Mrs. Ruoss and her kindergarten class had fun learning about Bear Aware.

On a wild, windy, wintry day with squalls of light snow settling in for the afternoon, I walked to Elizabeth Lake for a breath of fresh air. The surface was partly frozen, although there was open water around exposed areas of the shoreline and in the middle of the lake. As I scanned the trees for any sign of a bald eagle, one suddenly flew across my line of vision heading for the far side. I watched it through the binoculars and saw it alight on a ponderosa pine near the highway.


It took me ten minutes to walk around the lake and make my way through the overhanging shrubs to the area where the eagle had landed. I couldn't see it, and reckoned I was at least 200 meters away, when it suddenly appeared heading for the far shore from where I had come. From the shelter of a ponderosa pine, I was able to locate it perched on a larch or pine on the opposite side of the lake. As I walked back I realized I'd been outsmarted by the eagle, who was clearly more perceptive than I. Given the blustery, snowy conditions, I had thought that this would work to my advantage and give me a better opportunity to get reasonably close for a picture. The only close up of bird life I was able to take was of three mallards, who may have been on the eagle menu till I appeared.


Once again I got within 200 meters of the eagle when it took off. Until the next time!

When I went a walk with my wife yesterday up the St. Mary River at the St. Eugene Mission Golf Course, Canada geese were gathered close to the river in large numbers. They were also much more nervous than the previous week ,when I had walked fairly close to them without disturbing them. This time they took off in large numbers and headed downriver. Perhaps they were spooked by the visit of a cougar two days before that we heard about from one of the workmen? Perhaps they were nervous about the colder weather and the fact that the large irrigation pond had frozen over since last weekend? Perhaps they were preparing for migrating south to warmer weather for a few months?

Those are wonderful pictures of the geese !
I'm actually surprised they are in the area. With more snow in the forecast this week they should be on their way shortly.

The bald eagle from Elizabeth Lake was circling low over Parkland school yesterday about 2:30 p.m. He/she then headed toward the north end of the lake. Of course, being a work day, I didn't have a camera with me

Back on October 20 we had a surprise waiting for us in the class from Judy R., a nest containing 5 mallard duck eggs. After close examination we drew our own pictures of the nest.


Today I took the eggs to Elizabeth Lake to return them to nature. Maybe the muskrats or some other animals will get nourishment from the eggs?


With recent sub zero temperatures the lake looked completely frozen. The ice close to shore was crystal clear and smooth. It was hardly surprising that there was no sign of any water fowl.

This afternoon we returned to Elizabeth Lake, our first visit since late October. It looked totally different with snow on the ground and a thin cover of ice on the lake. One of our first activities was to find a mullein plant as tall as ourselves.


It was exciting to explore among the cattails and negotiate this fallen tree. Most of us clambered over it, but some chose to crawl under.


We returned to the area where we had lain on our backs back in early September to watch clouds. This time is was fun to lie on our backs and make snow angels. Playing "Camouflage" was different in the snow, but we must have done a really good job because Mr. Wilson had more trouble than usual spotting our hiding places. We didn't see many animals apart from a few crows on our way to and from school, although there were lots of deer tracks.

When we got back to school, we had hot chocolate to warm us up. Then we shared what we enjoyed best about our afternoon. Everyone seemed to agree that it was great fun to visit Elizabeth Lake in winter, especially with snow on the ground.

Recently we had Joe Pierre, Enhancement Agreement Facilitator for our School District, visit our class to tell the Ktunaxa Creation Legend. We heard how the Creator called the plants and animals together to prepare for the coming of humans to the earth; how the animals lived in fear of the Water Monster; how the Water Monster swallowed two woodpecker sisters; how Coyote led a hunting party to kill the Monster; how the Giant trapped the Monster by pulling the river apart; how Woodpecker killed the Monster; how the Giant divided up the Monster's body among the animals; how the Giant created the four different races - black, white, yellow and red from the Monster's organs; and how the Giant stood up to celebrate the Monster's death and hit his head on the sky, then fell down dead forming the Rocky Mountains. We each got to choose our favourite part of the legend to illustrate. Here is our version of the legend in pictures. You can find out more about the legend at the Ktunaxa Nation website at:

http://www.ktunaxa.org/who/creation.html

I see we have some very talented artists in Gordon Terrace this year and thank you for posting the link to the Ktunaxa website. I had no idea it existed so it will be enlightening to see what it's all about. They do have a fascinating culture and your students did a beautiful job of putting Joe's story into pictures. Well done