Sadly this Sunday January 12th is the first time I've been to the park since December. My new year has been off to a rough start unfortunately as I ended up needing my appendix removed on January 2nd. Recovery was a total drag and between that and my bad back I've just not been up for a walk until now. The first thing I noticed today was that a lot of leafless vegetation on the south side is coated with white, wispy seeds that makes everything look almost furry.
I tried to get a closeup –which my zoom lens doesn't do that well at– but it kinda worked here. These are the seeds stuck to the tip of Red-Osier Dogwood (the reddish colored bushes that are common in the park). I'm not 100% sure but I'm guessing that maybe the seeds are that of Cattails. They are really exploding right now and going to seed so that is my best guess. Later on the southwest end of the park I came across these bright red berries. They were about the only thing showing any color today so they caught my eye.
I'm pretty sure these are Nightshade berries and I was really kind of surprised that they might stay red this long into mid January. I barely saw any birds during my walk today save for a handful of a Chickadees and a small flock of American Tree Sparrows that were taking turns drinking from a small hole in the ice on Shingle Creek. While watching the Tree Sparrows I noticed a couple of deer on the opposite side of the creek –nearly in someone's back yard. These are the first deer I've spotted in such a long time. It was nice to see some again.
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