Went for a walk around the Islands the day before a large snowfall. Being mid-week, I seemed to be the only one there, except for the ice fishermen.
The picnic tables were welcoming; some covered in snow, others swept clear.
Some of the benches overlooking the river were cleared as well
The river was windswept with chunks of ice close to shore
The trails on land were generally well trodden, with skiers and snowshoers seeming to have preferred the ice
A bench along one of the trails was obviously a welcome sight/site for people of all transportation modes
However, where a section of trail was exposed to winds off the river, there were snow drifts to deal with.
The bright sun showed off the dogwood bushes and grasses
Patterns of grass blown on the snow surface, and shadows, have always caught my eye
The Turtle Trail beaver lodge was completely buried along with most of its larder. One or two muskrat lodges still showed in the snow
A few bird nests, not in the best of repair, were visible in the trees, including a Baltimore Oriole nest (right photo)
Talking about Baltimore Orioles, the ball of mylar tape, string and fishing line, that a female Baltimore was entangled in last May, is still caught up in the tree
There weren't many birds around but it was nice to spot a pileated woodpecker. They are about the same size as a crow. This one was a female. Males have red on their cheeks
A pair of hairy woodpeckers also announced their presence with hammering. Male on the left, with a red cap on his head, female on right with no red cap. Hairy woodpeckers look essentially the same as a downy woodpecker but they are larger.
There were a few chickadees hoping for handouts and an occasional nuthatch
A mouse or a vole had popped up out of the snow made a short set of tracks, and turned around to disappear back into the hole
Rabbit tracks led into deeper snow, around some bushes, leaving some telltale signs, and produced a cottontail rabbit
A red squirrel took a look at me, scurried partway up a dead tree trunk for another look and then a final look from the top of the vine covered trunk
It might have been my imagination, but it looked like the river otters had been playing around the open outlet from Turtle Pond into the River. Up the far side and then sliding down the near side. Looked like the sliding hills they used to use years ago in a different spot
The water flowing into the river ran by decorative patterns on the edge of the ice
The moisture from the open water coupled with the cold, produced some nice frost crystals
Further along the trail there were more frost crystals caused by moist warmish air coming up under a small log
Most of the bittersweet berries had fallen off or wizled up, but there were a few still showing colour
Buckthorn berries were still plentiful, as were burrs ready to catch your pants. Basswood trees were still dropping a few seeds.
There were two lone portable fishing huts off the east beach, in contrast to the main "village" of huts
As I was leaving the fire department water rescue boat arrived for training/practice session
