Like the title says, everything from flowers to (toy) bombs.
The toy bomb was kind of weird.
Various early summer photos, July 3, 2025
Canada Day random thoughts, 2025 edition
- It could be worse.
- It could also be better.
- It’s very summer-like today, after the first week of summer was cool and a bit damp. A lot of people prefer the latter, even though we get it for about six months of the year.
- There will probably be some fireworks going off later this evening.
- The new sidewalks on our street are very bright in the sun.
- I feel like more people cheat now than, say, ten years ago, possibly because more people are realizing they won’t get caught. This is not a good thing.
- I have an itchy bug bite on my left leg. I have nothing in particular to help with this, except the power of my mind insisting it’s not really itchy at all.
- I still love Bongo Cat. He is currently wearing a pineapple.
- Apparently, Canadian patriotism is surging. A house a few blocks away is positively festooned with Canadian flags. I’m not sure how I feel about this, because nationalism generally leads to bad things.
- I’ve seen reports that people are getting dumber. This feels right to me.
- Am I getting dumber? My phone is often at 90% charge at the end of the day (even though it’s 4.5 years old). I think this is helping to preserve some brain cells.
- When birding in Pitt Meadows, I went to check the temperature on my phone and it couldn’t pull the data in because of a very weak cell connection. It please me that such places exist, and you don’t even have to go too far to find them. Also, places where you can’t hear any traffic.
- My leg is still itchy.
Weight loss report, June 2025: Down 1.1 pounds
The good news is 1.1 pounds is probably too high to be a rounding error. The other good news is down is better than up. The less good news is 1.1 pounds is not a lot. But bonus adjacent-to-good news is I was down more and then toward the end of the month hit a five-day skid in which I gained, gained, gained. Maybe it was all muscle? Let’s find out!
(BTW, the low this month was 165.9 pounds, which would have put me down for the year. But alas.)
As you can see, there was little movement across any of the stats, which makes sense with the modest weight loss.
Halfway through the year, it’s becoming clear to me that my body is not shedding weight because I am taking in too many calories. This likely means (apart from snacking) that I am underestimating my calories, so I may try to be more precise on some of the usual stuff I eat and see what happens.
And less snacking, of course.
Stats:
January 1, 2025: 166.8 pounds
Current: 167.3 pounds
Year to date: Up 0.5 pounds
June 1: 168.4 pounds
June 30: 167.3 pounds (down 1.1 pounds)
Body fat:
June 1: 25.8%
June 30: 25.6% (down 0.2%)
Skeletal muscle mass:
June 1: 29.8 kg
June 30: 29.7 (down 0.1 kg)
BMI:
June 1: 24.1
June 30: 24.0 (down 0.1)
Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds
Birding, June 28, 2025: All the lifers, plus all the swallows
Where: Heron Cove, Pitt River, Grant Narrows Park at Pitt Lake, Sturgeon Slough (Pitt Meadows)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 17-22°C
It was a day of sloughs, creeks, rivers and lakes under a mostly sunny sky and temperatures that actually felt kind of like summer. Novel!
We started near Heron Cove and the name did not disappoint, as we saw two herons standing in a tree, an adult and a juvenile. The juvenile was acting strange and silly. You know how teens are.
From there we walked a trail that got more and more overgrown, showing a clear line on how far most people were willing to explore. We saw a ladybug on a frond of wild grass and after my camera refused to focus on it, I went manual and actually got a really nice shot. I’ll have to experiment more with manual mode on targets that are not madly flitting about.
Returning, we saw our first lifers, along with about a dozen other photographers with Very Big Lenses, namely a yellow warbler pair (you can probably guess what they look like) and a Bullock’s oriole.
Walking the other way, we saw our third (!) lifer, a black-headed grosbeak, which was sufficiently obscured that we never did see its face.
We later moved to Grant Narrows Park, at the south end of Pitt Lake. We didn’t have to pay for the pay parking because it was full, and parked with several dozen others alongside the road leading in. From here we got to see an osprey nest, which was just a little too far off the shore, even for a 400 mm lens. We could still see the baby dinosaurs in the nest, though.
Further up, a viewing tower was closed because it has been completely and utterly claimed by cliff swallows, who build these cute little cavity nests out of mud. Almost every nest was occupied and there were quite a few swallows flying around the tower and the general area. In fact, the only species we didn’t see that even shows up in this area were cave swallows.
Nic got an awesome set of shots of an adult feeding a giant bug to a younger swallow, which I totally missed because I was shooting scenery or something. The number of birds here surprised me.
We ended the tour of Pitt Meadows by walking along the Sturgeon Slough, where we saw a few kingfishers, including one trying to gulp down a large meal. We followed a pair of common yellowthroats for a bit, watched a big spider possibly catch a bug, watched a pair of butterflies getting it on, strolled past the inevitable golf course, and took many shots of the gorgeous scenery.
In all, a fine outing in which the lack of steady sun was probably a good thing, given we were in the open most of the time.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American robin
- Anna’s hummingbird
- Barn swallow
- Black-headed grosbeak (lifer)
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Bullock’s oriole (lifer)
- Cedar waxwing
- Cliff swallow
- Common yellowthroat
- Orange-crowned warbler
- Red-winged blackbird
- Rough-winged swallow
- Song sparrow
- Tree swallow
- Violet-green swallow
- White-crowned sparrow
- Yellow warbler (lifer)
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Canada goose
- Eastern kingfisher
- Great blue heron
- Mallard
Common:
- Some gulls
Raptors:
- American osprey
Non-birds:
- Dragonflies
- A damselfly
- Various bees
I love Bongo Cat
What is Bongo Cat?
The above link is the story I saw posted on Mastodon. I didn’t even read the whole thing before downloading Bongo Cat and if you also have an internet-addled brain that can’t read: It’s an idle “game” that sits on your desktop and every time you type or click, the Bongo Cat bongoes and registers the click. At regular intervals, you get items to wear on Bongo Cat’s head, like a chef’s hat or a pineapple. You can get different colours and other things, too. Apparently if you get dupe items you can trade or sell them?
All I know is Bongo Cat sits above my taskbar and is adorable. Sometimes I click the mouse on nothing just to watch it bongo.
Run 938: Extremes in the zero sun summer
Today’s run was book ended by intermittent showers, but fortunately it stayed dry for the actual run itself. The continuing lousy early summer weather meant there were few people on the trail.
But I also started quite late, because I was very unmotivated in the morning. By the time I started the run, it was already just past 1 p.m. I didn’t have any particular plan, other than just doing a regular 5K to round out the week.
I started with a comfortable first km and a pace of 6:02/km. This seemed maybe too comfortable, so I picked it up, ending with a final lap of 5:27/km, a difference of 35 seconds between slowest and fastest km, probably one of the most extreme gaps I’ve ever had (hence the title).
Even with the stronger finish and a respectable overall pace of 5:47/km, my BPM was still only 147. It seems my stamina is finally getting better again, woo.
There’s not much else to report–no issues body-wise, no weird aberrations in the weather or on the trail. I did notice a very small tear in the upper of my left show. It’s possible it snagged on something, as the right shoe doesn’t have a mirror-image hole that would suggest a structural defect/weakness.
Onward to next week and possible days without rain.
Stats:
Run 938
Average pace: 5:47/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:08 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:04
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 17°C
Humidity: 72%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 147
Weight: 166.7
Total distance to date: 6,525 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (120/241.5/261.5)
Music: Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Remember summer?
It’s only been six days and I’ve already forgotten it.
(Also, why is it so fun to complain about something we have no control over? Did I just answer my own question?)
Run 937: 7.5 km, showers and my OCD sated
Today’s run was also kind of weird, but generally not in weird ways that were also bad.
- I ran two days in a row. This is definitely weird.
- I ran 7.5 km. More on this below.
- The weather promised clouds, but it actually showered for the first three km or so.
My OCD: I ran 2.5 km last night. This meant my total running distance now ended with .5 rather than a simple 5 or 0. This bugged my OCD, so I had to contemplate fixes to this:
- I could run another 2.5K today to round up to a nice 5. But this would mean two short runs in a row.
- I could run 5K and just ignore it for now.
- I could run 7.5K, treat it as a prelude to running a full 10K and also sate my OCD at the same time.
I chose the latter option and so started at a slower pace than normal, to help conserve energy. I was also running with less recovery time than usual, too, though I had slept well.
The first km was 6:04/km and my pace stayed close to the six-minute mark for the first few km, then began improving. As I approached the fifth km, I kept the foot off the gas and just kept going. My pace remained pretty steady and I was mildly delighted to finish the full 7.5 km with a pace of 5:59/km.
I didn’t experience any issues, and my BPM was lower at 148. As mentioned, it lightly showered for the first 15 minutes or so, but the tree canopy mostly shielded me from the rain, and then it stopped. Later a bit of a breeze came up, but by then it felt kind of nice.
In terms of conditions, they were generally fine, but the weather meant I mostly encountered other joggers. I had to do a jump over a puddle on a narrow part of the trail just past the 5K mark, but did so with gazelle-like reflexes. Well, maybe not gazelle-like, but I did make the jump. The trail was otherwise dry, and most of the hazards were the slugs drawn out by the un-summerlike weather.
Overall, I’m pleased with the results. I didn’t have any issue extending the run, so I’m hopefully in good shape for my eventual return to 10K. I also got caught up after having a run deficit for the week.
Stats:
Run 937
Average pace: 5:59/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:53 a.m.
Distance: 7.50 km
Time: 44:52
Weather: Cloudy, some showers
Temp: 16°C
Humidity: 81-82%
Wind: light
BPM: 148
Weight: 165.7
Total distance to date: 6,520 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (115/228.5/325.5)
Music: Sounds of Summer, The Beach Boys
Run 936: A short, weird, warm evening run
This was weird.
I decided to complete my steps today, a non-run-day, by doing a short run on the river trail.
Unlike the last few days, it was much warmer today and was still 22C when I started. That was one weird part. It affected my pace, I’m sure, because I’m used to temperatures that are much cooler.
Another weird part was the time of day, which led to a different mix of people, namely lots of people and lots of off-leash dogs, including one that was constantly bolting far ahead of its owner. A jogger ahead of me seemed to turn around and come back earlier than expected and as I drew up to where he had been, I saw four people spread across the trail, with three dogs–all off-leash.
I turned around upon seeing this, and I suspect the other jogger did the same, unwilling to try getting through the gauntlet. Apparently the early evening is the time of dog owner rebellion. “No one tells me to leash my dog!”
Yet one more bit of weirdness: I believe running not long after dinner and forgetting to stretch resulted in a kind of cap on my speed, because I could feel a stitch threatening when I tried to go faster.
Overall, this seemed like a bad idea, but it makes morning runs look all the better.
Stats:
Run 936
Average pace: 5:53/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 7:12 p.m.
Distance: 2.50 km
Time: 14:43
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 22°C
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 139
Weight: 166.9
Total distance to date: 6,512.5 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (107.5/218/325.5)
Music: Shuffle mode
Birding, June 22, 2025: Daring duck and cautious coyote
Where: Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Cloudy, 16-19°C
We switched things up by starting at Piper Spit and the signs warning people not to feed the birds are all over the place, and it seems people are actually following the request for the most part (we did see some seed on a picnic table near the dam being nommed on by a song sparrow). This, along with the recent showers leading to the water level of the lake rising again, meant that most of the waterfowl were not hanging near the pier and shorebirds were completely absent.
I arrived early, shot some song sparrows, a robin, and a mom with a lone baby duck near the dam. After Nic arrived, we saw another female mallard, sans family, hanging around the dam. She jumped onto the edge of the fish ladder, then…jumped into the fish ladder itself, which is basically a series of rapids descending into the river. She seemed to enjoy letting the foaming water swirl around her and occasionally jammed her head in, sometimes coming up with strands of yummy (?) vegetation.
At the lake, a group of cinnamon teals and a blue-winged teal made an appearance, which was spiffy. Also, seemingly moments after I noted the absence of the sandhill crane, it flew in and landed in its usual area. Next, I will use my powers to win $10 million in the lottery.
Among the birds that hang out at Piper Spit, the “friendliest” are probably the blackbirds, as they will happily eat seed from your hand. The absence of seed seems to have made them all a little deranged, as we had them attempting to, and in some cases, succeeding in landing on us, even though we were seed-free. Maybe they thought that if they stuck to the routine, the seed would just manifest.
And while I did not get a shot, because it was hopping madly deep inside the branches of a tree, we spotted a warbling vireo, which for mew is a lifer. Neat.
There are a couple of stumps on the way to the pier that someone always covers in seed for the Douglas squirrels. These were cleaned up and a cute little sign placed on one. This will make getting shots of squirrels eating in that adorable pose more challenging.
The weather began to warm up a bit at Tlahutum, though it remained cloudy and dim. It’s been like this since summer officially began, so the people who complain about the heat should be pleased.
We saw a mix of swallows and sparrows in the community garden, along with an ever-elusive American goldfinch, which helpfully sat atop a pole. But the pole was set against a bright cloudy sky, making the goldfinch a very darkfinch. It no doubt chuckled to itself, then flew off.
The surprises here were the four-legged kind. As we crossed the bridge over the Coquitlam River, we spotted an otter out for an afternoon snack. It appeared to catch some kind of fish or something. My shots were not great, but you can see its whiskers and adorable little ears.
And as we were returning from The Big Pond a coyote came up behind us and then scooted rapidly past, ambling at a decent gait until it was a safe distance away. It then stood and looked across the river, giving us some fine profile shots. We wondered if it would cross the bridge (which we would be doing) but as it neared, a cyclist approached, so it jogged past. The cyclist, by coincidence, was heading the same way and the coyote booked it at that point.
In all, it was a comfortable day, weather-wise (no sun beating down on us) but with iffy lighting (no sun beating down on us).
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Shots coming soon, but here are two as a preview. The first is the American goldfinch, which was post-processed up the wazoo–I cranked exposure way up, cranked highlights way down and then added a bit of sharpening to get something resembling a goldfinch.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
- American robin
- Black-capped chickadee (heard?)
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Red-winged blackbird
- Rufous hummingbird
- Spotted towhee
- Song sparrow
- Tree swallow
- Violet-green swallow
- Warbling vireo (lifer!)
- White-crowned sparrow
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
- Blue-winged teal
- Canada goose
- Cinnamon teal
- Gadwall
- Great blue heron
- Mallard
- Sandhill crane
- Wood duck
Common:
- Rock pigeon
Raptors:
- Some kind of hawk
Non-birds:
- Coyote
- Otter
- A turtle in the Nature House
Floating man
Continuing my theme of kinda creepy dark figures.
Oops, I did it again
I have chosen to delete my new Facebook account, which was created specifically to access a few groups, which I have decided I no longer need access to.
So goodbye FB again. This time for good. I swear!
