Elk Island National Park never disappoints no matter what time of day I travel there however, the light and quiet of an early morning visit enhances the experience.

A visit at 7:30am found nobody else around; not even the park staff were out that early. There were no humans but there were definitely many creatures big and small; beginning with the bison along the roadside. They paid no mind to me as I stopped to watch them graze in the tall grass. 

An elk bolted out of the forest as if being chased. In a blink of an eye it was gone into the forest on the opposite side of the road.

Ponds were alive with waterfowl in search of food. Each has families of Canada geese in them. The goslings are now big enough to search for food on their own, under the watchful eye of their parents.

As I wandered the beach at Astotin Lake, the avocets and gulls were harvesting the blood suckers close to shore. The water was calm and the warm light of the morning helped to create a very memorable scene.

A great blue heron flew across the lake. The pelicans were gathering. Once they were all together, they swam in unison in search of food. The cormorants and red neck grebes were near the boardwalk. 

I parked myself in a Parks Canada red chair and watched and listened to the sights and sounds of the early morning. What a great way to begin the day.

More photos at https://www.facebook.com/Ramblings-of-an-Outdoor-Girl-1015659961820012/

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.