We seem, nowadays, to have forgotten what a “proper” winter is like. A series of mild seasons, punctuated only by the freeze-ups of 2009-10 and 2010-11, have perhaps made us complacent. But for Europe’s birds, cold winters need to be taken far more seriously. Almost 30 years ago the winter of 1978-79 led to a […]
Tag: winter
A Winter’s Morning At Zoar Wetland, Ohio
The past few nights here in the southern portion of Northeast Ohio have been in the teens, so I’ve been thinking about the “odd couple” at Zoar Wetland. This past autumn, a goose and brown duck (no one seems to know the proper name, although it does resemble a Mallard), took up residence at the […]
Warm enough to fly in mid-December
The fly can be seen in the center of this photograph of the planter still decorated for autumn harvest in mid-December. The temperature peaked at 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 C) on December 18th in Brighton, Michigan, but that didn’t deter a Common Green Bottle Fly from venturing out. Perhaps he had burrowed into the soilof […]
Wind Surfers
A pair of songbirds cut loose from winter’s touch, surfing a cool backyard wind. • Sparrow | Passer domesticus