Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

The paths at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary are obviously not made just for animals of the human kind! These Mule Deer looked almost Christmasy in the distance.

In a moment of madness, I decided I would go on a birding walk this morning at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. When I left home around 7:45 a.m., the temperature was -19C and much colder than that with the wind chill. Every branch was covered in frost and mist was rising from the icy waters of the lagoon. The Bow River was mainly frozen over with just the odd patch of open water. Lots of Canada Geese and ducks (mainly Mallards, but some Goldeneye, Bufflehead and Barrow's Goldeneye). We saw two Bald Eagles today, always a treat.

Yesterday, we saw a total of seven Muskrats down at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The light happened to be beautiful as this one nibbled on the bunch of greens clutched tightly in its tiny hands. I was tempted to crop it even closer, but I liked the tree reflections in the small hole of water that had melted in the thin layer of ice. Thanks, Randy - you two guys were so pleasant, allowing me to "intrude" on you, while you clicked away. Thinking about this just now, it made me chuckle to think that WE could have been the subject for someone with a camera. Me with my little point-and-shoot camera, with a guy with a 600 mm on one side and a guy on the other side with a 500 mm, LOL!!! "An adult muskrat is about 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 inches) long, almost half of that tail, and weighs from 0.7 to 1.8 kg (1.5 to 4 lb). Muskrats are much smaller than beavers (Castor canadensis), with whom they often share their habitat." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat

This photo was taken about 10 days ago at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. I'm sure that most of the autumn leaves now lie on the ground, but it was so pretty to see on this particular day.

Also known as Common Bearberry. A very small, low growing wildflower. Seen at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.

It is a winter wonderland today but far too cold. Think it was about -8C when I went out this morning, for a walk at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. We saw various gulls, Harlequin Ducks, Goldeneye, two juvenile Bald Eagles flying over the river, endless Canada Geese and so on. Also saw a family of Mule Deer and a Coyote.

A little Black-capped Chickadee that flew down to the bridge railings at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on Thursday. I don't know if it was hoping for a seed or two, but no feeding is allowed at the Sanctuary.

We saw several of these ducklings on the lagoon at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary yesterday afternoon. I did notice a female Wood Duck there, not too far away. I must do a Google check to see what a Wood Duck duckling looks like. On this duckling, the "eyebrows" are white and there are two small white stripes/patches on the back towards the tail end.

In a moment of madness, I decided I would go on a birding walk this morning at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. When I left home around 7:45 a.m., the temperature was -19C and much colder than that with the wind chill. Every branch was covered in frost and mist was rising from the icy waters of the lagoon. The Bow River was mainly frozen over with just the odd patch of open water. In places, the thick ice was broken into pieces. Lots of Canada Geese and ducks (mainly Mallards, but some Goldeneye, Bufflehead and Barrow's Goldeneye). We saw two Bald Eagles today, always a treat.