The albino tree

We were walking through the woods today when we spotted the albino tree. Spring has sprung and the leaves on the trees have only just started coming in. It's white bark reflecting the morning sun drew our gaze. It's bark tall and thin, the tree stood white and bright among its darker brethren. We wondered why we hadn't notice it before. Since it stood on the other side of the stream we couldn't get a closer look at it, but thought that it most likely to be a white birch.

A very muddy Topsie

With the onset of spring came the rains, our walks were shorter since neither Topsie nor I care much for walks in the rain. But, today, the sky was clear as we set off on our walk.  The ground was still wet and puddles of water gathered at every corner. We were trotting along when suddenly, without warning, Topsie flopped down in a muddy puddle and started rolling around. It didn't take long for Topsie to end up covered in mud. Wet and muddy she had to walk the rest of the way home and straight into the bathtub!

The signs of spring

The pairing

The robins return

The grass starts growing

One sure sign that spring is on its way is "the pairing."  The pairing is most apparent among all the birds that suddenly appear in pairs.  The geese, that had arrived earlier this year, were frequently sighted waddling around together perhaps looking for a place to build a nest.  The ducks too are notorious for pairing up sidling off in twos to paddle in secluded areas of the stream. The sudden influx of robins is another sure sign that spring is on its way in. Although the robins began emerging in late winter, they seemed to be everywhere by early spring. Bright and alert they are always a welcome sight. Other birds appear too all chirping loudly now that old man winter was on his way out. Then, of course, there are the flowers that cautiously open their petals to the rays of sunshine that stay longer and grow stronger with each passing day.  And so, with all these signs, spring made its way into calendar. 

The flowers 

Thistle

The brave little daffodils

One of the first signs that spring is on its way in, is the appearance of the daffodils. There are a few patches of daffodils along the trail and we always watch eagerly for them to emerge from their winter dormancy. And in their perennial fashion, they always do.  This year was no different despite the persistent winter.  The brave little daffodils made their appearance in early March emerging from the earth in bunches as if huddling together to protect themselves from the elements.  And although they endured a snowfall or two, or three ... they finally opened their pretty yellow blooms in mid-March celebrating the start of a long awaited spring.

The white forest

It's St. Patrick's Day and green is the color of the day
...in theory at least.  Anot
her snow has fallen but alas, all that might have been green is covered once again in white. Despite the deep snow, we ventured down the trail noticing how everything was blanketed in white. "The White Forest" Tinkerbelle called it, where everything is as pure as the driven snow. There was an unfamiliar hush about the woods as if the snow in blanketing the earth had smothered it of its voice.  Nothing moved and nothing sang. We trudged through the snow unaccustomed to this quiet world that despite its state of frozen stillness seemed cast in enchantment.

Ice bobbles

Playing in the snow does have one down-side ... the ice bobbles.  Ice bobbles are the clumps of ice and snow that form in fur covering the lower extremities.  Unfortunately for me, my curly fur makes me more susceptible to the ice bobbles. Topsie with her smooth thick fur is rarely afflicted with a case of the ice bobbles. Contracting a bout of the ice bobbles usually lands me in the bath tub because the only real way to remove the bobbles are to melt them in hot water.  So a soak in the tub was in order today.

Winter games

Tangled

It's early March and more snow has fallen.  By now, Topsie and I are use to trudging through snow on our daily walks. Some days it feels like a drag but perhaps we are becoming "snow pros" because today it felt like fun. Topsie, in particular, was feeling rambunctious and instigated the play. Growling and tussling we darted and dodged.  Around and around we went kicking up snow in all directions until Topsie got tangled in her leash. So we called a truce.  And, tired but happy we set off for home and a nice hot supper.

Homeward bound

Truce

If you can't beat it ...

The snow covered trail

Topsie sulked

...join it

As winter drags on, Topsie and I are getting decidedly weary of walks through the deep snow.  Topsie usually sulks at the sight of the snow covered trail. And today was no different as we  set off on our walk one afternoon. As the setting sun cast long shadows along our path, I tried to cheer up Topsie.  "If you can't beat it, join it" I said.  Topsie looked doubtful at this advice until I showed her what I meant by taking a roll in the snow.  Topsie got the idea and tried it herself.  "Hey, this isn't so bad" she yipped as she rolled around in the snow. And so it was that Topsie made her peace with the snow.

The hawk and the blackbirds

Clear blue skies  marked the day

The hawk landed in a tree to contemplate its defeat

It was one of those rare winter days with clear skies and rising
temps, so Tinkerbelle, Topsie and I set off for the park.  We had only just arrived when the sound of cawing filled the air.  We gazed skyward to an unusual sight.  Against the bright blue sky, we spotted the outspread wings of a gliding hawk and surrounding the hawk were three agitated blackbirds. The blackbirds, clearly distressed by the hawk's trespass over their territory, swarmed around it in an orchestrated assault. Relentlessly, they flapped and cawed at the hawk as they tried to drive it away.  Then, as we watched, they began to tire. First one, and then a second fell back,  leaving only the third and last blackbird to defend the territory.  As if it knew it was the last line of defense, it drove at the hawk with gusto driving it all the way across the street and only then did it fall back and retreat.  We stood mesmerized by this unfolding drama, remembering to pull out the camera just as the hawk landed a top a  tree to contemplate its defeat.

Where the robins go

A robin emerged from the woods

...and landed in our path 

then flew up onto a branch...

I've often wondered where the robins go for the winter.  They seem to be around until late fall then suddenly disappear only to re-appear at the first sign of spring. Conventional wisdom says that they fly south for the winter, but my canine wisdom tells me otherwise.  With the heavy snow falls lately, the robins have started to appear leading me to believe that they could not have flow south.  I suspect they gather deep in the woods where they wait out the winter. Their recent appearances coinciding with the heavy snow falls suggest that they have emerged from the woods in search of food. On our walk one morning, a robin flew down, landed in our path and would not move. We stopped and watched it as it watched us. Then it flew up onto a branch as we moved forward.

Early arrivals

The geese arrive early

The pond spa

Gathering with the ducks at the pond spa

A slight warm up has melted a corner of the pond and the ducks have found their way back.  Right where the stream flows into the pond the ice has melted forming a small spa ... a pond within the pond. But it wasn't the pond spa that surprised us this morning, or the fact that the ducks had returned, it was the sight of a pair of geese that left us speechless.  It is barely mid-February and the geese are back. They are most likely the same pair who stopped over in the fall.  Perhaps food was scarce where they had gone and they know that food is the one thing that is rarely in shortage at the pond. So, here they are, plodding over the frozen pond, mingling with the ducks, and most likely making plans for a nest in the spring.

Pretty in pink

Topsie with two pink bows

February brought with it another grooming day. While I put up my predictable objection, I couldn't help but notice that Topsie did not put up the same objection. In fact, much to my dismay, Topsie seemed to enjoy the attention from the groomers greeting them with kisses and wags. The
groomers in turn enjoy fussing over Topsie. It's no wonder that she came home with two pink bows in her hair.  She strutted around the rest of the day showing them off. I shall have to talk to her about the importance of taking a united stand against grooming day if we are ever to rid ourselves of this scourge.

Walking on water

Snow covers the frozen pond

Snow has fallen again and a thin layer covers the surface of the already frozen pond.  Since the pond has frozen over completely, the ducks are nowhere to been seen. Perhaps they have found another temporary watering hole.  Even as we looked out on the desolate pond, we couldn't help but notice a set of tracks laid in the fresh snow and stretching across the pond.  Clearly, the frozen pond had not scared off everyone as something had clearly ventured across the frozen ice leaving a pattern of tracks on the snowy surface.

A pattern of tracks stretched across the pond

Tracks on the pond

The hobble wobble

demonstrating the hobble wobble

All the snow on the ground and the sub-zero temps brought about by the "polar vortex," inevitably led Topsie and me to engage in episodes of the hobble wobble.  The hobble wobble comes about when due to an extreme cold affliction of the extremities, we have to lift a paw in the air and hobble along on the remaining three paws.  Generally, in the course of a walk, each paw takes its turn off the ground leaving us to hobble along in an alternating three paw hop.

The pond freezes over

The ducks clustered together in the frozen pond

It's been cold the last few days, so much so that the pond has frozen over, at least around the edges.  Luckily for the ducks, the center of the pond has remained warm enough to prevent any ice from forming.  Unluckily for me, its been so cold that Tinkerbelle has made me wear the dreaded sweater. I've expressed my displeasure on the subject of the sweater by going straight under the dining table at the first sight of it followed by a game of dodge as Tinkerbelle tries of catch me. Unfortunately for me this game always ends the same way as the picture below will attest.

Wearing the dreaded sweater

The snow folk

More snow has fallen in the last few days.  So much snow that the neighborhood kids had enough to build two snowmen; or rather a snowman and a snow-woman!  Topsie didn't approve of the snow folk loitering around the courtyard and growled at them whenever we went by.  The snow folk took it all in stride dismissing her objections to their presence.  They were, after all, only in town for a few days.

The first ice

December also brought with it the first snow and ice of the season.  As we set off on our morning walk, ice encased the world around us. The trail was covered in a dusting of icy snow and the bare branches of the trees around us were preserved in a layer of ice. As we made our way through this pristine landscape, we couldn't help but notice a set of tracks on the ground that by all accounts looked like a deer may have come this way.  It has been a few years since we've seen any deer in the glen and hopeful that they may have returned, Tinkerbelle and I came back later to leave a few apples. 

Tracks in the ice

Pendulous things

The first smaller pod

The second larger pod

December started out with the pendulous things.  On more than one occasion just a few days apart we spotted the strange pod like objects hanging from the trees.  With fall almost over, and the leaves all shed from the trees, they easy enough to spot  dangling from the bare branches. We spotted the first smaller pod on our daily walk as it hung from the branch of a bramble bush.  The second pod we spotted at the park coming across it as dusk fell upon the park.  This one was much larger than the first, big and round at the top and tapering to a narrow point at the base.  Tinkerbelle, who is the tallest, walked around the pendulous thing trying to

We spotted the pod as dusk fell

figure out what it could be.  We speculated for a while, each offering our suggestions, before agreeing that it is probably a nest of sorts. But not the sort to poke or prod, we decided, lest it turn out to contain an unfriendly surprise!