Trapped Under Ice

I titled this post after an old Metallica song. This must be said; Metallica used to be so effing cool. Then, Cliff Burton died in a bus accident and they were never quite the same. His last album was Master of Puppets. Coincidence? And as much as I like Jason Newstead, Cliff was the shit. And I'll bet he was rolling in his grave at the idea of the film, Some Kind of Monster. Most photos of him had a middle finger up at the camera. He wore his Jean jacket buttoned up all the way to the top. Everything about him said, "Go fuck yourself." Check out Cliff playing bass like no other. I can't find images of him that I'd be allowed to use so click the link below to see him.

Cliff Burton.


His sentiment is exactly how I feel about this cold weather. Go! Go far away. It was a pretty bird free weekend for me. My wife, Rachel, took a much deserved weekend away to visit some friends in our old neighbourhood. She also spent some time at her sisters (Jenna also had twins recently). Im happy to report that all is well with Hanna and Harlow. So this weekend, it was just me and the kids and well-below 0 Celsius temperatures. Like -10 one morning. It was supposed to be spring. To boot it was really windy so even taking the kids to the park didn't last long.

I did manage to sneak out and try for a single White-fronted Goose in Oshawa Second Marsh (no, i never left the kids alone, my niece sat with them). No luck on that one. I may well have just not been able to find it though. The lighting wasn't great and it was typically nestled into a group of about 2000 Canada Geese. I scanned them for an hour to no avail. I did however see Albert, another birder, and as we talked about the report of some Cackling Geese, he got on them. I looked through his scope and then was able to locate them in mine. It's always cool to see the comparisons of very similar birds one next to the other. I got lots of time to compare them to the adjacent Canada Geese. Short neck, stubby bill. There were about 4 of them.

Cackling Goose with Canada Geese by Dendroica cerulea.

Canada Goose and Cackling for comparison by dobak

During some 'quiet time' in the afternoon, I managed to get some design work done that was due. Quiet time is this new thing my wife started where the kids go up to play in their room. It feels like a Caribbean holiday every day (twins can be a tad tiring). I made a couple posters for my friend, Bradleyboy Mac Arthur's upcoming shows. If any of you out there need some design work done, I'm happy to offer my services. I work on a sliding scale. If the cause is great and there's creative freedom involved, I've been known to work for free. Like this logo for birdingblogs.com. They have no design budget but I believe in what they are doing.

So, with temps so low, the kids and I felt a bit like we were trapped under ice.
Here's the song. This was something I listened to a million times in high school. And still enjoy today. Metallica will probably sue me for this. Even though its just a fan saying how much they love their work.



March 26th, 2011 day list
Cackling Goose

Paul Riss
Punk Rock Big Year