After a short warmup following the snow yesterday, it cooled back down, we got another 3-4 inches overnight, temps are back down into the teens, and it has continued to snow lightly all day. Plus, I see we are not due to get above freezing for the rest of the month, so winter is back and back for a while. Nice.
By crazy coincidence, here’s a face we haven’t seen since winter first got off to such a great start back at the beginning of December. In case you’ve forgotten after all this time, this is a hermit thrush, and the northern edge of their winter range is about 300 miles south of here, so it is a bit unexpected to see one, if not exactly “rare”. You probably can’t tell from the image because I cropped it so closely, but it’s sitting in the gap under a fallen tree trunk.
The rest of the critters were similarly seeking shelter from the snow, and here’s a female downy woodpecker working on the bottom side of a branch by the pond.
The pair of goldeneye hens were still on the river, but no drake has joined them yet, and here’s another image from the nice viewing I had yesterday. They dive for their food in 32°F water all winter long, so snow doesn’t seem to faze them.
I see we’re due for less snow, more cold, and about the same cloud cover tomorrow morning, so nobody’s gonna be out basking in the sun, but at least they shouldn’t be hiding from the snow. Time’ll tell, eh?
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 