Happenings on the Lake

I'll admit that this is one of my favourite times of year in the Sanctuary. The Boreal Chorus Frogs are calling up a storm, the Tree Swallows are back and chirping away (two of my personal favourite spring sounds, and right out our back door here at the Nature Centre), and everything's in a bit of a bustle to get started. I went out for a quick walk to the bird blind on the West Gaetz lake this morning to see what was going on, and here's a little of what was out there:

Look out the "windows" on the boardwalk before the deck proper and you may be able to spot this Red-necked Grebe on its nest.

The male Ruddy Ducks are currently displaying for the females and chasing the other males away. They're very entertaining, and are busy all around the deck.

 A look at a few of the Canada Geese -- and friend -- hanging out on the West Lake.

It's supposed to be a great weekend for a walk, so bring your camera, binoculars, and bird book and join us out on the trails!

Another sign of spring in the Sanctuary

Jim sent this photo of a floating nest with an egg in it, which was taken on May 3rd by the bird blind on West Gaetz Lake. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a bird person; would anyone out there like to ID it for me?

First Critters of Spring

As I was leaving work on Friday I saw a sight that would warm the heart of all those who yearn for the end of winter: A Richardson's Ground Squirrel (commonly and mistakenly known around here as gophers) ran across the parking lot.

Ground squirrels spend most of their year underground hibernating. They pop up in early spring to mate, fight with each other (males), rear their young and store food. This is a reasonably short, yet exceptionally busy period of time. By the end of July the adults will be heading back underground. The juveniles will remain active until around the end of September.

While we spent the first part of February dicussing the pros and cons of the various groundhogs seeing, or not seeing, their shadows the humble Richardson's Ground Squirrel may give us a better indication of when our spring may arrive and what it may look like.

Also, and I think I tweeted this on our Twitter Feed, while enjoying a brisk, late-winter snowshoe with my family on Sunday morning, my daughter said "Listen Daddy, geese." Sure enough, I looked up to see the first V of returning geese this year. Spring must be on its way.