First Official Hard Frost!

At 7:00 a.m. today it was 29 degrees. Had to scrape off my car before I left for the park.

Our usual friends were in the lower gardens. Lots of blue jays, and lots of juncos. Ian's one has turned into many! The robins are back in a big way. They were surprisingly scarce the last few months. Saw our large family of house finches, goldfinches, titmice, mockingbirds and chickadees. I heard a huge racket and discovered what must have been  hundreds of blackbirds gathered in the woods between the gardens and the golf course. They are definitely gathering for their migration.

The upper gardens seemed very quiet. All I saw were a few goldfinches, a male cardinal and a single white throated sparrow and I guess some bluejays and robins.

I took the path through the woods to the path near the soccer fields and was so happy to see that the ruby crowned kinglet is still around in the exact same location that I have seen it before. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful sunny morning and it was so quiet that you could actually hear the leaves falling, gold and glittering in the sun. The pond had areas that were starting to freeze, but no ducks today.

Met a gardener/birder Dave who told me there was a great blue heron down by the Charles. Of course I zipped down there and there he was looking rather cold - all fluffed up and preening. You could see his reflection in the water and it was all framed with a curving bough of a birch which was also reflected. If I had a better camera, it would have been a great picture.

Woodcock meadow had tons of juncos and David said he saw cedar waxwings there as well. As I was leaving I saw a bunch of crows mobbing a hawk. Saw Ian's car and knew that he was somewhere... What did you see Ian? I hope you will post today.