Around Town

A walk-about today got me to the Athabasca River to enjoy the Canada Geese. (Noisy bunch). The weather was about +5C with no wind, so it was a great day for walking. Daphnie and I did 7 miles yesterday, and 4 so far today.

 I think they were happy to see some sun and feel the warmth.

 Can you guess which is the female?

 On a lighter note the Common Sparrows were pigging out at the feeder.

 So too were the Red Polls. Welcome back to the frozen North!

 The mail Red Poll was staying close to the female.

Happy Spring Like Weather?

Just when it was starting to get nice and warm, we got another dump of snow, about 15 cm. We just had our street plowed and then the snow hit

I am running out of room to shovel it!

 Daphnie was not bothered by the snow, and preferred to lie out in it

Yep, It's Coming Up Spring

Some of the early signs of spring are showing up. No matter that we are in a middle of a snow fall warning and visibility is way down. I heard geese squawking two days ago as they flew over the house in a snow storm. I found them today on the Athabasca River looking very miserable!

 I can just hear the missus saying " Charley, I told you it was too early to go North. I could be warming my feet in the sand on a beach where the temperature is 76 degrees! But no, you had to get going! Next year, for once in your life, listen to me when I say "Its too early""

 I cant hear you, I have my head under my wing!

 Just to put it in perspective here is a photo of our street just before the last snowfall!

A Time to Frolic...

Fresh grass, warm weather, life is good!

The Ospreys are Back!

I was taking Daphnie for a walk in the Dog Park today and noted an Osprey sitting on a nest. The Town of Whitecourt installed a telephone pole and a nesting platform in Rotary Park about 8 or10 years ago. It has produced 2 to 3 chicks each year. The post is set back a bit from the walking trail, and a sign display gives the Osprey story. It is really pretty nice! Today was snowing, blowing and downright miserable and not conducive to photography so, here is a shot or two from last year

Lets hope this years nesting is as successful as this!

Down by the River

Yesterday, we broke a 59 year old record at 19.3 C! Today is much the same! The woodland paths are flooded, muddy and slippery where there is still ice. No trails, off to the River I go.

 The first of the critters today was this squirrel. The warm weather has brought them out, and they are very hungry!

 There are lots of Canada Geese arriving from the south. Front side of a bathing pose

 Back side of the bathing pose.

 Drying off

 Looking regal!

The old pick -the -feathers -while- standing- on- one -leg pose

Its good to see them back! They kind of are replacing the Red Polls, Sparrows and others that are off nesting up.

Why I Always Bring My Camera!

On my daily walk with Daphnie, I couldn't take my normal route due to a flooded creek. I thought I would go to the Athabasca to see if there were any migratory birds back. On the way we came across 2 moose, a cow and a calf. Last years calf was almost as big as mama, running about 1000 pounds.

Well, Daphnie was off leash, saw the moose and took off after them. They moved off the trail a bit, and stopped. After a couple more yelps, Daphnie stopped too. Both looked at each other and allowed me a few photos, not as good as if they were on the trail, but still interesting (at least to me). I attempted to move closer, but got the old "stink eye". They slowly moved off. My closest was about 25 feet.

I couldn't get both Daphnie and the Moose in the same picture due to the height of the moose, the shortness of Daphnie and the depth of the snow.
Caution: Potential Multiple Photos!

Update

Its been quite a time since my last Blog posting. A lot has happened! Spring has finally turned to HOT summer (it seems). The yard work is complete and the gardens planted. The trees have been trimmed and the flowers are coming up. I figured I would take a break and compute.

Our eldest grandson graduated this spring. That meant 4 days in Red Deer enjoying the event. He is off to Red Deer University in the fall. Its close to home and the living is good

 

Our bird houses were cleaned out and put back up. I put them on 2 foot galvanized pipe on top of the fence posts to discourage our neighbours cat. We will see if that works or not. So far we have a House Wren settled in. She is not spooky at all. 

House Wren

Also we have a Black Capped Chickadee in the nest at the peak of the garage. Smart bird! No cats will get up there. The male is bringing food to her, so perhaps she has already laid eggs.



Black Capped Chickadee

The other nests are being fought over by two pairs of Tree Swallows. We will see how that works out! Hopefully, your yard or acreage is bloom!







Spring Outing

I decided to take a bit of a walk/drive today. The bush is drying up and the critters are starting to move around. The Whitetail Deer look healthy.

I suspect there were a couple of fawns near by, but I didn't want to disturb them.

Some of them were hard to pick out. They blend right in.

There are still a few single geese around. Not a lot of other birds have arrived back yet. Due to the weather, I figure they are about a month behind normal.

 

A Quick Update

Our snow has almost gone! The last two weeks have been spent cleaning up outside.


The patio furniture has been unstacked, washed and placed into the summer position.


The garage has been cleaned out of all the winter accumulation and junk, including the multi pounds of sand that came in with the cars.


The fruit trees have all been pruned back, including our ornamental crab apple. I took about 1/3 of the branches off it as it was getting very scraggly looking.


The dog, Daphne has me trained in two walks a day for a total of about 6 miles. It is much better now that the snow is gone and it is warm.

Even with a sprained foot (mine) she insisted on her walks. It was funny in that I went to get it x-rayed, due to the possibility of a bone in the foot being broken then the next day, rolled it again. The foot swelling went done, but I cant find my ankle bone.

We did get out for some bush walks. Read this as soaked, cold and very miserable walking. I managed to find most trails flooded, but Daphne insisted. She rules, you know. Nobody ever told her that she was a dog! Anyway I did find this critter. He/she was just out of hibernation and a little ratty looking. I had to chase her about 100 meters before she would stop

 and take a picture. As you can see, she was not very happy! I stayed just out of spray range.

I was looking for shots of skunks for about years. Patience is great!

The Beginning of Spring-like Weather

At last we are getting a break in the weather with temperatures forecast to be above freezing into double digits for the next 2 weeks. Spring is here?

My faithful companion and I did a walk today, enjoying the sunshine.

 At first I thought it really was spring as the bushes were flowering. Wishful thinking?

 The Eagle was still on his perch watching the River for fish, or, maybe, just enjoying the sunshine. It still looks like he has attitude!

 There were still more ducks on the river today. They look very healthy in spite of the -30C weather that we have had.

I am looking forward to the heat and snow shrinkage. It will be lots easier to get out!

Enough, Already!

Here we are , March 7 and we have more snow than ever! 8 inches over the last few days, and 4 more days forecast. Daphne is the only one that doesn't seem to mind the -15C and the snow.