Birds and roots

 I wanted to go see if any Swans, ducks, or other birds had shown up near the KVR Ponds so Charlie and I took a little trip to walk the trails around the ponds.

We saw geese. A lot of geese! 

The water in the foreground is still frozen on this pond. 

On the large pond though, the geese were lined up on the shore where the winds weren't blowing. At first glance it looked like they were turtles all lined up.

I wished that the viewing blind that the Reserve put up wasn't facing the sun. However, it is fun to sit there with binoculars and watch these characters chatter and flap their wings. After all, I felt good getting out and enjoying the sunshine. 

The ponds were a bit of a dud but that didn't matter much. We wanted the fresh air and anytime getting off the farm feels like a bit of a vacation.

We wondered around Harrison Trail and down a little known footpath that encircles one of the smaller ponds. On a good year it is really quite wet and muddy. Only a few places required some leaping from log to log and grass clump to keep from getting my feet wet.

We found cool tree roots...of course...

Now that tree grew sideways and UP!

Charlie had the best time, he chased a family of red squirrels around and around on the base of this bluff before they took off and climbed a pine tree.

Ahhhh! We did find some birds!

I found 3 little ones hiding alongside a bluff out of the wind. I didn't know that Cardinals, Bluebirds, and Sparrows hung out together.