Snow ... and birds

I walked over to the research barn around 9:00 this morning, to check the weather. CBC had announced a winter storm watch, snow, ice pellets, and freezing rain on the menu. The road was more or less dry, skies cloudy but no precipitation. It wasn’t particularly cold. Birds were calling and singing—robins, a cardinal, a woodpecker, chickadees, a nuthatch, blackbirds. At the grey barn I could see John’s hibiscus shining nicely in the window.

I settled inside with my computer, then glanced up to see a few snowflakes in the air. The next time I looked fine snow was misting the view. Two robins perched on the fence, their red breasts and black heads bright and crisp. Something darted past, towards a puddle, then rose to the fence, a blue shine  –- could it be -- an Eastern bluebird! Yes! I’ve scarcely ever seen one in Ontario. I watched as it sat, dropped to the puddle again, back to the fence, then flew off. A little later it reappeared — I grabbed my camera and managed to take a few photos through the windows of the lab. I don’t have a long lens, so the bird was not much larger than a fingernail in the pictures, but I’ve been able to crop a couple to post here. See that colour? And is that a female further away? I can’t tell.

I finished my emailing and checked the weather, watching the snow thicken. Then I went for a walk—the snow soft underfoot, and the ground soft beneath it. I could hear crows and then the pair of geese on the pond calling. Snow fell heavily and fast as you can see in the next photos.

The beginning of my walk

Maybe 20 minutes later.

I stopped off at the barn to collect my computer. A single robin gleamed on the fence, seemingly undisturbed by the weather. As I was gathering my stuff it flew to the brick outside the door and I almost got its picture …

Here’s the street just across from my house as I came back to it. That blanket of snow makes a nice backdrop to the sign about my reading last night.

Now it’s 5:p.m., no more snow is falling, and most of what covered the car has slipped off it. An hour ago a veery in its reddish  brown plumage landed on the railing of the back deck. The birds seem to know it’s spring.