A Typical Morning in Lunenburg

Lunenburg has a population of just over 2,000, but in the summer months it fills up with visitors.

We enjoy a walk around the town in the morning, before the tourists are on the streets.

This is Monday morning, looking down to the Railway Wharf.

And across to the Bluenose Golf Course.

This is the same view on Wednesday morning.

This is the Martha Seabury schooner, which was built here in Lunenburg.

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During the summer months, this old fishing boat, The Cape Rouge, sits at the wharf. It is used in the filming of the TV series, Haven.

The Adams and Knickle building is undergoing renovation work.

The booths are open ready for trips on the ocean.

The nearest boat does harbour tours, the Eastern Points goes  whale watching and the Eastern Star, sailing trips.

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The waterfront restaurants are open for breakfast.

But no one wanted to sit outside on Wednesday.

The horses are ready to take tourists on a tour of the old town.

And the Fisheries Museum will open to educate visitors on the history and past life of Lunenburg.

There is also a cruise ship in the harbour.

The Lagniappe, registered in the Marshall Islands, which you could charter for $110,000 per week!!!

The little shed beside the foundry is crooked and worn.

The latest boat at the foundry wharf. Am I back in Dundee – it is called the Discovery?

Looking across to Lunenburg from the golf course road,

to the colourful town and the Fisheries Museum.

But there was no view on Wednesday.

Even this osprey didn’t seem to see us.

He flew just above our heads.

Then back into the nest with the young.

There’s always something to see, walking around Lunenburg.

Looking Forward to the Ospreys

Every year I await the return of the Osprey.

In Scotland, the Osprey became extinct in 1916. They had been shot for taxidermy and the eggs stolen and sold to collectors. A pair were seen in 1954 but when they returned in 1955 and 1956, their eggs were stolen. In 1958, teams of volunteers guarded the nest, day and night, but even then they failed to prevent the destruction of the two eggs. In 1959, the nest at Loch Garten was declared a protected bird sanctuary and since then the Ospreys there have become a tourist attraction. But sadly there’s always a battle with those who wish to kill the birds and steal the eggs.

There is no such problem here in Nova Scotia. In fact, the Osprey is such a common sight that people almost take them for granted. Everywhere, in forests, on golf courses, along the highways and around the coast line, you can spot Ospreys nests. These are often set on a man-made platform on the top of a tall pole.

The Osprey is about two feet long and has a wing span of almost five feet. It is a specialist at catching fish.

Here at Lunenburg we have a pair that return annually to a pole at the golf course, with the best view of the town.

Last year we watched the two young grow until they filled the nest.

I was lucky to catch the mother returning with a fish for the chicks.

She delivered their supper then headed off again.

I hope it won’t be too long now before the Ospreys return to Nova Scotia, after their winter in Mexico and South America.

Summer in Nova Scotia

Summer has arrived once more in Nova Scotia and everything that has been asleep during the minus zero temperatures has come alive again. The first flowers to appear are the very lovely yellow dandelions, but for us they are  more of an infestation or epidemic, as they try to cover every square inch of grass. The month of May was spent, plucking them, digging them out by the roots, trying to kill them with  salt, vinegar and any other sure fired remedies found on the internet. But the dandelions live on. We do get  a respite until the next cycle in September.  Apart from just enjoying their colour, if anyone has any good recipes, then perhaps we should use them as a crop.

The apple blossom has already gone and we can look forward to an abundance of apples in the fall.

It is lupin season right now and each year we are amazed by the banks of lupins that bloom along the highways, walking trails and coves. I am always reminded of Monty Python’s sketch about roast lupins, braised lupins, lupin meringue pie, lupin sorbet……. I wish we could use them too.

The hawthorn blossom is brightening up the old railway trail at Lunenburg,

and the roses are just in bloom.

These dandelion like flowers look much finer that the ones that grow in our garden.

These very white flowers are bunch berry and later have bunches of red berries on them, which are seemingly edible, but perhaps not too fruity.

In the garden, the Gold Finches have their bright yellow summer plumage back.

The Blue Jay looks his usual handsome self.

And the Flicker is useful at eating up the ants.

The heron has always been a favourite of mine and we see  at least 4 a day around Back Harbour at Lunenburg.

This one looks a bit ungainly on top of this pine tree.

The ospreys have returned to the many, many platforms in the area. I will write a special blog just for them.

Ospreys

Every year at Glenshee we looked forward to the arrival of the osprey as it returned to a little loch nearby. Tourists came from far and wide to photograph the male fishing or the young ones on their first flight.

But in Scotland extreme measures have often to be taken to protect the nests of these birds, and locations such as the Loch of the Lowes have to have a  24 hour guard on the nest.

This fact amazes Canadians. They love their birds and cannot understand why anyone would wish to steal eggs or poison Golden Eagles.

So, the osprey is a very common bird here in Nova Scotia. There are nests along the Highways, in people’s gardens and in many places poles are erected for their nests. One such pole stands at the edge of the golf course in Lunenburg. The female is easy to spot and makes quite a din as she orders the male to catch dinner.

Here he is  flying over the bay, but as we watched, he had no success. Last week we saw him delivering a fish into the nest, but of course, I had no camera.

The female became impatient.

And decided to leave the nest for a stretch of the wings.

Hopefully we will soon be able to watch the young ones as they learn to fish in the bay.

One thing we are sure of is that there will still be plenty of ospreys around next year, when they return from South America.