Odds and Sods

 Here are a couple of pictures of the Athabasca River in its frozen glory. It is very cold out today.

Even so, it is very pretty to look at.





Daphne was quite content to lie on the deck next to her best friend.








This fellow was quite the handsome guy. I have no idea who he belongs to, but I remember how wild the horses used to get when we rode up to them. Quite often we would have a mini-rodeo on the road until we could persuade the horses to go past.

Then again, there was

 this little squirrel just sitting on a roll of barbed wire enjoying a snack.

A Sunny Afternoon at the River

There was one lone duck, a Common Goldeneye female that was swimming in some open water on the Athabasca. Either she was a late hatch, injured or just reluctant to go south, I don't know. She has a few tough months ahead of her.

This big Mule Deer was just standing, munching on some grass and enjoying the sun shine. Oh, yeah, he was keeping an eye on his harem, three of them.

This was the only doe that was co-operative.

Bad November!

It has probably been the coldest November on record! It has snowed, frozen us out and even rained! Of course, the rain froze on contact which made driving and walking miserable for a few days.

The Athabasca River froze early this year and jammed up quite well. There is still lots of water flowing under the ice, and the current would make it very treacherous to walk on.

Above is a back flow area on the Athabasca. Below is the Groat Creek camping area along Hwy 32 South

Excitement? What's that? I have been watching lots of television and walking my 4 miles per day with the dog.We did get a new 58 inch TV to make things more view able. Any body got some favourite Netflix movies? We have exhausted all the Christian movies and a bunch of Golden Oldies.

Think Warm!

Now it Feels Like Spring!

We have all sorts of geese and things showing up now that the weather is warm. There were several hundred on the Athabasca River today.

 
 The fields along the river were also full

 

 

They were having a good feed until I showed up.

 
Even a squirrel showed up and let me know he was not happy with my presence. (Or maybe it was Daphne that he was upset with)

This is our equivalent of an iceberg flowing down the river.

A few ducks showed up. I don't know if they had migrated or overwintered in the open water.

 
Geese, geese everywhere

It was a nice balmy day at +12C or 54F for those that are not bilingual.

Had to throw in this Redpoll. He kept following me.

More on the Walk

This is a bit of a Hodge podge with some scenery of a totally frozen Athabasca River, some religious grounds and a cougar print.

The river looks solid, but there is an amazing amount of water flowing under the ice being deflected up, down and sideways by the bottom. Not to be trusted!

The colours came out nicely on the erosion bank.

From the signs and set-up, I figure this is a Native ceremonial site.

A possible sweat lodge?

This is a print that was huge! Likely it was from a wolf. It was too large for a coyote and not likely a cougar and too late (and cold) for a bear. This was a good day for me to forget my bear spray!

What to do When it's -20C or -32C counting the wind chill factor!

Well, I guess the first logical thing to do would be to stay in with a good book. Not so. After 5 days in the above temperature, I decided to grab the camera and see how the wild life was faring.

 The Magpies seemed to be doing well, and not being bothered by the cold.

 Fluffed up and enjoying the sun. We haven't seen it for a week

 This one was face planting, probably looking for a stash of food. The pigeons were out flying about and were extremely skittish.

So much for the birds! There were lots coming to the feeders, but that is for another day. I wandered down to the Athabasca River to see what was going on. This is a picture of ice forming in the current (yep, it's cold) and being sucked under an ice bridge.

 Here is the freezing water being discharged from under the ice bridge. Think very big, unflavoured slushy!

 Just a couple of more frozen water shots. Somebody think "Spring". Please!

We are only getting about 7 hours of daylight now. Anybody in the deep South want to exchange dwellings for 3 months?

Riverside

The birds are starting to return to the  area. There were lots of Canada Geese on the Athabasca River and the fields around it.

 The Common Goldeneye was back in great numbers.

 You can see how thick the ice was on the river.

 These guys were cute, and very active in the current.

 Just a couple of wing shots as they moved back up river.

 The Bald Eagles were watching them very closely, particularly the geese. 

It's good to see them back!

Hodge Podge

I had to leave Brooklyn at home today. I wore her out on the walk yesterday. Daphne was in great form and enjoyed the dog park and walk by the river. I spied this Mule doe beside the trail plus a few of her friends.

 It was sunny and warm, and they were in no mood to get up and move.

 On our way out, I had to stop for a moment and grab a few photos of the Downy Woodpecker. She hasn't been around for a few days.

 The Athabasca River is still flowing pretty good

 The daytime temps have been above freezing for the last 4 days and is forecast to continue!