#2226 "Winter Wetland"

The provincially significant wetland north of our home is about 5 acres in extent. It may be small but it is still a special place full of wildlife. I have placed nesting boxes and platforms all around and within the wetland and maintain a thick forest between us and the swamp. I have place branches in the shallow water to give minnows some cover and shelter as well. The Canada geese enjoy the platform even though the bald eagles continue to predate their nest every few years. Wood ducks use most of the duck boxes but flying squirrels like them too. Blue birds and tree swallows compete for the Peterson Blue Bird houses. Trees that fall into the wetland roughly perpendicular to the shore are great for everything from the turtles to the several varieties of frogs that live there. Everything needs a place to live. Interlaced piles of brush place on top of wood palettes placed on the wetland perimeter provide shelter opportunities for all kinds of critters. A piece of metal roofing on top of the palette gives those critters a dry place to survive as well.

Everything is quiet in the middle of winter - or at least it would seem so from the surface observation. Turtles are certainly embedded in the mud. Spring peepers might be getting ready to sing. I could only guess at the activity in the wetland. I could only paint the shadows across the snow and the deciduous forest in the morning light.

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