Frozen

Dead ferns, with ice crystals, on the shore of Roberts Lake.

Helechos muertos, congelados.

Deadstick Pond

It was a no-name puddle, but it deserves a name. I'm calling it Deadstick Pond.

The ice looks thick enough to walk on. I didn't try.

From the highway, this pond is only visible in the winter; a screen of alders and thimbleberry bushes hides it with the first spring leaves. This afternoon, around the next corner, I noticed an old road, blocked off now, that curved back towards the pond. I found a parking spot and hiked back.

A wider view. It's a small pond; this is about half of it. The highway is just beyond those bare trees.

More sticks. And a cartoonish head with a little hat.

The road in. Those footprints are not mine; they're almost twice my size. Mine are the slight depressions to the right. The snow was frozen so hard I barely broke the surface.

And I brought home a pocketful of goodies to show you tomorrow.

The neutrals

More from my collection of "someday" photos; a sampler of muted greens and browns. Designer colours, for some. Easy on the eye, but maybe too easy if you're trying to find an invisible grasshopper or a lurking spider.

Cross spider, Araneus diadematus, in her web over the water between the docks.

Grasshopper, Oyster Bay.

Lichen, Cladonia sp., Oyster Bay. Almost matches the grasshopper.

This lichen is in a log at Strathcona Lodge, on Upper Campbell Lake. The little scaly (or leafy?) cone-like buds are intriguing. (Click for full size.) I wish I'd seen them at the time. The camera's eye is better than mine.

"Eye" in a log. Strathcona Lodge. I'm pretty sure there's a spider in there.

Dippers on sandstone, Woodhus Creek. They kept running under the water in the calm spots, where the caddisfly larvae were.

Sparrows, Tyee Spit.

When the light is right, even the water is brown. Sandpipers, off Tyee Spit.

Here and there.

Study in browns

Western conifer seed bug on Bosc pear.

He loved the pear; kept walking around and around it.

10 more days. This time the 15th, I'll be settling into Campbell River. I'm packed and ready; what's going to be difficult is moving my little aquarium, critters and all, without stressing them. I'll discuss my preparations for this in a day or so.

Midwinter browns

More Blackie Spit photos. We left the river bank and walked back to the car over the fields and old farm country. It's very quiet at this time of year; all those rackety summer critters are sleeping under bark or duff, the shouting blackbirds have gone south; among the human Spit visitors, even the children walk along sedately, encased in puffy down jackets. And the weeds and trees are quiet in their way, toning down their riotous summer colours to cool browns.

Two berries. I don't know what they are. There were no others for comparison.

Dried weeds against an old fence

We sat on a bench by the path to rest Laurie's back. I entertained myself taking partial photos of the tree right in front of us, to build a composite once I got home. An alder, still carrying a few old leaves and its mature cones.

Unusually-shaped branches and buds. I don't know what this is. There were three in a row, as if planted.

Zooming in on those stubby finger-like branches. And two dead leaves.

A rotting log, with orange fungus. I didn't even see the spider until I got home. Can you find her and her web?

Just a dead branch. I was intrigued by the pattern of the thick bark. The whole branch is about 6 inches across at the widest point.

I moved to the far side of this branch, to get a photo with the sun on it, although the bark was rather bashed and broken.

Laurie sees a face here; a fish, he says. I see a skinny moose who's lost his rack. He's very sad about it.

Grasses protected from the winds by a tall fence.

Teasels against the sky.

And they're promising us snow for the morning! A few hours of whiteness, until the rain starts again. Back to grey.