A Reversal of the Polar Vortex
The warmer weather this weekend was very welcome. The so called “Polar Vortex” that had us in its grip this past week brought some pretty extreme cold so having temperatures rise to near 40 was wonderful! We took a drive to the Brooklyn State Wildlife Area on Sunday and hiked up a hillside into an oak forest, perfect for woodpeckers. And there they were, Red-Headed Woodpeckers! A very cool bird and a species in decline because of shrinking habitat.
A bit of a fuzzy photo since I was very far away but still a pretty cool bird to see and photograph.
Later on in our hike, I was peering at a chickadee through my binoculars and out of nowhere, I saw this bird. Can you believe it? An Eastern Bluebird! Being migratory birds, you don’t plan on seeing one of these in January. A few seconds later, the male showed up, flitting around some blackberry brambles. What a nice surprise!
What a nice January surprise! I hope that they can find enough food to make it through the winter.
The red sumac brightened the flat winter landscape.
Fat and fuzzy from eating all my sunflower seeds. Thought I’d throw in at least one photo from backyard.