Wetland wonders as I wander

 Wetland wanders led to some observations. It's a good time to be out there, since the mosquito larvae are close to leaving the water.  Close but no cigar!

There are tadpoles growing. 

Things are moving along.

   

 Barry has been harvesting the Aspen.

 

It is teeming with life!

 

Barry has been renovating the wetland. It's not very deep, and it is evaporating, going into the groundwater, and disappearing quickly.  He is living in a little bay, I'll call it, which is an ingress into the land. 

Here he is Nov. 25th, 2025:

The blue line in my graphic shows the deepest water ↑. What Barry is doing is pushing mud up from the bottom of these little canals, to make it deeper. (I assume!) 

This trailcam yielded only one video.

I've since moved it, but two days in a row there was a bug that looks like a firefly. 

 

P.S. We had our first hummingbird yesterday. 'Film and news at 11!'

Cinnamon Walkies

 As the temperatures fall, I've been feeling like a couch potato. Finally some sunshine, and so I dressed for the temperature. Tuesday it was 4 ℃, actually above zero and SUNNY! 

I called yelled for Cinnamon: CINNAMON, WALKIES!!!! He roared around from the backyard to greet me. He was game. 

First we checked out the deer scrapes. Both sites had been rescraped after the snow. It's kinda cool to see, although maybe not for my dear readers! Most of the time I'm looking for signs of critters, as they avoid the house for the most part.

Here is a sign of the pileated woodpecker! They've been hammering away on the tree root. What could go wrong?! I didn't see the bird, of course, as we bumbled through the forest me an' Cinnamon. (Archive photo!)

 

If you click on this and enlarge them, you can see Cinnamon on the ground, coming towards me in the distance near the middle. 

This is one of my favourite parts of the forest, the cedar corridor.

The wetland freezes overnight and thaws in the daytime.

Cinnamon decided we would explore our lot #3. (That's where he led me.)

A teeny pine tree starting to establish its roots amongst the rocks.

The moss looks a brilliant green:

Cinnamon found another great spot. He likes to run along the horizontal fallen logs. 

This tree needed to be climbed! An important skill in the wild.

I found this in the forest. Some metal thingie. 

The frog pond is a bit chilly. And quiet! 

He was proud of himself. A great run, and we both needed a rest after that.

Nutmeg didn't go walkies, she doesn't like to. She spent time after breakfast doing 'turtle' on the floor.

Fall unfurls

 Chores! One takes the garbage out in the rain. The other brings in the empty cans. Division of labour!

My bench swing is wearing its winter coat. 

I had a helper supervisor, OK, truthfully, a buddy. There for moral support. 

Cinnamon and I went to check out the wetland. This is the water that has accumulated this month. 

 

The hornet's nest fell onto the ground. The precision and architecture is amazing. The hornets have gone. Cinnamon gave it a sniff.

There seems to be three layers. 

Here are the sundrops in June:

Last of the colour in the garden. I think this is the dogwood (left), and narrow-leafed sundrops (centre).

An old photo! This used to be along highway #7. A beaver dam with a Canadian flag and a satellite dish! 

The robins have been around having regular baths. I've only seen this pair on a regular basis.

 

But it's the Blue Jays that have our attention! Go, Jays, Go!