REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR WINTER WALKS at http://www.learn4life.ca / discover the outdoors

If you look at tree buds of an older tree, a younger tree, the top of the tree or the bottom of the tree, they are all about the same size. Here are some buds from a Sugar Maple:

One tree species commonly found along sandy stretches of Lake Ontario differs greatly by having a large variety of bud sizes:

These are the buds of the Eastern Cottonwood.

The buds are somewhat three-sided:

They are slender and long-pointed:

yellowish-brown and very resinous:

Here are some scenes from Ashbridge’s Bay on this somewhat sunny day, with very high winds and a temperature of 0 degrees.

The snow in the ground was very granular:

As usual at this location, the chickadees were delighted to see us:

We also had good looks at these birds:

Species list:  mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, gadwall, bufflehead, long-tailed duck, common merganser, lesser scaup, ring-billed gull, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, ruby-crowned kinglet, northern cardinal.  (13 species)

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

The geese honked overhead
I ran to catch the skein
To watch them as they fled
In a long wavering line.

– May Sarton (1912–95)