If you go down to the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise.
Well maybe not the woods, but certainly the wetlands
Every now and again something so delightful happens that you just have to share it with as many people as you can.
That delightful something happened to us recently.
We went for a walk. Our usual walk takes us through Sherwood Park’s wetland area, between Highway 21 and Clover Bar Road, south of Highlands Drive. It extends west as you cross Clover Bar and the paths and park go for blocks into the centre of Sherwood Park
It is always a lovely walk. The small lake area is home to several bird varieties. We’ve seen and delighted in downy woodpeckers along the shore building a nest in a dead tree… herons, mallards with their brilliant green heads and ruddy ducks with their blue bills. Canada geese, terns, coots, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, robins, swallows, cormorants. Spring is especially delightful because we get to see the ducklings and goslings.
We even have pelicans. We’ve counted as many as 23 in one squadron.
I’m pretty sure I saw a muskrat too, but I was the only one of our group to spot it, so I can’t count it. And I know…it’s not a bird anyway.
Our latest walk was doubly delightful. We had our fill of birds. They were all out in their glory. We watched the terns dive bomb, coots chase mallards away from a hidden nest; the Canada geese and the various ducks as they landed with their usual slide into their destination and then took off with their running start. As we turned off the main path that bridges two sections of the lake, to walk through the trees and close to the water, we spotted something unusual nestled in the grass along the side of the path: a painted rock, and as we looked around we saw more and more painted rocks. “Canada rocks” proclaimed one. “Be kind” said another. By the time we reached the fork in the path we figured we had seen hundreds of these delightful painted rocks.
Game avatars, pieces of watermelon, red hot chilli peppers, butterflies, and mandellas were tucked into hollows, beside tree roots, on logs, on stumps, nestled in tree branches, sitting in family groupings, and all by themselves. Hundreds of incredibly creative and uplifting contributions to the pleasures of our walk.
We passed a woman and a groups of children all on bikes. From a socially responsible distance we asked what she knew of the painted rocks. The children of the community had been painting them, she told us and had put them out for others to enjoy.
And with every rock their numbers increase.
What a delight. Thank you.
Interesting pelican facts:
Wingspan: 3 metres
Bill capacity: 11.3 litres
Collective (because I am a grammar geek): Pelicans have several collectives including pod; squadron; brief; scoop; pouch
