Kicked off this week with a longer ride up to Chief Mistawasis Bridge. Trying to make up for being such a slacker last week. Also, it was super nice out - compared to the previous week. it was -10°C when I woke up, but it was +7°C by the time I went out for a ride!
Actually, on the way, I hauled a chair to campus for Amanda to use in her office... forgot to take a picture of that, though...
Hare, finally losing some of that winter fur.
Rawk Duv!
Peoples out paddling - it was such a beautiful day.
MURDER!
MOAR MURDER!
Some of the crocuses finally blooming! Yay!
More crocuses blooming and one that looked trod upon. In fact, there were a lot more buds that hadn't bloomed - but in the particular location a bunch of them looked like they'd been trampled!?
Looks like somebirdy dropped their lunch.
ice still on the shaded shorelines - and a still river reflecting the sky!
View from the Chief Mistawasis Bridge.
Can you see it? Zoom in. That little dot in the distance. Yeah, that's a meadowlark chirping away!
Luckily I remembered to bring the BIG GUNZ and could actually see it!
Another Meadowlark.
I think there WAS a meadowlark here but it flew off...? I saw five in total - two of them flew off before I even got my camera out.
Surprised to see these wetlands STILL mostly frozen over!?
Ducks... I think they were mallards.
The final meadowlark I saw, I got to see up close! With the binoculars I could make out all sorts of details! I've only ever really seen meadowlarks on dots on distant posts or in trees - it was really quite exciting to have a good look at this one!
MORE Crocuses!!
STILL MORE Crocuses
Son of Still More Crocuses
Crocuses: The Return
Ducks in a puddle. Kind of a big puddle.
On my way back through campus I met up with my favourite human and we rode home together.
Tuesday my mom texted to inform me she'd seen Pelicans at the weir. I was a little suspicious of this claim. She didn't say if she'd walked down there or if it was while driving by (I'm guessing the latter). Has she seem a couple of big gulls? Was it just snow or ice? Or whitecaps on the river (it WAS a VERY windy day!). When I went out for a ride in the afternoon, I rolled past the weir for a look.
I took some single track trails along the river bank.
They were mostly dry now.
The ones downtown on the west side of the river - and all the way up to the Circle Drive Bridge aren't particularly "techinical" and can be ridden with city bikes (or our Yuba Boda Boda - which I've been riding a lot lately)
It was also less exposed to the wind.
Canada Goose leaning into that wind - waves breaking across it?
No pelicans.
If they HAD been there, I missed them...
Later in the day, Keiran and I rode up to 33rd to attend the SCYAP Art Drop-In
By the time we came out, it was snowing!?
Like, a LOT!
Wednesday morning, I had an appointment downtown - I swung by the weir to see if there were any pelicans.
Nope.
So much snow!?
Geese, unimpressed with snow.
More Geese. More Snow.
Snowy downtown.
The Delta Bessborough Hotel.
STILL more Geese! STILL more snow!
you get it... Geese... Snow...
I wasn't the only idiot out there riding in this mess...
Then... the next day... it was all gone.
Most of it melted when it warmed up later in the afternoon on Wednesday. By the time I went out for a ride on Thursday... gone...
First stop was the weir to look and see if there were any Pelicans.
Nope...
BUT...
I did see a white dot at the northern tip of the mid river sand-bar-turned-island just south (upstream) of the weir...
I rode back up the Meewasin Trail and scrambled down the muddy bank to see if I could get a better look.
Not much better... But with the binoculars, it was pretty clear it was an American White Pelican!
Then while I was standing there, straining to get a better look at this one pelican huddled on the mid-river island...
some movement caught my eye and I noted A WHOLE FREAKING FLOCK of fifteen or sixteen of them flew overhead!?
They wheeled about a few times...
and I thought they might have landed by the weir!? So I scrambled back up the muddy bank and rushed back to the weir...
To find only one.... ONE!?
I also just missed getting my camera out in time to catch it diving for food. It slowly floated down the weir to the other side of the river.
She probably got better pictures than me...
More crocuses blooming!
Purpley flowers just bursting out of those buds! Yay!
When I got to the other side, I noted a second pelican had joined the one on the island.
There they are.
It was still pretty windy and brisk - there had been a snowstorm the day before! So the two were huddled up against the wind.
across the way I noticed a few other watchers - including a guy with a giant camera on a tripod!
There was still SOME snow and mud on the trails...
Saturday I rode the tandem up to my folks place to pick up Amanda (who had borrowed their car for the day and was returning it late in the afternoon. As we rode home, we stopped at the weir to look at the Pelicans.
The Pelicans
Still Pelicans
More Pelicans
While there, I also spotted some Double-Crested Cormorants!
More Cormorant
Sunday I went for a short ride south east of the city - mostly to scout out paths and trails and see if they'd dried up yet
(They have!)
(maybe not the single-track off in the bush - that's all still covered in snow and/or MUD - but I'm less interested in riding there anyway)
This little stretch is all dried up.
And that took me back to pavement and I just kept going.
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