nature, Photography

Sightings

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I was recently surprised to see to see a robin very nonchalantly hopping and flying about.

Robins overwinter here but except for very occasional December or January views of them when they stick to the dense thickets and shrubs close to the ground and near their shared winter accommodations, a sight of them is somewhat rare. This one was very active and looking rather springy, too.

I saw a pair of red-shafted northern flickers, too. They overwinter as well but also seemed to be very active; one of them was drumming and showing some mating behaviours. So, seeing these birds convinced me that we might soon be seeing spring.

But then I surprised a small flock of coots that were huddled next to the breakwater boulders along the lakeshore. They prefer the smaller ponds up in the mountains, but if those are frozen over, they are forced to move to the much bigger, open lakes. So, like the groundhogs, they might be signalling another six weeks of winter!

Hummm. A good sign and a poor sign.

Oh well, whatever we get, I’m not going to complain since our winter has been very mild.

Happy Tuesday.

43 thoughts on “Sightings”

  2. I think the coots are probably a lot more useful for predicting the coming weather than the groundhogs. But that’s because I don’t think groundhogs has much to say about the weather or winter. Anyway, those are great bird photos.

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    1. Thank you very much. I agree, Thomas. The whole groundhog thing, while a cute story, doesn’t mean anything, of course. Here, the marmots (a type of groundhog) go into hibernation as early as September and emerge as early as January, even if conditions aren’t great – they have to start looking for food! The coots are much better indicators. They overwinter here and spend their summers in the north, sometimes as far north as the Arctic. When they leave, spring is on the way!

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  5. So many coots. Hope they are not predicting a longer winter as I feel it has been long enough already. We are headed back above 0 here for the next week or so. Yay, slush. Happy Tuesday Lynette. Allan

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    1. When they start heading north then I know that spring is definitely on the way, but seeing them come out of the mountains because the smaller lakes up there are frozen might be a sign that we’re going to get some more winter. Everyone to the east of us certainly deserves an early spring, that’s for sure! Cheers.

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    1. If you go to a grocery store cafeteria between about 2 and 4 pm you might see quite a collection of coots. 😉

      We get huge flocks of them here as they summer as far north as the Arctic and then they overwinter here. They definitely have the oddest looking feet. I’ve read their feet have evolved to enable them to walk on lily pads or wet mud. The ones in the grocery store definitely cafeteria can’t do that though. 😉

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    1. They do love to get together in big flocks but I think that’s mostly because they get hunted by raptors and there’s safety in numbers. Their feet are quite amazing. They have flipper-like features but are also jointed. Nature is wonderful.

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      1. Oh yes, that makes sense as to why they would hang out in big flocks! It would be so traumatic to see one get picked up by a raptor. We had a pond at a local park and the Coots used to hang out in big numbers there and that’s where I first saw their feet. Too bad the park drained the pond and they are no more here.
        Thank you for sharing the information.

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        1. You’re welcome.
          We have resident bald eagles that stalk the coots quite regularly; the lake they’re on right now is huge and the eagles have chased off most other competitors. Nature is incredibly beautiful but incredibly tough, too.
          Sorry to hear you lost your pond.

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  14. I thought of you, and your love of the local ducks, when I was walking part of Burnaby Lake with a friend recently. It’s not right in your neighbourhood the way it is mine — but worth a visit some day when you’re in Vancouver with time to spare. It’s a major bird sanctuary, and has many, many species of ducks.

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    1. If anyone deserves an early spring it’s everyone to the east of us! You’ve been getting extreme winter for sure. The coots look so cute all huddled like that but one of the reasons they do that is for protection against the eagles who see them as a sort of smorg!

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