15-FEB-2018
White-breasted nuthatch
This nuthatch posed very cooperatively in between snatching seeds from the nearby feeder.
15-FEB-2018
White-breasted nuthatch
And another view of the cooperative nuthatch.
15-FEB-2018
White pine needles
Water droplets on white pine needles.
15-FEB-2018
Grey squirrel, black phase
When he found that I was not offering seeds, he ran up the juniper tree behind the bench and peered out at me, perhaps hoping I'd changed my mind. Just way too cute!
15-FEB-2018
Grey squirrel, black phase
Looking for a handout. I was surprised to see this squirrel come running when he saw me standing in the Backyard garden area of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Normally more wary than this, they don't approach. But then I noticed lots of peanut shells on the ground, and lots of seeds on the back of the bench. Someone has been regularly feeding this guy and possibly others. He climbed up on to the bench looking for seeds, all the while looking terribly adorable!
15-FEB-2018
Grey squirrel
This squirrel was gleaning the remaining few manitoba maple seeds from a tree near the Butterfly Meadow. Slim pickings there now.
15-FEB-2018
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Feasting on a norway spruce cone, this squirrel was sitting above what had been a huge cache of cones. Most seem to have been consumed, but there are other caches nearby, and no doubt there are cones beneath the debris.
15-FEB-2018
Downy woodpecker, female
The peanut feeder is always an attraction, especially for woodpeckers and nuthatches.
15-FEB-2018
Northern cardinal, male
This male was sitting high up in the tree, singing his spring song. It was a mild day, above freezing, and felt very spring-like, though spring is some way off yet. However, cardinals and chickadees are both singing away now, as they have been for several weeks. Always a welcome sound.
15-FEB-2018
Northern cardinal, female
Meantime, over at the Old Woods area of the garden, this female cardinal was busy feeding. Not many birds around this feeder while I was there; most activity was over at the feeder behind the Resource Centre.
15-FEB-2018
Old Woods
Looking north along the trail through the old woods on a misty day.
15-FEB-2018
Butterfly meadow
The north end of the meadow looking south. Although it may be difficult to believe at the moment, in a few months there will be a mass of lupines, attracting numerous insects.
02-FEB-2018
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Picking up seeds spilled from the bird feeder.
02-FEB-2018
Grey squirrel
Grey (and red) squirrels do not hibernate, therefore they need to find a constant supply of food to get them through the winter. Both species cache food, but under the ice it is not always easy for the greys to find their buried food (reds tend to create big piles of cones and walnuts, readily accessible). Those crabapples with fruit still remaining and the keys of manitoba maples become especially important right about now.
02-FEB-2018
Pileated woodpecker work
As can be seen, there are fresh wood chips on the snow, indicating a pileated at work. On the other side of the tree and higher up, are more fresh holes. This old snag has been worked over multiple times through the years, by pileated, downy, and hairy woodpeckers.
02-FEB-2018
Pileated woodpecker, male
I noticed some very fresh pileated woodpecker activity on a well-used conifer snag in the old woods. The first time I went by, a downy woodpecker was busy at the tree. Later, I went back to see if by chance the pileated might be there, and sure enough, there he was, even posing for a photo.
02-FEB-2018
Red-breasted nuthatch
The nuthatch was really working on these cones, ignoring the nearby feeder where other birds were busy. It was a cold day at the Fletcher garden but the following birds were found in the hour I spent there: Pileated woodpecker 1, White-breasted nuthatch 2, Black-capped chickadees 8, House finch 2, Northern cardinal 4, Downy woodpecker 3, dark-eyed junco 1, American crow 2, and this Red-breasted nuthatch.
02-FEB-2018
Ravine
Looking east from the pond down the ravine where there is still some open water in the small stream.
02-FEB-2018
The amphibian pond
Completely snow covered and with not a single track marring the surface. I can't help thinking of when fox tracks were common after every snowfall, cris-crossing the pond.
02-FEB-2018
Red-breasted nuthatch
A chubby little nuthatch who spent much time poking away at the cone.
