More freak weather after March came in like a lamb the first day it’s been lion like since then. The one nice sunny day gave us all false hope that things were going to improve this month but not so far. Winds, Snow, rain, sleet and -18 have all hit us this week and if the rain had been all snow it would have been up to our eyes balls for sure. It’s just a reminder that winter doesn’t end here until mid April, sometimes mid May.
My Evening Grosbeaks moved out on the 2nd and haven’t returned. Peg Flora in Okara Lake still has her big flock of Grosbeaks to fed and some still hanging around Long Lake. I did have a record number of Common Redpolls-80 on Saturday during the heaviest part of the rain event. They were all over the snow and probably more than 100 but I never got to count them all on the snow at the same time. One of my Blue Jays has a Red-tailed Hawk call that it gives when it flies in and spooks them all into flight. He does it nearly every time he comes trying to make room for himself at the feeder. This seems to work for him as everyone else leaves for a few minutes. I’ve put bands on nearly 150 Redpolls and a few Hoary Redpolls. The males are so blood red on their breast you would think they are bleeding when you take them out of the net. I caught two Grosbeaks before they left, two Hairy Woodpeckers, two Downy Woodpeckers , two White Breasted Nuthatches and one new Black-capped Chickadee.
When you get a couple of warmer days in March the Red-winged Blackbirds normally move north. They don’t know we still have two feet of snow on the ground, they just are thinking about getting a good spot on territory no matter what the weather. My daughter Erin called today and she had two Red-wings at her feeder yesterday in Livonia so they are on the move.
The tom Turkeys have been battling each morning but the hens are paying them no mind as it’s a little early to sit on eggs. A Coyote came in one morning and tried to catch the Turkeys in the deep snow but they all flew up in the trees and talked to him. I had a couple Redpolls in the Potter Trap and the Coyote thought he would snatch them but that didn’t happen. He had been in eating suet under the feeder in the moonlight one night. I tried to get his picture but he wouldn’t hold for the light. He would run back behind the tree and hide in the shadow. When I would turn it off, he would come back out so I never did get a picture.
I believe Syracuse snow fall got into the record book this winter as one of the five snowiest winters for that city. Just today they only needed seven inches and I think they got that and more. They will probably get even more before this winter is over as they could get snow well into April also.
Many farmers used to call this poor man’s fertilizer as that’s all they had. The snow does take many elements out the atmosphere as it falls. When acid rain was falling on us so heavily, it was also coming in the snow fall. The rain events would run off causing a short time event but snow would build up all winter. When this melted in the spring this event (runoff) could take a month or more. In areas that got larger accumulations of snow like the Stillwater area the lakes and streams had no relief and the fish died from this pollution. The lakes became so acidic that they wouldn’t support any fish life. Many of these lakes were treated with lime every couple years to make them habitable for fish again. With the partial cleaning of acids from the air many of these lakes have recovered, on their own and again will support fish life. So poor man’s fertilizer on the land might be a good thing but falling in smaller doses.
Signs of spring, the sap is running but that’s another story. See ya.
