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)