Carburn Park March 31, 2024

Nature:  the portion of existing reality that was not cultivated by humankind, but which originated and developed organically; the opposite of culture.  

from The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia

Getting my fill of nature this long weekend was the top priority with today being the best of the three days.  Both Friday and Saturday gave that feel that winter keeps on keeping on!  Then this morning, with a bluebird sky day in the forecast plus an above freezing temperature, I headed to Carburn Park to get my nature fix.  The sun was up just enough to cast that alpenglow look on the trees across the pond.  

 There is no open water yet. 

After walking the loop around the pond, I headed to the river.  The trails were hard packed snow, ice and frozen mud.  I was watching my foot placement more than I was admiring the scenery.  I bit the bullet and pulled out my spikes to slip into.  That's when my focus for being here became clearer.  This is where the Robins were hanging out.  From the look of the trails, I was the first in this area this morning, that may be why the Robin was giving me the eye!  

Further along the trail, I spotted a bird sitting on the top of a twig.  The sun was in front of me so the lighting was not the best to identify what I spotted.  I thought I saw some blue!  I quickly worked my way to a better angle with a clearer focus.  

Ahhh a Mountain Bluebird!  There were four males, this is a male, along with two females.  If I am lucky, I get to see these birds once a year during birding season.  I patiently stood there in camera ready mode.  They did not seem to be wary of me and stuck around for quite some time, so I did too just to watch them.

This is another male Mountain Bluebird.  

It was time to leave the Bluebirds behind and carry on down the trail.  Then the Chickadees began to send out there warning 🎵chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee🎵 that something was coming, beware!  Hopefully that sideways look out of one eye confirmed there was no need to worry!    

a House Sparrow showing off its colourful feathers

It was time to leave the packed snow and ice which was now slush and now unfrozen mud behind for a stroll alongside the river.  It was full of ducks of all kinds. Numerous birders with their gigantic lenses were focusing on what they could spot amongst the hundreds swimming, flitting and flirting about.  I saw a variety of species, this was my favourite.  It's a Redhead Duck! 

It was upon my return to the pond area that I heard a sweet song then spotted this House Finch.  By now it was a good few hours later and I was feeling fulfilled from my nature fix.  With it being much warmer now, no doubt lots of other birds would be out & about.  I will see them another time!  

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There are a few other types of leaves that I want to macrame.  This was my third attempt at another pattern.  Those spaces between some knots are not supposed to be there, I tried to fix them, doing the best I could, yet still not perfect.  Then again, out in nature, each leaf is unique in its own way!  I may or may not make another attempt at this pattern.  There is another type that I want to try!  My plan is to eventually make a boho bag.  My sense is, that is a long way off, this craft is not as easy as I was expecting and its taking much longer to get the hang of even the easiest knots.  

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I finally finished "The Trail" and now I am ready to start this book!  The page before the introduction contains the quote that I shared at the first of this blog post.  It captured my attention and set my mind to mull its meaning!  We are in for another wave of winter-like weather later this week, that may be a good time to cozy up and get into this book!