13 January

 When I left my home to pay our weekly visit to the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest, the thermometer on my deck read -10 Celsius (15 Fahrenheit).  We had anticipated a chilly visit, and indeed it was.  It was likely to have been even colder than on my deck--the HWF is at a higher elevation and a bit inland, which makes for lower temperatures.  Notwithstanding which, it was a very interesting visit, and a beautiful one.

Although snow had fallen the day before, the path into the forest had been sheltered and was clear.

Unsurprisingly, the soil was frozen, but we were surprised to see that ice crystals had formed, seemingly beneath the top layer of earth and fallen vegetation.

Although both of us have lived in much colder places than Parksville, neither of us had seen this phenomenon before.  The crystals were at times as much as an inch long and appeared along the path quite frequently.

At a surmise, temperatures as cold as these are usually accompanied (or preceded) by snowfall covering the earth and obscuring this ice formation.  It was, in any case, an unanticipated example of the seasonal changes in the HWF that we've wanted to track.

Last week I described sword fern as evergreen.  I hope they remain so--today we saw many of them frozen.

This unusual cold spell should have passed by us by next weekend, and we'll be able to see the effect of freezing on the forest's vegetation.  

There had been a very windy day not long before our visit, and there were blow-downs among the trees.

This fall crossed the path, but also brought down several trees as it fell.

Sometimes it seems as though vegetation, despite our often regarding it as lacking awareness, has its own awareness.  Even this stump appears to have acquired a bark shelter against the elements.

...Or perhaps the bark is sheltering the stump?  Plants have their subtleties, and we certainly have yet to grasp them all.  

It was cold enough that the forest was much less damp than it had been since summer.  The woodpeckers' preferred stump continues to shrink, but looked quite different today, with dry wood chips at its base.

In view of the icy weather, I had expected that the marsh's dock would be icy and hazardous.  The idea of falling into icy water on a frigid day was alarming.  

There was no need for concern.

The marsh was frozen solid.  Usually, walking out onto the dock involves balancing on a floated and wobbly surface, a challenge to photography.   Not today--it didn't budge, even when I bounced about (cautiously!) on its surface.  

Mount Arrowsmith displayed an encouraging snow pillow.

We'll hope that it continues to build throughout the rest of the winter and to nourish our watershed.  

There was no open water to host waterfowl.  

An intrepid song sparrow hopped about on the ice--unfortunately he spent his time among the grasses.  I couldn't get a photo.

The bird population on the day was limited to ravens, the intrepid song sparrow, and--hooray!  a cooperative Pacific wren as we left the marsh.

That was our visit to the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest on a very cold day.  We had definitely dressed for the weather and had enjoyed our visit.  It will be interesting to see what effects the unusual temperatures have had when we return next week.