My friend Susan A. was visiting from Long Island. Sue was on the Newton Conservator's board when she lived in Newton and was is a very active naturalist as well as having started a landscape design business with a focus on native plantings called Nature's Edge.
She was hoping to go birdwatching at Nahanton Park and was undaunted by the snow. The Winchester St. entrance wasn't even plowed, so we we headed to the Nahanton Street entrance which luckily, had been plowed. The snow was unbelievably deep and it appeared as if not a soul had been there yet, but the day was comfortable and sunny. The snow was white and pure, glittering in the sunlight.
Eventually we saw some footprints near the back of the nature center so we followed them a short distance through a little stand of trees. Must have been someone walking their dog. It was tough going to be over knee high in the snow and apparently that was true for the person before us. It ended up being one circle that didn't really go very far. We gave up.
The nice feeder that was put up in the fall under the eaves of the nature center has been empty after being filled initially and I was feeling sorry for the birds. We saw juncos, white throated sparrows, titmice, chickadees, song sparrows, nuthatches and a downy or two. Even though the feeder has been empty for so long, they still kept coming in hopes of a morsel or two. I couldn't bear it and after I dropped Susan off, I went to the store and bought a bag of bird seed and headed back to the park. With so much snow, it's difficult for the birds to find food, especially those that are ground feeders. I filled the feeder and by the time I left, they were already enjoying it's bounty. Will have to check on them next weekend.
I'm jealous, I really wanted to get out and enjoy our parks in the big snow!. Though I did see a carolina wren and some crows while i spent all day shoveling out!
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