It was a solid cloud sky in the mid-afternoon but I heard the water levels were down a bit at Petrie, so putting on my boots, off I went.
You could see ice shelves hanging on trees about 6-9" above the water, so the water was certainly down. I cautiously headed down Bill Holland Trail, but the water deepened and came up to within an inch from the top of my boots, the current was strong - I was not at the deepest spot, so I turned around....
Turtle pond and other waterways were still ice covered with the occasional hole, but the Ottawa River was flowing quickly and had tossed 10-12" thick ice floes up on the shoreline.
There was no open water adjacent to the beaver lodge along Turtle Trail, but beavers canswim a long way under water. I heard some tail flaps and looked around. On the far side of Turtle Pond a beaver looked to be practising his warning tail flaps.
Three muskrats, recently out of winter hibernation, were busily chewing on water plants in small ice openings in Turtle Pond.
(While moving quietly closer to one of the muskrats, a beaver and I spotted each other when only about 10 feet apart, he noisily dove into the water - I missed the beaver photo !!)
The maple trees are patiently waiting to open their buds when the weather is consistently warmer
Being mid-afternoon and still plenty of snow cover, there weren't a lot of birds around
A song sparrow
A turkey vulture
Three Canada geese were busy preening and bathing in a "lake" on the beach, while others flew by
