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.

As I looked out the back window to watch the sun rise, I noticed that the wind has stripped the autumn color from the trees.  I heard the gusts through the night and this morning, the backyard is littered with leaves.

It is still windy so the efforts to rake them would be fruitless.  I need a few bags of leaves to mix into my raised garden beds so the first chance I get, I'll be collecting that backyard carpet and mixing it with the black soil.

On Saturday when I got back from the farm, I was unloading my vehicle and saw birds overhead.  This time it was not sandhill cranes.  There were pelicans swooping and swirling!

The Canada geese are not on the move yet.  I noticed many flocks in the harvested fields; picking up what the farm equipment left behind.

The chickadees and nuthatches are busy feeding in the backyard.  I've added some suet and peanut feeders to attract more woodpeckers and blue jays.  There has been lots of action at all the feeders.  The sunflower seeds need to be filled daily where through the summer I filled those feeders once per week.

The birds are preparing for winter just as I was.  The firewood stand arrived and I put that together.  The log splitter arrived and the stack of wood is split, on the stand and covered up.  The new outdoor fire pit arrived and I assembled that as well.  I haven't had the chance to use it yet.  There is some prep work that needs doing in the old fire ring before the new one can fit inside safely.  

I can't wait to try it for the first time.  The forecast for the weekend is looking great and if the wind cooperates, I'm going to try my best for an autumn bonfire.  The best case scenario would be to have some leaves left over from the garden project.  Oh, how I love leaf bonfires in the fall.  I miss my old 'leaf trees' from the backyard.  They used to give me enough leaves for a bonfire to last all afternoon.

Sunshine, blue sky and fresh air filled my morning.  The Beaver Pond Trail at Elk Island was quiet and peaceful.  As I made my way around the 3.5km loop, I heard a fox yipping in the forest.  If it was waiting for a friendly reply, it didn't happen.  The birds were busy in the trees.  I heard a pileated woodpecker, a nuthatch and some bluejays.

A light breeze was blowing.  It swayed the tree trunks enough to make them creak.  Some of the aspens had dead leaves clinging to their branches that rustled in the wind.

The remaining snow is still about a foot deep on the trails.  For the most part it is packed but the edges are beginning to crystallize.  There were a lot of animal droppings on the trail; bison, moose, elk and coyote.  It is rather pointless to provide bags at the trail head for cleaning up after dogs when the wild animals use the trails for their 'deposits'.

There is a section of the trail where large spruce trees tower on either side.  Boreal chickadees called from the highest branches.  The cones at the top were providing a supply of seeds.  I usually see both boreal and black capped chickadees but today there was no sign of the little black capped ones.

The hike was great.  When I got home I sat outside on the deck for another half hour.  The sun felt so warm.  I was fighting not to fall asleep.  There were some chores that still needed doing.

The ice on the driveway is almost melted so I dragged out a bucket of hot water and washed off the spring grime from my vehicle.  I can see out the windows again!

When I was done and had everything put away, I couldn't fight the urge to have a nap any longer.  That two hour break was just what I needed.  

Two deer showed up shortly after I woke.  I noticed that the pair was made up of one white tail and one mule deer.  The white tail had no intention of sharing the grain in the tub yet the mule deer shared the sunflower seeds in the tray feeder.  The snow has melted down enough that it is making it difficult for them to reach the seeds in the hanging feeders.  There are some bare patches of ground showing along the fence.  The deer have been trimming that grass.

The rain that was in the forecast did not materialize.  I wish I would have.  I love the fresh smell that a spring rain shower brings.  I broke down and removed my 'We love snow.' sign from the front door.  After being on the trails the past couple of days, I have to admit that I am also ready for spring.

 

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.

 

My Perfect Outdoor Day

"I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees.  The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.  It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day.  It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful.  Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy."  ~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

I left home as the sun was coming up this morning.  My plan was to spend the day outside.  I started at the Strathcona Wilderness Center.  The air was crisp and the grasses and leaves were frosty.  It was the perfect beginning to a glorious outing.

 

The morning rays of the sun shone through the bare branches of the tall aspen trees.  The trunks cast long shadows on the trail.  The frosty leaf carpet glittered like gold.  

 

It was still calm and silent except for the little chickadees.  They were busy collecting seeds from the shrubs.  I stopped to watch as they flitted from branch to branch; singing their 'cheeseburger' song.

There were a number of little ponds along the trail that I was on.  I could see them through the trees.  The moose and deer created a well worn path to one of them.  I decided to follow it.  I'm glad that I did.

Moss covered logs lay on the edge.  The water was not deep but it was calm, clear and reminded me of a sheet of glass.  The bright yellow color from the few remaining leaves reflected in the water.  The area was like a little piece of heaven.

When I finished exploring at the SWC, I made my way to Elk Island National Park.  I wanted to revisit a trail that looped through the forest on the north side of Astotin Lake.  

 

Along the parkway en route to the lake, a young coyote searched for food.  It lopped through the ditch.  Every now and again it would pounce into the tall grasses but each time it came back out empty handed.  

As I made my way to the trail head, I could hear honking above me.  The snow geese were on the move.  Their white bodies against the blue sky were a sight to behold.

My first stop was at a bench that overlooked Astotin Lake.  The wind had picked up and was creating little white caps on the water.  Ducks and geese bobbed up and down in the waves.  This was an ideal lunch spot.  There was still some autumn color directly in front of me as well as on the island.  The bench was sheltered and the sun warmed me as I sat and took in the sights and sounds.

There are a number of rest stops along the trail where hikers can take a break and relax.  It was at one of the stops that numerous paths lead into the trees.  I followed one and found a skull leaning against a broken branch.

Chickadees and nuthatches provided entertainment as they were foraging in the spruce trees.  The forest smells were amazing.

I marveled at the scene around me.  There were decaying logs covered in a carpet of bright green fern-looking moss.  A tree stump was covered in a soft layer of brown/green moss.  Lichen grew upright through the layer; reaching for the small rays of sun that found their way through the thick boughs overhead.

My outdoor day was perfect.  I am so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area.  All my favorite activities can be found within a 10 minute drive from my home.  Hiking, x-country skiing, skating, snowshoeing, and so many natural areas for photography.  I take advantage of this every moment that I can.  There is nothing better than spending time in the forest.