WInter's return #phenology

chickadee blown from feeder

Photo by J. Harrington

The seeds on the ground are covered with a crusted layer of snow. Chickadees frantically grab a sunflower seed or a smidgeon of suet from the feeders and dash back to a sheltered spot out of the cold, harsh wind. A pileated woodpecker pounds on the now frozen suet with success at flaking off edible chips. Winter has returned to the North Country.

(young?) pileated woodpecker feeding on suet

Photo by J. Harrington

We tried playing (again) with manual focus on our camera's telephoto lens. Autofocus gets all confused when we shoot through glass windows. We think we're starting to get the hang of it but we need to remember to hold the camera and lens from underneath, not from the side. These birds look cold because it is cold. The windchill is in low single digits, although the sun is shining. Roads over much of the state are a mess, ditches full of skidded vehicles.

icicles on birdbath's rim

Photo by J. Harrington

Last night's wind blew water over the edge of the heated bird bath, creating icicles which don't seem to belong on a heated birdbath. The snow-encrusted back yard remains essentially trackless. We suspect the four-legged critters that live around here are going to stay bedded down until the wind calms. We haven't seen any turkeys in long enough that we can't begin to guess where they are. The snow certainly isn't deep yet so they can get around without much trouble. Maybe they're taking a page from Robert Lewis Stevenson's book and spending Winter in a warmer nook. We certainly share the poet's sentiments.

Picture-books in Winter

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850 - 1894

Summer fading, winter comes—   
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs   
Window robins, winter rooks,   
And the picture story-books.   
   
Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;   
Still we find the flowing brooks   
In the picture story-books.   
   
All the pretty things put by,   
Wait upon the children’s eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,   
In the picture story-books.   
   
We may see how all things are,   
Seas and cities, near and far,   
And the flying fairies’ looks,
In the pictyure story-books.   
   
How am I to sing your praise,   
Happy chimney-corner days,   
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,   
Reading picture story-books?

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