nature nurture & moody mornings

Dale Hodges Park

I love the mornings whether they are moody are not!  The earlier the better!  My sister is liking them too!  We walked in a mix of sun, sprinkles, sleet but thankfully no snow.  She had not been to Dale Hodges Park and I had only been twice.  It was all new to her and we discovered some sections that were new to me.  The bird population is increasing.  The Solitary Sandpiper tried to blend in but it could not deceive us.  The number of Red-Winged Blackbirds was high and they all had something to say.  I am getting to know some of the bird names but I was not able to impress my sister when it came to identifying the Common Goldeneye, I knew it was that but the name escaped me.  We were on a mission to cover 10kms yet called it a morning at 9.4kms. 

Nose Creek

Oooh these moody mornings!  Before heading down along Nose Creek, I checked out the Birth Forest as I was curious to what the larch trees might look like these days.  Larch Trees get no respect other than for two to three weeks in September.  The local larches are looking lovely turning a pretty bright green.  I think I will maintain a larch lookout and monitor how these Syberian ones progress throughout spring and summer into autumn.  I saw numerous pairs of mallard ducks.  They were all pairs of dudes, not sure what that was all about and I wondered where their lady friends were.  Of course the Red-Winged Blackbirds were sharply spouting off as they do.  How about this, and this is according to my bird book - the song that the White-Crowned Sparrow sings goes like this  "I-I-I-got-to-go-wee-wee-now!"  While I was not on a crocus hunt, they were more beautiful than ever and there were even more of them.  I just passed most of them by this time.