My Reality TV

The warm sunshine and the blue sky was enticing.  I packed up and headed to Elk Island Park.  I love spending time there.  It's a new adventure everyday.  The money spent on my annual park pass was money well spent.

My destination was Beaver Pond Trail.  It's about 3kms long and has a varied terrain.  My binoculars were packed just in case the elusive little boreal chickadees were out today.

I hadn't been on the trail since the last snow.  It just added another 10cms to the snowbanks that have not melted yet.  When I got up this morning the temperature was -19C.  At the time this photo was taken it was -2C.  Given the temperature lately, it is going to be a long while before the banks melt.

I'm so glad that I remembered the binoculars.  The birds were busy.  I spent at least a half hour watching a pileated woodpecker and a hairy woodpecker.  They played on an old poplar tree; following each other up and down the trunk.

When the big guy got to the top of the tree, it tapped out a message on the hollow trunk.  In the distance I heard two others answer back.  It tapped out a message again and I heard the other two answer back.  The sounds were closer.  It was amazing to watch and hear them in action.

There were a number of downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers along the trail.  They paid no mind to me as I watched their antics in the tree branches.  This was the first time that I have actually put my binoculars to good use.

The chickadees were busy as well.  I wanted to see boreal chickadees but settled for the little black capped ones.  They were very entertaining as they searched for seeds in a stand of birch trees.  The one that I watched for a few minutes worked it's way down a tree from branch to branch; stopping to check for seeds behind each piece of birch bark that was loose along the trunk.  Their little calls to each could be heard on either side of the ravine that was close by.

Most days when I walk that trail, I hear only one or two birds.  Today was a different story.  There was a symphony of calls made by pileated woodpeckers, downy and hairy woodpeckers, chickadees, crows, ravens, blue jays and magpies.  There was a call that I did not recognize but I could not find the source. 

I left the trail parking lot and decided to stop at Astotin Lake to see if there were any bison grazing in that area.  There were no bison but the white tailed deer were grazing on a hill close to the road.  They gave me a brief glance; long enough for one photo.

I kept watch for other animal sightings on the way out of the park.  There were a few bison scattered in areas along the highway.  When I got to the Bison Loop Road I noticed a couple of big ones coming my way so I turned in for a closer look.  

The snow is still very deep in the open areas.  These big guys had a difficult time making their way across the field.  When their body weight made them break through the snow, they were up to their bellies.  One of them caught on really quickly and made his way to a well worn path that was packed down.  The second one followed the first and then walked along the road to the meadow across the highway.

In addition to the bison, a coyote made its way along the fence line to a tree stand in the distance.  At the top of one of the tallest trees, I could see a large bird that turned out to be a hawk.  Ever since the owl prowl that I attended, I've been on the look out for owls but so far have had no luck spotting any.

My outing was relaxing and entertaining.  I would much rather wander the trails watching the wildlife in action than spend my time indoors watching the television.  That is my reality tv!