Peek-a-boo deer and major excavations.....

 January 18, 2026

The week has been dreary and grey, until Friday, when the dawn light came up revealing a clear sky. The orange glitter of the day star was just cracking the base of the tree line on the eastern side of the clearing, when I was out clearing the snow off of the solar panels with the very long handled, designated push broom we use to clear them. They are pretty vertical at this time of year, so the skiff of snow that had settled on them, sifted off nicely with just a nudge from the broom near the top. We don't know how much snow fell, as the wind was whipping it by the windows horizontally on Thursday, and had scoured the drive down to the ice in places, drifting it in others.  -23C(-9F), very still and clear. What a beauty of a day! Thankfully I'd put on the layers, as I didn't want to come in, so headed out for a morning walk after clearing the panels, revelling in the crisp air, clear sky, and un-ploughed road. 

I could see that the big wolf had been back, loping comfortably along, each set of four prints in a slightly offset line down the side of the road, each set about an arm's span in length. Occasionally I heard a frost crack in a tree, sometimes a small noise, at other times sharp and loud, like a gun-shot. Even though the trees send their sap into the roots for winter, some moisture must remain, and on days with temperatures below -18C (0F), it freezes and expands, making loud cracks. "It's cold when...."

I was on the road when the flashing lights of the snowplough crested the hill and came toward me, the chains on the big tires 'chinkling' along with every rotation. I gave the driver a thumbs up from the edge where I'd stepped off, and he waved. I often wonder how they come up the hill, pushing snow, especially when there has been a substantial fall of the white stuff, but the back of the truck always has a large load of sand, pyramiding well up beyond the edges of the truck's box, doubtless giving good traction. A few years ago, we heard through the grapevine that a newbie driver had decided to do the road without chains, and almost put the big red truck over the edge.

On Saturday, the temperature was right back up to just 0C shortly after mid-day. We did get a nice snowshoe hike in before the snow got sticky. 

Here is a new creation. The pileated woodpecker has really been going at this dead beech tree.

It is quite a long excavation, and there is more on the left side. I am curious about how and why the bird has rounded and smoothed the edges so neatly.

We picked up the sd cards out of the trail cameras and found this picture of a deer playing "peek-a-boo".

Foxy still checks out the 'treat rock', although there hasn't been anything put there for some time. His brush is so big and fluffy. I can imagine him curled up, nestled in the snow, with it over his nose, staying warm. 

My chickadees are a daily delight. They follow us around the trail loops, alighting in any twig nearby and making small 'chips', asking for seeds, which they fly off with, to return after secreting it somewhere they hopefully will remember. I obligingly carry a little bag of seeds in my pocket, and they will sit patiently on my sleeve or shoulder or mitt, waiting for me to pull the drawstring and pick out a handful. Apparently folks who study Chickadees say that their brain grows as winter approaches, and they do remember their hiding spots.