Nature Walk ~ Bald Eagle Spotting

On our nature walk this week we were treated to a spectacular show of bald headed eagles :) We have a network of trails that wind up the mountain behind our house and to our bottom field and it was down there that we came across a good half dozen of them.

A few of them were skittish and flew away but the others that remained eyed us curiously from their tree top perches. I would have loved to have gotten a little closer for a better photo as these ones are a little grainy but my little guy was so busy stomping tracks into the snow that I didn't dare go any further into their comfort zone *grin*.

Speaking of tracks we found these great bird tracks!

Now I'm not certain if these were from the eagles but we found them nearby and they look like the tail feathers of a large bird as it sat in the snow. I should have put my hand or shoe by them as they really were quite big. I have never found anything like this before so it was so neat to share it with the children :)

We hung around as long as we could before we became to cold to stay an longer but we got to see a few of them soaring back and forth between different trees and even a few juveniles that joined the older eagles. I wish I could have stayed much longer just admiring their grace and beauty. A true winter treat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Weekending

It has been a simply beautiful weekend full of bursts of sunshine, squeals of laughter, splashing in the kiddie pool, weeding, planting, crazy flash rain squalls and time playing together :)

There was stick tossing in the raging river...

glimpses of the pair of canada geese that have a nest in our pond...

the calls from our cow as he begged for more clover and handfuls of grass...

major growth spurts in the vegetable garden...

baking sweet strawberry galettes, grinding wheat for pastry and rye breads, cookie mixing, a whole lot of finger licking and lip smacking...

and of course enjoying the fruit of all our work :)

Now you know where we've been hiding *grin*. Our days are just bursting with activity. Some of it chores but there seems to be an awful lot of play LOL.

I was listening to a podcast today about the different stages of a child's development and how important play and imagination are in those precious younger years and it was so reassuring to hear. Sometimes I feel that I am way to easy going and there isn't enough academics to counter balance the free time but I know they are learning everything they need to know and more and I just want them to enjoy every minute of childhood. There will be many days ahead to learn the hard stuff. For now I want them to spend as much time as they can exploring nature, creating things out of found materials, letting their creativity shine and learning gently through our daily routine :)

Ahh to be a child again would be such a treat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Exploring the Estuary

Yesterday we packed up the kids and headed off to one of my favorite local trails but when we got there we found that the bridge heading into the estuary had been fenced off.

It's hard to believe that this weathered foot bridge used to be a single lane bridge that I drove my car across four times a day, three times a week to reach an elderly woman I did home nursing for. Over the years the decking started to deteriorate so they built a foot bridge over the old bridge but it is getting soft in spots and sometime this summer the whole thing is going to be removed. Hopefully they will replace it but that is still not a sure thing.

Of course us local yokals don't get scared off by a few signs with bold red lettering and we skirted around the edge of the fence and headed on into the forest *grin*.

To be on the safe side we did go single file except for the little guy who went along with his daddy :)

As we wandered through the forest we were surrounded by amazing old growth trees. They are true giants!

This one was actually completely hollow inside and was big enough for all three of my kids to fit in and my dad for a photo. So much fun!

Where the old cottage used to stand there is now the above sign with all sorts of information on the different plants and animals that can be found along the trail. When the elderly lady that lived here passed away the property was donated to Ducks Unlimited and all of the old buildings were removed so that the grounds could return to their uninhabited state. I used to stand in this very spot when it was her kitchen and stare out the windows watching the river, swans and deer pass by. So many fond memories.... now only stories to tell to my children.

Just past the old homestead site is the estuary :)

The kids had fun exploring the grassy banks of the river. It wasn't long before the rain started though so we had to head back into the forest to take cover *grin*.

As we wound our way back around the loop to the main trail we took our time checking out all of the different mosses, poking and petting each one and talking about how they were all unique.

This tree always draws a lot of interest when we visit to as we try to guess what sort of animals may have been gnawing away at its pulpy insides :)

So many things to investigate along the way. The poor little guy got all tuckered out towards the end though and Hubby was more than happy to carry him like a good old sack of potatoes *grin*. What a turkey!

Hugs,
Rosina

Weekending

Oh happy weekend :) We got to see some more of that ever elusive sunshine so I took my baby tomatoes outside for a little light therapy *grin*. They were outgrowing their little jiffy sevens anyways so it was time for an upgrade to larger pots. One of the cool things about tomatoes if you have never grown them before is that you can re-pot them and bury them right up to their necks in soil so that just their leaves and a wee bit of stem are sticking out of the top of the dirt. This actually helps them to grow a stronger root structure all up that buried stem. The only tricky part is when you have short and tall seedlings. Sometimes the taller ones don't get buried quite as deep as you would like :)

Hubby tackled the big job of trimming all of the hedges that surround our home. They are quite extensive as they run up and down our long driveway and fully enclose our backyard but this year he had it a bit easier :) In past years he would cut them using heavy clipping shears but he finally spoiled himself and bought an electric one which makes the job much easier and quicker!

L and I spent a good chunk of the morning out in the field raking up leftover hay from feeding the cow over the winter and putting it into the compost bin. I took a minute to turn some of the compost already in the bin before adding the hay and it is already turning into black gold. It won't be long now and we'll be able to use it :)

The boys kept themselves busy in the dirt pile creating roads with their tonka machinery and creating pirate hideouts for their playmobil men to play in. Of course a pirate play scene wouldn't be complete without an ocean to float their boat in so a mud puddle was created *grin*.

I had mentioned how we were dreaming of camping the other day and Hubby must really have camping on the brain because out came our travel trailer and it got a good scrubbing :) All of the windows got a new coat of silicone around them to prevent any leaking and it's all plugged in and raring to go!

And today we loaded up the kids into the truck and hit one of my all time favorite trails along the estuary. I'm completely exhausted tonight so I'll have to share more photos of our nature walk tomorrow :)

I hope you all had a great weekend to!

Hugs, Rosina

Nature Walk ~ Northeast Woods

Mother nature provided another wonderful day for an outing with our Neighborwoodie friends this week as we ventured into the Northeast Woods :)

There were mountain bike jumps to be climbed, sticks to be collected, overly friendly dogs to be dodged and a lot of 'I'm the king of the castle and your the dirty rascal' songs to be sung.

Of course there were the usual trail hazards to be navigated like this very tempting mud hole that begged for boots to be wiggled in....

and an oversized mud puddle covered in a sheet of ice just perfect for some splish splashing *grin*.

My oldest managed to salvage a large chunk of ice from the water before it was stomped on and broken into small bits...

and another girl found a tree branch with squares of ice frozen to different parts of the needles that clanged together as it was shaken about.

Mother nature's wind chime :)

So much fun to be had in the forest :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Nature Walk ~ Puntledge Watershed

This last week seems to have just zipped by so quickly and I'm finally getting a chance to post some photos about our last nature outing with our neighborwoodie friends at the Puntledge Watershed :)

The park starts with this great bridge leading in along the river...

and down to the waters edge where you can find these magnificent old trees with their giant root systems above ground. I'm assuming that it must be due to the high volume of water that rushes through here during the wetter winter months and the current has stripped away the soil over the years exposing their roots.

In fact while we were there the sirens went off signaling that they were about to increase the flow of water coming into the river so we were careful to not let the children go into the water while we were there as it was moving quite fast.

Nothing like using a giant root system as a make shift jungle gym *grin*.

I love catching photos of my boys walking down the trails together :)

The eagles are very active this time of year and we were able to watch a couple sitting atop the trees again that afternoon.

One very exciting find for the kids was the perfectly intact backbones from last years salmon spawning that takes place here. My oldest did most of the fishing for them as he could reach further out into the stream.

They had quite a pile of them collected by the time we left :)

There are some great old fish ladders out in the back of the trail to. They are large logs buried into the stream at regular intervals with their centers notched out creating a series of sort of steps to make it easier for the salmon to swim upstream during spawning season.

We always have so much fun exploring and despite the lengthy travel time it takes to meet up with our friends the kids always claim that every week was the best one ever!

Hugs,
Rosina

Nature Walk ~ Seal Bay Swamp Loop

Earlier this week we met up with our neighborwoodie buddies and headed out into one of the nearby trails again for some more good outdoor exploring :)

We were heading to the Seal Bay Swamp so rubber boots were a must. Knowing my crew, boots are probably the best bet any time they are outdoors *grin*.

The trail led us through towering trees, salal, fallen logs and stumps....

and along the winding bends of the stream leading to the swamp.

Once we made it to the swamp the kids had fun looking out on the observation deck as the water rushed beneath it and out the other side. Of course there was a shallow portion of the stream that they could jump and puddle away in and each one had their turn splunking and splashing through it :)

All along the trail were these great wooden signs with arrows and trail names tucked in amongst the mossy tree trunks to show you which direction to go in order to get back out. It was just like Alice in Wonderland as some of them like the very first photo pointed in both directions which the children found quite amusing!

This was one of my favorite finds along the trail. The entire center of this log was rotten leaving behind a hollow full of spiky knots. They looked like monster teeth or nails that had be driven through the outside of the log but it was actually the knots in the wood that hadn't decomposed just yet. Very cool!!

There were loads of fungi all along the trail to. Despite it being a bit of a damp and dark day it was so nice to get outside again and enjoy exploring the forest with friends :)

Hugs.
Rosina