Still not many birds around. The usual few juncos, cardinals, house finches (have not seen the big flocks of 40+ birds for a couple of weeks), chickadees, three mourning doves, a couple of white-breasted nuthatches, and crows.

I was also intrigued by a set of meadow vole tracks and runs as well as little hole dug in the snow with scat deposited. I followed the tracks and tried to figure out what was happening. At any rate, the tracks came out from under the snow on the edge of the old field, ran into the open, circled around a bit, then the hole was dug and the small pile of scat left. The tracks then headed north on the surface for about a metre before they turned into quite a significant "run" (like a tunnel without the roof). This pattern of traveling over the surface, then within a "run", carried on for about 100 metres, before the tracks veered back into vegetation and stopped at the entrance of a snow tunnel beside a tree. Dog and human prints disturbed the pattern in places, other wise I might have tried to get a video clip of the whole thing. Not entirely sure what was going on, but oh well, it gave me something to look at, and gave Tasha time to sit. Meadow voles are far less likely to travel across the snow surface in winter than mice are, but this doesn't mean they never do it. Just that they are more adept at tunneling beneath the snow.

This crow was eating what looked like a rabbit's leg, but it was hard to tell for sure. Whatever it was, it was frozen and hard. The crow was pecking away and it was more like chipping at ice than anything. He swallowed the fur as well as the flesh, but every so often some tufts of fur would float down.

This crow and one other were sitting in the row of Scotch pines at the Fletcher garden, every so often looking hopefully at a 3rd crow who had either a vole or a mouse which he was eating. Whether he caught it or scavenged it, I don't know. You can see small white splotches on this guy. They are the droppings which most crows in winter are splattered with... one of the hazards of communal roosting! You can compare this crow with the raven in the next shot.

It was late in the day and I was looking at the large piles of rabbit scat in the BYG, and wondering if the rabbit was still around, when I noticed this one sitting just down the slope in the ravine. We haven't reached the large numbers of rabbits in the garden that occurred a few years ago, but have more than in 2008 and the first half of 2009.

Another shot of the ATV tracks, this time looking eastward to the end of the Backyard Garden.

Sitting in an apple tree by the Old Field area, this handsome dove is one of only a few this winter. It has been awhile since we had up to 30 at a time during the winter around the Ash Woods, in the Ravine and sitting here, by the Old Field. It was quite the sight to see so many doves lined up along branches or sitting on top of the vine covered snag near the feeder, catching the sun's rays. On cloudy days, they would hide in the vine tangle, or huddle deep within one of the large spruce nearby.

And here is the female house finch. The females are often mistaken for sparrows by beginning birders, and no wonder! They certainly look like many of our "little brown job" sparrows at first glance.

There were several chickadees exploring and excavating these Scotch pines for insects. Many insects overwinter as larva or pupa under bark, underneath leaf litter, in twigs, vines, etc., and here you can see that the chickadee has found an insect cocoon. Chickadees, much as they like the seeds at our feeders, also like, and need, the protein that comes from eating insects. You can see them expertly probing all manner of vegetation, looking for insects. I've particularly noticed them working away at the dried DSV vines. Sometimes there will be 3 or 4 of them together diligently poking around in the vines and pulling out something so minute I can't see what it is they have. At any rate, we know that insects do use the DSV, but they appear not to be at all injurious to it. However... I suspect, from what I have heard, that we'll see a possible biocontrol agent in another 4 or 5 years.

The human tracks dominate here! You can see where skiers have crossed the pond, where dogs and owners have cris-crossed it. At the far end of the pond, you can also see where crows, rabbits, and fox have also crossed the pond.

This little guy was sitting on the edge of the Ravine, by the Backyard Garden. He looked very pensive, and even when I slowly approached, he did nothing but turn and glance at me before resuming this stance. Eventually he gave himself a little shake and jumped down into the Ravine.

A nice way to start the month is with a splash of bright colour in the form of this male cardinal. At the Backyard Garden feeder, located behind the Interpretive Centre, there was little bird activity. A few house finches, about 6 chickadees, a female downy woodpecker, and a dark-eyed junco. Three red squirrels were also hanging around beneath the feeder.