Birds are returning from their winter perches in the boreal forests. The spring call of the Pileated woodpecker echoed through the woods yesterday and we soon came across a shattered pile of bark littering the snowpack. We did see a hairy woodpecker hard at work, and heard cardinals and pine siskins on our hike through the woods. Chickadees and nuthatches as well. We haven't seen any robis in the ravine this year, unlike those encounters of years previous and we feel that the extreme cold snaps we had experienced earlier in the winter took its toll.

It is milder than usual for the month of February in our geographical location, the result being that instead of snow falling we have had an excess of freezing rain followed by rain as the afternoons warm up, making for slippery, icy trails through the forest. We were surprised to be able to get out for our daily woodland ramble yesterday since it appeared as though the rain meant to hang over us for the entire day. But by two in the afternoon it slacked off and by three it stopped altogether.

So off we went for our jaunt, our two little rascals wearing raincoats. An excess of rain dripped steadily from trees overhanging the trails, but the rain was over for the day. And before we emerged from our circuit the sun came out blazing bright and warm, making its vivid presence felt through the leaf-free forest canopy.

We came across an old ravine-walking acquaintance whom we hadn't seen in months, walking his dog and a neighbour's, as he usually does. He lives quite a distance from us, in an entirely different neighbourhood abutting the ravine in its own location. Decades ago we used to traipse through there regularly, but we no longer venture quite that distance. It's an area that has changed quite a bit over the years and when we do get over there we're always surprised by the natural environmental degradation that has taken place with the hills slumping into the ravine below, and trails we had been so familiar with, albeit little travelled but by us, disappearing.

This man now goes to great lengths to make those areas more accessible to area residents, however. He has, over the last few years, constructed a few utilitarian bridges over some of the creek tributaries enabling people to advance further, making it more convenient for himself, among others, to access 'our part' of the ravine. In the time when we regularly used to take our trips over to that portion of the ravine we managed to overcome obstacles to going further than it seemed reasonable to do without a bridge, but having them there certainly makes things easier.

We always commend him for his enterprise. He's a pleasant, jovial giant of a man, not so much height-wise, but that too. He is entirely enamoured of the gifts that nature has given the residents of our far-flung community, an invaluable gift we cannot appreciate too much.