Not Far From the Tree is going to try tapping some urban maple trees this spring. Sweet!

InsideToronto has an article about foxes in the city. I have yet to see a fox, but I've heard reports from others who have.

(Apparently "fox" is an acceptable plural for "fox," as used in the article, but I disapprove. And now that I've stared at the word "fox" for a while, it looks meaningless.)

I see I have some new followers -- welcome! (Imagine me having followers! Life is funny.)

It's grey and soggy out there, with only traces of snow left. There's an insane amount of salt on the sidewalk going down Pottery Road:

Some people like found poetry but me, I like found sculpture:

The wetland lived up to its name with lots of semi-frozen puddles that aren't there usually:

Someone's been nibbling on this grass:

The edge of the pond:

I found this earring on a sidewalk on Broadview, and put it in what I hope was an obvious place in case the owner comes back to look for it. Pretty!

I know I promised a review of some Beechwood-y things I got for Christmas, and I'll get to it, I promise. Soon.

Happy New Year to my Beechwood blog readers! I wandered down to the wetland this morning to see what was happening. Actually we were getting big fluffy snowflakes and the ground was icing up precariously, so I picked my way rather carefully. There were a few dramatic skids but I stayed upright the whole time.

Aw, someone decorated this river-side tree with tin stars:

A squirrel must have tucked this walnut away for safekeeping:

The pond is freezing over but I'm going to hold off on putting out my ice-fishing hut just yet:

Garlic mustard waiting to be pulled out in the spring:

There wasn't much action today. I saw one rabbit, two cardinals and a chickadee. Here's a crappy shot of the male cardinal:

With a lot of the taller vegetation wasted away, some areas are more accessible than during the warmer months. (Just don't trip over the dog-strangling vine.) I wandered around to the back of the pond where I don't normally venture and discovered a nice Eastern wahoo. At least, that's what I think it is; if someone wants to correct me, I'll try to listen to reason:

The Eastern wahoo, Euonymus atropurpureus, is a shrub I normally notice in the fall when its eye-catching fruit ripens. Here's some I photographed elsewhere in October:

Isn't that stunning?

Edit: Steve S and Native Plant Girl have set me straight: this is probably not the wonderfully named wahoo but an invasive relative, Euonymus alatus or Euonymus europaea. (Don't we get enough of invasive relatives at Christmas?) I'll keep an eye on this lovely shrub and decide what to do with it in the spring. Be sure to check out the comments on this post or visit Native Plant Girl's blog for more details. Many thanks to my intelligent readers who help me out!

I'll post again soon with a review of a couple of Beechwood-inspired gifts I received at Christmas. For now, I wish you all a happy, healthy new year!