REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR WINTER WALKS at http://www.learn4life.ca / discover the outdoors
As I pointed out in a recent post, Viburnum buds are highly unusual in form.
Here is the “bunny rabbit” bud of the Wayfaring Tree:
Its cousin, the Nannyberry also has a uniquely-shaped bud:
These buds remind me of Russian “onion dome” church spires:
The Nannyberry, also called Sweet Viburnum, has a lovely flower in spring:
These flowers eventually become fruit:
Goats enjoy them which led to the common name “nannyberry”.
Here is another look at the bud:
Some images from this 2 degree, overcast morning:
Some of the birds that I was able to photograph:
Species list: red-necked grebe, great blue heron, mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, gadwall, American black duck, American wigeon, bufflehead, lesser scaup, long-tailed duck, common goldeneye, hooded merganser, red-breasted merganser, herring gull, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, black-capped chickadee, ruby-crowned kinglet, golden-crowned kinglet, house sparrow, northern cardinal.. (22 species)
Miles Hearn
NATURE POETRY
Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season
Changes its tense in the long-haired maples
That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves
Redden on their branches (in a fiery competition
With the final remaining cardinals) and then
Begin to sidle and float through the air, at last
Settling into colorful layers carpeting the ground.
– Edward Hirsch (b. 1950)