Early thaw, aborted
March 17th, 2018
For most of the winter, except for our brief jaunt to the southern states, I've been hibernating indoors. I just don't tolerate Canadian winter as well as I did when I was younger. A few weeks ago I thought the long cold wait was over. And I wasn't the only one! On the 27th of February I tallied a Red-winged Blackbird outside my husband's work, my earliest ever. On the 4th of this month, we both drove out to the Carp River floodplain and enjoyed the spectacle of a thousand plus Canada Geese, along with a handful of Cackling Geese (Canada Goose's diminutive lookalike) and two Greater White-Fronted Geese. That last is an uncommon species in Ottawa, and I got one of my best looks at it ever.
And then temperatures plummeted. And a whole bunch of snow fell. People have reported seeing masses of geese fly south. I don't blame them.
But today my body said, "minus five or not, I want a walk." I'm glad I listened. I spent a couple hours at South March Conservation Forest enjoying the sun and the birds. Purple Finches sang along the trail, and Brown Creepers and Downy Woodpeckers spiralled up tree trunks. As for the Red-winged Blackbirds, they seem to have decided, "darnit, we're here now and we're NOT turning around and going back." They were staked out over the frozen marsh, conk-a-reeing away.
Tonight I'm putting both feeders up. I think my molting goldfinches will appreciate the extra food after it hits -19C tonight.
Mourning Doves at feeder, November 21st
March 17th, 2018
For most of the winter, except for our brief jaunt to the southern states, I've been hibernating indoors. I just don't tolerate Canadian winter as well as I did when I was younger. A few weeks ago I thought the long cold wait was over. And I wasn't the only one! On the 27th of February I tallied a Red-winged Blackbird outside my husband's work, my earliest ever. On the 4th of this month, we both drove out to the Carp River floodplain and enjoyed the spectacle of a thousand plus Canada Geese, along with a handful of Cackling Geese (Canada Goose's diminutive lookalike) and two Greater White-Fronted Geese. That last is an uncommon species in Ottawa, and I got one of my best looks at it ever.
And then temperatures plummeted. And a whole bunch of snow fell. People have reported seeing masses of geese fly south. I don't blame them.
But today my body said, "minus five or not, I want a walk." I'm glad I listened. I spent a couple hours at South March Conservation Forest enjoying the sun and the birds. Purple Finches sang along the trail, and Brown Creepers and Downy Woodpeckers spiralled up tree trunks. As for the Red-winged Blackbirds, they seem to have decided, "darnit, we're here now and we're NOT turning around and going back." They were staked out over the frozen marsh, conk-a-reeing away.
Tonight I'm putting both feeders up. I think my molting goldfinches will appreciate the extra food after it hits -19C tonight.
Mourning Doves at feeder, November 21st
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mustangsallie
March 18th, 2018 at 11:13 am
I hope your minus temps revert to the + side and your snow starts melting without a repeat performance. It is HIGH time for some more Spring like weather! As the birds say, "Let's stop the confusion already".
Mike
March 18th, 2017 at 3:06 pm
I think the RWBB's will be fine, but I don't think this week will bring in the next wave, so I'll be surprised if I hear grackles at work for a while yet!
It was great to get to see the geese out at Carp... it's a nice little kind of rural spot.