Nearly a year since my last entry. Not much has happened, just the passing of seasons back to winter again.
The first snow of this season has come and gone and we're back to Indian Summer. Highs in the 50s this week and our neighbor's lawns are still green. The finches and juncos are feeding in our yard. The sky looks weepy today, but if we get anything it'll be rain. Our snow season is getting shorter and shorter.
The folks at the bird refuge talk about birds that would normally have flown south staying longer and new species coming in that used to need a warmer climate than was provided this far north. The climate is changing and with it the bird types. My mate and I were at the refuge last week and there were dozens of species still in residence. The refuge is for water fowl and their predators, so we saw lots of geese, ducks, pelicans, coots, cranes, ibis and egrets as well as hawks and eagles. The road out to the main area of the refuge is finally fully paved making our journey more comfortable. We saw a kind of hawk we've not seen before. There were dozens of them; real beauties. Lots of sand hills and an unidentifiable blue crane variety. They're such large graceful birds. The blue was a deep indigo color, almost black. He was standing in the middle of the road looking a bit like Dracula in profile with his cloak wrapped around him. He waited until we were very close then leisurely unwound his wings and with a few flaps, floated out above the impounded water. Lovely!
I'll sign off now with a resolution to get to this blog more often this year.
