The bird feeders were full of action this afternoon and I was home to witness it.  The deck tray feeder 

Incoming!

filled with sunflower seeds had grosbeaks, bluejays and chickadees take turns with a hairy and a pileated woodpecker.  I haven't seen that big red head in the backyard for a few weeks.  This afternoon I glanced out the window and saw the head pop up from behind a stump.  It flew up to the hanging tray feeder and decided to sit right in the middle of it.  It didn't take long for it to fly onto the deck.  The visit was short.  Three bluejays took on the pileated woodpecker and won.  It retreated to a rotting snag.


The female pine grosbeaks came in numbers.  I saw six of them feeding at the same time until one aggressive little lady flew in and took over, scaring the others off.  She stayed until a hairy woodpecker landed in the feeder and scared her away.

The activity at the feeders was very entertaining.  I could see the different personalities emerge; some aggressive, some passive.  Some of the larger birds didn't mind having the little chickadees fly in for a seed while others wanted to be alone.  

Just before dark the deer came through the trees and into the yard.  The few seeds that were left in the tray feeder were soon gobbled up by the tallest four legged visitor.

 

Elk Island National Park and my backyard were the places to be today for watching birds and wildlife.  The bison were stopping traffic on the parkway.  It's not often that the entire herd is in the Bison Loop area but it appeared that they were all there today.

An adult coyote lopped across the road in front of us.  We slowed to see if it was still in the trees.  It stopped long enough to glance back at us and then continued on its way.

A female grouse gave us a good laugh.  It was crossing from one side of the road to the other moving very slowly and stealthily as if we could not see her if she moved slowly.  As soon as she reached the tall grass in the ditch, she was gone.

We hiked the Lakeview Trail that borders Astotin Lake.  It's a short scenic trail that passes by the lake and some beaver ponds.  It continues through the forest where you can see very large spruce trees that have toppled, almost in a domino effect.  It was on one of those trees that we saw a black-backed woodpecker.  What a treat!  They are not a common bird in this area.

My favorite area on the trail is a boggy spot where numerous trees lie on the ground.  Each is covered in many different species of moss.  The variety of green textures adds color to the forest floor.

When we got back home, the birds were busy in the backyard; flying from branches to feeders.  It was close to being dark when I noticed the deer coming into the yard.  A doe and two fawns came in first.  Something scared them off.  As they were jumping the fence, I saw another large one coming straight to the feed dish.  It took me a while to realize that it was sporting some antlers!  This was the first male I noticed this year.  I went outside onto the deck to get a better look.  He glanced up at me but didn't run.  It was like he knew who filled that dish.  What a beauty!

Rule for pruning:  Trim back one third of the height of your plant, shrub or tree.  Bambi didn't know that rule when she pruned my strawberries last night.  A couple of the plants got trimmed down to ground level.  She ate the green leaves and politely left the red berries for me.

I noticed the deer hoof prints in the flower beds right underneath the sunflower seed bird feeder.  There were seeds scattered on the ground.  I was surprised that the deer did not clean them up.  

The juncos and the nuthatches were feeding on the ground when I got home from work.  It was entertaining to watch them skitter around under the ninebark branches in search of the seeds that the deer had dropped.

The wind was gusting all day.  There are only a few stubborn leaves clinging to the branches of the poplars in behind my yard.  The beautiful colors of fall now lay in wind blown piles along the fence line.

I don't like being outside on gusty days so I hunkered down with a book for the night.  The only time I got distracted was when the sun began going down.  The colors of the sunset this evening were brilliant but short lived as dark clouds moved in from the west.  Rain showers are in the forecast for tonight.  I love the smell of rain and look forward to taking in that freshness when I open the back door in the morning.

This morning I was undecided as to where to hike today.  It was already almost noon when I tossed some snacks into my backpack and headed out the door.  I ended up at Elk Island on the Beaver Pond Trail.

There were small patches of wispy clouds in a bluebird sky.  The sun felt warm and made for a pleasant hiking day.

The bison seem to like this trail.  Each time that I walk it, there are large bison 'pies' that I have to tiptoe over.  It is rather silly that at the trail head there are doggy-doo bags provided so you can clean up after your pooch yet the pies left by the bison could fill up more than one pair of shoes.

All was quiet in the treetops.  The squirrels on the ground were the only noise makers today.  I couldn't tell if they were playing a game of tag or hard-to-get.  They would chase each other over logs, around bushes and up and down tree trunks.  A couple of them were close to running into me.

I met up with one other person today.  I think he had just stopped so his dog could do his business.  He didn't look dressed for an outing.

It's going to take awhile to melt all the snow that is tramped down on the trail.  A lot of it has melted beneath the trees and on the banks of the ponds but the trail itself has more than a foot of packed snow in some places; yet in others it is bare.  In 2013, the last of the snow melted in June and I think there was more snow this year.

The drive home is usually uneventful except for today.  I was only a couple miles away from the park gate when a front tire blew.  Thank goodness for roadside assistance and the fact that it was a nice day.  An hour later I was on the road again.  Other drivers don't like it when one travels at 80 kph on a highway where the speed limit is 110 kph but what can you do when you have a temporary little 'donut' tire for a spare.

I made it home safe and sound.  As I unpacked my vehicle, the chickadees were singing their cheeseburger songs in the trees.  The bluejays were squawking as they sat on the fence.  I could see the deer in the forest behind my yard so I knew it wouldn't be long before they came for a visit.

The first to arrive were the five amigos.  Their coats are getting darker.  The young ones are beginning to watch for danger and do the 'tail up' stance along with stomping the ground with their front feet.  They thought Spike the cat was a threat and started chasing the poor guy.  I've never seen him move that fast across the snow!  It was a good thing that he was close to the shed when they spied him.  He didn't have far to go to hide.

Something scared the deer off during the first visit.  They came back about 15 minutes later but there were more.  The two mule deer had shown up as well.  That made for quite the action in the backyard; fighting, head butting, foot stomping and rearing up.  I had my own reality nature show.

I don't usually have more than one light on in the evening but tonight I turned that one off as well to participate in Earth Hour.  I lit a couple of my favorite candles and did some internet shopping for new tires.

I was planning on taking the snowshoes out today.  That didn't happen.  I drove into the Wilderness Centre parking lot and drove right back out again.  The parking lot was full.  The overflow lot was full and people were beginning to park on either side of the driveway.

I had my skates with me so decided on some ice skating.  My first location was a bust.  The parks staff had not cleaned the snow from it.  I tried the snowbank rink by the local elementary school.  It was perfect.  I had the ice all to myself.  I love skating there.  There's nothing quite like skating on an outdoor surface.  This one is well maintained; cleaned and flooded on a regular basis.  I'm always amazed at how little it gets used.  There are picnic tables set up beside it so families could make a morning or afternoon of it.

The ice surface that wasn't cleaned off is at the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot  Recreation area.  It is larger than the one that I skated at.  There are picnic tables and outdoor fire pits with wood provided.  There is also a large picnic shelter with a wood stove inside.  Both are perfect locations for a family outing.

When I got home, I filled the bird feeders.  I heard a very loud, hollow tapping sound.  The pileated woodpecker was at it again.  Rather than coming to the old rotted stump or the suet feeders, it was rat-a-tat-tatting on a power pole.  

My backyard deer friends showed up during the late afternoon.  I had the pail of water back outside for them.  Only a couple of them came for a drink.  The others preferred to grab mouthfuls of snow.

The forecast shows sunshine for tomorrow.  I hope it is correct.  I'd like to take the skis or snowshoes out for a couple of hours.

It appears that the frigid temperatures will be back for a few days so I had to take advantage of the beautiful morning.  I left home at 9:45am.  The snowplow/sanding trucks were out on the Yellowhead highway so driving was good up to the Elk Island Park gate.  The road through the park was icy with the wind shining it up even more.

I did notice that there was not as much new snow as there was at home.  Before leaving, I shoveled about an inch of it off my deck and driveway.

I hiked the Beaver Pond trail today.  Just as I was starting out, the sun was shining through an opening in the clouds.  The thin layer of ice on the snow shone in the sunlight.  I did notice that there had not been as much rain here either.  The layer of ice on the snow at home was much thicker than at the park.

The weather is really confusing Mother Nature.  The pussy willows are out.  The leaf buds on the dogwood branches are swelling.  The spiders are crawling out of their hiding places.  I saw one making its way across the trail.

The wind was quite strong in the open areas.  Snow drifted across the trail.  Trees creaked as the wind rocked their trunks to and fro.  The squirrels were not happy with me as I passed by their middens.  There was a lot of chattering going on.

The 3.5km hike was pleasant even with the wind.  The air was fresh and the forest was filled with nature's sounds.  It took only an hour to hike the loop so I drove to Astotin Lake to see what was going on there.  As I turned off the highway, I could see a coyote limping down the center of the road.  It turned to look at me and headed for the ditch.  The poor thing was injured, making it difficult for it to walk through the deep snow.

There were only a couple of vehicles in the parking lot today.  In the distance, on the lake, I could see some kite boarders.  It was a good day for them to be out.  I brought my lunch with me so decided to stop and watch them for awhile.

There were three in total. Their kites dipped and rose in the wind.  Every now and then a boarder would be lifted into the air off the lake surface.  It looked like they were having great fun.

The clouds disappeared completely during my drive home.  The sun came out and brightened the landscape for a couple of hours until the clouds rolled in again.  Snow began falling.

When I got home, I refilled feeders and dug a path to the woodshed.  The pileated woodpecker visited while I was away.  It left a pile of bark chips at the bottom of the old tree stump.

Just before dark, the deer came into the yard.  I could see their silhouettes as they made their way to all the feeding stations.  

I enjoy the many birds and animals that come into my backyard.  They provide great entertainment on days that I cannot get out to the trails or on the days when I don't see any wildlife when I do visit the trails.

This evening I pulled out my nature scape 'bible' and made a list of more shrubs that I am going to add to the yard in the spring.  When all that snow melts in the backyard, I'll be ready. 


 


 

The rain put a damper on my ski plans today.  In fact, it put a damper on anything in the outdoors.  It came down like a summer rain storm until 3pm this afternoon.  The layer of water over the ice on the driveway made for a very slippery surface.  I didn't chance even going for a hike so the day was spent indoors.

Even though I was stuck inside, the birds provided some entertainment when I needed a break from my book.  The rain didn't stop them from visiting the backyard.  The usual feathered friends appeared; chickadees, bluejays, nuthatches, downy and hairy woodpeckers.  

A squirrel was living dangerously and dared to make its way to the tray feeder.  It must have known that the neighbor's cat was in the house.

The bluejays frequently visit that tray feeder.  I often see them flicking the seeds from side to side in search of the perfect one.  The seeds usually fall into the tray below, rather than on the ground.  Today, there were seeds on the snowbanks and seeds on the ground.  A very messy eater had been there.

As I stood in the window looking at the wasted seeds, a pileated woodpecker soared in and landed on the tray.  It proceeded to use its pointed beak to flick the seeds.  I saw the culprit in action.  

I've seen one on the decaying stump and one clinging upside down on a suet feeder but I've never seen one at the feeder in front of my window.  What a sight!  It stayed there for about five minutes, pecking at the sunflower seeds and the rolled grain that I had set out for the deer. 

Just before it got dark, the deer arrived for their daily visit.  It's a good thing that they don't mind eating off the ground.  They cleaned up everything that the woodpecker had strewn about.  I didn't leave the house but there was some great action in my backyard that I'm glad that I got to see!

 

It's a new year.  I don't make resolutions but will continue to make the effort to spend as much time as possible outside in the fresh air.  I am hoping to take a few more camping trips through the summer.  The snow-free days are a long way off.  I have to deal with snow shovel right now.  

After spending December 31 lazing around the house, I needed some exercise and fresh air.  The day began with shoveling the deck and driveway.  Over the past couple of days, there was another 4 inches of snow that came down.  There are still 3-4 months of winter ahead and I don't know where the rest of the snow is going to go.  The snowbanks in the yard are the biggest that I've had here in 11 years; that is after some melting that took place on +0C days.

The deer had cleaned out all the feeders and their grain tub so before leaving this morning, I refilled everything.

I wanted to start the new year off in the forest so I grabbed my snowshoes and drove to Elk Island National Park.  There were very few vehicles in the trail head parking lots so I knew the day would be quiet; just the way I like it.

I decided on visiting the Amisk Wuche trail.  It provides a variety of scenery and a good work out with all the hill-climbing.  After gearing up and hiking to the fork in the trail that creates the loop, I decided to start the year off as a rebel.  Yes, I hiked in the opposite direction of the arrow that marks the trail.  I've always hiked counter-clockwise but today I changed it up and hiked clockwise for a different perspective.  The trail is actually more scenic in this direction.

The light was dull and grey.  Snowflakes drifted lazily to the ground.  There was not a sound in the forest until I got to the first beaver pond.  The beaver lodge was snow-covered with animal tracks leading to the top of it.  The tracks continued east to the forest edge.  As I stood on the trail taking in the sight, I was entertained by a lone coyote.  Its haunting call echoed through the trees.

Further into the forest where the trees were closer together, a couple of squirrels chattered to each other.  A woodpecker worked to get underneath the bark on an old poplar tree.  Most of the hike around the loop was silent except for the crunching of my snowshoes on the snow.

As I neared the parking lot, three more hardy hikers were heading out and six more were suiting up by their vehicles.  I picked the perfect time to be out there.

On the drive home I saw a couple of coyotes loping across the frozen ponds, stopping now and again to hunt.  There were no other animals out today.

When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that the deer had visited while I was away.  Before heading inside, I refilled everything.  The birds were very active. I decided to do a short bird count in the backyard.  I tried tracking the birds at all three feeding stations but soon learned that it was impossible to count that many.  

I chose to track the station in the middle of the yard where a block of suet hangs in addition to a feeder filled with striped sunflower seeds.  In eight short minutes there were 55 visits by chickadees, one by a downy woodpecker and two by nuthatches.  It's no wonder they empty the

feeder almost as fast as the deer do.  

A pileated woodpecker flew into the yard but it spied me in the window so it flew out just as fast.  A squirrel was raiding the seeds in the tray feeder.

I was succumbing to the fresh air.  My eyes were closing; telling me that an afternoon nap was in order.  Well, the nap turned into a lovely 2 hour rest.  I glanced out the window to see if the sky had cleared and noticed that the deer had visited again while I was asleep.

The temperature is supposed to warm up overnight.  If that happens, I think tomorrow will be spent on the ski trails.

 

Since November 21, a single doe has been visiting my yard.  Yesterday, she brought friends; three to be exact.  I glanced out the window and saw the silhouettes.  They glanced up when I turned on an outside light but made no attempt to leave.  I watched as they raided the bird's feeder tray.  When that was empty, they found the tub of grain.  After 30 minutes of eating and frolicking in the snow, they filed out of the yard one by one.

I was off today. The sun was shining.  There was a long to-do list on my table but I just could not waste a perfect outdoor day.  I packed up and headed out the door at 8:15am for some trail adventures.

The sun was just coming up when I left.  As I drove through Elk Island Park, the sun's rays created millions of sparkling crystals on the hoar frost left from last night's fog.  The trees along Amisk Wuche trail wore white coats on their branches.  The contrast of white against the bright blue sky was amazing.  It was so peaceful.  It was Christmas card perfect. 

I got back to the trail head parking lot and knew that I didn't want to head home just yet.  The day was too beautiful to spend it inside.  I drove straight to the Strathcona Wilderness Centre.  I hadn't visited the snowshoe trail since it snowed.  It was packed down so I managed to walk it with boots and cleats.  

As I made my way along the trail, I heard the chickadees calling from the willow thickets.  A slight breeze blew through the tree tops, creating enough movement to shake the hoar frost loose.  It fell from the branches covering the trail like a blanket.   The peaceful silence was broken by the sound of the groomer.  I was glad that I was close to the parking lot.

My final destination for the day was the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation Area.  The trails have been groomed and track set.  I tried the Neon/Lost Lake trail.  The skiing was perfect.  I met up with a couple of hikers but no other skiers.  I'm proud to say that there were no wipe outs today!

As I traveled home, I noticed one of the deer that visited my yard last night.  I knew it was the same one by its size; double the size of the single doe that has been visiting.  She was making her way up an acreage driveway.  It will be interesting to see if the visitors come back this evening.

When I got home, I realized that I had spent 5 glorious hours in the fresh air.  I visited all 3 of my favorite places.  As I listened to the news this evening, the weather forecaster was warning everyone of an approaching winter storm.  Tomorrow morning should still be okay but freezing rain is to move in during the afternoon.  A snowstorm with big winds and lots of snow is to follow.  I'm hoping that I can get to the ski trail in the morning before the weather changes because it looks like hibernation is on the horizon if the storm hits as predicted.



 

Owl Prowl

Yesterday was a great day to be outside and I took full advantage of that.  The snow clouds moved on and the sun was shining so I headed out with the snowshoes to Elk Island Park.

Amisk Wuche is my favorite trail as there are lots of hills and a variety of things to see.  The boardwalk across the beaver pond was drifted over and in places it was difficult to tell where it actually was.  I made it across without ending up in snow that would be above my knees.

I was the first human on the trail.  There were lots of animal tracks including bison, moose, coyote, squirrel and hare.  It's always a great work out when you have to break trail and yesterday did not disappoint.  

On my travels around the loop, the only sound I heard was a squirrel nattering at me from a tree top.  The rest of the forest was silent.  I was looking forward to resting and having a nice hot drink at the only bench on the trail.

I got to the bench only to find it almost buried.  I won't be enjoying it anytime soon unless I bring along a shovel.  With it being -26C this morning, I don't think a big melt is going to happen today.

I decided to take a scenic route home so headed to the north park gate rather than the south.  The snow storm this week seemed to have hit areas north of me harder so I wanted to check it out.

The highway to Lamont still had an inch of ice on it places.  Highway 15 east was wet and slushy.  The range roads that run north/south got hit the worst.  Graders were working to clear the drifts.  They had the v-snowplows on the front to break through the drifts and then they were using the blades to push the snow to the ditches.  The banks in some places were as high as the middle of the grader cab door.  Some of the roads had 'road closed' barricades on them.  The drifts were as high as the barricades.

An owl prowl was planned for Elk Island in the evening.  I had it in mind earlier in the week to participate but with snowshoeing in the morning, I was hesitant to go back again.

Well, evening came and we headed back to the park to meet in the Astotin Lake parking lot for the prowl.  On the way we saw 2 moose, a deer, an elk and a lot of bison. 

There were not many people; only one guide and 8 of us in the group.  As we waited to see if more participants would arrive, we got to witness a beautiful sunset across the lake.  The colors were magnificent as the sun disappeared.

Our guide brought some pre-recorded owl calls.  He was letting us hear them before we actually left for the prowl.  The very last call was that of a Great Horned.  Just as he finished playing it, a great horned owl swooped into a nearby tree.  It remained long enough for everyone to get a peek of it through their binoculars.  I guess it realized that it was just a bunch of humans calling so it soared away in the opposite direction.
That was the only owl that we saw last night.  There were no other sightings and no owl calls.  That was okay because even though the night was chilly, the moon was shining brightly and the stars were out.  What a great way to spend a Saturday night.