You know it’s cold when you can see a bird’s breath
It’s been a tad on the cold side this week with temperatures never getting above ten degrees. A couple days it did not get past zero.
To add to the problem, my furnace decided not to work. Raquette Lake Supply was quick to fix the problem and it’s still pushing heat.
My passive solar heat sink that sits below the cellar floor helped out that day but it taxed the system. It took a while to heat back up at ten below.
Our cat Inky laid on the bed soaking up the sun for a few hours.
You know it’s cold when you can see a bird’s breath when it stops to get seed at the feeder.
Birds huddle down on their feet as they pick apart a seed to keep in their body heat.
They fluff up their feathers, making them look fat, to give themselves more insulation from the cold.
When they sleep, some birds burrow in the snow and use it as a source of insulation.
The Redpolls sit on top of the snow and flap their wings until they bury themselves deep so just their heads stick out.
Ruffed Grouse actually fly into soft snow or tunnel completely under the snow for insulation from the cold.
Many times while out snowshoeing I have seen one come out from under the soft snow in a blur of brown.
If you inspect the hole it came out of you will see that it spent the night there, as evidenced by the droppings left behind.
Many cavity nesters like Chickadees, Nuthatches and Bluebirds pool their resources by getting on top of each other in a hole to keep warm.
Some watchers have found eight or ten sharing their body heat in one cavity. Continue reading