The Vista Trail in Rouge Park is located on a height of land between the Rouge River and the Little Rouge Creek.
In March here the trail can be very icy on chilly days as it was today.
I had only 2 birds; both of them large. A Raven overhead and this Pileated Woodpecker:
I was reading that woodpeckers, when it is not in use, store their long tongues in a cavity that raps around the brain. This helps to cushion the brain and avoid injury during heavy drilling.
I made this post with photos by Ken Sproule a few years ago:
Pileated Woodpecker at Col Danforth Park | Miles Hearn
Some botany on the Mast Trail:
Here is a previous Vista Trail post:
Vista Trail: Rouge Park | Miles Hearn
Male American Goldfinches look just like the females in winter. In March, they start to develop their characteristic golden colour. Here is a photo from my yard yesterday:
NATURE POETRY
We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
—They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. – Thomas Hardy
AND
It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.
–William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
Miles Hearn
What a beautiful picture of the pileated woodpecker! A few summers ago my daughter called me to come outside the cottage. There were two pileated woodpeckers calling to one another. One was on a birch tree and the other on a poplar. However they quickly flew away before I could get a photo.
I initially posted this to the Pileated at Danforth Park posting by accident.
Miles, you simply insist (italics) on grossing me out. Their tongues do– (italics) what? Go– (italics) where? Around, to…?
Well, that is certainly (gag) fascinating (italics). Seriously! How could you leave It (the tongue)–out?
Beautiful pictures of another place I love (and miss), just before spring awakening. Thanks, Miles–and thank you too, Ken–for all the wonderful/beautiful pictures! Great bud pictures, too, Miles!
P.S. (I sure wish I knew how to make italics happen, here. All capitals seemed like too much. But yes–italics (in italics).
P.P.S. Having realized how large it prints compared to when I write it, maybe ALL CAPS would have been OK!
Colonial Danforth Park!