The Snowy North...a hint of things to come

We recently went on a little trip up to North Bay, something we do once or twice a year to visit 'the kids'. The photo in the header is of Brooks Falls, showing the Magnetawan River in some of its autumn splendor, just a few kilometres east of Hwy 11. This is a photo of a couple of years ago, since at the time we went this year, the colours were well past their best. In fact it was one of the snowiest trips we have made to North Bay, but more of that later.

We did see the Magnetawan River, but from Hwy 124 rather than the location of the header photo. Here Marie gazes at the tumbling water.

The weather was rather dreary, with mostly cloudy conditions that produced either a bit of rain or snow. While we always enjoy visiting our daughter Kristin and her husband Alex--the kids--I also enjoy getting out and exploring some of the landscape that consists of rocks, hills, lakes and trees, which is quite a bit different than that of the extreme southwestern part of Ontario.

Our daughter had noted that a falconry demonstration was going to be held in nearby Callandar, and so we took it in. The demonstrators had 4 species of raptors to show, including a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine Falcon hybrid, a Harris's Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and a Peregrine Falcon. This first one is the Gyr/Per hybrid. Raptors don't normally hybridize in the wild, but for captive birds, it does happen.

 Harris's Hawks are normally a bird of the southwestern US, but are favoured by raptor specialists for their demeanour and ease of handling.

Laurier Woods is a conservation area at the edge of the city. It encompasses about 97 hectares (240 acres) and has more than 10 km of trails through the aforementioned rocks, hills, lakes and tree landscape.

Beaver lodge

There had been a bit of wet snow falling during my hike, but it was just warm enough that it didn't stick. However by the next day, with the slightly falling temperatures, it was a different story. We woke up to this:

Here are the same two spots along Laurier Woods Trail, shown above, but 24 hours later.

 And a couple of more photos of the same area.

As one might expect, birds were not terribly abundant at this time of year, and under these conditions. However I did see a few, including

American Robin

Black-capped Chickadee

 Common Redpolls were in fact fairly common. I saw several groups in various places I visited.

 And I saw my first Snow Buntings of the season.

I also saw a lingering Hermit Thrush and Winter Wren among about 30 species overall, but without getting any photos. The Winter Wren was close by this beaver dam.

 As mentioned, Common Redpolls and Black-capped Chickadees were quite regularly found.

When we left North Bay, it was still pretty white, and the landscape along Hwy 11 was a reminder of what the southwest might be experiencing before too many more weeks go by.

Quite often we stop in at Brooks Falls either on the way up or back, but with the snow, I didn't relish climbing up and down over slippery rocks and leaves, so we passed it by this time. This next photo is from several years ago when I did venture close, but refrained from climbing. It wouldn't have had this much snow this time, but gives an idea of what it can look like in late winter.

By the time we got close to Huntsville, the temperatures had warmed to a balmy 4C, and with the brilliant blue skies, the snow had all but disappeared. I stopped briefly at a lake along the highway. If you look closely you can see a bit of snow on the shadier side of the spruce trees. This is one time of the year when the Larch trees really stand out with their golden needles just about to drop. I didn't have to enhance the colours at all!