Red Deer Log Cabins

There are a pair of pileateds flitting about the grounds today.   This time of year I often see them in the pines, but today they are down by the waterfront campsites.  Also saw what seems to be a red shafted flicker, but it doesn't quite fit with my ID pics, something not quite right with the markings on the upper breast area.  Still searching for a closer match.

My volunteer headed off to Toronto yesterday, so I dropped her in Bancroft at the Greyhound bus stop.  It rained heavily a couple of times during the trip, and lots of drippy.
It didn't rain in Madawaska.  The ground was still dry when I got back.
So much for the 70% forecast...

My current volunteer went for a walk to the lake, and showed up here shortly thereafter.  He saw a big pile of poo on the trail, full of berries.
It seems there are bear viewing opportunities close by.  There has still never been a bear in the grounds.  My fastidious campers help to keep that a reality.

Yesterday was an offsite day.  The lads and I went to Wilderness Tours to whitewater raft on the Ottawa River.  It's a promotional situation offered to OVTA (Ottawa Valley Tourist Association) members.  It was fun, and a great reason to be away for a day.  As there were no arrivals expected, it worked out fine.  We just did the rafting, not the barbq or dance afterwards; it's too far from here to stay and party.
So it was all very interesting, but it was not nearly as extreme a sport as I had expected.  A lot of it was floating downriver and listening to the river guide.  Turns out we were given a condensed version, and not the most exciting part of the river.  4 rapids in 2 1/2 hours.  Too much talk as far as I was concerned, and not nearly enough excitement.  All in all, a bit of a time waster.  I can't see promoting them having not had the real tour, and I don't appreciate their use of my time this way.  After the experience, I thought the (theoretical) price was high, and then was told that we were not shown the best part of the river for action.
It was nice to be on the river for an afternoon, as that is a rare experience for me.

"The lads" are my current volunteers.  One is from France, the other from New Caledonia.  One is a construction supervisor, the other a mechanical engineer.  They are very skilled people, and I am blessed to have them here, fixing things that others, who were paid, did not do correctly.  If anyone wants the name of a couple of lousy contractors, I am compiling quite a list at this point.

Ok, they are not gone.  The pesky little critters are still with us, but all in all, they seem more swarmish than bitish.  I haven't even been wearing oil for them to smother in.
I see the wasps have again abandoned their first nests and built higher.  They did this last spring too.  There should be lots of snow this winter coming.

Just heard from my next volunteers, a couple from Austria.  They will be here in a week, they are in Windypeg right now.  I've already had a young lad from France here this season, from the land of Camembert Cheese.  His 2 weeks were busy and productive, and his English is much, much better.

First of the season.  They arrived yester e'en.  Wow, we got lots done today.  This is the first leg of their extended tour of volunteering.
Also, on the weather front, the first unequivocally summer day occurred.  I hear Toronto was a stewpot.
There are Italians here looking for a suntan (they found some), Italy has been cold and rainy for months.
Another client, return of many years, snapped a pic of a bald eagle just before it left it's  perch to fly.  Same guy was sitting drinking coffee one morning many years ago, and had a red tailed hawk swoop down and grab a mouse within a few feet of his picnic table.  He tells me there is a pair of kestrels here, in the campground at the far south end.