Trygve has recovered well enough so we can resume walking. Walking the road we were accompanied by a flock of snow buntings. As we would approach they would fly up and settle on the shoulder of the road a bit father ahead, repeating this process as we advanced. These tough little songbirds migrate here for the winter, apparently not knowing or caring that if they continued farther south they could escape the snow and cold. It's fascinating that this is their destination for winter. Audubon has this to say about them.
" Cold and dark winter days come alive with the flurry of black-and-white Snow Buntings tumbling in flight across barren fields and lakeshores. These restless birds flock up by the hundreds in winter, scattering across Canada and the United States. Snow Buntings breed in the high Arctic among rocky crevices where their crisp white plumage blends in with the snowy landscape. In the winter they acquire rusty tones that help them blend in with their winter homes of bare ground and crop stubble."
We also spotted a flock of pheasants, feeding in a tilled soybean field, they scuttled for the cover of a cattail slough when they spotted us. Tomorrow's the last day of pheasant season so they likely will avoid a hunter this time.
There's a large spruce tree just outside my kitchen window. Under its canopy is where I toss the ear corn for birds and squirrels. When I returned from our walk there was a blue jay feasting on the corn, a cardinal nearby and a flock of juncos on the ground. It's the first cardinal I've seen in Sinai. Lacking birdseed, other than the ear corn, I spread some dog food under the tree as an experiment. The blue jay and the cardinal quickly picked some up and flew away.
Takk for alt,
Al
2 comments:
Leland say it is a soil finisher. Like a tiller. Enjoy your posts. Glad dog better!
Enjoy your posts. Glad dog is better. A soil finisher , like a tiller, says the man in my life.
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