Bird Of Prey

I was walking along the north side of the Greyhound-Voyageur bus station downtown one afternoon early this month, and noticed this fellow sitting up on the wall, quite at ease and peering down at pedestrians passing by. I made inquiries with a bird expert who writes a weekly column for the Ottawa Citizen; he informs me this is an immature peregrine falcon.

Lit Waters

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme for November 1st is Out Of Focus. And a suggestion for the December theme day, what with that being Transition, if you've still got fall colours around, photograph a grove of trees now, and then a month from now. I've already selected the subject of the last shots for today as my take for that second theme day.

The sun's getting up later these days, so I'm able to photograph around dawn. I crossed Bronson Avenue, here where the Rideau Canal widens into Dow's Lake, early one September morning, photographing west into the lake, and then east over the Canal.

On another day, further east, I crossed the Bank Street Bridge late in the afternoon and liked the interplay of sunlight and clouds over the Canal. Both versions seemed to appeal to me.

Army Run

Finishing off this series on the Army Run event today, I have these shots. This is the Leopard, a heavily armoured main battle tank used by several NATO countries. Last year I was inside one of these- it was cramped!

Nearby was this, the LAV 6.0. This Light Armoured Vehicle is the Army's primary infantry vehicle, used in various ways, such as a transport, command post, or for electronic warfare. I also got on top of it.

This is a view from the top of the LAV, taking in Cartier Square Drill Hall, which dates back to 1879.

On Sunday I came back, to find many of the participants in the major run of the event, a half marathon, having had finished the race, gathered around City Hall, Cartier Square, and in Confederation Park. All told, over twenty thousand runners took part.

This view south from the Laurier Avenue Bridge has runners coming through the finish line.

Many of the runners went beneath the bridge and into Confederation Park, where things had been set up for post-race unwinding and relaxation. This view north takes in some of them, with views of the NAC and the Peace Tower for good measure. 

Heavy Metal

Picking up where I left off yesterday, the Army Run is an annual charity run by members of the Canadian military each September. Though many of the participants are local, either from the national headquarters or nearby bases, some come from further afield. As part of the weekend, military vehicles and equipment get set up at the central point of the run- City Hall and the Cartier Square Drill Hall. Servicemen and women are on hand to answer questions and let you have a closer look at things. The modern wing of City Hall and the provincial courthouse appear prominently in the background of these shots.

This first vehicle as the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV), a multi-purpose vehicle used for reconnaissance, surveillance, command post, and troop transport.

This second one is a Buffalo, part of a team of vehicles and military engineer crews involved in detection and disposal of IEDs. It's usually teamed with three other vehicles- two Huskies, which detect potential threats, this behemoth, which investigates the nature of a threat, and the Cougar, which acts as a transport for the disposal operators and their tools. These teams were quite busy during the Afghanistan mission.

This is the Bison, an armoured carrier serving in various capacities, as a troop carrier, for reconnaissance, for electronic warfare, command posts, or in this case as a medical transport.

This, meanwhile, is the Coyote, used for reconnaissance and surveillance on the battlefield, and well armoured as you'd expect. 

Equipment was also on display, including these examples of body armour.

The equipment also included this, a Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV), a drone used for surveillance and reconnaissance.

This is a Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR), designed to be easily transported and adaptable on the battlefield, its electronic array giving pinpoint precision data on things such as threat point of origin.

I leave off today with a monument, set facing the Cartier Square Drill Hall. It is in memory of two men, William Osgoode and John Rogers, members of the Guards Company of Sharpshooters, who fell in action at the Battle Of Cut Knife in 1885.

Water Works

I've passed by this water feature countless times, but never photographed it. It's at City Hall, with the horizontal lines of the main courthouse and the modern wing of City Hall as backdrops to the fountain. I stopped by each day on a weekend in September for an event that was taking place here.

The event in question is called the Army Run, which I'll show more of over the next two posts. For now, I leave off with an M777 towed Howitzer and a military transport truck.

Coming Down

I was downtown one day in September, and there was an event going on above what's usually a parking lot. I noticed this mural nearby.

The event was a rappel down the side of an office building, as a benefit for Easter Seals. Had I known about it in advance, I wouldn't have minded having a go at it.

Some people were in costume, as you can see in these two shots, with a Catwoman theme in the second shot.

Up above, two people were descending.

Street Furniture

I mentioned before the beginning of the month that I was having a bad spell. I wrote a post about it over at the other blog and posted it yesterday.

This past summer there have been installations put up in at least a couple of locations in the city, mixing together benches, floral beds, and even art. This first one is in the Glebe.

This one is in Chinatown.