Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween and Topsie and I dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde. Tinkerbelle took us trick-or-treating at the Clubhouse for doggie treats. We don't get to go to the Clubhouse often so we had an especially good time mixing and mingling with all the other dogs who stopped by for treats. A fun time was had by all.

A mysterious tapping

A tiny bird on the far edge of a branch

A Downy woodpecker

We were at my favorite park this morning finishing up our walk, when we heard the

It dipped into a hole in the branch

mysterious tapping. It was a series of steady rhythmic taps ... tap-tap-tap pause tap-tap-tap pause.  We looked around and up in the trees but saw nothing.  "It's coming from this direction," I said to Tinkerbelle as I headed toward a patch of trees.  We followed the sound, but even then we saw nothing. We were about to turn back when all of a sudden, there it was...a tiny bird on the far edge of a long branch.  "It looks like a woodpecker," said Tinkerbelle following my gaze up the tree. White and black with a red patch on the top of its head, we later identified it as a Downy woodpecker. As we watched, in between tappings, it dipped in and out of a hole in the branch. "Culprit located and mystery solved!" I exclaimed as we set off  for home and breakfast.

High tide at last

It had been raining steadily for the past few days.  With the ground soggy and the trail muddy, our walks had been short and confined to the courtyard. But today, the rain finally let up and we went down to check on the pond.  With very little rain all summer long, the water level in the pond had dropped dramatically exposing wide patches of the muddy bottom. The recent rains, we hoped, would fill up the pond. As we approached the pond, happy chuffing sounds from the ducks floated towards us. And, to our relief, we saw that the pond was full once again.  The rains had raised the water level and the ducks had reclaimed their domain. All is well at the pond once more.

The water level had returned to normal

The hidey hole

Of all the rocks that lie along the stream, there is one that stands out.  Its a large flat rock that rests next to the water's edge where the steam is at its widest.  It is a great deal larger than the surrounding rocks and its broad flat surface always draws my gaze as though expecting to see someone or something perched upon it.  I never have.  But, the other day Tinkerbelle, Topsie and I did see something crawl out from under it.  In the smallest and quickest of movements, something darted out from the rock as we walked by. We stopped and squinted across the stream barely making out the diminutive form of a chipmunk.   Perhaps it had heard us walk by and came out to investigate.  It stood still just next to the rock before darting back. Probably safest under the rock with the hawks around, I thought, as I led the pack home.

A diminutive chipmunk emerged from the rock

A large flat rock rests next to the water's edge

Pool Party

It's early fall and all of the pools are closed for the season.  A recent rain shower, however, made this pool party possible for a family of robins.  We stopped and watched as the birds splashed and danced in the puddle of water. A blue jay  even flew down to join the party, stopping to indulge a sip or two of the fresh rain water. Then, Topsie, tired of watching the birds, barked loudly and frightened them all away.

Pie in the sky

They looked like pies ...

....good enough to eat, I thought

A conifer-based polypore

It was on our walk one afternoon that I came upon this latest find. From a distance, they looked like pies rising from the earth. How spectacular, I thought, delicious pies laying upon the ground just waiting to be eaten!! Alas, as I drew nearer, what my eyes perceived as pie, my nose told me was far from it. "Polypore," I exclaimed! Polypore galore, to be precise. Large fleshy masses of white and brown marked the presence of a conifer-based polypore. Although common in northern temperate zones, this was my first sighting of the species. Excited by my discovery, I examined the delicately formed layers emerging from the ground. They do look good enough to eat, I thought. Then, I hurried home for my afternoon tea, as visions of pie danced in my head.

Strange phenomenon

A strange phenomenon has plagued the pond this summer.  Despite the summer rains, the pond has been drying up; the water shrinking into shallow puddles surrounded by growing stretches of dry earth.  The ducks, ever faithful to the pond, spend most of the day roosting on the muddy banks and only occasionally dipping into the water as though it were a privilege to enjoy sparingly not to be overused or taken for granted. Tinkerbelle, Topsie and I have mulled over this strange phenomenon speculating as to its possible causes ... perhaps one or more of the waterways that feed into the pond have been blocked by debris, or perhaps it just hasn't rained heavily enough or frequently enough.  Whatever the cause, with the fall rains approaching, we hope the water will return to its normal level.

Spore of the polypore

It started out small...

While we were checking on our recently found orange fruiting bodies, we also stopped by to visit our previous find the polyppore. On one occasion we noticed that adjacent to the polypore a new

...and grew into an impressive mass

fruitbody was forming.  It started out small, but as the days went by we watched it grow into an impressive mass.  At the same time, we observed the polypore slowly darken and die.  At first, we assumed, naturally, that spore from the polypore had spawn this new creation. However, as time went by, and the new fruitbody grew, it became clear this was not spore of the same polypore but rather a species of its own.  Its multitude of intricate lobes liken it to a cauliflower mushroom.

...while the polypore darkened and died

Fruiting bounty

Orange mushrooms with light concave center

I was beginning to lament the end of mushroom hunting season when nature surprised me once again. Walking through the woods last week I stumbled across a patch of bright orange mushrooms. Whiskers twitching and tail wagging, I pushed through the grass and called out to Tinkerbelle. Tucked away in the shadow of the tall grass, a large fruiting colony had spread through the undergrowth. We had never seen anything like it before. Delighted by this find, we stopped by to admire it often. Then one drizzly morning as we went by the patch, we noticed that the fruitbodies had changed dramatically. The caps had flattened and the color had deepened to a dark orange creating the appearance of a completely different mushroom.  While surprised by this development, it is not unusual for mushrooms to change as they age. Our best guess as to the species is that these are Jack O'Lanterns or a type of Lactarius.

As the days went by its appearance changed dramatically

Sam I am

This week a new member joined the pack. The first thing that struck me about the new member was his unusual appearance.  He was short and round with very little fur, no snout, and no ears.  Tinkerbelle said "Come meet Sam." "Sam," he said, "I am." It turns out Sam is to be in charge of cleaning up after the pack. I had my doubts about whether Sam enjoyed this task much as he seemed to emit a continuous grumble even as he went about performing his assigned duties. But my concerns were allayed when he nudged me off of my favorite rug and set about enthusiastically cleaning it. I'm beginning to think Sam rather likes his task, zooming around importantly, nudging us all out of his way, then retreating to his favorite spot under the dresser to take a nap.

He nudged me off my favorite rug

The hawks again

One day, earlier this week, we encountered the hawks again. It was by the stream that we saw the first one. We must have startled it as we walked by as it rose suddenly from below and disappeared into the trees. Then the air filled with screeches - the kind a hawk makes when it circles the skies. We scanned the treetops trying to follow the sound but saw nothing but the dense canopy. We had started to move on when, from  the opposite direction, the second hawk appeared flying high up into the tree before us. Then we understood. The startled offspring had called for its mother and here she was. From the branches above she watched us, and when satisfied that we presented no threat, she silently departed in the direction of the stream. We chatted happily about seeing the hawks again as we made our way home, stopping only to admire a butterfly as it landed in the grass.

Monarch butterfly on a blade of grass

Favorite things

One of my favorite things to do on our daily walks is to sniff out mushrooms and other fungi and point them out to Tinkerbelle. Tinkerbelle keeps track of all the different varieties that I find. The peak season for mushroom fruiting is spring and early summer, and so by now, most of the mushrooms have disappeared. But, sometimes when you are least expecting it, you find the thing you weren't expecting to find.  And so it was this morning, as we walked along the trail, that I caught the pleasant scent of a polypore. Tracking the scent, I uncovered a large fruiting specimen carefully concealed in the foliage. Commonly found in wooded areas, polypores are identified by their dense layers of fan-shaped brackets.  This one is possibly a bitter polypore or a black-staining polypore.

I tracked the scent of a polypore

The polypore was concealed in the foliage

A visitor to the pond

Although the pond is regularly inhabited by the mallards, every now and then a visitor comes its way.  There are the seasonal visitors like the Canadian geese that fly in every fall on their way south. Then there are the occasional visitors that appear every now and then.  I remember the first such visitor we saw, a snowy white bird towering tall and graceful among the stout brown ducks.  Its yellow bill and black legs marked it as a Great Egret. It stayed around for about a week, its white feathers beaming like a beacon against the  murky waters of the pond. Then one day it left, most likely on its way to brighten another pond.

A Great Egret visits the pond



It stood tall and graceful among the ducks





A very hot week

"Topsie's gone flopsie, again," I remarked to Tinkerbelle.  It had been a very hot week and Topsie was having the worst of it.  Five minutes into a walk and she was flopped down on the ground. And there she would lay despite Tinkerbelle's coaxing, rolling around among the cooler blades of grass.  I wished Topsie wouldn't fuss so much about the heat because it usually ended up with a trip to the groomer. Sure enough, a few days later, there we were getting our fur clipped.  To be fair, a shorter cut is more comfortable and Topsie even got two bows in her hair.

Topsie flopped down

Topsie with bows in her hair

An unexpected surprise

Today, as we set off down the trail, I spotted in the distance what looked like a small pile of dry leaves on the side of the trail.  But, as we got closer, we were met with an unexpected surprise as the pile of leaves turned out to be a turtle. I stopped to say hello, but it seemed to be in a hurry and did not stop to chat.  As it marched off, about as quickly as a turtle can, we bid it good day and went on our way.

I stopped to say hello to an eastern box turtle

The spotted bird

This morning as we walked along the trail, a bird bobbing in the grass caught my eye. The bird was unusual in that it was covered in spots and had a distinctive crescent mark upon its chest.  Not having seen a bird like this before, we crept in for a closer look.  The bird, unperturbed, posed patiently for a picture. Then, in a flash of white, it flew away. Later, when Tinkerbelle looked it up, we learned that the bird was a Northern Flicker woodpecker, a species that likes to eat ants from the ground.

A Northern Flicker woodpecker

The rescue

Yesterday, as Tinkerbelle and I set off on our afternoon walk, we decided to try a different route.  It was along this route that we spotted the fallen baby bird.  It was still alive, so Tinkerbelle picked it up with a doggie bag and looked for the nest. The nest was carefully concealed among the branches of a nearby tree. Tinkerbelle climbed the tree as I stood guard below.  Placing the bird in the nest  proved to be difficult as the nest appeared to be occupied. Then, with the help of two passersby, and after a few more tries, the baby was back in the nest. When we went to check on it this morning we were sadden to see that it had not made it. But, as we looked up at the tree, the sounds of chirping reminded us that though the nest had lost one, it was still full of life.

The nest was wedged high up in the tree

A rare sight

One day, not long ago, as we walked by the stream that flows through the glen, a sudden movement caught my eye.  As I turned to look, I was startled by the sight of a large red fox drinking at the stream.  "Oh quick" cried Topsie, as Tinkerbelle fumbled for the camera.  Disturbed by  the commotion, the fox slunk away into the brush.  Undeterred, I scanned the banks until I spotted a splash of red amidst all the green.  And, there, peering at us from the bushes on the other side of stream was the largest fox I had ever seen. It was at least twice my size, maybe bigger. We stared at it for a long while not wanting to leave as a fox in these parts is a rare sight. 

It peered at us through the branches

The old adage

Now, the ducks that inhabit the pond are not the most organized creatures.  In fact, despite the old adage, I can say with some certainty that we have never seen the ducks organized in a row ... until today.  Straddling a floating log in the middle of the pond, was an almost perfect row of ducks.  So surprised were we, that we stopped to take in this charming sight. 

Ducks in a row

Something new

Every now and then, we discover something new along the trail.  Today, as we walked past the wild strawberry patch we noticed an over growth of bramble bushes.  There was nothing particularly remarkable about the bushes until I saw the berries.  I went in for a closer look and discovered that they were raspberries.  Most had not ripened yet, but as I sniffed around I spotted one ripe berry and pointed it out to Tinkerbelle. Tinkerbelle was delighted and said that it would be lovely in a fruit salad.



I spotted one ripe berry