Wednesday, May 30, 2007

河畔小徑 / Path along the river bank



Now that the weather is warmer, I am riding my bike to and from work again. The trip is about 10 K each way if I take the scenic route along the river bank as opposed to taking a shorter commuter route through downtown traffic. I enjoy the exercise as well as the view along the way. The photo here shows an area that I pass by twice a day and as you can tell, I am not the only one using the bike path. There is a whole population of birds that hang out around this neighbourhood and they use the near-by islands as their nesting ground. There are so many birds that I can hear them long before I can see them.

The Canadian goose in the foreground is one of the geese I showed you in a previous blog article. There are other families of geese, as well as drakes and ducks, red-wing black birds, loons, the odd herons and cranes, and of course seagulls, lots and lots of gulls. Apart from my fair feathered friends, I have also seen ground hogs, chipmunks, squirrels, and even signs of otters and beavers in the water.

One may ask what the wildlife survives on. Well, for one thing, there are lots of insects, fish, frogs and clams in that river. The birds also seem to like feeding on the vegetation, grubs and worms on the islands. And, of course, there are always people throwing crumbs of bread at the fowls, although the sign nearby clearly says "Please don't feed the birds".

I must say I always enjoy my bike ride on the path along the river bank, rain or shine. Not only do I save the environment by not taking my car to work, I also have a chance to stay closer to nature (in an urban setting) and enjoy seeing some wildlife that I would have missed if I am not taking a self-propelled mode of transportation.

12 comments:

xiao zhu said...

Mind you, I can really see the scenes, listen the sounds and feel the peace. Thank you so much!!

I used to sleep quite late. Recently I even tend to stay till at least 2:30 - 3 a.m. You know what? One day when I was still busy doing some documents brought from office at about 2:30a.m., I suddenly heard the bird sing. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded very nice. It gave me a feeling of nature. Since then, I tend to wait for the "song" before I go to bed. It gives me kind of peace and hope. Well, don't worry. I don't really do it each and every night.

By the way, I saw your comment left in my blog at the time of 3:56. You're still awake at such time!

vicky said...

i envy you, you always have beautiful environment surround you, made your daily life comfortable.

vicky said...

Xiao Zhu,

Please try to sleep early, this is basic way to keep ourselves young & healthy, work is not all of our life.

xiao zhu said...

Vicky,

Thank you very much for your care and concern. -____-

San Wen Ji said...

it is always good one person knows how to enjoy the life

bkkss said...

想不到你那边的河水潔白無白
我這边的城門河(香港)一比差多啦

而且還有動物可以見到


難得

Haricot 微豆 said...

Xiao Zhu: You are most welcome. I am pleased to be able to share and exchange our experience via the blog.

I wonder which species of song birds would sing at 2:30 am in the morning. I imagine it must have been quite a pleasant surprise for you. We are all part of nature. So when that bird called, it might have stirred up your instinctive response of wanting to be embraced by Mother Nature. Hope you will hear it again.

Talking abt nature, I probably was an owl in my previous incarnation !!

Haricot 微豆 said...

Vicky: It is true, I consider myself lucky. When life gets hectic, it's good to have a refuge.

Haricot 微豆 said...

San Wen Ji: Yes, we enjoy or deal with whatever life has to offer or throws at us. Live for the moment, plan for the future.

Haricot 微豆 said...

Timmimiboy: 我也記得住在香港時,環境染污是大問題,現在人口膨漲,工業交通大幅增加,無怪河水不清,動物也無容身之所了! 希望市民丶政府丶工商和其他有關人仕合作,共同保護環境。

xiao zhu said...

Unless there is rain, I can hear the birds sing every night/morning starting around 2:30. It's pleasant.

An owl! Are we of the same specy?! ^_

Haricot 微豆 said...

Xiao Zhu: There are definitely more song birds in the tropics than in the north.

鳥以群分,物以類聚。We are birds of a feather then, haha what a hoot :)

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