Winter arrives with a vengence - thank goodness for suet.

It's been two weeks now of winter here in Southern Alberta. Not just a little bit of snow mind you - lots of snow and cold and blowing hurricane force wind. Finally this last weekend we had a reprieve and I finally headed out to the feeders to replenish them.


Thank goodness for suet! I had put about 6 suet cakes out at the end of last week and it looks like my poor little birds have been pretty much living on these since my seed was about wiped out. The picture you see is of my downy woodpecker enjoying suet in my backyard. That is what I love about suet. Not only do the little finches and other seed eating birds enjoy it, but the woodpeckers and insect lovers will also eat the suet. It is the perfect food to help birds make it through cold winter days.


It looks like we could be in for a tough winter here. Don't forget the birds....

Thoughts for the day - what does the future hold?

I've had a very busy couple of weeks travelling around Alberta talking to customers and visiting various stores. A couple of things have struck me as I have travelled about. One is how metropolitan the Calgary to Edmonton Hiway 2 corridor is. It is starting to remind me of my days in Toronto commuting back and forth between Mississauga and North York where one city just merged into the next.

Today is my birthday so you have to pardon me for being a bit reflective. I remember Calgary back when I was going to university and Calgary today is so much larger. I guess that shows my age. It struck me though... what will Alberta look like in 40 years. How much farm land will be left along this corridor? What will be the impact on wildlife and native birds? What will be the impact on the environment of this suburban car-based economy? What will our kids be doing? How will Alberta support this huge infrastructure and will the Alberta economy be able to support this commercial development forever? I guess you can see the environmentalist in me starting to come out. I am planning to be around 40 years from now to find out what Alberta looks like - but it scares me a little bit to ponder the changes that may be coming.

So for now, I go out in my backyard and refill my feeders and wonder what the future holds in store for us.