After a long birding hiatus the indoor isolation of these crazy times finally caught up with me. On a whim, I took a few hours off in the afternoon and headed down to the Whitemud Creek, for the first time in seven months. The usual suspects greeted me along the trail – Black-capped Chickadees, Nuthatches,…
What is Project 366? Read more here. Its seems surreal that I actually have reached post 366, that it has been a whole year and that this project has now been completed. So much has happened during this year, I am one year older, my teen is different person altogether and the world has changed…
What is Project 366? Read more here. In the Whitemud Ravine one often comes across ravens around the orange pipeline that crosses the creek close to the Snow Valley end. Last spring the several raven couples even tried to build stick nests on the pipeline. None of them seemed to be successful, however. The other…
What is Project 366? Read more here. What is black and white and red all over? Both Hairy an Downy Woodpeckers unfortunately. I like this picture because it nicely shows the feature that distinguished the Hairy Woodpecker from the almost identical Downy Woodpecker. The bill in the Hairy Woodpecker is chisel-like and nearly the same…
What is Project 366? Read more here. On our walk along the Whitemud Creek we came across a Red Squirrel that seemed to be just resting on a tree branch. Our presence did not bother it. Even when I slowly walked up to only about 5 feet away it did not budge. It did not…
What is Project 366? Read more here. The forest was filled with excited buzzing trills. It was a familiar sound, yet I could not put my finger on who was making it. Fleeting fast shadows passed between the tree tops overhead. I was still stumped. I had it on the tip of my tongue…, until…
What is Project 366? Read more here. So finally we have reached the end of the official winter season. Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, at least astronomically speaking. While the landscape remain snow covered and the creeks and rivers frozen over the forest is changing. You can hear and see the changes. There…
What is Project 366? Read more here. Yesterday’s post was about an audacious and carefree Black-backed Woodpecker. Well, today’s post is about the damage he caused. The picture shows the “trail of destruction” he left behind. On our way back the woodpecker was gone but the handiwork of his activity was clearly visible. The woodpecker’s…
What is Project 366? Read more here. We had just spotted two glorious Pileated Woodpeckers having a feast in a stand of old growth trees. As we continued walking down the trail we met another birder. As good birding citizens we shared birding intel. We told him about the Pileated Woodpeckers and he informed us…
What is Project 366? Read more here. Last weekend we went by the Great Horned Owl nesting site in the Whitemud Ravine. Since the beginning of March the female has been in her cavity every day with the male perching high up in a nearby pine tree. This time, however, there was not sight of…