Tuesday, 25 February 2020: our temperature this morning is -12C (windchill -16C). Sunrise is at 7:29 am, and sunset is at 6:10 pm. The sun is shining and It is supposed to reach a high of 2C as the day goes on.
Two days ago, on 23 February, the forecast was for light snow in the afternoon. I decided to join a few friends for an afternoon birding walk, hoping that the weather forecast would be wrong. During the walk, the snow stayed away. After the walk, when we were sitting inside Tim Horton's for coffee, the first snowflakes started to fall and, by the time I had to head for home, I was driving in a snow storm, with very low visibility. Thanks for the "scenic route" from park to Tim's, Bernie, ha, ha. As we were driving, I did wonder if you knew about the changes at the first intersection with the highway, which is now part of the massive Ring Road being built around the city. I guess you didn't! Yet another white-knuckled drive on a brand new road, that led us part way through the Reserve.
As far as birds were concerned, things were very quiet. In the two and a half hours that we were walking, 11 species were found. At one point, the group split up, some of us preferring not to risk walking down a set of stone steps down a snowy bank. Before we all met up again, a few of us had a neat experience. Since the 'No Feeding of Wildlife' was put in place, far fewer birds seem to fly over to us, especially very recently. While standing wondering which was the right way to go to find our friends, suddenly a little Black-capped Chickadee flew over to greet us. When a friend held out her hand, the bird flew to it. Two seconds later, a Mountain Chickadee did the same, followed by a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Then it was all repeated, happening so fast that I could barely take photos. Last night, I edited these five photos, so that I could send them to my friend who was holding out her hand. Decided to add them here, too.
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