Critters seen Yesterday

I don't have any exotic or even slightly unusual critters to share with Eileen's Saturday meme this morning, but here is Tupper.  She has visited most days lately and yesterday morning, waited behind the playground fence.  She will be glad when school opens again, as she likes to show up around recess time.  Most of the students don't notice her but she follows them around, "tidying up" their lunchbox litter.

She could easily have flown over the waist-high fence, but preferred to leave..

Cory his/her own space.  We have finally named "our" crow, trying to be gender neutral and making a reference to the genus corvus that includes crows, ravens and jackdaws. S/he is the quietest, most respectful crow in the area.  She lands near us once in a while, waits to see if we'll give her anything, never challenges Tupper or Black Jack, and one day a few weeks ago, ate from my hand as though she had been doing it forever.  Yesterday, I missed the best shot of her.  She had seven little treats lined up in her beak.  S/he seems to collect them, perhaps to eat later, or perhaps to take to nearby offspring.  

I hoped to video Cory and Tupper yesterday but had to be satisfied with photos.  I like the arc-shape of Cory's body here and the way his/her feet are at the split second before take-off.

We did get this little 4-second clip of Black Jack running from Bill to me.

And there she goes back again.

 We give her a minuscule treat at each end and try to make sure she chews it.  Believe it or not, she understands the command "chew" though she is sometimes too excited to obey it.  I think she may be trying to complete the chewing process here as she runs to me, but whatever the motivation for that expression, it does make me smile :)

 That run took place in one of our favourite fields and this algae was in the nearby stream. 

 We liked its brilliant green and the way it kept moving into the shapes of various countries.  I'll let you guess which you think these may be.  Or, perhaps you see a critter in this shape.  

There is an enclosed area across from the stream where dogs play.  We don't put Black Jack in there as she has made it clear she doesn't enjoy it, but these two dogs were having a great play, in spite of their size difference.  The larger dog (Pitbull?) was very gentle and..

we learned that the confident little Boston was just 9 months old.  (I'm so sorry to have forgotten her name!)  I took this looking down at her over the fence..

 and then she followed her human..

to the bench where they had..

 a little chat..

 before posing adorably for the camera.

 Sometimes, on our outings, there are people or situations that are so compelling, I cannot contain my picture-taking obsession.  This was a 10-year anniversary photo shoot..

 but the people and the professional photographer were kind enough to let me catch..

 a few shots before..

they gathered nearby for the professional shoot.  

 This was their response when I asked them to get silly.  What a wonderful group of people!  The young girl and boy in the front row and the lady at the far right of the photo talked to Black Jack later and there was no question that they are super-committed animal lovers.  I learned that the lady operates a Pitbull rescue.  As she pet Black Jack, she said a simple "thank you" to me, and I knew she meant, "Thank you for rescuing." Any critter lovers here considering a new pet?  I'd love to think you might give rescue a try rather than going to a breeder, or worse, to a backyard breeder.  We've got to stop bringing new animals into the world when there are not enough good homes for the ones we have now.  

 A goose flew over just as we were bidding the anniversary group good-bye..

and then we were off to Granville Island where this seal checked out the dock where fish scraps are sometimes thrown.

 I keep seeing Lucy, the comic book character lately.  Here, she appeared when the seal dove under the water.  But, this could be Snoopy too.  Or a poodle.  Just humour me :)  

 One last seal appearance,

 a reflection shot of the pirate ship,

 one of Bill (who spotted the seal in the first place) and Black Jack, 

 one of the pirate ship with 

 evidence of the critters that have found delicious morsels in the past :)

 and then we were on our way to the spot under the bridge where the ferry would take us and our bikes to the other side of the water.  I always check out the cormorants, flying in and out of the bridge rafters. 

 There's a whole world of activity there that is easy to miss.

 Parents arriving with food for the young..

 and heading back out immediately to find more,

 and juveniles learning to fly.  

Here's a shot of the Granville to give the bigger picture (no idea why the colour blue overtook my photos yesterday)..

and remember those coloured panels I discovered yesterday?  Well, I'm not sure how a knowledgeable commenter came across my post, but s/he left a link with lots of information about this latest mural project.  Turns out they weren't panels after all, but rather, silos, to be transformed into a mural that will cover more than 23,500 square feet.  Two world-famous Brazilian street artists known as Osgemeos — who painted the FIFA World Cup Boeing 747 — will be in charge of the job.  

 My last shot of the day yesterday was of this patch in the sky.  Since the camera seemed to be fixated with the colour blue, I decided to take advantage of its perspective.  That's it for today, folks.  Have a wonderful Saturday and remember to stop by Eileen's meme for lots more stories about every critter imaginable.