Happy Easter!

 Our Forsythia was just starting to bloom when we got hit with -10 degrees overnight temperatures.  But I cut some branches for an Easter egg tree and once I brought them into the warmth they blossomed.

Spring is coming.

First Visit to Scout Island in 2022

 The waterfowl have returned to Scout Island so we wandered down to see what we could find.

Lots of geese in the marsh.

Two pairs of pintails.

Female Pintail

Several common goldeneye.

Lastly Leo took some very dark photos of a merlin perched in a bush on the far side of the new bridge, and miraculously photoshop fixed them right up though the background is very washed out.

Other birds we saw but took no pictures of:  six trumpeter swans, mallards, common merganser, red-wing blackbirds, green-wing teal, and ring-necked duck.

Not spring yet.

Aldrich Lake

 

On our last day in Smithers we drove past the Ski Hill Road to Aldrich Lake.  There's a short trail into the lake, well trodden by walkers and snowmobiles.  Then  we followed wolf tracks around the lake.

There's a great view of the back side of Hudson's Bay Mountain.

We came upon some mystery poop in the middle of the lake:

We do love our mystery poop on this blog!

Which we determined to be grouse or maybe ptarmigan.

Eventually we followed the wolf around the lake to a pair of muskrat airholes.

The wolf inspected them but did not dig them up.

A fun and educational excursion!

Fun fact: Aldrich Lake is tributary to the upper reaches of the Zymoetz River (also known as the Copper River) which crosses Highway 16 east of Terrace, 218 km away, a 2 hour drive from Smithers.  It's much closer as the crow flies, 77 km.

 

Trip to Smithers

Lovely sunny day on Seymour Lake.

 We drove up to Smithers to visit my mother last week.  My sister and brother-in-law kept us busy with several good walks.  On the first day we circumnavigated Seymour Lake which is a few minutes from their house.

The next day we drove out to Telkwa and walked along the Bulkley River.

Crossing the Railway Bridge across the Telkwa River

After  the walk we stopped at the Creamery Cafe for lunch.  They make very good soup and bakery goods.

The next day we returned to Seymour Lake  to put up the duck nest box Leo made Syb  and Dave for Christmas.

Before the ice melts they will return and install some metal skirting to keep animals away and deter the beavers that have been felling trees all around this one.  In the summer they can come by in their kayak and check for residents.

A few Outs and Abouts

 In February we went for a walk on Williams Lake (above), numerous walks in the creek valley

and late in the month we drove to Mission Road, where it was cold and windy and zero birds were seen.

Happy 22-2-22

 

The humans would have really enjoyed this. (From the New Yorker)

Not Dead, Just Bored

 Yup, just hiding out at home till I stop hearing that everyone around me is catching Covid.  Not paranoid, just immunicompromised.  Still going out walking, but I've stopped going to band practice, restaurants,  grocery shopping and into other peoples' homes.  Sigh.

Now for some political content.

Loved this photo:

Columbian Women in Bogota Celebrate Legalization of Abortion Yesterday.

Colombia has decriminalised abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, adding to a recent string of legal victories for reproductive rights in Latin America.

The South American country’s constitutional court ruled five against four to decriminalise the procedure on Monday evening. The decision follows a series of rulings in Mexico and Argentina that lowered barriers to abortion.

According to Causa Justa, a Colombian women’s rights coalition, at least 350 women were convicted or sanctioned for abortions between 2006 and mid-2019, including at least 20 girls under the age of 18.

We applaud the constitutional court’s legal and political courage in recognising that women and girls are not second-class citizens,” said Paula Avila-Guillen, an international human rights lawyer and executive director of the Women’s Equality Center, based in New York. “In constitutionally protecting our autonomy over our own bodies and lives, the court is changing the lives of millions of vulnerable women and girls disproportionally harmed by abortion restrictions.”