It was a grey, low cloudy day. I wasn't expecting to see much as things always quieten down in winter.
Coming down Al Tweddle Road, the marsh on the west side was frozen solid with brown bull rushes lining the shoreline.
The channel to the west of the culverts was well covered with ice, but the east side still had a lot of open water
It was nice to see the trails were well trod, meaning people are still enjoying the Islands even in winter. They were a bit icy in spots what with the recent rain.
As I headed down the Basswood trail, some birds announced their presence. A tree sparrow was keeping to itself, but the chickadees and nuthatches were looking for a handout.
The nuthatch in the photo above is in the normal position you see them - coming down the tree headfirst. But one took a pose not normally seen; standing upright on fallen branch. At first glance I didn't recognize it as a nuthatch
There seemed to be an unusual amount of squirrel activity: red squirrels and black squirrels. One of the red squirrels was particularly red
The squirrels were taking turns playing "King of the Castle" posing on the top of a 12 foot tall broken tree trunk
It then became obvious why so much activity at this spot. Someone had dumped a large quantity of corn and sunflowers seeds for the squirrels and birds
Further along the trail I noticed signs of recent beaver activity
And some holes in the ice with a skim of fresh ice in them
Sure enough, there was a beaver sitting on the ice. It eventually dove in and was joined by a second beaver (in the background behind the branches(
While the beavers in the lodge on the Turtle Trail didn't seem to be out, it was very obvious that they have been busy keeping the ice forming from around the lodge and in fact had been keeping a channel open across Turtle Pond
Somehow with the snow, the work that the beavers had been doing in the fall was more apparent
On the Beaver Loop there were signs of animal activity near the shore and a trail leading down to the water where the ice looking a bit fresher. There was no sign of beaver chewings, so I was thinking river otter.
I might be biased thinking that as this was the same spot, 20-25 years ago, that the otters used to run around and slide on the snow. I didn't see any otters this time.
Milkweed pods have been emptied of their seeds, some bittersweet stems had lost most of their berries, while others clung to the fruit
A few highbush cranberries were still hanging in, plenty of buckthorn fruit was awaiting the birds
The maple trees had a full crop of buds ready to leaf out in 4-5 months
Some trees were still holding onto their seeds, while the basswood had dropped most of their seeds
The tall brown grass was starting to lie down, more snow will finish the job.
A few of the more sturdy plants were still standing up. Vervain, asters, burrs (ready to catch your clothes with their velcro-like hooks)
Looked like a pileated woodpecker had been hammering away at this dead tree
The ice fishing has started. Many test holes and two "huts" up already
