filling the days with love of all sorts

With a bit of new snow and a chill in the air, my motivation to be out & about has jumped up a few notches!  I will take any snow flakes that fall, they still remain far and few between as we reach the middle of the month that typically receives the biggest snow falls.  The bit of new white gold helped with making trails far less slippery. That was the case for my visit to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  Warm layers were necessary but spikes were not.  More than once on each visit to the Sanctuary, I pass by this creek that runs out to the river. What I noticed this time was where the animal prints were!

It's still the season where the usual suspects are the ones that are hanging out, such as the White-Breasted Nuthatches.  Their distinct sweet song is easy to identify and when I tuned into the tune and turned to see where it was coming from, I spotted it with a treat in its beak!

The Northern Flickers were very vocal!  Their behaviour appeared to me like not only were they flying about but also flirting around. This Flicker spent lots of time going and coming from this hole in the tree and also calling out while peeking out.  

After ducking and dodging from Black-Capped Chickadee fly-bys, this one landed on my fingers when I put my hand out. I know it was expecting a treat, but I had none.  

Coming to the Sanctuary regularly makes it easy to know where to go to see what you want to see.  The House Finches have their usual hang out and that was where I saw them hanging out.  This male was amongst about a dozen or so other Finches who appeared to be mostly males. 

Lots of time at the Sanctuary is spent staring and looking at what I can spot.  On this visit, I spotted this!  I never noticed it before but that does not mean it wasn't there.  It sits on the bank of the river and I am thinking the side facing the river is probably open.  I wonder if it was built by the Sanctuary Staff?

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This is Neustift!  It's in the Stubai Valley in the State of Tyrol in Austria.  This will be my home away from home for a little while in a few months time.  I have been preoccupied with getting plans in place.  There are just a few more items to check off the planning list and then I might let myself begin to get excited!  

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Being Valentine's Day, I wanted to acknowledge it in a way that meant something to me.  

With a forecasted temperature to be cold, I knew the ice at Bowness would be ideal to skate until my heart was content.  When I arrived, everything was covered in a light layer of frost.  The Parks Person came over for a short chat and then he said he would turn on the gas fire for me.   

my morning greeting

The sun was on the right spot to clearly show my first carvings in the ice.

This photo gives me the feeling of how nippy a morning it was! 

This time around, I covered just over seventeen kilometres which I added to my Grand Canyon Virtual Challenge.  I am making good progress with reaching 70% complete.