Sit Spot - January 14

January 14, 2020 4:59 p.m.

Sit 554: Brush Pile W : Cloudy 

+2° (+1°) sw 4-6 kph ; 100% humidity 

(Jet, traffic noise)

(Republic Airlines Flight 3564...)

Extras;

Black Squirrel 

Canada Geese flying overhead 

Small light coloured moth

( South side of West Meadow)

No snow at all on the ground

            This is the second site of regular photos. I am looking north from the donkey's paddock toward the east pond area where the large willow tree is located.

Sit Spot Note - January 13

January 13, 2020 8:37 - 8:47 a.m.

Sit 553 : Brush Pile E : Cloudy, Light snow 

-2° (-3°) E 4-6 kph 93% humidity 

Blue Jays 

(Jet, traffic noise)

(Jet Suite Air flight 307...)

Crows 

Extras :

White-breasted Nuthatch 

3 Eastern Bluebirds 

8th rat caught in barn trap,

Chickadees,

Goldfinches,

Juncos,

Mourning Doves

Ground covered with snow in a.m.

99% of snow gone by evening

Fresh White-tailed deer and squirrel tracks in a.m.

I take photos at three locations everyday that I am out with the dog and doing a sit spot. This is site #1, our East Pond looking north.

FYI: This it the 553rd time I have spent 10 minutes of quiet time outside listening and looking about for nature sounds and sights and also listing some of the human made noises that I hear. I used the first few months in a book and hope to continue that format but notes are starting to disappear and I am not sure when I will have time to put them all together so I plan to drop some, or all, into this blog. The notes are  somewhat sparse but I know what they mean and if anyone else wants to know, just ask.

Friday Flowers - January 10, 2020

 

 

 

1st Post of 2020

            As usual, I hope to do more blogging again this year. I guess starting on day 3 is not too bad. There are some other activities that I thought I would start this year that have not been started but the day is not over yet.

            On of the first bits of wild life that I saw this morning was a Hairy Bittercress plant growing in part of the lawn that had had some deep tire tracks in it. During the fall, I had filled and levelled that bit of lawn using dirt from a pile that had been removed during some landscaping at the front of the house a few years ago. I do not remember any Bittercress being in that pile before. Anyway, having seen that plant growing, I went to the west side of the house where I had seen some Bittercress blooming in December just to check it out.

Hairy Bittercress

cardamine hérissée

(Cardamine hirsuta)

            It is still blooming.

            I have been thinking, for the last few months that the birds have been a lot quieter than usual and fewer have been coming to the feeder. I realize that the bird population as a whole is going down fast but it hurts to feel the lack of birds so close to home.

            That being said, at our feeder so far in 2020 we have had Blue Jays, Cardinals, Chickadees, Mourning Doves, Goldfinches, Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers and one Red-bellied Woodpecker. Out in our meadows, I have heard Canada Geese flying over, Crows calling in the distance and, today, a Pileated Woodpecker flew across the meadow as I walked with our dog.

            That all looks not too bad but I still have the feeling that there have been more birds and more varieties in the past.

            In the barn we have had some Woolly Bear Caterpillars crawling about on the dirt floor for the last week or so. I saw two this morning again.

            Due to the warm weather of the last two days, most of the snow has melted and I have seen grasses and sedges greening up as well as the usual plants that are green at this time of year, usually under the snow: Common Strawberries, Dame's Rocket, Garlic Mustard, and White Avens.

White Avens

benoîte du Canada

Geum canadense

The Last 10 Years . . .

In spite of my Ontario Wanderer Instagram and Blog name, during this past decade I have wandered less than any other decade of my life. I have, in fact, only lived at one address, with Fleur-Ange Lamothe, for the whole decade which is the first time in my life that I have been at one address for 10 years. (During the other 6 decades of my life I had 21 other addresses in addition to being homeless for a few months; I  wandered through 32 states, all of the Canadian Provinces, one Canadian Territory and 15 countries.) 

During this decade I only wandered in 2 new countries and have done the majority of my wandering within 20 km of home. (Well, there was the 480 km walk that I did with Fleur-Ange and her friend Pauline from Montreal to Massachusetts in 2014….)

During earlier decades I spent a lot of time swimming, cross country skiing, biking, canoe tripping, hiking, leading wild flower walks and running in addition to working as a student, camp maintenance worker, lifeguard, swimming instructor, child care worker and elementary school teacher before retiring from work. 

This decade I have volunteered as a worker at an organic farm, been a helper in the Royal Botanical Garden Herbarium, volunteered with Fleur-Ange as a co-wild flower walk leader and continued long distance running. 

Other than being happy at staying at one address for ten years, I am most pleased to have finished 6 five km races, 11 ten km races, 1 twelve and a half km cross country race, 13 half marathons races, 5 thirty km Round-the-Bay races and 2 marathons.

I wonder if I can keep running for another decade.