Spending a ‘perfect afternoon in the bush’

We set out to explore the neighbourhood one beautiful day last week. Sunny and warm, (that is, -6 C). What more could we ask for?

We started out along the ski trail for the first half kilometre, then headed off trail, deep into the bush. And I do mean BUSH.

It was a little tricky at first, getting through the thick stuff. But after a few minutes, the tight spruces thinned out and I could enjoy the scenery. It felt just wonderful to be out and away from the trails, skiing where we pleased, and exploring.

The first little clearing we came to was a tiny pond surrounded by tamarack trees. There was a hole at the edge of the pond, and fresh otter tracks all around. We followed a little stream down to the next pond, following the otter’s tracks the whole time.

The second pond was much larger. There was a tiny hill in the centre of the pond, about seven feet high and 12 feet around. We skied to the top of this mound to check for signs of life. Sure enough, there was a vent hole surrounded with hoar frost. This was an occupied beaver house.

We skied to the end of the beaver pond, over the dam and through a cattail swamp to the next pond. This is where we spotted heron nests.

Built at the top of tall dead trees, the huge stick-nests were very impressive. We could get a good close look at them in the winter without disturbing the birds. After all, they were on holidays down south.

The nests were 20 to 30 feet above our heads, built of small sticks and twigs to a width of nearly two feet. Impressive. The three nests in this pond were well maintained. I would guess they are all used every summer.

On to the next pond. The bush thickened again around the next beaver dam, then below it was a small forest of mature cedars. We skied down a bit of a hill, and through the woods for a while before coming out on a huge beaver pond. Here were more heron nests.

Two of the nests had major repairs done on them since I had last visited this pond two years earlier. Allan pointed out another nest near the top of a huge white pine at the edge of the pond. This was the first time we had seen a heron nest in a living tree.

We skied along looking for a fourth nest we had seen before. We found it, along with a fifth nest that was new. It looked like the herons were as happy to live in this part of the forest as I am. Next summer we’ll have to hike over this way to have a peak at them.

We skied northward, over one more beaver dam, under some big cedars, down a little hill, through another cattail swamp and onto the lake. We had just three easy kilometres to ski home again. What a great way to end a perfect afternoon in the bush.

Viki Mather has been writing for Northern Life since the spring of 1984. During 2011, she takes us back to some of those older writings as she prepares to publish a book of “In the Bush.” This one was published in the winter of 1988. Mather said all three trees with heron nests in the second pond fell over several years ago. Some of the five nests in the last pond are still there, some have fallen away, and a few new ones have appeared.