Signs of wildlife have been scarce around the marsh.  However, the beauty of the marsh in its winter dress is a pleasure in itself, as evidenced by this scene that greeted me as I entered the wooded section of the trail after a recent snowfall.

Reading the signs

What were also very evident in the snow yesterday, were the tracks of deer.  Quite a few deer make their home in the town year round, with the marsh being one of their favoured spots.  I followed the tracks of at least two deer moving toward town along the trail spur that comes out by CARP headquarters (in the old train station).  They had paused along the route to nibble at the tips of the multiflower rose and red osier dogwood bushes.  The top photo shows a small dogwood sapling with all its tips bitten off.  The bottom shot shows where a number of deer had climbed down to drink from the water in a ditch by the trail.  Their tracks continued to the old train station and then up towards the main street.

Wildlife signs

Although there's not that much wildlife to see around the marsh in the winter months, there is evidence of their presence once the snow comes.  Yesterday I spotted the tracks of several different critters, including those of a small rodent (top) and those of a pheasant heading off into a stand of phragmites (bottom).  The pheasant tracks were quite plentiful, and its not unusual to hear their calls at various places around the marsh.

Winter walking

Although the snow has melted once more, while we had it, people continued to walk the trail around the now frozen marsh.  The trail was covered with tracks when I went for my walk yesterday morning.  That's the old train station off in the distance at the left. 

Taking flight

The geese were still on the marsh when I arrived this morning, but it wasn't long before they began to sound their departure calls.  When they rose into the air, I got this shot.  They headed northeast, perhaps to the Belle Isle Marsh.

Keeping a low profile

This morning I spotted a small furry body sitting on a grassy clump at the marsh's edge.  I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of the muskrat's head before it slipped into the water, but I was happy just to have caught a quick glimpse of one.

Strutting their stuff

The hooded mergansers were in the same place today as they were yesterday, although today their number was up to fifteen.  I stood and watched them for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures, and then I saw the adult males (there were four of them) begin to act strangely, and I heard a weird sound coming from them.  I realized I was witnessing courtship display!  Their crests, composed completely of feathers, were raised high and they were contorting their heads and bodies in a myriad of positions.  As they did so, they emitted a frog-like growling sound.  I've never seen anything quite like that.  Here is some of what I witnessed.

Sure muskrat sign

I walked the marsh trail yesterday for the first time since last Wednesday when a foot of snow dropped on us.   It was also the first time I've seen ice on the marsh.  The upper part was completely covered with a thin sheet.  When I entered the wooded section of the trail, I startled a number of ducks that had been sheltering at the marsh's edge, including nine hooded mergansers.  As they swam out, I moved closer to get a better look, and that's when I noticed this muskrat lodge, the first of the season.  I was encouraged to see it, as I had seen little sign of the industrious animals since early summer.  I found two more lodges before my walk ended.

Familiar songster

I have seen a number of robins at the marsh lately, mostly on the stretch of the trail that comes out at the old train station.  There are quite a few hawthorn trees and multiflower rose bushes along here, now sporting their red hips, which probably explains their presence.  I suspect these birds are from the pairs that nested in the area this year.  Apparently thousands of robins overwinter in the province, although we don't commonly see them until later in the winter when food sources are getting scarce, and they move closer to human habitation.  Some of the foods they may be fed at this time are raw apples, raisins, grapes and bread crumbs.

There were three robins feeding in this multiflower rose bush on the trail this morning.

Omnivore

I watched this blue jay for several minutes gleaning the snags at the marsh edge yesterday morning, including the one on which it is perched here.  I did a little reading up on this bird, and learned that although its diet consists mainly of vegetable material like seeds, nuts and berries, it also feeds on insects.  Apparently it figures largely in the control of tent caterpillars.  I also learned that in the fall, the young gather in flocks and migrate south, while the adults remain where they nested and form groups with other blue jays in the neighbourhood.  I am amused by what one author has to say about this gregarious bird: "The crowd at [our] feeders is no mob.  It's not even a rabble.  It's more of a family reunion.  But . . . jays are greedy.  Nothing can empty a feeder faster than a reunion of blue jays.  Chickadees politely take one seed at a time and eat it in sight of the feeder.  Blue jays eat and run.  And they return again and again until all the seed is gone."  The thing is, they're not eating all the seed they take, they also hide much of it, in crevices or by poking it into the ground.