I took a break from being cooped up in the house this evening. I headed over to Burnaby Lake to see the animals. There were quite a few people there this time. I didn't get there until about 7:00pm, just before sunset, so I was surprised by the amount of people. With all the new babies around, it's a very popular spot.





Several of the older babies are getting big now, particularly the goslings. The last time I was there (about 2 weeks ago) they were the size of pigeons, now they are about the size of chickens.



Some of the Canada geese are still having new batches, and I saw a momma goose still sitting on the same nest she was on two weeks ago. I didn't get to see if they'd hatched yet though, because she didn't get up from the nest. Daddy goose was standing on guard a few feet from her. He let me crouch beside him to get a good look at his nesting mate.



While I was there I saw something moving in the reeds nearby. I got up and looked and I discovered a beaver! The beaver was pulling some small branches out to take to the beaver dam across the lake. Now unfortunately there were some stupid people (I know, you probably haven't seen me angry on here before, but I gotta tell you, I was angry!) who were at the other end of the dock fishing. I don't know why they were fishing there, because I'm pretty certain there is no fishing allowed in a wildlife sanctuary, but there were 3 or four of these guys fishing, and smoking cigarettes. The beaver was swimming right towards their fishing lines and just as I feared, the beaver got snagged in the lines. Idiots! I was so angry! I started to head towards them to yell at them, when the beaver managed to break free. The beaver lost his mouthful of branches though, and he didn't come back for them.







Frankly, it wasn't the first time I've seen people doing really stupid things there, in fact every time I go there I see at least one person behaving carelessly. I just don't like to bring these things up here, because I want to keep "Life as Mark sees it" a positive place to visit. But on the other hand, it wouldn't be fair to lead you to believe that nothing bad ever happens here.

I've made a lot of changes to the new template today, so things have been all over the place. I got the URL links back up too. It's looking a little sloppy right now, but I think I'll get the bugs worked out soon. I've been at the computer too long today though, so I'm going out for a drive.

-Gnite.

There I changed the template again. I think I like this one better. I'll try it out for a while and see how it goes...

I'm not feeling too good today. I guess I'm getting a cold. Yesterday I thought it was just my alergies acting up, but sadly, I'm pretty sure it's a cold. So Today I haven't done too much. Mostly sat around at the computer. I'm going to work on getting the original hyperlinks back up on this new template. The code looks a lot different to me, so it's going to take some time I think.

OK, so I've switched to this template. I don't like everything about it, so I'm going to make some gradual changes, and I also have to redo all my links. Sheesh! The stuff that happens to me...

Damn! I can't sleep tonight! I'm up really late for a work night. That means tomorrow I'm going to be a zombie in the morning. I don't know why I do this to myself, maybe I've got the 'Wednesday night blues?' That usually only happens on Sunday night (because I know I have to go to work on Monday).

I watched the last episode of my favorite TV show tonight. Angel is now over. How sad is that? It was the greatest TV show ever.

I am determined to get a good quality action photo of a swallow! They are so difficult to track while looking through a long telephoto lens, and a lot more difficult to actually achieve sharp focus on one in flight. I love them; their acrobatics are astounding to watch.

here's another attempt I made 2 weekends ago:



And here's another one of those babies too:



And a very pretty-colored duck:

There sure has been a lot going on around here lately. And once again, all work and no play makes Mark a dull boy. It's just been a really busy week and I didn't get a chance to get out much. I think things will slow down a little now though, so I can relax a little more and get back on schedule.

Speaking of busy; things are sure busy for the animals over at Burnaby Lake! Several geese and ducks have new families now and the parents are very busy gathering food and protecting their young ones. I can't think of many things that are cuter than duckings and goslings and so during my last visit to the lake I shot many photos of them. I found a good place to crouch and waited for them. It didn't take long before these pround parents came out to show off their new kids.

(These photos are already two weeks old. I'm going back to the lake sometime this week to get some updated photos.)













Of course there were pigeons there too. I caught these two trying to take a bath in the lake. It was funny because the one in the backgroung kept splashing water on the one in the foreground. He'd shake of the water and then get splashed all over again. Ya gotta love watching pigeons!





Here's a mom talking a quick nap:



In other news; I had to go to a Traffic Control Person course for two days last week. I thought it was going to be difficult, but it was actually quite easy. The instructor was really good and she made the course enjoyable. So now I'm a certified TCP. Here's a picture of me with a stop paddle in my hand:



And some people in the course: