Mer Bleue Feed the Birds Hike

Every year that we are in Canada for Christmas, we go on a hike to feed the birds. This has been a tradition since before Boogs was born. Mer Bleue is about a ten minute drive from Grandmaman and Grandpapa's house in Ottawa, Ontario. It was -10 C (13 F) during our hike. That is really cold for a Texas native.

Grandpapa always takes us to our favorite spot for feeding the birds. Grandmaman did not join us on our hike this year. She was worried about the conditions on the trail being too icy. It turns out there was enough fresh snow to make the trail easy to navigate. Boogs really missed Grandmaman on this hike.

My husband and Boogs decided it would be a good idea to walk over the frozen creek on this log. Luckily, the ice was thick enough not to break when they each fell off. While one of them was on the log, the other was at the end bouncing up and down trying to make them fall.

When we made it to our favorite spot, the chickadees did not hesitate to swoop down and grab a few seeds out of our hands. Often, there was more than one bird visiting your hand at once.

Look at that smile on Boogs face. He would stand here for hours if we let him.

It is hard to be still and quiet while you wait for the birds.

 We tried a few different spots near the little bridge on the trail.

It's always fun to see what will happen if you put a few seeds on your head.

This little chickadee posed with me for a selfie.

I took this slow motion video of a chickadee landing on my hand. Boogs watched it later and gave me a sports announcer voice playback of the chickadee's moves. It was hilarious. I can't remember all that he said, but he was adamant that the bird was angry with "the fool who dared to supply inferior seed". This little bird appeared to be giving me dirty looks after he rejected the last two seeds in my hand.

Of course there were squirrels around raiding the bird feeders.

 This little squirrel made a fantastic leap from the tree to the feeder.

Boogs likes to make me nervous. This log had a layer of ice covered by a thin layer of snow. I was down the trail trying to help a fallen cross country skier while Boogs was climbing this. Just before the second picture, he had been walking up the log. I was too slow the get a picture until he was ready to jump down.

Mer Bleue is such a beautiful place to hike in the winter. There are too many mosquitoes to enjoy hiking here in the spring or summer. We came in May a couple of years ago. Each step on the trail sent hundreds of mosquitos flying up from the ground. Winter is much better.

Boogs and Daddy like to wrestle in the snow, chase each other with big sticks, and push each other off of the low walkway bridges.

We always enjoy our family tradition of feeding the birds. Here are a few pictures from previous years. I guess we like to buy red snowsuits for Boogs.

We love going on this hike every year. It is always better with a beautiful layer of snow.

What traditions do you do as a family during the holidays?

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Winter Holiday 2016 - Catch Up

I have not been very good about keep this blog updated for the past year or so. (Sorry Grandmaman) The last post I wrote about our Christmas holiday in 2016 was our ski trip to Vorlage. Whenever we go to Canada for Christmas, we try to get out, explore, and hike in the winter wonderland. The Mer Bleue Bog trail has always been one of our favorite hikes.

Daddy and Boogs stopped for a snowball fight before we even made it to the trail.

Anytime we get a chance to feed the chickadees, we will take it. Boogs loves to wait patiently with a handful (or hat full) of sunflower seeds. Feeling those little tiny bird feed land on your hand never gets old. We probably stood here for half an hour watching and feeding the birds.

Part of the trail is made of raised wooden-plank walkways. They stand about a foot above the peat bog. It is really neat to look out over the bog and see the beaver dams built up above the water and ice.

I love how isolated I feel on this trail. It is a true escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. The only sounds you hear are bird calls, the rattle of dry grass in the wind, and the beating of wings. It is so peaceful.

Well, it is quiet until we start playing around. There are many great spots for a snowball ambush.

Even I got attacked by flying snowballs and then pushed off the edge of the walk way.

I love seeing Boogs' smile and rosy cheeks.

Daddy and Boogs were looking at a spot where the ice had cracked. They were wondering what had walked there or fallen there to make it crack. They had a long conversation about it.

There were several structures that people had built along the trail. Boogs stopped and explored each one.

These squirrels were chatting away under a bird feed. They seemed to be having a disagreement over who the dropped seeds belong to. I have never heard such noisy squirrels.

Near the end of the trail, I lost track of Boogs. It didn't take long to find him. He was silent and motionless with a handful of seeds, waiting for the chickadees to notice him.

We are not planning on going to Canada for Christmas 2017. It will be a long time before we see snow like this again.

Traditional Feed-the-Birds Hike

Every year, we make it a tradition to go on a hike to feed the chickadees. Boogs loves these hikes. He has always been very patient while waiting for chickadees to land on his hand to get sunflower seeds.
This is a picture from 2006, the first year he went with us to feed the birds. He was 9 months old.

Boogs was bundled up in a snowsuit and sling to keep warm. I remember how still he would get while he watched the birds landing near him. We put some seeds on his arm and a few birds hopped on his arm. He would squeal with glee and then settle down and get very still and quiet to wait for more birds. He has always been a very patient child.

We were looking at photos of our past bird feeding hikes. Boogs noticed that he always wears a red and black jacket.

This year our hike was easier than usual because there was no snow. We still enjoyed hiking through the woods and feeding the birds. We actually took an extra long hike because it was such a warm day - around 30 degrees F.

We kept hearing this woodpecker pecking. It took us a while to locate him up in the top of a tall tree. We could barely see him.

These two look ready for a long walk.

 

Boogs had his own camera. I loved watching him decide what images he wanted to capture. He spent a long time by a partially frozen stream trying to get the light to shine "just right" on the ice so you could see the leaves trapped under the ice.

Daddy had no trouble getting the birds to eat out of his hand. He had to keep moving away from a squirrel who wanted to jump on his hand and grab a few seeds.

 GP likes to call to the birds to get them to come. They do.

Eventually, the squirrel made a leap to a nearby bird feeder. He came back to the feeder again and again while we were there.

 

Boogs' patience paid off. This little bird hopped on his hand and stayed for several seconds before flying off.

 For a little bit, it looked like they were communicating with each other.

 Boogs found a fallen tree to practice his balancing skills.

 Daddy and Boogs like to pick up big sticks and have stick sword fights.

 Lots and lots of sword fights.

 Grandmaman grabbed a stick and challenged Boogs to a duel.

 They could spend hours hunting for and playing with sticks.

Daddy took Boogs on an off-trail adventure. There were times we had no idea where they were. They always managed to find the trail back to us.

 Sometimes the going got tough off the trail.

I love this picture. Boogs is staring off into the trees.

Grandmaman said she enjoyed the hike. You can see Daddy and Boogs in the background with more sticks.

 

They were playing a game where a person lost if their stick was the first one to lose contact with the ground by hitting a bump. Because of the leaves and pine needles you could not always see the roots and rocks sticking up in the path.

 We were surprised at how empty the trails were. It was a great day for hiking.

We loved our bird feeding hike, even though there was no snow.

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