Chipmunks and Chickadees

Last week when I was out running I stopped to look at the buds on a tree. I jumped when something moved right in front of me. It was a chipmunk. Then something else moved and I realized there was also a chickadee within arms reach. Then I noticed that there were several bird feeders. A few days later I returned with my camera.

At first, I thought I was going to be out of luck. There were no birds or chipmunks in sight. But I had brought some sunflower seeds and I filled up the empty feeder on the log. I hung out for a while, thankful that I had dressed warmly since it was barely above freezing. While I waited I took a few shots of the trees flowering.



My patience was rewarded when some of the "local" showed up.





and proceeded to "stuff their faces", in this case literally!





The chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches also visited the feeder although not at the same time as the chipmunks. The chickadees were entertaining when they would hold a sunflower seed between their feet and hammer it with their beak to get the seed out.




This nuthatch seems to be missing an eye, although it seemed to still be managing.

There was also a hanging feeder that the chipmunks couldn't reach.









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Catch 22

Why did they cut down the trees on the riverbank?

To build a retaining wall.

Why did they need a retaining wall?

Because they cut down the trees. 

Tulips

We got tulips from the farmers market for Easter. I thought about taking photos of them, but didn't get inspired. But about the time Shelley wanted to throw them out, I decided they were looking quite interesting. I shot them backlit by the early morning sun coming through my home office window. I have a white cloth blind that made a good backdrop.









Since it was my birthday, and I'm getting past my own Best Before date, it seemed a fitting subject. Just goes to show things can still be interesting even when they're not shiny and new.

Here Comes the Rhubarb

It may still be trying to snow, but when I see these I can almost taste the rhubarb crisp.



These were growing behind someone's fence beside the back alley. I'm sure my neighbors were wondering what the heck that person was doing squatting back there!



Interesting how the leaves grow inside the shoot all folded up. So that's how you fit a giant leaf inside a tiny shoot!



And while I was at it, a few more of the trees flowering.



These are from the same tree, the second one is a little more advanced.



These were handheld with the Nikon 7200 and 85mm macro lens. For both of them, I picked the two best shots (out of many) and focus stacked them. Still didn't get everything in focus, but better than any one shot.  

New Leaves

The grass is starting to turn green and soon the trees will too. These are some of the first leaves I've noticed. It's interesting how some trees and bushes get flowers before leaves (those ones are usually more noticeable since they're otherwise bare), while others get leaves first, and yet others produce both together (like these).

Larch Flowers

There aren't a lot of larches around Saskatoon, but I've become a fan after watching the ones at Innovation Place. The tiny flowers in the spring are my favorite and I eagerly watch the trees for their appearance. (Check out the earlier stage) So far they are quite sparse, only a few per tree. Maybe more will come later.



These are still quite tiny, maybe 1/4 inch. They'll get a bit bigger as they open up. I took these shots with my iPhone 7 plus with the Kamerar macro lens using the Lightroom app to shoot Raw. It does a great job, but between the high magnification and the very shallow depth of focus it's tricky to get a good shot. I just kept clicking as I tried to hold steady and move slightly closer or farther to get in focus. Most of the shots were no good (too fuzzy) but a few came out pretty well. (I'm not sure where the "rays" in the background of this one came from.)



I'm sure most people walk right by these trees without noticing the exquisite flowers. The pink color stands out, but they're so small, and the trees are otherwise so bare, that they're not very noticeable.



I like how the needles emerge around the flowers. Other buds produce groups of needles, but no flowers. Eventually, the flowers turn into cones.



These aren't anything to do with larches, but I took them on the same walk home. They don't look like much yet, but they're another flower that I look forward to - lilacs. The house I grew up in (in Saskatoon) had a big lilac bush near the front door. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but the smell still reminds me of summer and home.



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Walking to Work

More photos from walking to work. The crocuses continue to bloom gorgeously. This morning there was still some frost on them when I first got there, but it melted rapidly in the sun.







There was almost no wind that day and the dugout was like a mirror.





Some of the old cattails end up quite bizarre looking.



I continue to monitor the buds on the trees as they slowly open. It's amazing how they can survive nights well below freezing (-10c).





The pond at Innovation Place has been freezing over at night, making some interesting patterns.





The little (artificial) stream splashes the grass and freezes into weird and wonderful shapes.





While I was crouched down by the water several birds came to visit.



This house finch was too shy for a good photograph.



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Deadfall

One of the excuses the city has been giving for butchering the trees and bulldozing the riverbank is that there was a lot of "deadfall". They say this in horrified tones as if it was some terrible disease.

Gimme a break, deadfall is perfectly normal. A healthy forest will have deadfall. It provides shelter and homes to birds and insects and other animals.  Lichen and moss and mushrooms and other fungi grow on it. It decomposes and provides nutrients to the soil.



Maybe you've seen them clearing deadfall from forests. The reason we do that is because we've suppressed the natural cycle of fires. And so we pile mistake on top of mistake.

Humans have a seemingly insatiable desire to manage nature. We can't have a natural area without supervising it, which means roads and trails and all kinds of interference. We turn Grasslands National Park into a giant cattle pasture, supposedly to make up for wiping out the buffalo. Of course, you can't have cattle without fences and roads and dugouts. How about we just bring the buffalo back. Of course, we can't do that without treating them like cattle and rounding them up and herding them around. We can't have wolves or bears or cougars without radio collaring them. Perhaps it's some deep seated fear of the wild. After all, who knows what horrible beast (without a radio collar!) might be lurking under that deadfall. Perhaps something fearsome like a salamander.



Come on people, nature did perfectly well for billions of years without us to "manage" it. The only reason we need to manage it is because we're in the process of destroying it. If our management did anything to slow down this destruction it might be worth it. But it doesn't. If anything it just hastens the process.

I think another part of the problem is that humans don't have much patience and they seldom take the long view. It takes decades or even centuries to grow trees. It's so much quicker to cut them down and plant grass and asphalt.

I'm ok with making a path so people can enjoy nature. Perhaps they won't destroy it quite so quickly if they appreciate it. But if you destroy the very nature that they're coming to see, in the process of creating the path so they can see it, all you end up with is yet another stretch of sterile pavement. If that's what people wanted they'd be spending their time in parking lots. Oh yeah, I forgot, that is the great outdoors for most people.

We're in the middle of the worst extinction event in the billions of years of our planets existence. Since 1900 the rate of extinctions has been approximately 1000 times faster than normal. If the current rate of human disruption of the biosphere continues, one-half of Earth's higher lifeforms will be extinct by 2100. All as a result of "progress" and "management".

More Spring

Ducks and geese often check out the pond at Innovation Place. This Mallard duck didn't have much open water around the ice.

I haven't seen any beavers yet this spring, but there are lots of signs of them. Unfortunately, they are cutting down quite a few older trees along the east side of the river. The city and Meewasin are quiet about it but sadly they've been know to try to get rid of the beavers. Which doesn't even work - it's far too easy for beavers to move along the river. I'd prefer that the city put their efforts into wrapping the big trees with chicken wire and letting the beavers have the smaller stuff. Of course it's different when the city butchers the trees along Spadina to build a bigger path for humans. Decades to grow those beautiful old trees, and five minutes with a chain saw to get rid of them. "Progress" :-(

Beavers are destructive but at least their destruction is quickly self limiting - after they cut down all the trees in an area they are forced to move on. Unfortunately the feedback is much slower with human caused destruction of the ecosystem. And we don't have any other planets to move on to.



I had my macro lens on for the crocuses so I took the opportunity to photograph some of the lichen on the rocks. It's nice to see healthy lichen since it's a sign of good air quality.

You can either try to stay within the shallow depth of focus,



or let it be part of the image.



One of the first things to turn green at Innovation Place is a small patch of moss (or at least that's what it looks like). I always try to photograph it, but I find it a difficult subject. I like the colors in this shot.



I always enjoy monitoring the progress of the trees flowering. This isn't the obvious flowering trees like the cherries and crabapples (which are later in the spring), this is the regular trees that most people probably don't even notice are flowering. It's interesting how some trees in a group will flower sooner than others. And sometimes just one branch of a tree.







The larches have interesting flowers. These buds are just starting to develop.



Other trees have less flashy, but still interesting buds:





It's always a good sign of spring when the robins return and join the chorus. It took me a minute to locate the source of the birdsong in the top of this tree (with a healthy crop of pine cones!)



The pair of jackrabbits around Innovation Place are fairly tolerant of people but if you get too close or move too suddenly they will still run away. Everything I've read says white-tailed jackrabbits are nocturnal and hide during the day. But these two missed that memo. From my office window I see them running throughout the middle of the day. Of course, they are easier to spot this time of the year when they are still quite light colored.



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