This tiny mole (vole?) was trying to cross the Ottawa River bike path. Which goes to show that bike paths can be dangerous in their own way when the creatures are very small. The tiny puddle may have indicated it was hurt, and it wasn’t scurrying off to safety. I stopped. It seemed to be unhurt, so I picked it up and put it in the bushes a few yards off the path. Continue reading On the Path
roof deckspiral ramp up in all its majestic ugliness Scene of the crime: Remic Scenic Overlook, along the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway at Tunney’s Pasture, between the parking lot and the river–Object: brutal concrete round structure with spiral ramp up to viewing area on its “roof”. The Guggenheim museum it is not.–Function: cobwebby door to interior. Sound of large pumps or motors working constantly. Probably pumps cool Ottawa River water through heat exchangers to chill the cubicle farms located in high rises immediately to the south (in area called a “Pasture”).–Worth climbing to viewing platform? No, not really. The roofscape … Continue reading NCC Oversight ?
Double your pleasure, double your fun, double your bike paths … Our society is prone to leap to solutions before clearly identifying problems or examining alternatives. Recent blogs on safe injection sites, green roofs, intensification … all have elements to me of being solutions searching for a problem. Before we go off parallelling our bike paths with yet more asphalt, we should examine the success of those segments of paths that are already segregated. Pathway apartheid may or may not work. For many years, the bike path along the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway was on the inland side of the … Continue reading Double your bike paths ….
Mother Goose better watch her feet in the Ottawa River ! Continue reading Aligators amongst wildlife in Ottawa River …
The first photo shows a black cormorant ( I think … I googled the name and it seems to me to match) on the Ottawa River near Lemieux Island. If I recall correctly, cormorants are rapidly becomming an invasive species and are moving en masse into the Ottawa area having already over run the Great Lakes. It seems bird populations have bubbles just like our economy. Back in university, didnt they call it the boom/bust cycle? I first saw these birds about 3 years ago, there were a lot more last year, and this year I see them by the … Continue reading Bird sightings along the Ottawa River
It is probably necessary to double-click on these pictures to enlarge them. There is a large blue heron under the overhanging willow tree, and a second one sitting on the rocky point. A third one is out of view on the other side of the tree. – The NCC most conveniently provided an interpretation plaque at this very site to educate the viewer on the habits of the blue heron. This is along the NCC bike path just west of the Carleton St underpass… and east of the Island Park parking lot. Continue reading Blue Herons along the bike path
city aquaduct city aquaduct NCC maintenance The NCC landscaped the area along the bike path behind the new War Museum and east of Booth Street, shown in photo 3. Along the riverside chain link fence the NCC planted rose bushes and other shrubs, then applied mulch. Mulch does not stop all weed growth. The picture shows little piles of weeds and grass pulled out by NCC contractors. They picked them up just after I took the picture. By removing the weeds, the rose bushes will have more chance to grow stronger and bigger and choke out future weeds. And of … Continue reading NCC vs City Maintenance Practices
A while ago I questioned the lack of visible maintenance on the Prince of Wales railway bridge over the Ottawa River from Bayview Station to Gatineau. This is an important link in interprovincial transit. Apparently the City is preparing a maintenance plan. The plan will cost 1.8 million; the repairs or rehabilitation another 20 t0 40 million dollars: M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E To / DestinataireMayor and ToMembers of CouncilFile/N° de fichier: File NumberFrom / ExpéditeurWayne Newell – FromDirector, Infrastructure Services Department Subject / ObjetSubjectPrince of Wales … Continue reading Prince of Wales Bridge
A few days ago I was cycling back from Loblaws, along the Scott Street multipurpose pathway. My panniers were full of groceries. I noticed that my front tire glowed green as a I cycled. I have to admit I admire those cyclists who whizz by with green or red tire rims, they look so neat, so fast. Not like me, another elderly cyclist on my Cdn Tire six-speed. I stopped at the light at Lanark Avenue. Hmm, I looked more closely at my front tire. I reviewed my route. I had cut accross the grass at the end of Clifton … Continue reading Green Cycling
In addition to the cylists, pedestrians, joggers, wheelchairs, walkers, and geese (and their poop) on the multipurpose pathways along the Ottawa River, I have met turtles, rabbits, chipmunks, skunks, beaver, foxes, and snakes. This snake was near Mud Lake, travelling west in the correct lane of the path. Continue reading Multipurpose Paths for Everyone / Every creature
click to enlarge and see details The geese along the Ottawa River are pretty oblivious of cylists and pedestrians at the best of times (unless they see you with a plastic bag – then they are eager to be fed) but for several days they have been in tighter groupings on the grass and usually facing the NCC workers busy digging holes in their favorite lawn areas along the river edge. In the area downstream from Island Park, the NCC crews have been planting multiple rows of small shrubs along the shoreline. Presumably it is to protect the shoreline from … Continue reading NCC Ottawa Riverfront regeneration
click image to enlarge These two concrete structures sit in the middle of the Ottawa River west of the Chaudiere Falls dam. They are on very small stoney islands, most likely man-made. Years ago, I vaguely recall that there were some small houses/work shacks out in the river for logging crews to use. I can recall they had sloped roofs. I was wondering if these are the walls of the buildings (ie, they were concrete buildings) or if these are the remaining foundations, and the wooden buildings used to be on top of them. This goes back to the log-boom … Continue reading Logging Days & Les Raftsmen on the Ottawa
The Prince of Wales railway bridge is owned by the City of Ottawa. Built in the 1880’s it should be declared a heritage structure. It sits unused just north of Bayview O-Train station. Does the city have any maintenance plan for the bridge, or are they going to let it rust away until it collapses or requires more expensive repair? I do not know if the rust is just a surface effect to not worry about or if it is corroding away the bridge. But I do notice that other city steel structures are rust free. Just north of this … Continue reading Royal Mis-treatment
There were hundreds of these plants in bloom along the Ottawa River bike path on Monday, with thousands more about to bloom. These plants, about 6″ tall, grew in the undergrowth of shrubs. I suspect they are orchids. Anyone have a name? Continue reading Along the Ottawa River bike path
click on photo to enlarge & read inscription Along the path on the north side of the War Museum on LeBreton Flats is a tiny plaque commemorating the planting of some trees by Canadian royalty. The tree bark has become lunch over the winter for the inhabitants of the area. Continue reading Royal lunch
