Morris Island Conservation Area
January 15, 2005
It was a cool day but nice and sunny so decided to go for a little outing. On the news recently we'd seen reports of how there'd been a huge grey owl invasion in the ottawa area due to a lack of food in their usual northern boreal forest habitat. On the news report Michael Runtz (a renowned local naturalist who teaches at Carleton University) managed to find three of these nocturnal creatures at midday within an hour so we figured how hard can it be?! Sadly, no owls were spotted. However I did manage to spot a white rabbit and we saw lots of exciting beaver activity and other animal signs. The scenery was beautiful and it was good to get some fresh air.
a quick bite to eat before heading out into the cold
if we get lost we can always head towards the light
snowmobile crossing along the ottawa river
did the yellow trail (chats falls trails)
heading out to the causeway
hope this is not a bad sign
what kind of animal made these tracks?
looks like there was a busy beaver
it was a cold and windy day
lots of animal tracks including inverted bunny tracks (left)
rocks, rocks, rocks!
a whole lot of partying was going on
although freezing cold, some water didn't ice over
tree
this squirrel partied too hard and lost its tail!
beautiful island scenery
damn!... I don't think the beaver made that one!
holes in the ice... beavers trying to break through the ice?
i'm in here... just give me a minute!
artsy tree shot... (rubby has to take at least one per hike)
are they coming or going?
the woodpeckers don't seem to mind the cold weather
the sun is setting.... time to go home for hot chocolate!