One of "Those" Winters, I'm Afraid...

The snow just doesn't seem to want to stop.  We weren't supposed to have much today and it started early, still coming down.  I was throwing a ball on a rope for Kira, ideally when she was looking in another direction, then she had to search for it.  Scent can travel under the snow, so it was interesting to watch her scent over the snow to try and locate it down under.

And there it is, she buries her head to locate it, or digs it up, depending on the depth.

Coming back for more.  I quit after about 6 to 8 throws; she would prefer I stayed all afternoon tossing it!  It was a little too cold for me.

Happy New Year...and if only...

If only we could all be this joyful...all the time.  If only life was just about fun...If only we could be this healthy and active...forever.  If only we could live like our dogs...living for 'now'...and not wanting more, worrying about the future, stepping on others to 'get ahead'.
There have just been too many sad stories in the past short while from all over the globe.  Wouldn't it be great if 2013 brought many changes so we all could live together in peace? 
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!  Let's all try to make some difference.

Luckily our dogs love SNOW!

 

 I took these pictures two days ago, and we've had just a little more snow since, but pretty cold temps.  We've not been over -11C for a few days and windchills -22C.  Our walks have been shortened due to losing the walking trails. Tank is standing on 'what was' a walking trail.

 Blast has decided it's time to race around through the field and engage Tank in a good chase.  One nice thing about this, is it certainly wears them out, running through deep snow.  They love it!

 The chase is on!  Tank can look like some ancient odd dog at times.  We have to laugh at him; his ear tips are touching...

 Time out on top of the old round hay bale.  A good time to eat some snow.
I don't let them eat much, though, if they are running, they start to choke.

 Kira was so thrilled to go on a walk with Trust.  Trust was so not thrilled to go on a walk with Kira.  Kira is trying her best to get attention from Trust.

 Oh, well!  A big frozen hunk of dirt and snow off the driveway, will do fine...gets a bit of interest from Trust, racing past and ahead of her.  Trust starts to run to "try" and catch up to see if she's missing something.

Coming back up behind the house, looking into the forest (little storage shed next to a trail).  So calm and pretty and silent.  So far, have seen few deer.  I'm so hoping we don't have the herd coming like last winter.  It was so difficult trying to take dogs out when the deer were all around, and they also became so tame.  Pretty....but don't want them back.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Holidays from Blast

Seasons' Greetings from Trust

Joyeux Noel from Tank

What the heck...just play, play, play from Kira

A Merry Christmas from all of us at Birch-Bark Hill, be safe and enjoy your family and friends, and all the hairy critters we enjoy so much every day.

Sharing...

I took these pictures a few days ago, and forgot about them on my camera.  Can we learn any lessons from these simple creatures?  Such a sad time this has been...will anything change?  Above the grouse, pine grosbeaks and bluejays happily share the seed fallen on the ground.  Chickadees are on the feeders hanging above and seed drops out of them.

Even more interesting was the squirrel who finally was brave enough to creep up for some seed.  He went in a little closer to grab something, and the grouse just watched him.  I expected a little tiff, but they get along just fine - there is enough food to share.

Kira's Scent Work in the Snow

This sequence of pictures and description will only be of interest to those keen on learning how the dog works scent in tricky conditions.  It is NOT tracking.  I am always amazed at Kira and Blast in particular and often end up wondering 'how the heck they did it'.  I threw a broken ball of Kiras' off in a direction when she was paying no attention, and was quite a ways off.  Then I told her to "find it".  She immediately alerts keenly and begins a large circle scenting all the while.  The first circle was large and took her through a section of bush.  I stand not near where the ball landed, which went well into the snow, and look in another direction, but always am able to watch her work.

The temperature was about -10 degrees celsius yesterday morning when we were returning from a walk, it was quite breezy and the sun had come out for a short time.  Kira was making her circles increasingly smaller, checking a few places she had missed earlier, but continuing at a brisk pace.  She would eventually rule out an area and then move on to another location and begin to search again.

She has begun to move back towards me, circled back on one area, and then turned in a new direction to circle and scent. By this time she had ruled out a large area, and then ran past me like she was on fire to work in another area.

Above, she is quite intent and made two small circles, then dismissed it as well.  She ran up and over a hill and began to work along the top and I thought she may have picked up the scent. (Of course, I knew where the ball was!)

But she kept moving on as if missing it completely.  She looked like she was going to move down the slope which would take her back to an area she had already checked.

Red arrow shows where the ball dropped down into the snow. It is also in a shady portion, she's mainly been working out in the sunny areas.  We know scent in snow can be tricky!  And she did move down the slope at the left and circled around to her left.

Suddenly, she whips back around and behind me and over to the bottom of the hill.  As she was running past, she suddenly stopped and turned back.  Kira started to move up the side of the hill towards where the ball was buried.

She has just grabbed the ball out and is turning to come back towards me.
She never quits, she loves this "game" and I am always amazed.

Wow! Two Pileated Woodpeckers!!!

 If you have never seen a pileated woodpecker, they are a sight to behold!
Huge, the largest of the woodpeckers, often just in the deep woods.  They leave a giant pile of "wood chips" at the base of the trees, pulling off bark in chunks.  This morning I heard one close to the north side of the house...they really sound like woody woodpecker!

 I was astonished to see TWO of them, and staying close all the time, in the closest trees behind the house.  I grabbed my camera, and the battery was almost dead, but got a couple of pictures before running for my spare battery.

 If you are lucky enough to see them, usually we hear them but don't often see them, they look almost prehistoric...It was amazing to have this opportunity to watch them, so close.  All the pictures were taken from our bedroom window, I knew I would have no chance to sneak outside.

 The males and females look the same, unlike most bird species.  But I imagine this was a "pair". 

They almost seemed to be 'playing' with each other.  One would fly a short ways off to another tree, and the other would quickly follow.  I've hung out some 'bird fat' and hope they will return...and not 'something else' will find it tonight!