The many facets of snow

 March 7, 2025

We have sure run the weather gauntlet this week, from cold and sunny, to grey and rainy, and now back to cold and sunny. The snow on the ground has settled a lot, and snow on the steeper roofs has all whooshed off. As the temperature warmed, the snow started to creep, glacier-like, off of the metal roof on the Battery House, slowly curling around until it's suspended weight was too much, and it broke off and dropped.

The driveway is now an ice rink, refreezing after the mild weather and rain. Hubby spread clean wood shavings on the places we walk, while it was mild, and this morning they are frozen in, making access to the buildings safer. It was snowing and blowing last night, so all the ice elsewhere is covered with a layer of snow now, a very slippery situation. 

Last weekend was absolutely beautiful for snowshoeing, as we'd had a warmish day or two, the snow settled, then refroze with a skiff of new snow on top. No need to wade, the surface was firm, and one could walk anywhere on the soft, slightly snow covered surface. Off I went across the un-tracked expanse, to check out a neighbour's property. 

These are some amazing, big, gnarly old oak trees on their hill, 

framing lovely, far-reaching views.

Back on the home front, the fox pair has been showing up on camera. Here, early morning, and one of them is passing the camera mounted on a solar panel pole, checking the spot where we often leave out treats for them.

This one is making tracks in the fresh snow at another camera.

We had a Snow Bunting show up under the bird feeders this week, all alone, but a sign that the season is advancing.
On Wednesday, Hubby tapped a few maple trees.

Yesterday, we walked around on our snowshoes, the snow wet and crystalline, to see if there was any sap in the bottom of the buckets. There was! Overnight, the temperature dropped to a low of -8C (18F), but it is rapidly rising toward the freezing mark today, perfect conditions to get the sap running. 

The rising sun is so much further north along our horizon, than it was the last time we had a clear, sunny dawn. The sunlight shining across the fresh skim of snow from last night is making a zillion sparkling prisms, as if someone has thrown crystals across the surface. 

This morning, we can walk on the packed and frozen snowshoe trails, without snowshoes but,

don't step off them.....

or you will be up to your knee in crusty snow...

Snowing and blowing....Oh, March!!!

March 1, 2025

March is trying to come in like a lion. After a thaw, which settled the snow a bit, and melted out bare patches on the driveway, but iced the rest, the temperature has dropped back down to substantially below the freezing mark. Snow started falling last night and this morning it is going by the windows somewhat horizontally, from the north. We have accumulated a few inches, although the exact amount is hard to tell, as the wind has been gusting.

Seed orders are all sent, and now I'll be watching the mailbox. Yesterday I filled some cell packs with starting mix, ready for planting, and did plant a small container with lavender seeds, as they take forever to germinate. 

I've shovelled the snow off of the lids of the hot frames, preparatory to doing some winter sowing of onion seeds, once my seeds arrive.

The days are longer, the sun is stronger, there is that "Je ne sais quoi" in the air that lightens the spirits and heralds the start of a new season, especially on a sunny, blue sky day, when one can imagine one smells the scent of sap rising in the maple trees. Soon, but not quite yet!

Solar radiation is being absorbed by leaves and tree detritus, and they are melting into the surface of the snow, Mother Nature's collage.

Inspired by The Furry Gnome,  seasonsinthevalley.blogspot.com/   who is posting pictures from the past, I am posting some writing I did last summer, in the 'more or less' journal I keep for future reference. 

When one is surrounded by a white world, one kind of forgets how things were, and will be again, as the seasons change. 

Back in May of 2024:

Woke up a little early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so was downstairs between 4 and 4:30. Got the fire started. Although the temperature was comfy in here, it had rained off and on most of yesterday, so just felt it would be nice, and the outside temperature was 5C (41F). Shortly after setting a match to the makings, a Whip-poor-will started up, right outside, to the west. I carefully opened a window and listened, then got a flashlight and crept out onto the verandah. There were two birds, right on the driveway beside the lilac bush. I put the flashlight beam on them and it didn't phase them at all. Two eyes glowed in the light, one a foot or two away from the other. They must have been sitting sideways to me. One of the eyes slowly shut and reopened a couple of times. There was a flurry of wings, moving dark shadows...then silence. Shortly after, they started up again, this time echoing off of the Battery House like they were right beside it. I went out the back door to try and see them, but no luck. Meanwhile, the sky was rapidly lightening, the Robins, Wood Thrushes and White Throats were tuning up.

Then, early in July...still Whip-poor-wills. 

The Whip-poor-will has us programmed to awake between 4 and 4:30. This morning he was right beside the lilac bush on the driveway again, and as hard as I tried to peer into the dimness, I could not see him. One can hear the 'chuck' he starts each section of his song with. I watched and watched at a break in his repertoire, knowing he would fly. Darned if I saw anything, then he started up again, further to the front of the yard.  

Later with morning coffee:  

We are sitting out on the verandah and listening to my birds. The Wood Thrush is first awake, then the Hermit Thrush. Veery is close behind, and then a Swainson's Thrush, which we don't hear too often. Robin is next, then Chestnut sided warbler, then the other regulars start up in no particular order. Chipping Sparrow, (who is very vocal this AM), Red-eyed vireo, American Redstart, Song sparrow etc. etc. Hummy is humming around in the flowers that are blooming in the BBH bed out front. 

Yep....spring is on the way, if March slides along as fast as February has, the 20th will be here lickety-split! Monarchs will already be starting their journey north.....

 

The aftermath, shedding new light and averting disaster....

February 26, 2025

 Lots of blowing, ploughing and shovelling ensued after the second dump of snow on the weekend of the 16th. Then came the slogging to get our trails walkable. I might have overdone that a bit, as the old knees complained bitterly for a few days. Hubby did most of the trail breaking after that! 

Some pictures of the beautiful white stuff.

The garden picnic table after the first dump of snow...

Then after the second dump over the weekend, wind included...

The bare outline of our previously packed snowshoe trail.

Despite the lightness of the snow, it was still fairly heavy going, as one's snowshoes sank a lot. Along one of our trails, Hubby breaking trail in the lead, a sudden flurry and beating of wings, as a grouse exploded from right beneath his advancing snowshoe.

Anyone who has experienced this will know what an adrenaline rush ensues. The grouse was comfortably ensconced in its comfy little  snow cave when we came along. Must be startling for it as well! (I had to darken the picture to see the hole, and if you look closely, you might see it's wing prints on the snow.) That very same day, we actually laid eyes on a Snowshoe Hare in the same area. It took off, running easily on top of the snow, stopping beside the trunk of a big pine briefly, where we got a good look. It's white is just slightly off-white, and when it moves, easier to spot.

There are a couple of deer still up here on the hill, although the snow is a bit deep for them now. This is the furrow their belly ploughs through the snow as they move about. 

Family Day weekend, the weekend of the second snowstorm, our son made it up and gave me pictures he'd taken a few weekends previously. We have a female Pileated woodpecker visiting our bird feeders. She loves the hanging suet cake, and clings to it, pecking out chunks, then drops down to the snow beneath and eats them. This is her beneath the suet feeder, another bird visible flying on the right side. Those are all bird foot prints in the snow.

Family Day, and family pizza...No delivery available up here!

 One of the pot lights in the kitchen started misbehaving, so Hubby has installed new LED lights that are making a huge difference to the lighting out there. Yeah! Happy dance. I'm sure the previous lights were as energy efficient as any that were available at the time of their installation, but Wow..these new ones are wonderful.

As far as the disaster...my computer started making strange cracking noises when attempting to shut the lid. Leaving it sitting with the lid up was not an option. Mr. Fix Anything had a look and found the case was cracked and spreading apart, even though the screws were still there. A judicious application of crazy glue and some clamps. Much better, but I fear that we'll soon be shopping for a new beast.

 

 

Now, this is winter as it should be!!

February 16, 2025

The word of the week is ....Snow! Just short of a foot of snow fell over Wednesday evening into Thursday morning here. Our clearing looks like an expanse of smooth white meringue. The temperature is staying beautifully in minus digits.

This morning, this is the back step.

Another few inches have fallen, as the picnic table was bare yesterday, and snow is still coming down. The flakes are drifting down through the light halo, sparkling against the darkness, then dance and swirl with every little capricious gust of wind, changing directions, even retreating upwards at times. 

By late Thursday morning, the snow eased off, and the shovelling, blowing and ploughing commenced. 

We like to make a two blower pass along the road through the cedar bush, for accessibility.

 The way the blower cuts the snow reminds me of a slice of cheesecake.

The wind and the snow create curiosities. This is the picnic table beside the garden beds, not a really accurate depth gauge, but interesting architecture, more abrupt on the N side where the wind has been hitting. 

The wind has been barrelling down from the north a good bit lately.

A few threads are starting to shred out from the end of the flag. Time for replacement.

We had to get out and break some trails on Friday, an irresistible blue sky day with a brisk north wind.

Someone else had their snowshoes on...perhaps a Snowshoe Hare.

You can really see how it's feet are spread out like snowshoes, the nails making little nicks in the snow at the front of its feet. The foxes are around and do like travelling along our packed trails. We saw the bounding tracks of a marten, but no one else had ventured out onto the fresh canvas yet.

Is this a study of blue on white or white on blue? This White Birch really stood out to me, but the picture does not do it justice.

And this tree, a large, pyramidal White Spruce in a clearing...we have named The Sergeant, in honour of a cousin and best friend, a police officer who recently lost his battle with cancer.

Moose business...

February 8, 2025

It has been a week of glorious winter, such a change from that aberration we endured last year! Several days have been cold but bright, with sun and blue skies. Others days were milder with overcast skies and snow flurries, more beautiful white fluffy powder to pad up our trails and beautify the landscape. The temperature has stayed securely, well below the freezing point. 

Yesterday was a windy, blue sky day, the wind whipping the snow around, whirling it up in big white-out 'snow-nados', drifting it along edges and smoothing over the yard, clearing it into a smooth, white canvas.

A few oak leaves, released from their marcescent parent, dancing and twirling across the surface with the wind, have etched strange hieroglyphics on the wind packed surface of the snow.

Particularly, on clear sky mornings, the housework can wait. It is the best time of day to strap on the snowshoes and head out to explore. The lighting is perfect, just as the sun is up enough to be seen, sparkling through the trees to the SE, and throwing shafts of yellow light across the landscape.

One morning, our trail was punched with big holes...a moose, or several had come across the property, taking the line of least resistance through the bush.... our trail. We followed the tracks, noting where they diverged from our trail, then rediscovered them going toward the barn. Behind the stone fence at the back of the barn, were 3 moose beds, one a little larger than the other two, so we surmise, made by a cow with two calves.

They had settled down behind the stone fence, close beside pieces of old farm equipment which were left there long ago. 

From their beds, the tracks meandered across to the west edge of the clearing where it appeared the trio had been snacking on the tips of raspberry and blackberry canes.

It is always amazing to me, what seemingly small bits of food sustain those large bodies. They circled an apple tree that is behind the large solar panel,

then continued off into the bush to the west. (the straight line in the picture is our snowshoe track coming to check out the disturbances in the snow.) 

On subsequent forays around our back forty and our neighbour's property, we have found signs that they have been hanging around for a while. 

Two winters ago, we had a moose or two around. The scars on the red maples that they had stripped bark from then, are healing.

The critters also like young poplars to snack on, and will just push into the tree, using their body to bend it over, to browse off all the buds and/or leaves.

Often the trees break. 

This morning, another beautiful, still, 'blue sky' day we headed out, hopeful to find some pictures of the moose on the trail cameras. This is the only one.

We think it is one of the moose calves, and to show the size difference, the following picture is of a deer, in roughly the same spot. It is probably this spring's fawn, so a slightly smaller than adult sized deer. The size comparison is interesting.

Another treasure from the cameras, is this picture of an American Pine Martin, cropped to show how lightly he wafts across the snow's surface, leaving barely a trace,

and un-cropped, showing the snowshoe print for a size comparison.

Happy trails.