On Sunday I had popped my 4 month old show hopeful "Meena" into the van with my camera gear and clothes for the weather to explore another large conservation area, just down at the end of the major thoroughfare one street over. It was darkening as the afternoon grew late, but I had high hopes the rain might hold off for us, just for maybe an hour. It didn't. This was the view looking into the entrance to the park when we arrived.
Same view, after the wipers had made a pass.
We did get brave enough to see if it really was raining as hard as it looked. It was. 
That was all right, I had wanted to get a start on my dinner anyway, as it was something I came up with on the fly and a little more exotic than my usual fare. I had acquired some moose sausage a week or so ago, and although I've had it before, it has been awhile and I forget how I had cooked it. I settled on a kind of moose ragout, sausages braised in chopped tomatoes and root vegetables with mushrooms on wild brown rice. It ended up looking very rustic, and smelled wonderful! I'm glad there was plenty for leftovers :).
As pleased as I was to find some surprises at the pond, I still was hoping to track down some Canada geese, in flight or landing in that majestic formation. I headed to a spot I felt sure would yield all kinds of goosey photo ops ... surely I wouldn't end the day without at least one fabulous shot of my quarry?Of course I was doomed to not see a single Canada goose all day. I did find a large flock of gulls that I had not expected at all, and ducks that I knew and a few I didn't. I was caught by the striking difference in venues, leaving the pond that was all soft and puffy and muted, coming to this river bank, stoney and harsh, even the birds were edgier and steely. A no less enjoyable place to be, very different from where I had just come, and again, unfolding some unexpected treasure.
Geese and ducks of all sorts are pretty much peaking right now in their migration activity. At any given time, you can first hear the trumpeting up above, then the characteristic V-shaped body passes overhead, sometimes only a few geese, sometimes so many that you can't count, and then they're gone. I've been trying to capture that moment of take off, or at least a close enough shot of them in flight, but I don't seem to be in the right place at the right time. I'm going to keep trying, at least until it snows. They may be elusive, and sure, they can fly, but I'm stubborn :).I came across a man-made pond this weekend, behind a school and right in the middle of a suburb. I had seen geese in that general area before, but didn't realize the size of this pond. It was surprisingly big, down in a crater-type depression, and well hidden on 3 sides with weeds and grasses. Although it was nippy and breezier than it has been, I was dressed for it, and ready to wait as long as I had to. I took the few ducks paddling around as a good omen. So I waited. And I waited. I took photos rather aimlessly, deleting most on the spot, then realized my surroundings were really far more interesting that I had first thought. In fact, the longer I was there, and the colder I got, the more downright fascinating it was. By the time a handful of geese finally did make their arrival, I was quite happily wrapped up in my little "macro world".
These two ducks persisted in remaining close enough and long enough that I did oblige and took a couple of pictures anyway. I didn't want to hurt their feelings by letting on it was really the geese I was hunting ... they seemed satisfied after a few shots, and swam away.
While I was busy entertaining myself, I got the feeling, fleeting at first, then stronger, that I was being watched, and watched very carefully. After looking around a little more closely, this is what I found in the bushes. A day of unexpected surprises!
