Must have jinxed us;) Winter is here!
I was sure he was blaming me for all the snow! Sorry Dude, we are in for a wicked week! Storm #2 down, another on it’s way Friday night…it is January I keep trying to tell myself as I took my hat off as I shoveled, too warm!
I do believe I have perfected the art of holding an umbrella sitting down while photographing birds in the snow:) Now, I could just go get my large porch umbrella and stand and try and set it up, but where is the challenge then? Ha! We have had a few sunny moments this week. One morning, it was very odd, you know when a apex predator flies over, bald eagles and ravens today, when all the birds scatter, the jays screeching and these Hairy Woodpeckers literally freeze in place! I could have touched him…no woodpeckers to see here Ma’am…just a tree trunk:)
I had a call and text from Mike as he’d gone to town to help a friend, six bald eagles at the end of the driveway! I hot footed it out there, OK, my normal walk, maybe a bit more excited than normal. I could hear the ravens and crows as I approached the road but the eagles flew off the tree they were perched on. This is when a vehicle is better, odd, they feel safer with a car driving by than a human walking! I peered over the fence and there was the intact carcass of a deer, I zoomed in, no antlers, so was hoping it wasn’t Spitz. It may have been hit by a car and made it that far. They had been feasting on it’s rib cage and underbelly.
When Mike came back I drove out, a single juvenile, probably one of this years babies, was sitting in the old tree, not sure if he wanted to take the ravens and crows on! That look! So intense, what a beautiful bird! The next day I walked out, the only thing that remained of the deer was it’s backbone, everything else had been dragged off, eaten and picked clean. That was fast! Later in the day I noticed another deer down, on the ice, halfway down the lake. I could just make out the eagles and ravens and it’s body. It is so slippery out there a deer crossing the ice wouldn’t stand a chance against a pack of coyotes. Nature at work…
What an odd January, at sunset the earth shadow moved in, it was being reflected onto the ice, that pink! Earth’s shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow’s visible fringe – sometimes called the dark segment or twilight wedge – appears as a dark and diffuse band just above the horizon, most distinct when the sky is clear, the blue band here.
That glassy finish wasn’t about to last! Ha! We went down to the barn to help with chores Sunday, OK, to brush Maya and feed carrots to Dusty and donkeys as well! I was hoping for a few snowflakes but was once again foiled by the weather Gods…donkeys and snowflakes apparently are just going to have to wait until the time is deemed perfect! I’ll keep trying! Maya had a great beardcicle! Yup, that’s a new word;)
On the way down to the barn going through the Narrows Lock a family of Trumpeter Swans was swimming about in the open areas, getting smaller and smaller! The lake in the morning had a different look to it as well! Canoe and snow drifts!
I was expecting a frozen mess this morning but the freezing rain passed us by, it went from heavy wet snow to rain last night, still a mess, but not the added weight on the trees of ice. The plow guys were gearing up all day yesterday. The snow started at noon and didn’t stop until 9, the plow guys showed up after 10 pm and did a wonderful job on that wet stuff, about 6″ of it! This morning we cleaned up a few paths, man it was heavy, but above freezing, 4° Celsius and some sun! There are holes in the ice on the lake, it looks like a big slushcicle! The muskrats paw prints could be seen going to the different holes!
I could suit and watch our locals carrying on! No eagles or ravens this morning and no snow in the trees, everything has melted from the branches.
The blue jays are still not convinced my new acquisition from the free booth at the Real Deal store in Smiths Falls is safe! It’s such a pretty little dolls wicker chair. It’s seen better days but I was sure they would perch on it for a peanut…more training is in order! Maybe I’ll ask the squirrels to pose. A red one has finally showed up from the bush! He’ll whip the black squirrels into shape in no time!
We lost the sun, got wet feet walking out to check the mail, but I’m still in my sneakers! We had rain flurries I called them! Ha! Tomorrow we are off to help with some fencing, in January, who’s have thought the ground wouldn’t be quite frozen!…and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get snowflakes and donkeys! It will be bound to happen as soon as you want to do something outside, bad weather approaches…I’m working with Murphy here! Ha!
Saludos amigos, we’ll be shoveling more snow in a few days by the looks of it!
