Winter. Glad it’s just about over, but I have to admit, it can be a pretty time.
This was the south end of Green Timbers Lake a couple of days ago, between storms. It warmed up quite a bit, and the path around the lake alternated between snow and snow free.
At this point, I was wishing I’d worn something other than sneakers. Man, was it slippery. But it was pretty, so I stopped and pulled out the iPhone. What you don’t see off to the right is some nut fishing in the shade 😉
A while back, I was out at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, BC. There was a small dock out on the marsh that gave a nice view of the native grasses growing there. I guess when the seeds fall, they’re food for all the birds that migrate through the area each year.
Grasses at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta BC
After a few days of video games and end-of-season snow storms, it’s time to shake out the cobwebs and do something more useful. I’m not too sure what yet, but you have to just start; right?
More buds to ponder.
This  time it’s a magnolia bud over at Bear Creek Park in Surrey.
Magnolia bud
You can almost hear the trees wishing for an end to winter.
I worked for many years as biologist, and much of the work was driven by conifer reproduction cycles. We’d start the year in February to early April, with cedar and Douglas-fir ‘flowers’ on southern Vancouver Island (roughly 148N, 123W). From there, we’d move into the southern interior by May, for spruce and pine around Salmon Arm and Vernon, BC (roughly 50N, 120W). By June, the lodgepole pine near Prince George (roughly 53N, 122W) was shedding pollen and the cycle for us was complete. It was a busy time, only to be repeated in in reverse during the fall, as cones matured and prepared to shed their seed.
That cycle is just starting now. The alder tree catkins around here are hanging out, ready to explode with pollen as soon as temperatures and daylight are just right. Even the undergrowth is forming up leaf buds that are set to burst open in the next month or so. I’ll bet you could find some flower buds at the top of the local Douglas-fir trees as well.
Bring it on!
Spring can come early on the south coast of BC, and the first signs are popping up everywhere.
I went on an outing the other day, toting my D700 and a 60mm micro lens. I’ve been shooting with my iPhone a lot lately, so it was a nice change of perspective.
These sporophytes are sticking up on the piles of moss growing on a fence at Green Timbers Park. Lately, the moss seemed more ‘perky’ and alive, and when I took a closer look, I could see the capsules forming on little stalks above the leaves.
Definitely a first sign of spring on this wet coast.
After a couple of weeks of clear, cold weather, the forecast for last night was for it to cloud up and cover us with snow/freezing rain before morning.
Metro Vancouver got prepared, but in the morning, it was raining and getting warmer by the minute. But that wasn’t the case not far from us.
From what I hear, folks east of us up the Fraser Valley and north towards Whistler weren’t so lucky. They got several hours of snow, freezing rain or both. Same on Vancouver Island, at least from Naniamo north.
No complaints though. Snow around here usually only lasts a couple of days, melting just after it falls and keeping things wet and messy until it’s gone. It’s not pleasant like it is up a mountain, or in the BC interior where it stays crispy and you can enjoy it.
Now it’s back to rain for the next week or so. That’s fairly dreary, but we’re use to it here on the wet coast of Canada. We know that sooner or later the skies will part and we’ll remember why we live in this part of the world.
The lake at Green Timbers Park in Surrey, BC is just a tiny little thing. It’s man-made as a result of a City plan gone sideways. Back in the early 90’s, they’d cleared the centre of a 640 acre forest to build some playing fields for soccer, track and such.
No way said the folks in the area. When they saw the clearcut in the middle of the forest, all hell broke loose. In the end, the City changed it’s mind, built a little lake, installed some trails and tables, and left the rest mostly in meadow. They stock the lake with trout on an annual basis, and there are always lots of ducks and geese. There were even some double-crested cormorants fishing in it last year. I saw a couple of guys heading home with their catch last year. I couldn’t believe the size of the fish they’d caught, so I zoomed up  my phone camera for a blurry shot to record it.
It took a while, but with more and more people moving into the City’s new downtown, there are more and more people using the park. Some days, the shoreline is chock full of fisher folk, angling for trout.
People also ride and walk the trails, and attend events and programs at the little Nature House during the summer. Oh, and there are plenty of joggers too, so the City’s original plans to facilitate more athletic activity are at least partially met.
While I was out on a walk this morning, I pulled out my iPhone to take yet another shot of the lake. Obviously I was shaking, but hopefully you can see it’s frozen over. That’s the second time this winter. We’ve had a couple of weeks of cooler weather around here, and it’s stayed below freezing during the day. Nasty wind too.
In a few days it will melt, the joggers and walkers will be back, and before long, the fisher folk will be back on the banks angling for that big one.
January Ice at Green Timbers Lake
donsca 