -- Balsam Trail, near McKellar -- and that was a disaster....I'm glad I had my cell phone and had watched a survival guy recently and had followed a bunch of his tips. I don't suggest Balsam trail...excluding that it nearly ended in disaster for me, it really didn't seem promising.


There are elk a bit north of Parry Sound....next summer I'm hoping to scout them out.

[Charline]

Thanks for the reply, .No worries, Axeman. It turned out that  I took the telephoto lens which should be used with my lost camera. I must be getting too old.


I hiked so much in Parry Sound that my legs were barely mine. I know there were bears on Perry Island.


Here is a photo of the metamorphic rock formation from the trip.

[Shortsighted]

 The Georgian Bay (Muskoka) gneiss is especially impressive, not only because it is photogenic as you have depicted it but also because it represents a very coarse variety of gneiss, probably formed from both pressure and intrusion of magma a billion years ago and now represents worn down mountains. I’ve always wanted to see it but the opportunity to explore it never arrived. The gneiss in Hastings County is finer and contains nepheline (where quartz is sparse) and syenite, while the gneiss up in Haliburton County and Renfrew is also fine grained and contains actinolite crystals. I visited both areas before but never managed the Georgian Bay coastline.
Your photo just reminds me of that fact.




Muskoka Gneiss



Nepheline-rich Gneiss - Hastings County



Syenite gneiss

[Charline]

SS, I am glad you have the expertise about the genesis.


 When I returned from Quebec, I learned that my friends, a couple, both of whom were geologists, died unexpectedly. The wife was the one who introduced me to the beauty of Georgian Bay. When I returned from Georgian Bay previously , I always shared my photos with her, and she gave me some basic tutoring.


 I have been to many areas of Georgian Bay and have a lot of photos of the rock formations. One of my photos was on the cover of Georgian Bay Island National Park years ago.

[Shortsighted]

That's some nice gneiss! So, you've been published. Way to go. Soon you won't be affiliating yourself with the likes of us while pursuing bigger projects. You know astronomers and geologist? Well, then there is Dinu ... a physicist. I might become an anarchist when I grow up ... if that ever happens.

[Axeman]

Those are some spectacular pix...


I haven't yet explored Perry Island -- I tried to scope it out one day but couldn't find the bridge to it...but your pix have made me determined to check it out next year.