I've been taking advantage of the warm temperatures and the lack of snow.  If I can't go skiing or snowshoeing, the hiking boots and poles will remain at the back door.  

I spent an enjoyable hour at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre yesterday.  The signs for skiers are out and trail passes are for sale but it will be awhile before any skiing happens unless we get a big dump of the white stuff.

Today I drove to Elk Island National Park to hike the Amisk Wuche trail.  As I turned into the park off of Highway 16, a big mule deer buck crossed the road.  The bison were grazing in the Bison Loop.  The parks staff were working in numerous locations, doing repairs and getting ready for winter.

I was the only vehicle in the trail head parking lot.  As I prepared my camera gear, two flocks of Canada geese flew overhead.  They were in no hurry to leave.  They were flying north instead of south.

The beavers at the pond have certainly been busy.  The tree that was teetering precariously at the edge of the boardwalk is now blocking the trail along with many others. 

The pond surface is almost frozen over completely.  The methane bubbles are forming, creating decorative patterns in the ice.

The black capped chickadees sang their 'cheeseburger' song as they gathered seeds.  

The squirrels were in abundance today.  I must have seen and heard at least a dozen of them.  Two in particular kept my attention for about 10 minutes.  They chased each other up and down and round and round a huge spruce tree.  They would jump from branch to branch.  One of them made a big leap and the second one tried to follow but lost its footing and ended up hanging upside down on a flimsy branch.  It managed to right itself and the game continued.  Other squirrels were busy gathering food and stocking their middens.

A light breeze began to blow when I was about half way around the trail loop.  The leaves began to rustle and the tree stops swayed.  As I walked along, I noticed many empty nests in the shrubs beside the trail.  It is amazing that the nests were so close to the trail yet when all the leaves were in place, I had no idea that a bird family resided so close by.  

I passed by a thick willow thicket.  The weather has been so warm that the pussy willows have opened up.

I made it to the parking lot before the rain clouds opened up.  It rained all the way home.  It's November 13 and the rain came down so hard that I had to keep the wipers on.  I thought it would last long enough for the rain to turn to snow but it has stopped and the forecast is for a clear night.  I hope it will be another cloudless sky filled with northern lights.

There are a number of above zero days ahead.  It will give me time to get the winter decorations out.  I may even have time to get the outdoor planters done.  I'm sure I can find enough outdoor tasks to do while waiting impatiently for the snowflakes to begin falling.