Come walk with me

This will a photo heavy post so I'll put it up early this week rather than waiting until Saturday.

Between curling games on Sunday, I took myself out for a walk.  It was a beautiful morning, about 13C (55F) in the sunshine. I hadn't walked outside for over a week and I was eager to spend some time outdoors.  I wasn't sure how my back would feel so told my son I'd go the short way round but once I was out there, I didn't.

As I walked through the little park at the end of the block I noticed several children in their masks playing in the playground.  They were running around and climbing on the equipment and just having a good time.  I smiled as I walked past to hear the sounds of happy children.

A short distance beyond the playground the path takes a slight turn out of the trees and into an open park area with just a few trees. The park is bordered by houses on one side and a church parking lot on the other.  Here I found the hares.  Does the first one not have a look of "don't you dare come any closer" on it's face?

As I leave this park, I turn right and head for the crosswalk to enter another park which shares it's space with a school and several condo units.  Today the city had a crew digging up the street at the crosswalk to my left. I was glad to be walking away from the noise.

This park is large, and the path curves around an open are past the condos where I often see hares (not today), then a series of townhouses on the left, followed by several houses on the right before reaching a point where the path comes to a T.  As I passed the houses to my right, I spotted a robin bobbing around in the grass. It flew into a tree as I took out the camera.

When I went to put the camera away, I spotted movement in an evergreen a few meters away.  I saw the flip of the tail and knew there was a squirrel in there so I waited for it to makes it's move. It went bounding through the grass and stopped once to check something out.  

This is my favorite shot of the squirrel - it's just flying through the grass!  It's definitely not Hoover since this one is much thinner.

I took the path to the left at the intersection to reach the creek and was disappointed to see the water level is so low there were no ducks about.  I decided to venture across the bridge and take the unpaved path on the other side of the creek back to the street.  I'm glad I did.

Someone obviously brought the chair down to watch the creek, and I thought it was funny.  (Small things, small minds?)  As I walking closer I heard a sound of a bird that I didn't recognize and I wandered about this area to find the source.  Of course, the bird stopped calling but then started again. It took me a minute or so before I looked up, way up the pole and spotted this bird.

I had no luck identifying it on my own so I sent the photo to my brother.  He advised it is a flicker, either a Northern or a Yellow Thatched flicker, as those are the two we see here.  It's the first time I've seen or heard it in the park, and I'm hopeful it will stay for awhile.

I continued my walk along the creek, keeping an eye out for gopher holes - I could hear them calling to one another as I passed by, but none were brave enough to show themselves.  Further along the creek I did find a few ducks and a marbled Godwit! There were a pair of Godwits last year, and I'm hopeful they'll nest here again this year.

You can see how very shallow the water is.  I'm hoping we'll get some rain in the next week or two, so that the level comes up.

This is the marbled Godwit.  I took several photos and this is the best of the lot.  I was afraid to get too close as it would have flown away.

From the end of the creek, I turned right to reach the crosswalk, crossed the street and walked the half block to the pond.  And guess what?

Babies!!!  I was a bit surprised to see two families with young ones already.  It's been pretty cold at night with temperatures below freezing.  

Just beyond the geese was another bird I didn't think I'd seen before.  

I had to send the photos to my brother for help identifying it.  He informed me it is an Avocet.  It has a unique curved beak. 

There were lots of ducks and several geese at the pond. 

Most of the ducks were paired off and napping in the grass/weeds along the edge of the pond. It won't be long before there will be baby ducks too.

As I walked along the path beside the pond (to my left, condos to my right) I spotted a small bird flitting along into the small trees.  Every time I would get close, it would dash off to the next one. Finally, I was able to move slowly enough that it stopped long enough for a couple of photos.

I would not have been able to identify it, had it not turned it's back to me.

It is a yellow-rumped Warbler! I don't think I have ever seen one here previously - or perhaps I wasn't paying attention.  I had seen on another blog recently so this was a nice surprise.   

By this point, I'd been out walking and stopping and taking photographs for nearly an hour; it was time to head for home.  The path past the pond brings me back to the residential area where I live. A right turn, then a left and a couple of blocks in, I  cut through one of the bays and back into the first park. Most of the children were gone, I assume to their homes for lunch.  Great idea, and I did the same.

Hope you enjoyed the virtual walk!  Have a good day everyone.