I've had it with winter- last Friday morning, working during the wee hours, I was wearing five layers of clothes to cover my "core" during my outdoor forays, due to the cold and the fierce wind. Thankfully, the wind has died down and the cold has somewhat abated. More significantly, I heard the distinctive trill of the red-winged blackbird this morning. Forget the woodchuck, the boid is the true harbinger of spring throughout much of North America.
Also on the bird front, the geese are very vocal, with large migratory flocks honking overhead. We always have a resident population of geese around here, taking advantage of the stretches of open water, but the migratory population has eclipsed the stay-at-home bunch. Oddly enough, the wiki indicates that Canada geese have been introduced to New Zealand... can I get a confirmation from a reputable Antipodean, preferably a science talking guy (or gal)? We also have some visiting Ring Necked Ducks and mergansers both hooded and common, but they tend to leave us as the weather gets warmer. While the juncos are with us year-round, they tend to be the most common small birds to stay the winter. You can recognize them by the flash of white seen at the edges of their tails as they fly off, the shy little things.
I'm looking forward to spring, though I'd be lying if I said that winter doesn't have its pleasures. I have the privilege of spending a lot of time outdoors, so I can observe the seasonal changes. The avian "changing of the guard" is one of my favorite ways to gauge the succession of seasons. Of course, I'll now have to check out the part of the property where the snowdrops come in... so many old friends to welcome back!
Much like the geese that will winter all year round while the rest of the flock continues south, we now have small groups of robins wintering in Iowa while the rest of the flock continues south.
ReplyDeleteSpring is happening all around here in D.C.
ReplyDeleteBoidies are making out...
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Even as it is sometimes a struggle, you should appreciate it. Where I live, winter means it is sunny and 50° on cold days and sunny and 60° on warmer days. The only real sign of the seasons is that the hills are colored backwards here - green in the winter and brown in the summer...
ReplyDeleteCanada geese have been introduced to New Zealand... can I get a confirmation from a reputable Antipodean
ReplyDeleteYep. They're vermin. Introduced by privileged farmers as game animals to give them something to shoot when they wanted to play Lord Arbuthnott-Thwaite and invite their friends around for a Hunting Party... so until recently they were classified as Protected Animals (only to shot by someone holding an official license). The geese, not the farmers.
A few years ago the farming lobby agitated for a law change to reclassify them as pest animals, and for money to help reduce the populations.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/6224164/Moult-culls-destroy-18-000-canada-geese
Much like the geese that will winter all year round while the rest of the flock continues south, we now have small groups of robins wintering in Iowa while the rest of the flock continues south.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few of those, but our most common "snowbirds" are the juncos, cute little grey sparrows.
Boidies are making out...
Ooh la la!
Even as it is sometimes a struggle, you should appreciate it. Where I live, winter means it is sunny and 50° on cold days and sunny and 60° on warmer days.
Yeah, I like the seasonal round, like the snow and all that, but I think I'm sick of it. Working late nights, early mornings hasn't been helping.
Yep. They're vermin. Introduced by privileged farmers as game animals to give them something to shoot when they wanted to play Lord Arbuthnott-Thwaite and invite their friends around for a Hunting Party... so until recently they were classified as Protected Animals (only to shot by someone holding an official license). The geese, not the farmers.
If there's one thing worse than an upper-class twit, it's an aspiring twit, a middle-class shit who wants to be a twit.
Let's see, here in paradise we know it's spring when the uh ... when ... because we looked it up on the Internet. (Sometime in March, it says.)
ReplyDeleteStarting to wonder if I'll ever be in snow again before I shuffle off this mortal coil. It's been a while.
Spring is nice, but it is disconcerting to have it get above freezing in February, and when there is as little snowfall as we've had, it poses serious environmental problems.
ReplyDeleteLast year, the early thaws made for early budding of trees; then the buds got frozen and things liek the Door County cherry harvest were hugely damaged. And the lakes and rivers rely on snowmelt to refill the water table; the lack of snow is going to further deepen last year's drought. Farmers are screwed.
Spring is nice, sure. But I can't bring myself to welcome it back with open arms, if this is how it comes.
MB, if it keeps up this way, there will come a time when NONE of us will see snow again.
I'm done with winter as well. I seem to have been doing MOST of the snow shoveling this year and I'm too old for that crap. I'm sore and tired.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any Geese back up this way yet, looking forward to it though. I really love to see the robins. Then I know Spring has sprung.
I really don't mind winter either.. as long as I don't have to drive in bad weather (which I ALWAYS seem to be doing). I like the quieter life that the winter season brings. :)
((Hugs))
Laura
First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
ReplyDeleteFirst comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
ReplyDeleteI thought things were different in the Antipodes. Different and somehow wrong...