Skywatch Over a Frozen Swamp

Just after sunrise

I enjoy visiting cities and being in crowds of people from time to time. Toronto is always interesting and our trip to New York City last year was a great experience. We mingled with many other Winterlude visitors in Ottawa and walked through several tourist areas. I was ready for bed before 10PM each night, thoroughly tired out from fresh air and exercise. But my daughters...well they are still on young adult schedules where night is for fun and morning is for sleeping in, especially on holidays.

Hoarfrost

I tiptoed out of the hotel room each morning at 6:30 AM and drove 15 km to a greenbelt area in nearby Nepean while the others slept. An extensive trail system is found here in an area of forests, swamps and meadows. In spite of the early morning cold, it was a beautiful spot to see the sun rise and watch the birds and animals start their daily search for food. Heavy hoarfrost was on tree branches and reeds until the sun rose high enough to burn it off.

Clear skies over the frozen swamp

I read online that there was to be a guided birding tour one morning but no one else showed up. The trail was well marked so I set off to explore it on my own with my walking poles and ice cleats. I met a few other friendly hikers including an older man who was hand feeding chickadees and putting out carrot pulp from his juicer for the deer. Old Boomers who feed wildlife and make their own juice are quite safe to be around in my opinion, even if they are strangers. This man told me I was on the wrong trail for the guided birding but he showed me a tree where he had seen a Barred Owl the week before. Then he was off to share his food in another section of the bush.

Female Pileated Woodpecker in the morning light

I was delighted to see several Pileated Woodpeckers in the dead trees around the swamp. The entire trail was full of various woodpeckers and their hammering was heard in every direction. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers have been reported in the area but I only saw Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers along with the Pileateds.

Two hours on a trail like this leaves me feeling invigourated, unlike pavement pounding which tires me quickly. It was a good thing it was so cold as I would have been tempted to stay much longer if my hands and feet were not so numb.

More about this trail in a future post...

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