The River Again!

The day was a little warmer with temperatures around the freezing mark. My friends the Common Goldeneyes were still around swimming in the current and diving for food. They appear to have over wintered well. They are one of my favourite ducks.  

The Eagles were still hanging out in the tree andwere kind of watching Daphne. Unfortunately they were in sleep mode and unwilling to fly.

They sure are majestic in their manner, like don't muss with me!

These two seem to hang out together. Whether they will be a nesting pair we will see.

We have enough snow now that travel in the bush requires snow shoes and a lot of effort. It appears the forecast for the next two weeks is good and I can get back out looking for other critters.

Have a great weekend!

Improvements!

 It was a great day with the temp actually getting up to +4C . Time to take the dog out for some exercise.

We took the camera and did about 4 klicks looking for wild life, but found nada.


Not even a bird was to be found,

We wandered along some bush roads for about an hour. It was a great time out. Quiet, Peaceful, and warm



 I have to put out a couple of photos from the front window, just to show that all the birds are not frozen.  


This Hairy Woodpecker had
just finished at the suet container.
 The Pine Grosbeak similarly had pigged out on the sunflower seeds

The little Red Poll was so fat it could hardly move.








This guy enjoyed getting his photo taken. At least it seemed so!

It should be possible to bigify the pictures

A Doggone Good day!

Actually, it was several good days! A 5 kilometer walk with the dogs was very good for all three of us.

 There was lots of snorfelling. What they were looking for I don't know. Maybe mice.

 Daphne was the first to lose interest.

 At home, the Red Polls were posing.

 The Hairy Wood Pecker was back. He hasn't been around for a few days.

 This was a new addition to the feeder. The dogs put the run on her pretty quick.

 Then on the way home, I spotted this lady riding in the field. I stopped to take a picture, and got an invite to a Cutter ride. My first ever! It was fun! The pony's name is "Annie".

 Yep, I could get to like this! Too bad horses are a thing of the past for me.

Another Jaunt

The weather continues to be great, sunny and warm, at least for the last few days. 10 cm of snow forecast for tonight and then back into the deep freeze. I am trying to convince people to build a humongous wall that will divert these high pressure cold air masses eastward past Alberta. On paper it seems like a good idea.

I decided to load the dogs and drive to an area where I could let them run, and that would shorten the walk and ease the strain on my back. If you step off the snow machine trail, you sink up to your waist.

Outward Bound

Lots of things to Sniff

4 Wheel Freedom

Rest Time

Hiding in the Weeds

Homeward Bound

Bored!

Today, all is packed and waiting for the move. December 6th is only 12 days away, and all the hard packing is done. Nothing left to do, but take the two dogs for a snowshoe today. I had to kick Boots off the bed, but he came, and enjoyed himself.

This is probably too many pictures, but there is not that much time left on the Acreage. A guy has to make do with what time is left.

Coming home from church this morning, we had to stop on the road for a cow and calf moose. They were in the middle of the road eating road salt. The calf was down on his front knees. kind of cute! you know where my camera was, right? Yep, at home on the kitchen table. Grrrr.

The sun is pretty far south now.

 What am I doing here? The bed is much warmer!

 Snow is tasty!

 Can we get going? Why isn't brooklyn breaking trail? She is built like a snow plow!

 I think I buried a bone somewhere around here.

 What's this about me being a wide load? besides you buried the bone over there.

 Over here?

 Let me show you.

 I think it's here.

 Or maybe here.

 Never mind my slave will get me another!

 Oh, give it up! The bone is gone!

OK, OK, It is Pretty

The short term memory loss must have kicked in as I don't remember all the details of snow blowing 400 feet of driveway and 2500 square feet of deck. Nor do I remember the 2 1/2 hours of exercise, much.
(If you believe that, I heard of a pretty good bridge for sale cheap).

It warmed up from the -28C (-18F) to -10C (14F) today so I decided to find the snow shoes in a packed and stacked garage.

Besides, Brooklyn needed some exercise. Boots elected to stay inside on the bed.

 This is the backside of a deer going by the deck

 50+ cm (20 inches) of snow so far and it is only November 23!

 Do I have to break trail, Boss?

 Yep, we'll get some weight off you somehow!

 Never follow a tired dog!

 Can't a person have some privacy? Really!

 The young fawns of this year are already belly dragging. Not a good sign!

 Homeward bound, on the trail.

 The shoes are 50+ years old, and still going strong.

Yep, I guess it is pretty!

Last Snowshoe of the Year, I Hope!

The weather is forecast to improve drastically over the next 4 to 5 days, with temperatures coming back up to the +10C range in the daytime and down to about freezing at night. With the sun high in the sky, the white stuff should disappear in a hurry, I hope.

If you take the shoes off and step off the trail you sink about 3 feet. Without the shoes, it would be very tough going.

It looks like the mouse from  Drunken Mouse either sobered up, or has become more focused. He was certainly having no trouble keeping up on top. 

This has seemed to be a very long winter, with snow coming early and staying late. Plus we have had a lot of it this year.