April 2020
Social Distancing
Iona Beach Park
With social distancing, we are trying to
stay apart from other people, but still get outside. Last month we
tried QE Park, but the crowds were getting large and many of the
trails aren't wide enough that you can keep adequate distance
while you pass. I thought I would try a bit less popular of
a park - Iona Beach. The parking lot wasn't full and the
trails were almost empty so you don't feel so bad being outside.
Claira and I did the standard loop around the large pond.
The Tree Swallows are charismatic, flying close to on another and
generally ignoring people walking by. We spotted a Marsh
Wren calling - spring is a great time to see them because they are
much bolder. In the rest of the year, you might see them
darting between the reeds, but you will rarely get a good
look. Finally, we spotted a garter snake cruising through
the litter under the blackberry bushes.
I rarely take videos, but the kids take
them all of the time, often accompanied by laughing or tears
because the other kid spoke and ruined the audio track. This
time Claira caught some of the snake in the brush:
On the drive back to town we saw what I
first thought was a dog but I quickly realized was a Coyote!
We pulled over to take a photo, but the Coyote really didn't like
that - he went into the bushes. A minute later, he came out
again going where ever he was going. We tried parking a few
places, but the Coyote always payed us a wide berth.
Super Moon
I never really understood the relationship
between the phase of the moon and when the moon sets and rises. If
you do the math, to be a full moon (the face is covered in
sunlight), the moon has to be in opposition (other side of the
planet) from the sun so on a 12 hour day, a full moon will rise
roughly when the sun is setting. When this happens around
the equinox, you get a moon rise just as the sun sets and the
exposure from the moon is roughly equal with the exposure from
sunset light.
Being my first time trying to take a photo of this, I decided for
a wide angle shot so it wouldn't be a write off if I made a
mistake.
One of the benefits of a high resolution sensor is that you can
crop the image pretty hard and still get a decent image.
It was late enough in spring that it wasn't super cold standing
around at night.
Granville Island
With the Covid-19 lock down, a lot of things
have gotten quiet. For a few evenings I went down to
Granville Island to take time lapses of sunset.
Pacific Spirit Park
It was a nice enough day and we wanted to
get out of the house, but the seawall would be crazy. We
though of trying a trail in Pacific Spirit Park, near UBC.
Happy Birthday Nara!
At this point there was not protocols for
getting kids together. You couldn't invite other kids over
for a birthday party so Nara did a "Virtual" birthday party where
her and three friends connected via Facetime and did things
together. Each kid got the same kit which include a jewelry
project and cupcakes. Nara had a good time.
Claira wanted to make Nara a Pinata so we
did in Claira's room in secret. Having not made a Pinata
before, we used cardboard and made it look like a birthday cake
(Claira's idea). The cardboard was corrugated with two faces
and was taped together to make the shape. The cake was full
of Candy. We used Crepe paper to decorate the outside.
The Pinata was WAY too strong. The
kids whacked, whacked and whacked some more and were unable to
break the pinata. At one point, our stick (which was from a
tent on Claira's bed) started to splinter.
Eventually I had to hit it to cause a failure they kids could
exploit.
Nara wanted pumpkin pie for her birthday
cake. Wish granted.
Tags: time lapse(4), sunset(4), piñata(4), Science World(2), Olympic Village(2), moon(2)
People: Nara(4), Claira(3)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2020 to 2005 > April 2020
Last Modified Saturday, February 27th, 2021 at 23:42:16 Edit
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