THE BIRDING PLACE

       Saturday morning we went to a 300 acre area that was at one time farmed. The farmer ran some cattle and had about 90 acres cropped and also sold some timber. In the end he sold gravel, so much of the property had been dug up for gravel.  A  large part of the property is river escarpment. Then there's valley floor and there are a few acres above the escarpment. The valley floor has been flooded many times so there are many types of soil. Therefore there are many types of plants. You see very large spruce and poplar. Then you see areas of scrubby trees and brush. So there's a variety of habitat so we end up seeing a number of bird species. 

       Messy little spruce trees that barely survive.

                An old road used to mine gravel.

             The 90 acres that was crop land and has been sown to grass.

              Horse trail for wagons and sleighs

                 Mixed spruce and poplar.

                      Good bike trail

          Good bench with some tired birders.

     The province took this property and set it aside for park space. Very little has been done to change the property except to put in some excellent trails and a few benches. There is a pond that has been stocked with trout. The Red Deer River Winds along the property so there's more fishing and bird watching activity.

     One thing that was emphasized is that the area have an equestrian presence. 

     There's a large corral and stable for horses. You can rent horses to ride or get rides in various horse drawn vehicles. Some wedding parties get pulled down into the valley and have their outdoor wedding ceremony and reception. 

GOOD BIRDING THIS MORNING

       We had an excellent bird walk this morning. It was plus 12 C, calm and partly cloudy. 

     We went to a place called Heritage Ranch which was set aside for parkland and developed in the 1970's . Part of it was farmed and used to raise cattle. A large part of it was taken for gravel pits. Trees shrubs and grass have come back to these areas and it makes for some good birding habitat. 

     We had 16 spotters of various ages, shapes and sizes.

 We saw 22 species. More of the spring migrants are starting to show up. 

Protocol: Traveling
5.416 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:     RDRN Bird Focus Group outing
22 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  10
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  2
Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)  5
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  2
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  2
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Merlin (Falco columbarius)  1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  2
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  4
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  55
Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  4
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S108501732

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

     Now I am not a bird photographer. I may be able to give some links tomorrow for photos. 

     But to show you my lack of skill here are my two bird shots. Nuff said!

 

A SURPRISE

        Sometimes small unexpected things surprise me. Maybe it's not so much surprise but something I hadn't thought about.

        This morning we went to look at another seniors living facility. We've been looking at places for the last three months. No, we're not moving. Looking , just in case.

        No doubt about it the people who show you around are sales people. The more they know about you , the more successful their pitch can be.

       So they want to know what some of my interests are. I told him I blogged. He seemed surprised. He said, "I've never met anybody who writes a blog.

       I was surprised. I guess if you're in the blog world you think blogging is common. I talk to my friends about my blog and they know about writing blogs. They read me sometimes and are quick to make a comment. 

     I also look at blogs and see that they have many followers. Some blogs have thousands of followers. 

     So I was a little surprised to meet someone who wasn't very familiar with blogging.

     Do you find that people are familiar with blogging? 

A GOOD MORNING OF BIRDING

     We were  out at a location called Nova Nature Trails. It's about 300 acres of  fairly good native habitat. 

    I didn't get any bird photos. I wanted some scenery shots and birder shots.

    The snow is the left over from Monday. 

     The first photo is a wasp nest from last summer. 

AND IT SNOWED AGAIN

       So on April 19 we had a major snow storm . Yesterday was very dull. Visibility was low. It snowed all day and quit around 3:00 AM.

       Spring storms like this are not unusual. However, people always look back at the records. 

       So this post is just for William from Ottawa Daily Photo. William loves snow!

        You know I got thinking and I wouldn't have had to work so hard and get these photos. I've got lots from other years that I could use!

WAY BACK MACHINE.

    I started teaching in this small city in 1969. So some quick arithmetic puts that at 54 years ago. 

 Once in a while the way back machine kicks in.  This week I ran into some ancient history from 1969. 

    I had one gr. seven class that I taught math and science to in 1969. Okay, some more arithmetic. Those students were eleven years old in 1969 which will make them 65 right now. 

    The other morning at birding somebody asked which school I taught in. Another birder was listening and she said , "What years did you teach there?" My answer 1969 to1997. She said that she had gone to the school during that time specifically 1969. 

    She told me her maiden name and I immediately supplied her first name. 

    Here's someone I had not seen for close to 54 years. It was a treat to meet her and go over so many things. She had lived in the U.K. for 10 years. 

    She had been coming to the birding group for four weeks before we made the connection. 

    It's always very interesting to meet former students even after 54  years. 

ORIGINS

       Every Easter,  by Good Sunday, the Micro Manager has a few Easter decorations scattered around. These decorations are few and quite ancient. They come from the time our children were little. 

      So these decorations have to be quite old because  my kids are in their fifties. 

        You can see from the photos that we have a real flair for decorating.

        Now my brother emailed back and said, "are those the Easter bunnies that Grandma Peake ( my Grandma) made? The Micro Manager said, "Your Mom gave them to me and said she didn't make them but she didn't say who did make them."

      I'm not sure what generation the bunnies were made for but I'm sure my brother will give us the correct information.

      So some simple decorations have raised some historical questions.