As much as it felt like spring was just around the corner while out on the water in the sunshine with Jim Maya last weekend, today we got a stark reminder that it is, in fact, still winter. The snow started falling last night, and this morning several inches had accumulated, enough to bring most of the island to a screeching halt for the duration of this frigid weather. It was a perfect day for building a fire, reading a magazine, having a hot bowl of soup, and, of course, photographing birds in the snow.
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| The resident belted kingfisher on her usual perch, with snow-covered trees in the background. |
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| One of the seven dark-eyed juncos that regularly visits my feeder. |
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| A chestnut-backed chickadee on a snowy branch - it's a mystery to me how such a tiny creature survives this chilly weather. |
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| A crow near Friday Harbor's Sunken Park. |
They're forecasting more snow tonight and tomorrow, plus winds gusting up to 60 mph - yikes! Sounds like it will be another day to hole up and stay inside tomorrow. That's okay, though, because even the view from here over to Brown Island is a beautiful one in this weather:
Wonderful birds, Monika! I love the cute Junco and great capture of the kingfisher sitting still.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images. I see some great Christmas card material there.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the chestnut-backed chickadee, one of my favorite birds
ReplyDeleteI like the snowy bird photo's Monika :-)
ReplyDeleteJust had a taste of spring here today, I hope it doesn't go the same way yours did!
A lurker comes out of the shadows :)
ReplyDeleteI have read your blog for months now in awe about how much you know about the Orcas and the birds you see.
I live on the west side of the island and am so happy that you are telling us "ignoramus's" like me what is going on.
A very cold fox walked across my deck 20 minutes ago and I remembered your recent pic of a cold bird on a wire.
I think I am now up to "2" year bird today after filling my feeder.
My hummingbired feeder is frozen so I am concerned for them.
So anyway keep up the goodwork :)
Eileen - Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLois - Good idea!
Phil - They're one of my all-time favorites too.
Warren - Good luck keeping that warmer weather over there. I'm sure ready for some sunshine and blue sky!
Anonymous - Thank you so much for reading my blog and for commenting. It's always nice to hear from someone new, especially someone local! The foxes must look beautiful in this snowy weather. Keep watching those feeders - I bet a lot will come out in this weather. As for the hummingbirds, it's amazing to me that they survive sub-freezing temperatures but they seem to do all right every year! As soon as it gets above freezing I'm sure the resident hummers would love for your feeder to be filled again.
Regarding the hummingbirds and cold weather, the entry for Annas hummingbird in the Morse,Aversa and Opperman "Birds of the Puget sound" book says " can survive short bouts of severe cold weather by lowering body temperature at night , converting more sugar to fat, or entering torpor (dormancy"
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