Birds of passage

(photo from the Ottawa Citizen)

We saw flocks of snow buntings near the river at Rockcliffe Airport last weekend, presumably en route to somewhere else, but in which direction, I wouldn't know. We have seen them before at this time of year. Pretty little things, and if they are heading north, is that an indication that spring is coming soon? Not necessarily, as I have just learned that they can endure temperatures of minus 50ºC.

Migratory birds follow rivers on their journeys, and the ones I'm looking forward to seeing (and hearing overhead) are the geese. Their honking, in another few weeks' time, really will announce the return of milder weather to our part of the world.

As I write this, the recorded temperature at Ottawa airport is -15º ("feels like -26º" in the wind) which must be why I needed to put my hood up when I went out of doors.

Making the most of the ice

I mentioned the ice-fishing in this blog last month.

Here are a few of the temporary fishing huts on the Ottawa River, viewed from a couple of thousand feet. In the bottom right hand corner (click on the picture to enlarge it) you can see that the fisherman has made a row of eight holes with his auger. This particular cluster of huts on the south side of the river was a small one, but along other stretches, such as the north side, east of Gatineau, as shown in my second picture, the layout is so well organised you could call it a town, with visitors (either on snowmobiles or in vehicles on wheels) zipping along the ice streets. Some huts have little ice rinks in their front "yards."

It isn't only the fishermen who clear away the snow to make skating rinks on the river; shore-dwellers do this too. Here's a home-made rink just off shore by Old Highway 17, probably shared by the nearby homeowners who meet on the river for a game of hockey.

Meanwhile, in the city, sculptors have been playing with ice in a more professional way, etching stylized fish, for example, onto carved blocks, for Winterlude's "Crystal Garden."

Flying from Rockcliffe to Lachute and back

A "Cherokee" based at Rockcliffe Airport, flying south of the Ottawa River

Historic Rockcliffe Airport, owned by the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, lies on the south bank of the Ottawa River at the east end of Ottawa, so any flight from there guarantees marvellous views of the river both up and downstream. Pilots lucky enough to belong to the Rockcliffe Flying Club (and their passengers) have regular opportunities to enjoy these views.

A scenic ride from Rockcliffe to Lachute and back via Hawkesbury, such as the one several of us undertook today, follows the same route as the river:

The museum at Rockcliffe airport, from the north

Flying towards sunnier weather, between Ottawa and Hawkesbury

The road bridge at Hawkesbury

New bridge (on autoroute 50, not yet completed) across the rapids of the Rivière Rouge, near Hawkesbury

Not far from Rockcliffe on the return flight: passing the Cumberland ferry

Fireworks from the bridge

Carol's photo, from the park last night

Most of our company felt too comfortable in the warm house to want to go outside at all, but Carol and I put our boots on, wrapped up, and trudged out knee deep into the snowy park to our vantage point near the Minto Bridges from which we usually watch Canada Day's fireworks on July 1st. Last night being February 4th, the watching experience was altogether different (Carol and I were the only people out in the park, it was completely dark, very cold, and a line of heavy duty snowploughs and snow removal trucks was working along King Edward Avenue as we stood there) but the sky still lit up with a shower of fireworks marking the official start of Winterlude. They began shortly after 9 p.m. and lasted for about 20 minutes.

Even from inside our house, apparently, the explosions sounded loud.

Reuters picture of Winterlude fireworks

What I hadn't realised was that a row of fireworks would be set off from the Alexandra Bridge, so that a wider stretch of sky was lit than on Canada Day. There seemed to be new kinds of fireworks too, some like sudden waterfalls very high, some like flocks of golden birds scattering. A series of colours in the show turned the city by turns green, red and pink, more so as the smoke began to spread. We could smell it! By the end of it when we turned round to go back to the house we could hardly see across the Rideau River for drifting smoke.

Well worth the chilly outing, a beautiful show. I was talking to a Japanese lady yesterday who lives downtown on the 23rd floor of an apartment block. She told me that she would be watching, for sure.

The operations base is outside the Museum of Civilisation on the north bank of the Ottawa River. For comparison's sake, click here for a recording of last year's similar display.

Beside the Ottawa again

Our snowshoeing group returned to the south bank of the Ottawa this morning, walking down the hill to the trail from Rothwell Heights. When we came to the "water's edge," so to speak, Anne-Ute (from Germany) said, incredulously, "Is that the river?" Having been assured by me that it was, she took this picture of me at the boat launch ramp, with the Quebec bank in the distance.

Further along the trail was an attractive line of sumac bushes, their black branches and dark red drupes silhouetted against the whiteness of the river and the greyness of the sky. Staghorn sumacs such as these are a traditionally very useful plant.

New bridge across the Rideau?

It seems there are plans to erect a bridge for the use of cyclists and pedestrians across the Rideau River just south of Strathcona Park from the Overbrook / Vanier district to Sandy Hills. Apparently there used to be a rickety wooden bridge that served the same purpose, crossing the river from the Rideau Tennis Club at Donald Street, across the shallow water there.

If the project goes ahead it would facilitate a pleasant evening bike ride for us, up one bank of the river and down the other, although it is already possible to do that by crossing slightly further upstream on the existing footbridge just beyond Highway 417 (from Lees Avenue to Hurdman Park).

For a list of all the bridges in Ottawa, click here. 

Winter sun going down

On a summer evening, if you're looking down the final stretch of the Rideau River before it pours over the Rideau Falls into the Ottawa, the sun goes down behind the Gatineau Hills at Camp Fortune, and the coloured sunset is reflected in the water between the Minto Bridges and the falls.

However, if you're on the New Edinburgh bank of the river in winter, the sun sets in a more southwesterly part of the sky, silhouetting the towers on Parliament Hill, and doesn't reflect in the river because there isn't any water visible, but it does light up the surface of the snow.

On our way back from a longish walk around Rockcliffe Park this afternoon the pathway beside the river at the St. Patrick Bridge looked irresistible, side-lit by low sunbeams through the evergreens, so instead of heading down the road, we came home the longer way round. I couldn't capture its appeal on my camera which had run out of power, too cold for the batteries to last, so had to take this picture using my cellphone.

We're unlikely to see the sun again tomorrow because a "major winter storm" is forecast, due to last all day.