Family Day Weekend

It was a long weekend for us here in Ontario with yesterday being Family Day. The temperatures continue to be cold, although they've risen this morning and it's now -15C on the thermometer. On the weekend I was looking at this when I got up ...

A bit of snow fell which piles up on top of the old snow. Cody can't remain still for very long when he's out in these freezing temperatures. His paws get too cold and he sits up. I have to watch him when he goes out to do his business because he'll get stuck out there in the middle of the yard ... paws too cold to walk on, and he won't come back to the door without an encouraging whistle. I don't want to say my dog isn't that bright, but ... well, I just don't want to leave him out there too long in case I find him lying on his back with all four paws in the air afraid to walk the 10 yards to the door.

I convinced my husband to accompany me to the marsh down by the lake. I was a bit disappointed that there were hardly any birds there. The marsh was frozen over ... 

The marsh. Lake Ontario lies on the other side of the line of willows.

A couple of squatters.

... even Lake Ontario was frozen over.

I was looking directly into the brilliant sun while taking photos of the lake, so the photos didn't turn out as bright white as it was in person. The snow was just blinding making our eyes water. A brilliant blue sky blazed above us.  I'll share the few birds that we did see another time.

Far across the lake there were pastel coloured clouds mounting up over New York ... looked like more 'lake-effect' snow for them ;)

Despite the cold temperatures, the sun was warming here on shore. There was barely any wind, which made for pleasant walking. The ice wasn't particularly thick on top of the water here, and all we could hear was the continuous cracking and shifting of the ice as the sun warmed it. The swans and geese had little open waterways to travel through the ice. Those would all be freezing shut again once the sun started to go down.

We decided to go back to the park where I got all the waterbird photos last week. I wanted to show my husband all the birds. But it was a completely different atmosphere when we arrived.

There wasn't a sound. The inlet was frozen solid with much thicker ice.

The geese and swans were huddled on top of the ice. Only an occasional honk of a bird was heard as they stood up to resettle. None of the hustle and bustle they displayed a few days ago.

A few seagulls flew around looking for morsels, but except for handouts from people, they weren't finding a whole lot in that ice.

The five-day forecast shows temperatures rising slowly but steadily. 

Another month and we'll start to feel some early spring weather bringing on the maple syrup :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy