In addition to bringing standing water, the warmer temperatures and gentle rain have significantly reduced the size of the plowed snow at the end of the driveway. Compared to January 11th’s post, this is a definite improvement.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that since this photo was taken, the weather has once again turned cold. No more melting, and no more open water, at least for the moment. Think warm thoughts!
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Thanks to everyone who was interested in the Conservation Club membership give-away. I hope you’ll all continue to nurture your interest in nature and in conservation, and remember that all our little steps in the right direction add up.
Without further ado, I’d like to introduce the four new Conservation Club members sponsored by Wrenaissance Reflections, in their own words.
Sara
I am very interested in supporting the 10k birders’ Conservation Club, but I am not well funded at this moment. I am currently working on my thesis on structural and mechanical properties of avian appendages.* I have dedicated my project to understanding natural materials and architectonics of feathers and beaks; avian (?) keratin is among the toughest of biological materials, in fact. I hope to instill in engineers, technologists, and other “inorganic” scientists an appreciation for our feathered friends, and I hope that those feathered friends presented from the perspectives of the 10k birders and others out there in the blogosphere will still be there, in their respective native habitats, for me to see with my own eyes when I finish this project.
*No live birds are harmed in this research!!!
Melissa
I returned home to New York City just over a year ago, after 19 years in Maine and Texas. Since my return, I have – paradoxically, perhaps – become obsessed with nature and urban wildlife. I walk daily with my dog in Manhattan’s Riverside Park where I watch a family of five raccoons living in a hole in a retaining wall, red-tailed hawks, squirrels, pigeons, seagulls and sparrows as well as the more exotic tourist birds that visit NYC parks. I’m a new blogger, blogging about nature in the city at Out walking the dog. I welcome the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club membership as part of my process to build a nature-loving community, on-line and in person.
Eva
I work for a nature center in South Florida. Once Charlie, Mike, and Corey started this project I wanted to sign up but with all of my other donations pouring out to the SMART ride, Peace Corps projects, and Audubon I really am all tapped out. I am a 20-something birder, which I must admit puts me in a small club but I really love birding, bird conservation, and this organization is right up my alley. I don’t really know how you will pick people but know that any prizes I win will go to my nature center, any information I gather will be distributed to the public of South Florida, and of course I will be writing it up on my blog, The Flying Mullet (http://www.flyingmullet.blogspot.com/). Also, if your cat is reading this and wants to pick me I would be flattered.
Deborah
I admire the 10,000 Birds site which is where I was browsing when I saw a link on a subject about ‘A’ Wonderful Wren, in reality it said “One” Wonderful Wren but it perked up my ears because one of the birds I watch avidly for at my feeders are the Carolina Wrens which visit most days.
I have no specific reason why I deserve a membership more than anyone else, but I love my bird feeders and all the visitors I get to them and I value birds and wildlife wherever I find it. I’m rather home bound these last couple of years due to caring for my elderly father.
I can and do go on short walks to view birds and wildlife in the nearby woods, ponds and fields, and I’ve created the best backyard birding area in my rural Ohio yard that I’ve been able to. I’m lucky to live where I do but I’m also am always looking for ways to improve things in my yard and I also enjoy the great sites on the web, like 10,000 Birds as well as your site!
Welcome Sara, Melissa, Eva, and Deborah!
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and now it’s open water.
No more deer tracks, at least for the moment.
In addition to indicating that our temperatures are warmer, it shows we have sufficient water and melted snow to provide some nice swampy habitat. If it stays warm enough and we continue to get rain or the snow further north melts and flows this way, we may attract some lovely waterfowl for viewing, as well as the sandhill cranes.
I’m also looking forward to the return of the red-winged blackbirds in February. It may not be spring yet, but a girl can dream, can’t she?
To see the world through others’ eyes, visit “That’s My World”, a weekly meme sharing photos and impressions of all the world seen through the bloggers’ eyes and lenses.
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The temperature is in the 40s today (that would be between 5 – 10 C) and there’s a gentle but steady rain. Most, but not quite all, of the snow is melted from the deck. Mount SnoMore is diminished, but not gone. Patches of green grass and brown reeds are bigger, though there’s still snow on the ground, especially in shady areas.
February is still part of winter, and every year makes a point of reminding us. I’m not packing up the winter gear just yet. It’s a relief, nonetheless, to have blue skies amongst the grey, warmth amongst the cold, and grass amongst the snow.
Before this morning’s rain, the backyard was covered with deer tracks. It was interesting that this last snow and cold spell I saw only tracks of deer – unless you count the neighborhood dogs and their walkers, which I don’t. The earlier snow was just as deep but the weather was not as cold, and I saw many more small animal tracks. Here are a few I snapped on my cell phone as I left for work one morning. I’m pretty sure the first is from one of our gray fox squirrels, but I’m not sure about the next two. Any ideas?
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Yes! Open water.
I noticed this because of all the starlings flocking around it and then flying away. There were even more in the nearby trees – I stopped counting at 100. Interestingly, they appeared to all be starlings. I think that must be a winter, or perhaps a mid-January, phenomenon. It’s much more usual to see them in mixed flocks with other blackbirds, grackles, and the like.
I also watched 10 house finches eating buds on a maple tree and a solitary crow fly across the sky.
Ah, winter ….
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Last week, I wondered if the extreme cold (well and consistently below freezing temperature) had an effect on the wildlife and birds I saw – or didn’t. Intuitively, it seemed like it should, but the obvious is not always correct. I still have no scientific evidence, and haven’t had time to look up any information, but when the temperatures warmed a bit and the ice and snow began to soften and recede, I saw more signs of life. You may draw your own conclusions.
For several days, the snow was unmarred. Then, by Friday, we’d experienced enough sun and warmth to clear the streets and sidewalks (Mt. SnoMore remains, somewhat diminished, at the end of the driveway). Evidence of life and activity returned in the form of deer tracks.
I’ve heard from our next-door neighbor that the deer sometimes huddle in a small stand of trees in the vacant lot on the other side of his house. Our yard is directly in line between that shelter and the shallow part of the wetlands behind our other next door neighbor’s yard. The deer use that shallow spot to ford the creek and pass into the open farmland beyond.
At first, they went directly through, apparently without pause.
Subsequent days, they wandered over to check out every piece of living plant in the yard for its potential as a food source.
To see the world through others’ eyes, visit “That’s My World”, a weekly meme sharing photos and impressions of all the world seen through the bloggers’ eyes and lenses.
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Another sweet-looking education bird at the Sitka Raptor Center. I had to double check my notes when I saw I’d indicated this was a red-tailed hawk – easy to see why this variation was once thought to be a separate species.
Got birds?
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Believe it or not, I’ve finished the photos from Australia, and I’m returning to blogging the Alaska trip, taking up where I left off at the Sitka Raptor Center.
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Yesterday, I said that the ice cavities on my deck reminded me of ones I saw on our trip to Alaska.I thought I had blogged those already, but couldn’t find the post. So here’s what I was remembering.
What I’d forgotten was the scale. To put this in perspective, here’s the same ice cavity with a pair of feet for size reference.
I don’t have a picture of my shoe in yesterday’s photo, but it could have covered the entire ice crystal arrangement.
So much for the accuracy of memories, but that’s another post.
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