Nature Notes: Beginning of 2012

We've had a mild winter in my part of NC so far. Today was the first day that the bird baths refroze very quickly after I put fresh water in. The water I used to thaw the bath that sloshed over on the deck froze fast too.

The little chickadee above was looking at me as if to say, more water please.

The sparrow above was debating going ice skating.

The shots of the female cardinal above and for the next two shots were taken several days ago when the weather was very mild.

To me it's mild winter weather if I only have to get rid of nights' frozen bird bath water but the temperatures are above freezing during the day.

The male cardinal below was taking a bath after a lot of the water had been sloshed out.

I think the male and female cardinals are good pairs in terms of their colors complementing each other.

The mourning dove below blends in so well with the tree bark, I almost didn't see her.

The rest of the shots in this post were taken on my January 1, 2012 walk.

Last year the creek leading to the lake and most of the lake were frozen during the beginning of 2011.

This year the temperatures haven't stayed below freezing long enough to freeze the lake and creek.

The puddle above is probably frozen now but it wasn't on January 1, 2012.

I couldn't have asked for a better day to walk than the first day of this year.

I always wonder why the gulls always leave this lake in the spring and return in the late fall.

Although there are some winter browns the evergreens add some life to the winter scene.

The geese seem to be finding plenty of seeds to eat on the hill.

There is still some green mixed in with the brown grasses which I usually don't see at this lake during the winter.

The cormorants below seem to be glued to these perches in the winter.

Some of the gulls were swooping around while others sparkled in the lake.

I'm still getting used to my newish camera in terms of photographing birds in flight.

I guess that's it for my rather long post of what I'm seeing in my natural world as the new year begins.

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