WAITING FOR THE STORM

(Written Jan 26 as Winter Storm Juno was approaching)

It is funny how upset and discombobulated one can be when waiting for a storm to arrive.  The critters are upset, too (both our indoor critters and the ones outside).  Around lunch time, Blake was a mess!!!  He just kept barking at any little thing, driving us crazy!  I checked later, and that was just about the time when the pressure started heading down.  Was it that, or did he sense our discombobulation, or did he just need to go out to do his business? 

We like to stay home and hunker down before a storm.  The "battening down the hatches" and readying the house feel like something useful to do while the wait goes on.  We always try to hit the grocery store a couple days ahead (if we have warning!), as grocery stores and gas stations before a storm seem to create crabby people.  

Our birds get crabby at their "grocery store", too!  I filled the domed platform feeder with sunflower seed, peanuts, a peanut butter and suet mix, and also some of the bird store’s bugberry suet pellets.  I wanted it to be easy for the birds to swoop in, get what they want and leave quickly so others could come in.  The feeders were filled with birds this morning (just like the human grocery stores!)  Every port of the tube feeder had a goldfinch on it and there were another 6 on the nyger feeder.  A dapper titmouse darted in, scattering the goldfinches, grabbed a peanut and went to the tree to hide it in a crack behind the bark.  In came a nuthatch and a chickadee to do the same (all were grocery shopping and putting away food for the storm).  Four bluebirds were sitting in the feeder, taking up all the space as they filled their gullets, when a goldfinch landed to pick up a seed - not a chance!  That was one aggressive bluebird!

I can provide for the feeder birds, but the ground eaters are harder because the snow covers the seed on the ground.  With a light snow, the feathery ones can scratch down to the seed, but not with the 24-36 inches that is forecast for tomorrow!  I put down millet for the juncos as well as some corn and safflower seed for whomever.  The jays, sparrows and mourning doves are now jostling for position to fill up their bellies.

(Morning, January 27)
The waiting is over; Juno has arrived and dumped over a foot and a half of snow so far!  We were up at 6AM with the snowblower and shovel, determined to get rid of the first foot of snow before the wind came up.  Our snowblower is small and we weren't sure if it could handle two or three feet of snow.  One foot, yes, but more is questionable!  Thankfully the snow is light and fluffy (and quite beautiful!).  Coffee and breakfast was well appreciated when we came back in almost two hours later!  I cleared the porch, too (although we opted to sit inside this morning...) and within about 45 minutes, there was a good two inches back on the railing!

While out, I sprinkled some millet under the overgrown yew bush just outside one of the windows downstairs, and all morning have been treated to closeups of juncos, bluejays and American Tree Sparrows eating in the shelter of the yew.  I thought the birds might stay in their roosting places longer this morning, but by sunrise they were chowing down!

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Hmmm... Blake is asking to go out.  I guess it is time to re-shovel a place for him to do his business!  He is a small guy and can't even be seen on the path to the bird feeder!

May you all stay safe and warm and be able to see the beauty in the day rather than just thinking cold & dreary.

PATHS ON THE POND ICE

"Linda! Look at the pond! It is covered with paths!"  What an odd sight greeted us on the pond yesterday morning (Jan. 8, 2015).  It was -5º, a light coat of snow on the pond ice, but there were these paths all over, going from one side of the pond to the other and back, crisscrossing, dead-ending, and near the shore, starting out very thin, then growing to the typical four to six feet across.  The paths looked like someone had been out there with a broom, but that clearly wasn't the case.  They almost looked like the wind had made them, but the wind wouldn't have blown the snow in different directions, in straight lines!  The paths weren't following the track of the brook and there were LOTS of them!  So what's up??

We speculated that perhaps the muskrats were swimming close enough to the ice that the water movement melted it some and then it refroze, disrupting the thin dusting of snow.  Dunno exactly, but I sent a picture (the second one) and note to Massachusetts Wildlife.  In just a couple hours I received the response below:

Paths on the pond

Notice how narrow the path is as it comes into shore (or leaves from the shore!)

"You’re probably correct in thinking these trails are left by muskrats and water movement.  Muskrats are active all winter long and typically don’t store a large amount of food, so they’re always looking for food.  This time of year they’re eating crayfish, clams, fish, and turtles, as animal matter is more important in their diet during the winter when vegetation is not as available. I’m sure there are multiple muskrats living in this pond that all have their own bank den, so that’s why the are trails all over. "   ("Wildlife, Mass (FWE)" <mass.wildlife@state.ma.us>)

She is right about the multiple muskrat dens in our pond!  And these paths were all up and down the pond as far as I could see.

This morning there were even more paths and even some round circles with clearly disturbed ice in the center.  It is snowing now, so all are covered.  It must have been just the right conditions over the last two days, because we've never seen this happen before (either that or we didn't see it because before retirement, when we were both heading off to work, we'd leave before sunrise and get home after sunset!).  

I'm glad to have seen this sight!