Monday, June 3, 2013

Hey Judy, where are you?

 The fawns were in our yard just this past Saturday (June 1st)  I think they are just a couple of days old
 New leaves. all the different hues of green on the trail is just beautiful
 Crab Apple tree at work.  the one right outside my office
 
The chipmunks in Basswood are out and hungry
 Spawning Bass
 I have only seen one kit twice.  Bums me out. Hope it is OK
 The Red Breasted Nuthatch's nest
 Had to throw this in.  It was so nice out but the trail still had snow on it.  Of course, the snow is gone now
 Tree Swallows back and nesting.  Haven't seen a Bluebird yet
 Bass Wood early Spring
 Your rock :)
The Red Squirrel early Spring. Losing its winter coat
 Marsh Marigolds are out
The Wood Ducks were by the bridge

Saturday, April 27, 2013

To Judy

These pictures are for you Judy
 The bridge finally rid itself of snow
 But THEN... You turn and look at the trail.  YIKES
 However, even if the trail is a mess, a big mess, the Mallards are back
 There is the trail pavement.  AFter I stepped through the ice. Still several inches of ice
 Flickers.  Lots of them
 And the Woodchucks are out!!!!! He/she told me to say hi to you :)
 The ice at Turtle Junction is melting
 As the snow melts the leaves from the fall show themselves.
 I just love taking pictures of pussy willows.  The silvery buds are shining everywhere
 Geese are so beautiful.  I cannot get enough of them this year.
I'm seeing a lot of fox sparrows this year
Yes, the snowfalls have been beautiful this year.  But I'm glad we have moved on into spring.  (just thought I would throw in the Lake Ave bridge for ya)
The trail misses you.  And so do I.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

There ARE signs of spring

If you look for it-- you can see signs of Spring
  The willow and the red twig dogwood shrub  deep in color
 Winter Bittersweet
 Willow branches turning the bright yellow/gold that spring brings
 A LOT of geese and swans on the river. It is all so wonderful
 Caught the Mink-- on the ice-- on the branch-- in the river
  At first I couldn't figure out if this was a Mink or Otter.  Decided it was a Mink.  
I know this now for today I saw an Otter on the river and it is much longer, bigger.  The otter was eating on something and an eagle flew over and tried snatching the food, the otter was to quick
The river was beautiful.  
 Golden Eye is back
 Gotcha.  My first chipmunk this season.  In my garage eating up the sunflower seed on the garage floor.  Also saw one in the woods on the trail.
The Trumpeter Swan is amazing and big!
Blue Heron is back
The Dark Eyed Junco. I was very excited to see it
The Snow Bug
I was super excited to see the Red Bellied Woodpecker
pussy willows budding
 THe squirrel and the deer eating sun flower seed that I put out for the chickadees and nuthatches
 My new favorite thing to take a picture of.  They are so beautiful


So go outside and look around.  Don't let this snow fool you.  There are signs of spring everywhere. A fb friend saw robins today.  THis is so exciting!!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

"Nothing Burns like the cold"

The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets
 Only a couple of the pictures, in this blog were taken on the trail.  Not much walking this winter.  It has been so cold and------- “Nothing burns like the cold.” 
I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.  ~Andrew Wyeth
The Red Squirrel.  I'm afraid I'm beginning to like this rodent.  Yup. They have a great personalilty.

I love the white around it's eyes.  They chatter a lot, but sometimes very annoying and loud. But to watch them is to laugh
We've had a lot of snow this year.  Many beautiful days.  On these days the quiet is loud, I'm alone with the trees, birds, squirrels, and the world becomes private and still for a moment.
This deer wanted the sunflower seed so bad that she took a chance I would be friendly. 
The fox hole has some activity.
The blue jay.  A very bright blue, smart, aggressive, loud bird
Female Pine Grosbeak
They belong to the Finch family.  So beautiful
 
I haven't seen the eagles sitting by their nest this winter. The river is  frozen so they have to go elsewhere.  I haven't witnessed  many muskrats feeding either. 
OK, I lied!!!!  I walked the trail today, Saturday 2/11th, and the river is open and the eagle was there.

Well, this is it.  I haven't taken many pictures this winter.  The trail hasn't been very user friendly.  Between the roller coaster  route and the winter bite my visits have been few.

I lied again, the trail has been groomed.  No roller coaster walk.  A lot of snowmobiles on the trail today.  And I'm sorry to report that some snowmobilers have been destructive to the wetlands.  They aren't staying on the trail they have been given, they are going off into the wetlands.  THEY HAVE THEIR OWN TRAIL SO STAY ON IT!!!

 Snow art 
The moon was out today.  It sure has been brightly shinning in the night sky lately