Watch Your Step

© August '11   photo by smck

Near the shore the conifers, such as this spruce, often survive the trauma of the on shore winds and salt by spreading wide and staying close to the ground.  Here is a hornet's 'paper' nest nestled only a foot or so above the ground in one of the group that we were transversing.  The grey-white of the nest is quite visible but if you're not watching your step you could be in for a not-so-nice surprise.  This particular nest was about eight inches in diameter - and similar to one that previously I did step into coming back from the hay-field across from our house.  I'm not allergic to bee stings but the several shots to my legs by the quickly swarming defenders gave me great pain sensations for a couple of hours. 

(as my young son used to say when he was little and did some klutzy falling from a tree or such - "what a rush Dad, what a rush").  

Heart in Cape Breton

© August '08   photo by smck

Pink Camouflage

 © August '08   photo by ctmck

My shirt was a hand-me-down from a good friend who had accidentally washed his camouflage  shirt with some red clothing.   I really liked the camp idea of pink camouflage hunting attire as most of the people I knew that brought in game put on their old work clothes and  hit the woods without much ado about modern fashion - and if I ever did decide to put meat on the table I believe that deer are color blind anyhow.   This day we were hunting the sound of surf and the lure of flotsam along the rocky shore toward the east and this boulder, dropped long ago by some gigantic ice sheet that had covered North America, was an appealing stopping point for soaking in the scenery. 

Rocky Beach

© August '11    photo by smck

Pheasants

©   photo by smck

Wild or tame pheasants - was hard to tell - even though some houses were down the road a bit these two were trucking along a wild meadow track.