Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed anything different over the past week? I have noticed these things:
  1. No need for a flashlight at the dog park after work - sunlight is lingering until close to 6 PM
  2. My nose hairs aren't freezing in the morning - temperatures are above 16 degrees (which is my nose hair threshold)
  3. My ears are treated to song - Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Goldfinches are starting to sing

It all happened this past week. Feb 7th is when I noted the sunlight at the dog park. Feb 10th is the date that I noted the songs in my yard. And Feb 12th is when I noticed no frozen nose hairs. By George, I think we have turned the corner toward spring.

I have also been reading Pete Dunne's book - Prairie Spring which is very entertaining as is all of his work and also informative. You should definitely read that book before spring arrives. It is definitely good late winter reading. I learned from the book that Groundhog Day is the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox which makes the observations listed above seem on target. I know that I should have known about Groundhog Day from elementary school, but some things just need to be spelled out to me.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Correction to Previous Post

I think that I have another life bird through utter stupidity and by having my camera handy. I previously posted 2 photos of Savannah Sparrows in MLK Day . After reading Don Frieday's post on the CMBO View from the Cape blog, I think that the lighter bird is actually Vesper Sparrow. Don writes in Gull Food and Quiz Photo Answer on Feb 1st that the chestnut shoulder patch and white tail feathers are usually not visible, but the eye ring is apparent. My bird definitely has the eye ring. I'm changing my eBird to Vesper Sparrow! Thanks Don.