Not a Creature was Stirring.

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Not a Creature was Stirring. (Except for a few)

Jan 11/21 dawned bright and "cool". (-27°C/-16°F with a windchill of -36°C/-33°F)

It might well be the coldest day of the winter - so far. (Edit: Four days later it was a few degrees colder.)

I decided to head over to our "fav" nature area in town: Mud Lake, aka Britannia Conservation Area. I was curious what creatures might be stirring on such a cold day.

In the summer it is a hive of activity: ducks galore, geese, herons, wild turkey(s), owl(s), small birds, four kinds of squirrels, raccoons, turtles, a weasel or two, muskrat, beaver etc. A black bear and coyote have been known to drop by as well very occasionally.

In the winter things are quite quiet with many of the birds having migrated south, and some of the other animals hibernating.

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I quickly discovered I was going to have issues seeing anything as my glasses fogged up as soon as I raised the camera to me eye.

A few squirrels greeted me at the entrance to the path. Three black and one red. The black squirrel's frosty moustache/whiskers were a hint of what mine were likely to look like in 2 hours time.

Usually there are more squirrels around, either some were sleeping, or the population was being reduced by the weasel.

There were a few, very few, of the usual small birds looking for a handout: Chickadees, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers. They were fluffed up against the cold.

Normally the little guys come to hand to be fed, but I couldn't take pictures and do that at the same time, so I deposited a few seeds.

Male downy woodpecker on the left, and female on the right.

I even managed to catch a junco in the lens, usually they are too fast. This one seemed more brownish, than the usual grey tones.

Further along the trail I came across one of four rabbits we frequently see on the 2.5km circle tour. This is the smallest of the four; he was hunkered down in the bush eating a bare twig. I took pity on him and gave him a fresh carrot which he promptly devoured. Then came out of the bush to thank me and pose.

One section of the trail is low and can be dodgy in the spring as to whether you can do the full circle tour with this section getting ankle deep in water/mud. During the summer a small, low beaver dam keeps the lake water back. It normally is not an issue in the winter, but yesterday there was fresh slippery ice covering a large area with some circular patterns.

I headed over to the "ridge" next to the Ottawa River to check for ducks in the river, frost and smaller birds that hang out on the ridge.

I found some frost; longer flakes than what I found 9 days earlier. Because there was a breeze, the moist air was being gently blown over the ice which was covered with frost flakes.

Even the sewer grates had frost flakes.

Down on the river there was a lone female mallard, three female mergansers and a small gathering of common golden-eyes.

Mallard top left, merganser top right and eight golden-eye bottom

Some of the golden-eye ducks were actively diving to feed.

Male golden-eye top, female bottom.

Ice and frost formations at the river edge.

The fluctuating water levels had left ice shelves on branches.

Meanwhile, back on the ridge....

Male cardinal glowing in the bright early morning sun.

A pair of cardinals and a female downy woodpecker were investigating some seeds I dropped. (Few cardinals will come to hand, and this female downy was shy.)

The cardinal was not impressed that the downy was horning in on the small cache.

Cold weather saps camera batteries. I had gone through two and half batteries in two hours.... Time for me to head home and re-charge my own batteries!

Created By

Jim Robertson

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