On comings and goings

About 90%+ of the snow is gone from most of the deciduous trees behind the house. Behind the bare branches blue sky brightens the day. We are about halfway through January and 65 days from Spring Equinox. Fortunately, February is the shortest month of the year. It’s too early in the year to even fantasize about bud burst, but we are moving in the right direction, at least as far as the seasons are concerned.

We had a first at the feeder the other day, as far as I can recall that is. A Northern (yellow-shafted) flicker flashed away as I approached the door to the deck for a better look. I didn’t get a clear enough look to tell if it was a male or female. We’ll watch for a return visit.

Aldo Leopold “shack,” late April

Photo by J. Harrington

I just glanced at the Leopold phenology calendar and it lists, in late January, Canada geese starting to return just a few days before the last of the sandhill cranes migrate south. That makes it very clear to me that phenology occurrences aren’t nearly as neatly structured as I’ve been envisioning. In all the  years I was an active waterfowler, I based my assessments on migrations to the south ending in late November or early December and return flights headed north occurring in March. Perhaps I’ve not been paying enough  attention to the details? But the Minnesota WeatherGuide Calendar doesn’t mention waterfowl returning until mid-March, so I can’t be too far off. Maybe the area around Baraboo, WI is just far enough south of our neighborhood to offer more open water in late January. If anyone has any solid ideas about the earlly arrival of geese around Leopold’s “shack,” please share in the comments.

To One Coming North

By Claude McKay

At first you'll joy to see the playful snow, 

  Like white moths trembling on the tropic air, 

Or waters of the hills that softly flow 

  Gracefully falling down a shining stair.

 

And when the fields and streets are covered white 

  And the wind-worried void is chilly, raw, 

Or underneath a spell of heat and light 

  The cheerless frozen spots begin to thaw,

 

Like me you'll long for home, where birds' glad song 

  Means flowering lanes and leas and spaces dry, 

And tender thoughts and feelings fine and strong, 

  Beneath a vivid silver-flecked blue sky.

 

But oh! more than the changeless southern isles, 

  When Spring has shed upon the earth her charm, 

You'll love the Northland wreathed in golden smiles 

  By the miraculous sun turned glad and warm.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.

Past the ides of January

I once thought the ides occurred on the 15th of every month. That was incorrect. Wikipedia informs us that ides are “a day in the Roman calendar that fell roughly in the middle of the month. In March, May, July, and October it was the 15th day of the month; in other months it was the 13th.” It doesn’t inform us us why the ides varied from the 15th of some months to the 13th of others. Since it’s not March and I’m not Julius Caesar, I’m not going to worry about it.

For the past week or so, the edges of our driveway and the road shoulder in front of the house have been accumulating deer and turkey tracks. There have been no actual recent sightings of either critter however. I’ve been surprised that  the  dogs haven’t shown more interest in the tracks but perhaps the cold and the snow cover limits the scents from tracks.

deer track in the snow

Photo by J. Harrington

One of the back yard red squirrels has a snow tunnel to hide in and travel through along the  base of the  retaining wall behind the garage. I noticed a squirrel disappearing into the tunnel through a hole I hadn’t paid attention to. There’s also a gap in the snow cover at the base of the brush pile. I suspect there’s a “runny babbit” wintering under the brush but there aren’t any tracks near the snow gap so maybe it’s just a location on the lee side of the pile.

turkey tracks in the snow

Photo by J. Harrington

The good folks at the National Phenology Network have begun tracking the status of Spring down at the southern tip of Florida. That’s both a hopeful sign and a cruel and unusual punishment for those of us in the northern tier.

Item:

Lynn Emanuel - 1949-

I strolled through the neighborhood of beautiful houses
All of which I had written

Down the long dark street
Past the cemetery

Where all the tombstones
Had my small white face.

Over my shoulder burned the lamp
Of the moon.

The pages, in the wind, flew, were fluffed and ruffled
Like water by stones into a tune.

I watched the horse and the rat
The rabbit and fox

Leaving their tracks
On the snowy drafts.

The fox looked like me
Had my face

A long sharp chin
A shifty eye.

The wind riffled its beautiful pelt.
My spelling faltered

Under the spell of myself.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.