WTD#24 - Edging Toward Spring

Unusually mild weather for January and February has left the feeling of sping in the air (not to tempt fate - we could still get a good winter blast before it's all done with).  Still, it has been good to feel some warmth in the sun and to watch (sympathetically, of course) the poor folks in eastern Canada (and USA) enduring one blizzard after another.

The snow on the Slocan rail trail has receded, but there is still barely enough to go for our almost daily cross-country ski.  On this day in early February there was a lovely hoar frost on the trees and bushes.

Needle frost on a shrub with the Slocan River in the background.

The resident ducks are beginning to pair up in anticipation of the breeding season, like these Barrow's Goldeneyes in the Slocan River.

Late afternoon sun on Mount Connor (left) and Siwash Mountain (right) with the Slocan RIver in the foreground.

There have been a lot of northern flickers around our place lately.  It might have something to do with the suet we put our for them.

Also saw this varied thrush, one time only, out in our yard.

Reflections in the Kootenay River near Selkirk College.

We were noticing a lot of empty mussel shells along the banks of the Columbia River by Selkirk College. Last year we watched some otters diving for mussels, so these are possibly the leavings of an otter's meal.

A very red Oregon Grape plant.

A belted kingfisher is looking for his next meal while perching on the powerlines that cross the Columbia from Castlegar to Selkirk College.

Beavers have been active in the wetland area near the Kootenay Canal, chewing off alder, willow and cottonwood saplings and then dining on the bark.

When they are done they leave the debarked stems in the shallows where they enjoyed their meal.

Lichens growing on the trunk of an older birch tree.

This dead birch has lost it's bark and the organisms of decay have etched intricate patterns into the wood.

For a few days there were three bald eagles - two adults and this juvenile - in the cottonwoods along the rail trail.

Reflections in the Slocan.

Green stuff!  These plants growing in a little streamlet near the Kootenay Canal must be protected from the frost by the water.  It's a sure sign that the seasons are about to roll over, right Pup?

- Did you say roll over?  I can do that!

- Good dawg!

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WTD#23 - Fine Winter Days

We've been confining our excursions to skiing on the rail trail and walking near Selkirk College lately, but managing to get out pretty well every day.  The weather has been mild - some sunny days, some cloudy - but overall very pleasant for January.

On a beautiful clear day, the oxbow by Selkirk College is a mirror for the cottonwoods growing along the shore.

A bit more of the same.

We disturbed a gaggle of a dozen or so Canada geese the other day, also near the oxbow on the Kootenay River.

A bald eagle was perched on a cottonwood tree on the island formed by the river and the oxbow.

The play of light on the river has been unbelievable lately.  It must have to do with the quality of  the winter sky.

The word 'quicksilver' comes to mind.

There are a lot of ducks in the area of the Kootenay-Columbia confluence - mostly buffleheads (like this male) and both common and Barrow's goldeneyes, with the odd merganser around as well.

This is a female bufflehead.

The male common goldeneye has a circular white patch on the cheek.

The male Barrow's goldeneye has a teardrop-shaped patch on the cheek.

The female common goldeneye has a brown head and a dark beak with a yellow or orange tip.

The female Barrow's also has a brown head, but it's beak is yellow or orange.

I've been told that these are seedheads of clematis growing along the Selkirk trail.  I've made a mental note to go back in the spring when the flowers are blooming.

I stopped along the road in Thrums to get a few shots of the frost on the trees, left from the overnight fog.


More frosty trees, Skattebo Reach in the background.

Slocan River by the rail trail.

Reflections in a backchannel pool.

Seedheads of a plant I have not yet identified.

More pool reflections.

A goldeneye stretching his wings in the sunset refected on the river.

Mergansers heading upriver.

Late afternoon sun on the mountains.

Another glorious day on the trail.

"Hey, wait up you guys!"

WTD#22 - A New Year

Suddenly the holidays are a distant memory, it is mid-January and the days are getting longer.  We have been blessed with a mild winter (so far) and some beautiful sunny days in the past few weeks.  Before all the snow came Dawg and I did one last hike in the Brilliant Terrace area, above Veregin's Tomb.

It seems that no matter the time of year or weather, there is beauty to be found, as in this cluster of maple seeds in the sunlight.

This is the bud of a cottonwood sapling, waiting for the warmth of spring to burst open.

Ponderosa Pine bark glowing in the sunlight.

Once the snow arrived we shifted into our routine of skiing, almost daily, on the Slocan Rail Trail.

One late afternoon we noticed a flock of almost twenty wild turkeys traversing a snowy slope above the trail.

Then, one by one, they flew up into the crown of a Douglas Fir tree to roost for the night.

I am always impressed when I see these big birds flying - it seems to defy the laws of physics.

Flying into the sunset.

The colours in the river are pretty spectacular these days.  This is the "whirlpool", near Kosiancic farm.

Some sunset reflections - same spot.

Etc.

Etc.

Looking north from the same spot.

Facing north, along a back-channel of the river.

Cottonwood skyline

Reflections in a pool in the back-channel

Cottonwoods illuminated by the afternoon sun.   What a joy to be out here on a beautiful winter's day, hey Pup?

"Why are we stopping again?"