Gnawing on a black walnut. Walnut trees flourish at the garden, almost all of them planted by squirrels, mostly the grey squirrels who bury the nuts, forget where all of them are, and pretty soon, another walnut tree emerges. Given that the squirrels planted all but a couple of walnut trees, they could really be considered the owners of these trees!

Many crabapples in both the FWG and the Arboretum next door, have a lot of fruit left. Once the colder weather comes, much of this will vanish as squirrels and birds feed on the apples. But not all crabapples are eaten, some varieties have been bred to be unappealing to birds so that the fruit will stay on all winter.

Surrounded by snow, a thin layer of mushy ice on the surface, the pond looks ready for winter. Hopefully, once spring comes, some vegetation will begin growing around the edges, both in and out of the water, to provide shelter and nesting sites. At present, it is not very attractive to wildlife.

Gordon photographed this Red-tailed Hawk near the red barn on 21 November. Earlier, he watched it fly through the FWG "accompanied by about 200 Crows that were flying in and around the forest by the barn."

This fluffy pink mass was attached to the inside of another tree wrap - likely a spider's egg sac.

Enjoying the seeds at the Backyard Garden feeder. Both this feeder, and the other one by the Old Woods, are busy now, and attracting a fairly steady stream of birds. On the day I was there, mostly chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches and as here, house finches.

Two pairs of mallards in the pond, and judging by the bits of debris stuck to their bills sometimes, they'd been able to find something to eat in the pond.

A view looking west across the recently rehabilitated pond. It looks terribly unappealing right now, with no vegetation for birds to hide in, though four mallards were floating around on it for a little while. The wide stonedust path is not something that appeals to me, but it was thought that it would help visitors navigate around the pond. The original path was narrow and on an angle. This now looks too civilized less wild.(CH).

Happily plucking pieces of peanut from the well-used and obviously much-appreciated peanut feeder in the Backyard Garden of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden.

Even though it is getting on for mid-November, there are a surprising number of flowers still in bloom. This lupine was the most showy at the garden, and the only one I could find still in flower. There were also dandelions and some tansy in flower.

This gorgeous bird is one that really brightens up our snowy winters. But he is also a treat to see the rest of the year too. These birds live year round in the Ottawa area, sometimes forming small flocks in winter of anywhere from 5-10 birds. The female, more subdued in colour but equally pretty, is in the previous photo.

Photographed near the pond in the Backyard Garden section of the FWG, these seed pods bear a striking resemblance to those of the ultra-invasive dog-strangling vine (Cynanchum rossicum) which grows in abundance at the garden (though many volunteers are working very hard to combat it). This plant, however, is native and is used by the monarch butterfly to lay her eggs on.

Looking north through the old woods with so much colour still remaining on the trees, unusual for this late in the season, but welcome!

These seeds may not look like much, but when most other natural food sources have been eaten, these seeds are greedily sought by a variety of wildlife species, squirrels and finches in particular.

Not sure which species this polypore is, that Barry photographed.

Not sure which species this is or what is going on, but in this photo by Barry, it seems that either another type of fungus is growing over the mushroom, or perhaps a slime mould.

While most robins head south, there are increasing numbers remaining over the winter months. As long as they can find food and shelter, they'll survive the bitter cold.

Barry photographed this mushroom and presumably it was put on this branch by a red squirrel, a species known to harvest and dry mushrooms for later use.

A nice composition of moss and lichens photographed by Barry. We don't always take time to look at these particular species but when we do, we find out how attractive they are.

Although these fungi are quite common at the FWG and elsewhere, they never cease to delight, with their striped fans of brown, cream, and, in this case mostly grey.

The tree planted in 1997 is finally producing seeds, quite a number of them, although mainly on one branch.

Looking waaaay up to get this photo! Barry's shot gives an excellent idea of just how tall this oak tree is. There is a grey squirrel's nest up there too.

There are a couple of trees at the garden with large apples, this being one them. Eventually the fruit will be eaten by wildlife and perhaps a few humans too. But at present they create a visually appealing image with their bright red colour in the sunlight.

As you can see, some geese are flying one way, some the other, in this photo by Barry. Perhaps a bit confused.