Nature Notes: wild swings towards spring

Thursday morning, February 10, we had a snowy start to the day but it didn't last long.

I've enjoyed getting a chance to photograph the red-bellied woodpecker this winter.

She, or maybe she's a he, has been spending a lot of time in the tree near my deck wall and also swoops on and off the wall.

The carolina wrens are another visitor I've been enjoying. The wrens and woodpeckers both move so fast that it's always a treat when they are still long enough for me to photograph them.

The rufous-sided towhee and sparrow are much less nervous around me and I photograph them a lot.

Friday was a beautiful day and the snow from Thursday was all gone. The tree below almost looks like it is starting to bloom but those are actually little dry thingies that are on the tree in the winter. Sorry for calling them thingies but I can't think of the name of the tree so I can't look up what the thingies are. They almost look like the tiny flowers of the redbud tree but those won't be blooming for a month or so and I can identify redbud trees.

Much of the weekend was like spring and I enjoyed a pleasant walk at Lake Lynn.

I like to compare the birds at Lake Lynn with the ones at Shelley Lake (the lake I usually walk at).

This time of year they have about the same bird populations with lots of gulls. Later, the gulls leave and go somewhere else to nest.

I haven't seen any great blue herons at either lake since the late fall but I'm sure they'll be back both places later. They may not have gone away but I don't see them as much in late winter.

One thing I like about photographing the sights at Lake Lynn is with the boardwalk/bridge style path around the lake, I can photograph the birds on both sides of the bridge/boardwalk

The only part of the walk that isn't on the bridge/boardwalk at Lake Lynn is on the dam and then a little ways on either side.

So far this week we've had some big swings from cold nights to warm days. There was a 40 degree difference in the Monday day time and night time temperature.

I photographed the female cardinal Tuesday morning (today) on my deck wall. Click for the home of Nature Notes. I'm posting early this week.