Tag Archives: Landscapes

nature, Photography

Hazy Holiday

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Yesterday in Canada most people had a day off. As I went for a morning ramble it was great to see the parks and beaches crowded as so many enjoyed the day by soaking up the sun, swimming, boating or picnicking.

Fly fishing.

Other people took the opportunity to get in some fly fishing. Okanagan Lake is known for its huge rainbow trout; apparently some can reach rather impressive weights.

Ginkgo biloba leaves.

The only drawback was that we had smoke-carrying wind moving into the valley as you can see from the pictures.

Smoky haze in the distance.

Most of the forest fires generating this smoke are in the north; I fervently hope that those parts of this country soon get some substantial and sustained rain. They certainly could do with it.

nature, Photography

Thunderstorm Skies

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We have been getting lots of thunderstorm warnings recently and certainly they have been all around us with their distant rumbling and even their high winds and rains, but nothing directly up until now. The skies they produce however can be quite amazing as they roil past us. It’s worth noting that I haven’t made any adjustments to the colour of these photos; this is just as the camera (and I) saw those clouds.

The sunset reflects off the white cumulus features of these water-laden clouds …

… spreading an almost eerie glow throughout the whole area …

… that briefly intensified as more towering cumulonimbus clouds moved in. An oddly beautiful sight, but one to be respected.

Happy Monday.

nature, Photography

Carp or Koi?

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I recently had an interesting conversation with one of the groundskeepers at the nearby Japanese garden about the fish in the pond there and learned a lot about the differences between koi and carp.

Koi are a domesticated, ornamental variety of carp that are the result of centuries of selective breeding for lighter colours such as orange, white, yellow and the mottled types as well. The behaviour of koi is also different; they are much less aggressive than carp.

Carp are a dull greyish brown and sometimes difficult to spot in the water; of course that is one of their natural defences, something that koi no longer have.

A sleepy looking carp among the lily pads.

The fish in the Japanese garden pond are a mix of koi and carp; people have apparently been randomly dropping carp there after they become too big for their home fish tanks. In the pond they have been growing and multiplying rapidly because they’re eating everything in sight.

Lots of carp swimming underneath the koi.

In the photo above, you can see quite a number of dark coloured carp; the groundskeeper says there are about 30 of them.

At the moment plans are in place to remove the carp from the pond in the autumn when their activity slows down; the koi will once again have their pond to themselves.

These koi appear to be swimming among the trees: more sky fish!

During the next winter the groundskeepers will also be on the lookout for otters. Last winter one started living in the garden and helping himself to the koi; apparently about half of them were consumed before the otter was trapped and moved to another location. That otter must have thought he was in paradise!

Happy Thursday.