I was surprised at the number of creatures, big and small, that I saw yesterday.  I was not the only one taking advantage of a sunny day.  There was more wildlife on this trail than my usual Elk Island trails combined.

I was about a half hour into the hike when I spied a cow moose.  She ran as soon as she caught sight of me.  I could hear her crashing through the trees.

The birds were busy and vocal.  Black capped chickadees, white breasted nuthatches, juncos and blue jays flew from branch to branch in search of food.  I could hear magpies, crows and ravens in the distance.  As I approached the lake, a choir of waterfowl calls filled the air.  A flock of cranes called from overhead. 

The wood bison were close to the trail.  My first sighting was along the lake shore.  I could see his horns and the top of his head above the tall grass.  I saw four of them grazing in an open meadow and another four came thundering across the trail.  The ground shook as they stampeded into the trees.

Squirrels were gathering mushrooms for their winter stores.  One balanced atop a snag.  It stopped long enough to give me a scolding.

There were so many butterflies visible.  All were feeding on the remaining wildflowers; flitting in front of me on the trail and then stopping to rest on the warm sand.

I counted five grouse and four more moose along the way.  The one photo that I did get was of the south end of a north bound moose. 

I took the long way home to see if there were more creatures out on the parkway.  

Two young coyotes were walking in the ditch.  I pulled over to watch them and both came lopping to my driver's side door.  They waited to see if I would give them some food.  I could tell that visitors have been feeding them.  They were not afraid.

Astotin Lake had a couple of bison visiting the picnic area.  One decided that he needed to wallow in the sand on the beach.  He used his front hooves to dig in the sand before rolling back and forth.

Yesterday was fantastic for a number of reasons; the sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, there were no flying insects to bother me and so many of the forest creatures stopped to say hello.  What a perfect day!

My arms feel like rubber bands but the wood is split and stacked.  It was a beautiful day to be outside.  The sun was shining.  The sky was blue with only a few wispy clouds. 

The birds kept me entertained all day.  They didn't seem to mind the noise of the log splitter.  White-breasted nuthatches and chickadees flew back and forth from tree branches to feeders.  Blue jays squawked and dived down to the seed feeders.

Whenever the splitter was off, I could hear cranes overhead.  At least 8 flocks of cranes came into view.  They circled and appeared to join together into one big flock.  They were on the move today.

A large pileated woodpecker came for a visit.  I heard it first and tried to determine where it was.  It flew into the yard from

the forest behind my yard and landed on an old poplar snag.  From the snag, it landed on a log on the ground.  There must have been some tasty bugs in that one.  It kept the woodpecker busy for a few minutes before it flew up to a stump just a few feet away from me.

I watched the woodpecker and it watched me.  Once it determined that I was no threat, it flew up to the suet feeder.  It amazes me that such a big bird can hold onto that cage and still be able to peck at the suet.

As I split the large logs, I found grubs inside of them.  I'm sure the woodpecker would have loved those juicy morsels.

I didn't get out to the trails but nature came to me and I enjoyed the show.