Hoar Frost

 

On December 26, 2024 I woke up to a changed world.  Every tree branch, leaf, plant stalk, etc. was covered by a beautiful coating of hoar frost.  Here is a series of images of the lovely transformation that was all too fleeting.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan - ATLAS)

On October 28, 2024 I finally managed to get a photo of the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan - ATLAS).  It was well past the optimum date to view and photograph it so the image is not very good but I was still excited to get it.

The second image is a screenshot taken from the app "Stellarium" showing the comet in relation to the two identified stars. 

(As always, you can click on the photo to enlarge it). 

Strange objects in the sky over Saint-Laurent

 

With drones making news in the skies over New Jersey recently, I thought I would post my own sightings of at least two drone-like objects over Saint-Laurent, Quebec.  The most unusual feature of these objects to me, is their vertical contrails or streamers.  All I could find online about smoke-emitting drones, were stories of air shows where different coloured smoke was emitted by the drones as they flew in formations.  I found nothing about vertical smoke trails from hovering drones.

So here is my story:

On the evening of October 12, 2024, I went out on my 6th floor balcony to try to locate the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) to photograph it.  It was shortly after sunset and I scanned the western sky with my telephoto lens.  As I was scanning, my attention was drawn to a strange vertical object that appeared to be "hanging" in the sky in the distance.  I photographed it so as to bring up the image on my camera screen and saw a dark object with a small round "head" and two wavy "streamers" hanging down from it.  It stayed in pretty much the same position for 6 minutes (gradually climbing higher at times).  As the sky darkened, I saw a white light on each side of the head and soon after that, just one light (red) on the right side.  Suddenly the streamers became much shorter and more diffuse (like smoke).  Their appearance was dark at the top, reddish in the middle, and whitish at the bottom.

If the streamers had been smoke, I was surprised that they didn't change in shape more.  The wind speed at the time was 8 mph (from WNW).

Information about the following photos is given below each image.  You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

Taken at 6:54; clouds under the object are present.

Taken at 6:56; this photo shows the area of the sky to the right of the original object.  If you enlarge it and zoom way in, there is an object in the upper left corner.  It has truncated streamers and there are no clouds present.  I believe this indicates that there were two similar objects as evidenced by the next photo (taken seconds later) which shows the original object still in the sky.

Taken at 6:56, this is the original object with long streamers and clouds visible (however the object appears to have climber higher).

Taken at 6:58; long streamers; shows the object's position in relation to a building.

Taken at 6:59; long streamers.

Taken at 7:01; short streamers.

Taken at 7:01; short streamers with a white light on each side of the "head".

Taken at 7:02; I zoomed in to 400mm focal length; short streamers (dark at top, reddish in middle, whitish at bottom); now a red light appears on the right-hand side.

Note:  all the photos were taken at 236 mm focal length except for the last one which was at 400 mm.

The photos have not been manipulated in any way (except for the cropped first photo) other than to reduce the file size.

It may be relevant to add that the Montreal international airport in Dorval is located in the general direction in which the photos were taken (about 7 miles from my apartment building).  These objects could be violating the rules regarding airspace around airports.

National exposure

 

Well, after the interviews on CTV and Global, I was contacted by CBC for a digital article, a radio interview and a TV interview on The National.

The digital article is here.

The short radio interview (at the 25:40 mark) is here.

The TV interview (2 minute story) is here.

I am so glad that the issue of bird collisions is getting a lot of attention both here in Canada and in the United States.

My interview on Global News

 

Sometime ago I contacted the mayor of Saint-Laurent regarding dead and injured birds I had found at the base of glass railing at the city's library.  This led to the drafting and passing of a new by-law to help protect birds from crashing into glass on buildings.  

I was then invited to be interviewed with the mayor on CTV News and a few days later on Global News.

A short clip can be seen here:  Interview

Over The Years

After going through some old photos of myself, I thought I would present a few here.  It's amazing to think that my life at this moment has spanned 74 years!

1951 (one year old)

1952 (two years old)

1953 (three years old)

1954 (4th birthday with Dad, brother Nelson and sister Diane)

Unknown year (with Diane and Nelson)

Unknown year (with Nelson and Diane)

There is a gap in photos until I reached my late teens.  At least my awkward years were not documented, thankfully!

1968 (on High School graduation day)

1968 (year book photo)

Year unknown

1990

1990

2006

2022

Lots of Baby Birds!

After a disappointing spring in terms of warbler sightings (something I look forward to every year), it became a remarkable time for baby bird sightings!

In my neighborhood there are three main places where I go to photograph wildlife.  They are all in a row:  an English college; a cemetery; and a French college.

In a tall conifer on the front lawn of the first college, a pair of Merlins raised a family of four chicks; in a large maple tree in the cemetery, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks raised three chicks; and on the beautiful façade of the second college's main building, five Raven chicks were raised.

These created wonderful opportunities to photograph and watch the development of these beautiful (and vocal!) young birds.

MERLINS

Mother on the nest with her chicks

Three of the chicks still sporting some of their downy feathers

Out of the nest for a short foray to another branch

A young Merlin trying out his wings

RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS

Mother

Father

Two of the young hawks

RAVENS

The mother is in the middle

The five chicks waiting for food