No ice, no snow, open water

Sunrise over Pincho Lake - December 13, 2015

Non-winter is in place here on Roundtop Mtn.  The ski resort hasn’t yet been able to make snow, as the nighttime temperatures are well above freezing.  I haven’t turned on the electric heat in the cabin, though on a few damp mornings, I had a fire in the fireplace.  For the past week I haven’t even needed that.

Birds are not flocking to my feeders.  They are apparently still able to find natural food in the forest.  Oh, a few of them show up in the morning and again in the evening. I think it’s more to check that food is available than from any real sense of needing it.  By this time turkey and black vultures have usually departed at least some ways to the south.  Yesterday, I saw 9 of them twirling around the top of Roundtop. 

El Nino, the apparent cause of this warm weather, is showing its impact.  How long this record-breaking, strange weather will last is unknown.

Today, a northwest wind is driving down the temperature, though it’s still above 50°.  The northern robins, a Labrador subspecies I believe, still forage through the forest.  When I was younger, they were called woods robins locally, browner and larger than the summer robins that breed here in that season.  I saw a flock of 14 yesterday.  I usually find them by sound.  They tend to hang together in a loose flock, skimming through the forest.  I see them mostly in the mornings and evenings.  Most winters I see them into January, though they do disappear during the worst of a winter.  In February they often reappear on the first sunny day. They are always able to find open water—perhaps from a spring-fed pond, a puddle or an open stream.  So far this year, the pickings are easy and open water is everwhere.

Made it through (another) storm

Last night was another doozy of a storm, though I managed not to get hit by another tornado.  Folks a few miles to the north weren't as lucky, apparently.  I've heard of no injuries but some 60,000 people are still out of power, lots of trees are down. None of the traffic lights are working, which played havoc with the morning commute.

The baby robins I've been watching made it safely through the storm and are as hungry as ever, with those tiny yellow mouths anticipating breakfast.  Mom robin is okay, too, this morning.  Happy Friday!

Spring arriving, day by day

Robins are arriving in good numbers here on Roundtop. The worms are up, so the robins are here. I have noticed that none of the robin yet have the white spots on the outer tail feathers that marks their breeding plumage. At this point, when I see robins, I see them in flocks. They don’t appear to be settling in or defending territories yet.

No hint of greenery is peeking through the brown of last year’s grasses, but waterfowl are moving north, robins are here, and the nights are no longer always below freezing. The days have been gloomy and gray, though don’t bring much-needed rain. Primarily because snowfall was non-existent here this past winter, the area is now 4 inches behind in precipitation, an amount that can not easily or quickly be made up. My seedlings are now sun-starved and grow long and stringy from the lack.

The spring hawkwatchers are starting their watches, though the numbers of birds spotted are still low, and many report more sightings of geese or siskins than of raptors. I have not yet heard spring peepers, but I have glimpsed a frog on one of my dog walks. As it was more of a splash than a frog, I can’t tell you what kind it was.

Spring is here in many ways, though the woods don’t yet look much like spring. The forest still looks like November, though without the ice. The evenings are warmer, and smell of good earth. The birds know it is time to move north; more arrive or move through each day. Soon the first shoots will push through the softening ground and the woods will turn green again.

Easing towards winter

The wind that has dominated here is finally easing. Yesterday was the most intense—45-55 mph winds for much of the day. I lost power at the cabin several times, each time briefly. I can’t drive up the driveway and down the lane without needing to stop at least once or twice to remove a branch too large or too gnarly to drive over.

More juncos have arrived, though still not huge numbers of them. That might well change in the next few days. Once this nor’easter clears, those little snowbirds may decide they’d better clear out of Canada and head south while the gettin’ is still good.. The Canadian robins have also arrived. When I was a youngster, these were called "woods robins." These birds are a bit larger and browner than the birds that summer here (and which left about a month ago). Down here the Canadian robins tend to stay in small flocks and often stay throughout the winter, especially if the winter tends to the mild side. They don’t hang out in fields and yards like the summer robins. They prefer woods and sometimes abandoned fields. We used to think that "woods robins" were simply summer birds that didn’t migrate, but over the years research has shown they are really Canadian robins who have migrated, and after a trip of 1000 miles or so, they have flown south.

In general, though, I see few of the forest’s animals in weather like this. They are as hunkered down as I am, waiting for the raging weather to abate. The snow that fell in the Poconos missed me. I was on the southwest edge of the storm and so got the worst of the wind instead.

It’s a bit early in the season to have what is essentially a winter storm of such strength. This year will be the first year in what seems like forever to me where there will be no El Nino or La Nina effect to warm the winter. That doesn’t hurt my feelings at all, though I reserve the right to change my tune if I’m snowed in for longer than a week.