So in lieu of a white Xmas season, here is a two-part series of snowy portraits. Still, seeing the wildlife in the yard and birds at my feeders during our very early Southern winter snowstorm in the first half of December was enjoyable. (As an adult, I now tend to think of low-income and homeless people who suffer from the cold and the dangers of icy roads.) Now, I think it is nice to see everything covered in freshly fallen snow melting icicles and frosty dew can be pretty, but one day of this weather is enough for me. It was disappointing when my mother broke them off, but she didn’t want one to fall and stab a passerby. From my parents’ second-floor apartment, I liked looking out the window at the icicles, which could grow to 3 or more feet in length. Our town would usually have very snowy winters and I remember many times playing in snow piled a couple feet high. When I was a child, I enjoyed it as well. Some of my friends really enjoy having a white Christmas holiday. Hope you are enjoying some pleasant weather! The weather forecasters predicted that the rain would end, it would get very windy and the sun would shine this afternoon – they were right! They also say we will have a week of sunny days coming up – I certainly hope that that’s the case so I can exchange my muck boots for regular walking shoes again. The preening activities gave me a chance to get what I considered to be a series of nice portraits. Note where the beak is peeking through in the photo above right! Flexible neck! Then the bird began picking at its feathers, showing off how its long neck can be twisted to enable that long beak to reach where it wants.
S/he first perched above a couple turtles and watched them until they plopped down underwater. As I was walking back to my car, it suddenly turned and flew right by me – I swung up my camera and got one shot, which was not perfect but still a bit of a reward.Ī gorgeous great blue heron ( Ardea herodias), on the other hand, deigned to entertain me with a protracted grooming session at a local pond. I tried to get close to a beautiful kestrel ( Falco sparverius), who kept flying just a bit further away when I slowly approached it. Many of the smaller birds were huddled in bushes and trees, puffing themselves up to trap some body heat as a means of coping with the cold and wet conditions. Getting nice shots of birds is not easy on those dull and gray days. The Chinese praying mantis ( Tenodera sinensis) egg cases are also showing up better with little foliage to hide them. So far, I’ve found three cecropia moth cocoons, two polyphemus moth cocoons and several bagworm moth cocoons in three different places. With the leaves having fallen from most trees, it’s possible to see the cocoons of some of our larger moths. I’ve planted a plum tree and hope that that one will thrive and survive. I used to have an apple tree in my yard but the nearby cedars also got apple rust and now the tree has died. When they emit their spores, they will kill the apples. Unfortunately, the tree is right next to a grove of cedars that are laden with mature cedar apple rust galls ( Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae). Daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are blooming profusely and a few of my neighbors have lovely flowering quince ( Chaenomeles).Ī winter honeysuckle ( Lonicera fragrantissima) at one park had some lovely blossoms.Īt another reserve, an apple tree ( Malus pumila) has lovely flowers emerging. A father had brought his children out and they made plaster casts of the tracks – a wonderful outdoor nature lesson.īecause we have also had some unusually warm days for this time of year, the flowers began budding a bit earlier than other years. Though I haven’t seen beavers lately, I did see their tracks in one reserve. Still, if you’re a person who gets “spiritual sustenance” by going out into nature, you venture forth on those days that might have a few overcast but rain-free hours to see what is out and about.
Paths in the nature reserves are slick and slippery. My yard (which I am fortunate to have, don’t get me wrong!) currently has patches that are simply sodden mud and clay with no vegetation to be seen. We also had two hurricanes and several severe storms the past 5.5 months as well as other rainy periods and the ground – much of it clay – is just not absorbing all the water anymore. Our area has been inundated with rain for 9 days straight now – not a big deal if you live in a region with monsoon seasons but it is not really usual for us. Ready to welcome more coming days of sun! Red-crowned kinglets and yellow-rumped warblersīut for them spied quickly and snatched with speed Seeking sustenance in leaves and on limbs Risen over its banks onto the forest floor We’re tired, dismayed, perturbed, distressed