First Snowy of the Season!

Pouring rain couldn't keep me from this beautiful snowy owl...tis the season!!

Quick hits from the weekend

Not much time to take photos this weekend unfortunately and the winds made wildlife scarce.  When it's windy I love photographing gulls, harriers and kestrals. 

I struck out on the harriers, no sightings at all, but the gulls and kestrals were fun.

Two kestrals were perched on a wire above my car and since I've already got about 1,850 shots of kestrals on wires and other manmade objects, I waited this one out.  Finally - a natural perch!

The gulls at the Harbour were playing in the wind and water, and these two decided to "share" some bread.

Beautiful Joe Park - A Beautiful Tribute to Dogs

When we were kids, we made several family trips to Big Head River in Meaford, Ontario.  Across the river there was a little park called Beautiful Joe.  At the time, I didn't know the story behind it, I only remembered it for having great swings and a really neat playground.

(Many, many, many) years later, I find that I am reacquainted with Meaford through volunteer work and on this last visit, I headed out to the river and Beautiful Joe Park.  The river was as beautiful as I remembered it, and what I discovered is that Beautiful Joe Park is an incredible tribute to not only a dog named Beautiful Joe (this is his final resting place), but to amazing dogs everywhere.

Beautiful Joe was a horribly abused dog who was rescued by a local Meaford family.  The park is next to the home of the family who at the time rescued and rehabilitated Joe.   An award-winning book was written about his story, and it is autobiographical (from Beautiful Joe's viewpoint):  
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/saunders/joe/joe.html. 

I can't explain the feeling when you are in the park.  You can actually feel the amazing spirit of these great animals - it is impossible to describe.  Oddly enough, the park had absolutely no wildlife at the time I went, yet somehow it seemed full of life.  There is a great blog post here that tells the story much better than I could:  http://robandtheanimals.blogspot.com/2009/09/beautiful-joe-park-meaford-ontario.html

Here are a only a few of the plaques and statues that are placed throughout the park.  Beautiful Joe, below, welcomes visitors as they enter the park.

If you are ever in Meaford, Ontario, and are a dog lover, Beautiful Joe Park is a must-visit!

Doggy fun in Meaford

There wasn't a lot of wildlife other than a flock of beautiful snow buntings, but my camera still got a workout.  I think the dogs were ready to kill me by the end of the trip!

The had an amazing time - running, swimming, and playing with their human friends.   They sure didn't act like 12 year olds this weekend!

Osgrrr taking a breather

Johnny couldn't get the smile off his face - he even went swimming!

Homeward Bound

Still smiling!

Stealth!

Playing in the field

Beautiful Meaford Sunrise

We found this beautiful kitty (with incredible heart markings)
while on a walk.  Fortunately the dogs weren't with us for this meeting!