Season’s Greetings 2017

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all.

Photo by NB Hunter.

Snowy Highlights, Feb. 2017

Most of our snow will be gone by the end of the week. There will be more, but I feel the need to post these wonderful winter snow scenes while they’re still fresh in my memory!

Harvested corn field in winter

Eastern Wild Turkey foraging for waste grain

Spring-fed stream and geese, with a mature oak tree in the center

Groundhog emerging from hibernation, 20Feb2017

Woodland trail after a heavy, wet snow

Young whitetail doe

Small woodland stream, framed by mature hemlocks and sugar maples

Mourning doves taking flight

Woodland trail in sunshine and shadow

A shed deer antler exposed by melting snow

Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.

 

The Winter Solstice

“We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.”     – Gary Zukav

“How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!”             – Thomas Wentworth Higginson

“Kindness is like snow – it beautifies everything it covers.”     – Kahlil Gibran

“There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you. In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.” ― Ruth Stout

“It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.”     – John Burroughs

“When snow falls, nature listens.”     – Antoinette van Kleef

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”            ― John Steinbeck

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”     – John Boswell

Photos by NB Hunter; taken in Central New York in December, 2016 © All Rights Reserved.

Bird Feeder Survey – 28January2016

The number of doves at the feeders is directly proportional to the severity of the winter weather and snow depth. A few visit several times a day, but 20 or 30 might appear in the middle of a blizzard. Ground feeders, doves typically flutter to the ground, a few at a time, from nearby perches on tree branches and overhead wires.

Feeding is fast and furious. Seeds and grain are swallowed whole and stored in an enlarged portion of the esophagus, the crop. This “whole grain” food will be digested later, from the safety of a perch in the trees.

Sparrows and juncos, also ground foragers, swarm the feeding sites throughout the day. They seem to eat more than is physically possible, or necessary for that matter.

American Tree Sparrow

Slate-colored Junco (1 of 2)

Suet blocks, a commercial mix of animal fats and seeds, are a major attraction. Just about everybody pecks at these things at one time or another. Woodpeckers are the primary users, but jays, nuthatches, chickadees, starlings and other species visit them too. Squirrels devour suet blocks in late winter.

Downy Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.

 

 

Spring has Arrived in Central New York (the calendar says it’s so)!

Tree Sparrow 3/20/15

Female Northern Cardinal 3/20/15

Mourning Dove 3/20/15

European Starling 3/20/15

White-breasted Nuthatch

Male Northern Cardinal (grumpy)

Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.

Late Winter Faces

Many wildlife stories are unfolding in Central New York as the deep snow and unprecedented cold weather persist.  For now, I’ll pretend the glass is half full, rather than nearly empty, and present selected images from February 28 through today.

Photos by NB Hunter. © ,All Rights Reserved.

Winter Birds: Doves

One of my favorite winter scenes is a perched Mourning Dove presenting its pleasantly plump form, clean lines and silky smooth plumage.

Photo by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.

Doves at Rest

Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura), common over much of North and Central America, are frequent visitors to bird feeders in winter. They’re ground feeders and typically flutter into a feeding site from a high perch, eat a large quantity of seed very quickly, then burst out of sight, bullet-like. The consumed food is stored temporarily in a pouch or “crop” in the esophagus, and is digested later from the safety and comfort of an elevated perch.

 

Photo by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.