Skating Season Ends

          Tuesday was our last skating session for this season. We started the first Tuesday in September and end the last Tuesday of April. It's a great season of fun and exercise.

          This skating session is for people who are 50+. We meet in an arena for one hour of skating. It's just skate around and around with some turns and a few stops for visits or just a plane break. Our oldest and probably best skater is 87. He likes to pair skate to music. Yes, there's music! For skating they like 3/4 time music as they do their skating stride to the music. Me? I just skate as I don't have rhythm!
     

         So now we have a four month break and will be looking forward to September when skating starts again.

This young lady turned 75 a couple of weeks ago and took us all to the dairy Queen for ice cream.

Peregrine Falcons at Nest Box on Telus tower.

        Since I have a link on my blog to web cams on a peregrine falcon nest box, I have some interest in what is happening. I don't check the web cams very often but I do know what's happening. There are two birds at the nest box now. They are busy moving pebbles around in the box. At this time we have no idea whether they are the same pair as last year. We do know that the first egg was laid May 1st last year and so are hoping that a first egg is laid around the first of May.

        After the eggs are laid there is a long incubation period where very little happens. Both birds take turns incubating so there is some coming and going. The exchange is made quickly so you have to be lucky to see it take place. This year you have a better chance at seeing the trading of positions as we have an external camera so you can see a bird that lands outside the nest box.

       Once the hatching takes place there's much more action.

       These birds are quite large and are spectacular fliers. They are the fastest animal on earth.
They are also a poster bird as they nearly became extinct because of DDT usage. They have been brought back from near extinction by a very active recovery program.

       So I hope that you check in on the peregrines from time to time and learn something about these awesome birds.

Computer Maintenance Phone Scam

          There are many scams on the internet and fortunately we are well protected from most of them.

          This week I received two phone calls from  scammers. It works like this. They phone you and say that they are computer maintenance and they have an appointment to fix your computer. They pick an easy topic and quote a good deal. They will fix the problem remotely but you have to open your computer where they specify so they can do the work. So you  open parts of your computer so these guys can get your pass words and get around security. They are then able to access your accounts no matter what they may be. They could also set up an identity using your information.

         I received two calls this week. The first one my wife answered and the English was so poor that she hung up and had no idea what they were talking about. My wife also answered the second call and this time she understood what was being said and quickly told them that they must have the wrong number as we didn't have any appointment for computer maintenance. When she told me about the second call I knew immediately that it was a scam as I had just read about it in the paper.

       So it's kind of creepy to know that the scammers have been so close to you.

       I hope that none of you gets taken in by this scam. We all have little problems with our computers. We all want things to be a little speedier. These guys promise you an easy fix. Beware.

First Owl Egg Hatches

      I have had a link to the Ellis Bird Farm web cam which is focused on a great horned owl nest. The first egg has hatched! Someone was watching and saw a little owlet. Owls lay eggs every couple of days and start incubating when the first egg is laid. There is a wide variation in size of owlets on the nest and in hard times the youngest ones may starve to death.

      So for the next while there should be more to watch than just the female sitting tight on the nest. The owlets will be in the nest for a long time before they fledge so there's lots more to see.

Regal Visitor: Bald Eagle

       This morning for a few minutes I had a regal visitor just above my house. A juvenile bald eagle was making a few turns just above my house at a fairly low altitude. The eagle was about 200ft up and slowly made about 6 turns. It's somewhat surprising to see a bald eagle in an urban area but not impossible. I live in a small subdivision which is surrounded by other subdivisions. I do see bald eagles a few times a year but they are usually much higher and r probably on the spring or fall migration.

      Now some people will say, "Where's the picture?"  With my little camera you would have seen a small black bird in a big blue sky.

      So what was this bird doing in my neighborhood? It could have been using a thermal current to gain altitude. Heat from pavement may have caused a small thermal.  Maybe it had spotted a cat or small dog that looked like possible prey. Bald eagles also consume a fair amount of carrion which probably wasn't in my neighborhood. It's not likely that the bald eagle was migrating but there is a large ravine about 500 meters west of my house and the river valley is about three km north of my house.

      No matter what this bird was doing, it was a treat to see it right above my house.

      Bald eagles are large and impressive fliers. The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. Many other groups use the eagle as a symbol. Then there's one of my favorite groups the Eagles. The bald eagle is also featured in poetry and songs. So it's a very influential  bird.

Happy Easter

To all those who observe and celebrate Easter:

HAPPY EASTER

Never Doubt and Honest Man

        I have been known to put my mouth in gear before my brain. It usually results in something rude, dumb or wrong. I got my self into such a situation yesterday.

       Yesterday was skating day. About 15 of us skate on a regular basis and a rink staffer collects our three dollar admission before we go to the dressing room.

      Yesterday people were waiting in the foyer as there was no one to collect our money. A rumor sort of went through the group that the attendant said he wasn't going to collect today. There were "Ya right " comments and other ideas equally as derisive. Finally someone said , "Bob said the the attendant wasn't going to collect!" So since we were in rare form by then I said, "Bob is just torquing us." Now Bob is one of the quietest guys around and finally he told us that the attendant indeed had said he wasn't going to collect. So all our ribbing and joking was suddenly straightened out.

     So the problem was caused when the arena wasn't expecting us to come and skate. The ice wasn't ready. The attendant could think on his feet. He knew that his priority was to get the ice prepared. The hell with the money!

     So in the end as we were leaving the arena there was another  staffer  who collected our money to make things legit.

      So I learned that you don't doubt and honest man like Bob. If he says the guy said he wouldn't collect money that will be correct. After all the first guy didn't say he'd let somebody else collect money!