Silence is Golden

This outdoor girl has had no recent ramblings.  The past two days were spent inside; leaving for work in the dark and coming home from work in the dark.  I had to look at the weather website history to see what the daytime temperatures were.  

I was at home today and took full advantage of an outdoor day.  I called it a mental health day.  After hearing the stereo blaring for two days, all I heard today were the sounds of nature and at many times the sound of silence.  I opted for real bunnies knowing that the dust bunnies under my bed would still be there when I returned.

Before leaving for the trails today, I noticed that my backyard feeders were empty.  My poor feathered friends were probably wondering what happened to me.  I filled the feeders and the chickadees were visiting even before I had the birdseed pail put away.

The sky was clouded over but that didn't stop me from spending a good part of the day at the park.  As I entered the south park gate, a convoy of horse trailers was making it's way out of the park behind a warden vehicle.  The trailers were loaded with young bison moving to a new home.

I drove to the far north side; stopping first at the Amisk Wuche trail.  I've retired my snowshoes for the season and replaced them with ice cleats.  The warm temperatures have started the slow melt of all the winter snow, creating icy patches.

There was a light breeze blowing that rustled the dried leaves hanging from the branches.  It made the tall trees creak as they swayed gently to and fro.  In the distance a raven called and a coyote howled.  Some movement caught my eye between the trees.  A couple of squirrels zigzagged beneath the underbrush in a game of tag.

 


Spring must be in the air.  There were more animal tracks than I've ever seen and I lost count of the number of squirrels scurrying about.  The pussy willows were opening and the leaf buds on the poplars were growing.

Today's hike was not for fitness.  It was definitely for relaxing; and that I did.  I took my time walking the trail; paying notice of the fungi and lichen on the trees.  I noticed how many trees had toppled in the recent gusty winds; providing new opportunity for woodpeckers to search for food.





I got back to the trail head and the thought of heading home was not appealing so I drove to the Beaver Pond Trail.  The squirrels were just as busy on this trail.  They scampered from tree to tree, scolding me for disturbing their snack time.

By the time I got there, the light breeze let up and it was calm.  The only sound I heard on my trek was the crunch of my ice cleats breaking through the icy snow.

The second hike was even more quiet than the first and I enjoyed it immensely.  Just before getting back to the trail head, I caught sight of a viewpoint bench which made me chuckle.  I took a photo of it with the intention of sending it to the guide from my train tour in Jasper.  I remember telling her about the amount of snow at Elk Island and she found it hard to believe.  Well, a picture is worth a thousand words and I thought that she may believe how much snow there was if she saw the bench.

After not having an outdoor day in the last five, I was getting cabin fever.  I finished the second trail just after lunch and knew that I had to stop stalling and head home.  I got there but did not want to spend time inside just yet.  Instead, I watched the action at the bird feeder.

Chickadees, redpolls, a nuthatch, a downy woodpecker and a couple of blue jays swooped in for snacks.  I came to realize that my pine grosbeaks were gone.  I'm hoping that they will return next winter to brighten my yard.  

It was a glorious outdoor day today.  It was also a much needed one that proved that silence really is golden.