Lmst

Fantastic light yesterday as a cold/storm front approached. The trees with fresh bright green leaves, were still catching sun against a nearly black sky, making it look as though they were pasted onto the scene. #nature #weather #spring #Alberta #Canada #GetOutside #GoOutsideForMe #SolaceInNature #BorealForest #CountryLiving

Zoomed view, looking across a grassy area, kept more or less low by cattle in summer (not in there yet) with many low poplar suckers in the foreground, just leafing out. This spot is shaded by poplar trees to the left, which we see only part of. These trees are bright green with new leaves, much of what we see in their own shade, though light bits stick out illuminated by the sun off to the left. To the right we see the lower part of a large dark spruce tree, just a hint of sun on the left part of its branches. Considerably farther back some low willows, not fully leafed out with bright green leaves, rise from knee high dried grass, and farther still mixed woods with brightly newly leafed poplars dominating. Lit by the sun, they stand out dramatically against the dark blue grey sky behind.

Across a narrow open area of dry grass, a youngish mixed wooded wetland area of lowish willows, and young to mid-size poplar and birch and a few young spruce rise in a dense tangle of growth. The trees and bushes have young or not even fully emerged leaves, fresh bright green, lit by sunlight. A few poplar branches with small leaves dangle in from upper right and to the left we see part of a shadowed dark spruce. Farther back we see a bit of a more mature mixed wood of poplar and spruce. The sky behind is filled with active cloud, dark and heavy to lower left, white above fading to wisps upper centre and right with bits of blue sky showing.

Snowshoe #Hares can be common here, though I think we've been in a low point in their population cycle the last couple of years. Even when abundant they are elusive, so it's always a treat to see one + get pictures/video.
This one popped out when I was in a willow thicket photographing catkins. Special visitor sent by #GreatMother for #MayDay ? pics + YouTube link, #Spectra to follow
https://youtube.com/shorts/l3XcAN6s92o?feature=share
#nature #photography #Alberta #Canada #BorealForest #wildlife #pagan #Goddess #animist

Looking through some blurred dry grass and thin willow stems, we have a partial view of a snowshoe hare. It is standing in an alert ready to flee pose which means more or less erect on all fours, body stretched full length horizontally. We see it side on, head facing right, its ears- smaller than those of some hares are straight up, and from this angle its eye looks black and shiny. It is mostly but not fully changed from white winter fur to summer grey-brown. Its back is a reddish brown, with some white showing underneath and I think the face may yet get a bit darker. White inside ears and on feet may remain. Under and behind is more grass, mostly winter dry, partly grazed partly flattened, then we see the bottom of one weathered grey fence post and shadows of a wooded area farther back.

Same view nearly, but less obstructed, we can see most of the hare now, which is now sitting, facing away toward the fence, maybe only 1/8 turn of one eye toward the viewer but ears definitely angled back It is mostly but not fully changed from white winter fur to summer grey-brown. Its back is a reddish brown, with some white showing underneath and I think the face may yet get a bit darker. White inside ears and on feet may remain. Under and behind is more grass, mostly winter dry, partly grazed partly flattened, then we see the bottom half of one weathered grey fence post and shadows of a wooded area farther back.

Tracking Canada's wildfires in 2025:

#wildfire #canada #forestfire #maps #wildfires #forests #firefighting #BorealForest #cbc #fireseason

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/wildfires-tracker-canada

@plants the video link for #Spectra #Peertube
#GoOutsideForMe #GetOutside #Alberta #Canada #nature #BorealForest #florespondence
https://spectra.video/w/sfNz7aGxjRpXSfCc6mn67z

May Day: Snowshoe Hare Paused to Pose: Special Visit?

https://spectra.video/w/4DjNdn3XjqxwE9ehc6JYdw

@plants
video of Shepherdia Buffaloberry now loaded, and the Early Blue Violet is on the way.
Since I already posted stills (above in this thread) I'll include both the #Spectra #peertube link (which will show an image in this post) and the YouTube link below that.
#spring #video #nature #GetOutside #GoOutsideForMe #BorealForest #Alberta #Canada #NativePlants #permaculture #BloomScrolling
https://spectra.video/w/5tBuffdiu78iP1cJzyRLQx
https://youtube.com/shorts/lVnpeqtLw_o?feature=share

#SilentSunday
Lake Superior, Ontario.

#LakeSuperior #PukaskwaNationalPark #Boreal #BorealForest #Lake #Photography #Photographie #PicOfTheDay #PictureOfTheDay #LandscapePhotography #Photo #Nature

Looking between two black spruce trees at perfectly calm deep blue water with a series of conifer covered rock islands in the distance. The sky is perfectly clear and blue.

#Rain and #snow yesterday means happy #lichens -unlike the calves I showed earlier!
Balsam Poplar Populus balsamifera for #ThickTrunkTuesday with a generous coating of tiny tiny lichen
#LichenSubscribe #nature #Alberta #Canada #BorealForest

A close view of a section of Balsam Poplar Populus balsamifera from left o just past centre. The grey trunk has thick rough vertical fissures, almost fully covered in this view with several sorts of lichens finely foliated blue and green grey types and bits of orange. Near centre the most focussed spot features a tiny patch of silvery lichen made of tiny ovals with raised edges clustered tightly together like a sprawling mound of miniscule pancakes.

Closer crop of the same image showing the patch of ovally lichen in more detail.

#FirstFlowers of the year have arrived: Aspens Populus tremuloides are starting to fully open their catkins (willows are just behind, first few open). They may be tiny, but there are millions! Officially wind pollinated, but they do draw insects.
#nature #BloomScrolling #Florespondence #WildflowerHour #Alberta #Canada #BorealForest #photography #GetOutside #GoOutsideForMe

Looking up at a strip of mixed woods, with many aspens in front. The row extends from right to left, seen at an angle so it goes to upper right and beyond, closest, and lower on the left as it recedes. The pale trunks and branches of the aspens, shaded dark in places and with dark markings, bear masses of silvery fuzzy catkins at their twig tips, with darker mixed woods behind and blue sky above and to the left.

Palest green twigs and branches with dark markings against a blue sky. From twig tips hang clusters of aspen catkins. Emerging from shiny brown bud cases, they start as silver brushes, extending to silver/pewter dangling caterpillars with red buds showing throught the hairs, then extending further and paling as the reddish tiny buds open to show miniscule golden flowers casting their pollen to wind. Those hanging in front in this view are fully extended and wind blown slightly sideways; they adorn a branch going from left to right making a band of catkins across the centre. above and below, other branches are a bit farther back with more blue sky showing.

A shadowed knobby twig rises in the centre, with numerous dangling catkins in various stages. Emerging from shiny brown bud cases, they start as silver brushes, extending to silver/pewter dangling caterpillars with red buds showing through the hairs, then extending further and paling as the reddish tiny buds open to show miniscule golden flowers casting their pollen to wind. Tangled pale branches in the background allow glimpses of the blue sky beyond.

A cluster of catkins dangle blowing in the breeze from a knobby pale dark marked twig, against a pale and grey blurred background of twigs and trunks. Emerging from shiny brown bud cases, they start as silver brushes, extending to silver/pewter dangling caterpillars with red buds showing through the hairs, then extending further and paling as the reddish tiny buds open to show miniscule golden flowers casting their pollen to wind. These are half to not quite fully extended.

A little #ForestFloor vignette from yesterday afternoon. There is no fresh green here, yet, though Aspen and Willow catkins are bursting out and should soon be flowering, leaves and non-woody plants will follow..
Meantime #WildflowerWednesday #WildflowerHour will have to settle for the resilient leaves of Pink-flowered #Wintergreen Pyrola asarifolia against a backdrop of beautiful #lichen on a fallen bit of birch trunk. #LichenSubscribe #BorealForest #Alberta #Canada #spring #SolaceInNature

A fallen bit of birch trunk, a hand's width or less, crosses the frame from side to side in the top half. It has become completely covered in the small multiply branching 'fronds' of a pale blue-green lichen. The surface is dusted with reddish fallen spruce needles and bits of golden green moss have taken hold as well, including one spreading clump near the centre top. Below, in front centre is a small rosette of wintergreen, it's several deep green slightly purple-red limned leaves- clearly last year's, not fresh- are highlighted against the pale lichen. The wintergreen leaves rise from a layer of faded grey-brown poplar leaves from last year, wet between from recent snow melt and rain.

So,I *took* the photos on #MonochromeMonday lol..I hadn't checked on #aspen #catkins for a couple of weeks- just emerging last time I looked; I knew the cool/snowy weather we had would keep them in suspended animation. It's been warmer for the last week though, a few days into the mid teens C/ even near 20C/68F, so I wondered if they'd matured. Nope! Farther along but still not fully extended/open.. soon though..
#nature #trees #spring #BorealForest#Alberta #Canada #animist #GoOutsideForMe

A black and white image of fuzzy poplar catkins on an overcast afternoon. There are several clusters of catkins at the tips of knobby twigs, and they are only partly emerged from their shiny sticky bud cases, looking silver white almost like pussywillows at this stage before they elongate. The background is muted blurred grey with several blurred dark twigs criss-crossing in various directions, giving an almost geometric pattern. One set of crossing twigs to the right looks like a stick thin figure dancing with one leg positioned with the foot on the ground, the other leg up at nearly right angles, the long arms mirroring this position with the torso nearly horizontal and dark head partly out of frame to the right. A spring forest spirit dancing in the trees and trying to hide from view among the twigs?

I mentioned a couple of days ago that we had a #weather forecast for #rain + #snow possibly quite a bit. It stayed rain longer than forecast, finally going white (for a short time) late his morning; stopped for now, but still a possibility of 10-20cm through tomorrow night. Yesterday afternoon when it was just wet / kinda dark I took a short walk on the acreage- I like the #forest best when it's wet! #mosstodon #GoOutsideForMe #GetOutside #Alberta #Canada #SolaceInNature #nature #BorealForest

We see part of the bottom of a balsam poplar tree trunk in upper left, leaning away out of frame. It is medium/dark grey, deeply furrowed vertically and covered in a thin layer of green moss and lichens in silver-green. The base of one large root shows at the left of the trunk and extends toward the lower left of the image, dividing the frame nearly in half, diagonally. The ground is covered with grey to red-brown fallen leaves from last year with a few small clumps of dried grass and fallen dark twigs here and there. Everything is wet dark. We don't see the root itself after the first foot or so away from the trunk, but we can tell where it is just below the surface, since the shallow or lacking soil on top of it has meant nothing is growing there except moss.The moss is bright to reddish green, with a generous sprinkling of dry red spruce needles. It rises just above the leaf litter in irregular clumps and blobs, sometimes touching, some with gaps, higher near the trunk, lower farther away as the root decreases in size/height.

I took #photos on #MacroMonday but just getting some posted today! How about #TextureTuesday ? or #TwiggyTuesday #TranquilTuesday
These are Aspen Populus tremuloides catkins just beginning to emerge.
#nature #Alberta #Canada #GetOutside #GoOutsideForMe #BorealForest #spring #winter #sprinter

Overcast day, subtle light. Fuzzy silvery grey catkins beginning to emerge brush-like from their sticky red brown bud casings. Similar to pussywillows but with longer hairs (and they will stretch out *much* more as they emerge fully). Several catkins cluster at the tip of an upright twig, a couple more blurred in the background. Farther back light coloured aspen trunks form a blurred vertical abstract pattern with the shadowed areas between.

Watched news this morning- Canadian (mostly about coming election: worrying but not full on devastation at the moment) + U.S./International (mostly devastation by U.S. actions and other regional dictators). Yikes. Now YouTube has recommended a woman in evening dress playing a huge harp on the beach for nearly 90 minutes. Sure, I'll take that, along with editing some #nature photos!
#SolaceInNature #love #solidarity #GoOutsideForMe #BorealForest #Alberta #Canada #photography #SelfCare #positivity

Looking over the top of a mixed wood of spruce and bare poplar in near silhouette against a bright sky- mostly smoothly clouded with wisps of cloud blowing over blue toward the right and in centre a couple of larger nodes, soft edged with faintly sunlit upper rims and darker bases blending into the background cloud. Edges of image blurred to enhance the dreamy feeling that you might float up into those soft clouds...

A couple of #morning views, one from yesterday with #frost kissed tree tops and today with fresh #snow #CountryLiving #Alberta #Canada #winter #spring #sprinter #March #GoOutsideForMe #BorealForest (those are wild native spruce trees behind the house) #garden (the mound to the right in second shot is a #RockGarden with a native Aster at the edge) #photography #weather #SolaceInNature

Looking over the roof (out of view below) we see part of the tops of three spruce trees and a bit of a poplar. These spruce trees are a bit skinny- lots of branches, we don't see too much of the trunk, but the branches are a bit long and thin and floppy, especially the two that are one to each side. Those two are natural dark green. The one we see in the centre, farther back is just a bit more compact and since we are only seeing the very top, it is all coated in frost (as is the top of a poplar we see in front of it). This would have been from freezing fog, and clearly it moved through rather high up as only some of the tips of trees were coated. Behind the sky is blue.

Looking down at the ground covered in a little more than an inch, maybe 3 cm of fresh fluffy smooth snow.Left of centre is a path which goes from lower left to upper centre, where it branches off to left and right. It is surrounded by mounds of snow to left, right, and at the top of the frame. The morning sun is from the left, so the left mound is casting a strong blue shadow, the other spots vary from nearly white in sunny spots to soft shadows from trees etc. The mound on the right is the edge of a rock garden covered in fallen and shovelled snow, and just where it meets the path a single dried plant around a foot 30 cm tall sticks partly out of the snow with many dried brown stems and old seed heads, and lightly covered with fresh snow as well.

#SnowMother #Blessing
#Spring #snow? Maybe kinda but really early March is still winter here. After warm and dry weather for a while, we had fresh snow Monday- not cold, just near average- a little above freezing daytime, colder nights. The moisture is important for soil, trees, wetland recharging etc.
Short video, YouTube link; Spectra to follow.
#winter #pagan #Alberta #Canada #BorealForest #GetOutside #GoOutsideForMe #nature #WednesdayWoodland
https://youtube.com/shorts/3Piet6paG-8?feature=share

#BorealForest

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