Another Post-Storm Posting!

Lone Hoodie!

Two days after our second big storm and I couldn't really get in the Winchester Street entrance without taking a chance that my little vehicle would get stuck, so I went 'round to the Nahanton St. entrance, which was much better.

Crystals

It was chilly - about 29 degrees at 8:30 a.m. I headed to the dock to see if there were any interesting birds on the river. At first, I saw nothing, but off in the distance was a lone hoodie, heading my way. I sat down and patiently waited until he was across the river from me. In the meantime, a cardinal was perched nearby singing the strangest song. I didn't recognize it all. Was it a young bird learning or is it just a song I hadn't heard before? Blue jays yapped in the background.

More Crystals

I decided to check out the pond - still hoping to see the fox that Mary Lou had seen frolicking on a frozen pond. Instead, I came upon a winter wonderland with crystals growing off every piece of vegetation in the area in a form I had never seen before. They were like magical white thorns, all made by growing at 90 degree angles. If you touched them, they just fell off. Chickadees were in great abundance calling from all the surrounding trees.

Cardinal Female with Seeds

I cut through to the upper gardens where the only path was made from someone who had been cross country skiing around the perimeter. I  came across this beautiful female cardinal who looked stunning against the snow-covered branches with a few seeds in her beak. Her husband was nearby, talking to her to make sure she knew where he was. Several song sparrows were perched on various fence posts, singing their songs. Titmice flew in and nuthatches could be heard from the forest edges.

Decided to check out the swamp area as that had been so busy last weekend. With the swamp water frozen, it was much less so, but still, several robins and grackles flitting around. A red-winged blackbird could be heard off in the distance. I started to head down the path to the lower gardens, when a small bird flew in and landed on a tree trunk. As I zoomed in on it with my binoculars, I was delighted to see a brown creeper! They really are the cutest! Just as I had read, it combed the tree bark looking for yummy edibles and then would fly off to another tree and start all over again, thus making it too difficult to photograph.

Several chickadees, song sparrows and titmice were busy in the lower gardens. Funny, but I didn't see one goldfinch.