Sunday, January 9, 2011

Getting Back on the Trail

After 3 months of sloth and gluttony, I have broken the spell!  Have walked the Great Western trail the last 5 days in a row.  Yahoo!  Feels great to be out in the cold, fresh air.

Two days in a row, Marcia and I enjoyed great views of a male Belted Kingfisher.  What a beautiful bird!  He flitted from tree to tree along the creek.  We were disappointed not to see him actually fishing, but did see him once with a small fish in his beak.  Cool!  We'll be watching and listening for him.  The pic below is from Google - wish I could take credit for it...



Amy and I enjoyed a wonderful walk on this beautiful Sunday.  About 28 degrees, bright sunshine, and no wind.  Perfect!  Amy made a great discovery - beavers are back!  A few years ago, we would regularly see signs of them, and even saw the critters on a moonlit night hike.  They "disappeared" some time back and we were sad to no longer see them.

Today, Amy spotted some lodges in a marshy area south of the trail.  And then, just below us off-trail, 3 trees that had been chewed!  We made our way down the slope - a true nature nerd does not mind getting caught on thorns, slapped by brarnches, slipping and sliding down a brush-covered slope.  Well, maybe we mind a little...

Using my phone, I got these 2 pics of the "evidence."



There were many tracks around the trees, and on the snow leading to the lodges.  However, I think the slightly warmer temps melted some of the snow, distorting the tracks.  I think this might be a hind foot, but it was hard to tell.  Will be watching for fresh tracks next time we get snow!



We also saw some pheasant tracks, 2 deer, and lots of deer, bunny and squirrel tracks.  A great thing about a dusting of snow - everyone leaves evidence!

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