It's spring time in the forest!!
Walking down along the creek the signs are all there...
A few pussy willows are still coming out...
The creek is singing...Griffin wishing for stick throwing...
There use to be a bridge here for bringing the logs down from the hills onto waiting
trucks but has since been decommissioned...
In the summer this is a great "cool off the dog" pool.
The salmon enhancement society releases hundreds of tiny fish in here
and if you put your feet in the creek, they swim around your toes to see if you're
something good to eat!
The moss has started to show off in thick blankets of all shades of green,
covering the skeletons of logging from long ago...
When men were men and logging was done by hand, they would cut a notch in the
big tree, insert a long board and then a man would stand on either end and begin the
long process of cutting the tree with a band saw...
Now all that's left are the "mouths" from these springboards.
If only they could speak to us and the stories they could tell!
Looking closer you can see the tiny flowers of the mossy carpets...
The first of the Dog Tooth violets are beginning to bud...
As well, the False Lily of the valley unfurling her delicate leaves...
Coltsfoot...
and Indian plum...
Licorice fern...
Leftover fish bones from spawning days in the fall...
A loose downy feather, surely someone will collect to line a nest...
Speaking of nests...under this bridge I saw a grey bird fly out...
After careful investigation I found something I've never seen before...
The nest of an American Dipper!
Like a big fuzzy bowling ball.
I've seen the bird itself many times fluttering along creeks but never have I seen a nest.
They are so sweet how they stand and bop up and down in between diving. (hence the name 'dipper')
I watched the pair going about their business and got a few shots of them...
It was hard though because of the low light and the fact that they move
around so quick and they're the same colour as the creek!
Did you know that they are the only true aquatic songbird?
After walking a bit more along the creek, looking at Hobbit inspired roots and trees...
...marvelling at more moss...
Amusing Griffin in between...
I went back near the bridge and just caught a few shots of the dipper
collecting grass and dipping it into water and then mud and taking it back to add to the nest...
How fortunate I was to witness one of natures marvels!!
Here's a little sample of the beautiful song of the dipper...video by Lynn Kelly
Maybe next time you're by a creek you may hear one!
