Bird boxing

All photos Fort Whyte Alive, Winnipeg, MB. January 16, 2012.

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Last year, we picked up snowshoeing. Or, more precisely, we picked up snowshoes at FortWhyte and tried them out. We liked it...and one of our 'projects' while snowshoeing is to hike on the little lakes, moving from bird box to bird box. We look for any leftovers from the growing season: duck eggs/shells, feathers, grasses.

We got our own snowshoes for Xmas this year, which was a lovely surprise. And they're not as wide as the ones we used at Fort Whyte, so we had to sort of adjust our stance. They also came with poles, which gave us occasion for endless fiddling.

And then there was the ten minute blizzard.

But I noticed these lichen clusters on the lid of one of the bird boxes and borrowed M's camera. And made everyone pause for a second under the falling snow.