Last night, 1:32 am, February 1, 2011
The Snow Specter. I got some of these in a snow storm last year as well and I've been wondering what makes them.
I may have it.
The neighbor to the right, see the haze coming towards the specter from that direction, uses a wood stove for auxiliary heat and I think the specters are made of smoke and the added light of snow reflection to say nothing of the flash on the camera.
It has now been snowing for well over 24 hours.
6:08pm Doorstep Dove nestles down on the birdbath heater while Friend looks on. I wonder by the tilt of his head if he thinks she's acting a bit off.
It gets harder and harder to see Doorstep and Friend. I do hope they've found a particularly sheltered roost for tonight as beyond all the snow, the wind has become cruel and the temperature is dropping. It has been snowing steadily since last night but in speck sized flakes. Though as you can see those speck sized flakes have already begun quite a drift outside the door. We expect 20 more inches tonight. Doorstep and Friend are the only birds I've seen in the back yard all day. Earlier while shoveling the driveway I heard a Crow call, looked up, and saw Chris, Carol, and Junior Crow flying with the wind to the southeast.
8:42pm The snowflakes have gotten much bigger and the wind is erratically shuffling the snow in swirls and whipping it on and off the roof.
The flash goes off and catches the glint of the snow flakes in some of their glittering colors.
Grand article from the New York Times gleaning W.A. Walters.
Once again it's those Caledonian Crows. Remember Betty making a hook to retrieve food goodies? This is about what Caledonians do when they are in their family groups, how they raise their young and TA DA, they have culture!
SCIENCE | February 01, 2011
Basics: Nurturing Nests Lift These Birds to a Higher Perch
By NATALIE ANGIER
Researchers are trying to figure out how the New Caledonian crow became such an outlier, an avian savant...
So how do the birds get so crafty at crafting? New reports in the journals Animal Behaviour and Learning and Behavior by researchers at the University of Auckland suggest that the formula for crow success may not be terribly different from the nostrums commonly served up to people:
CHECK IT OUT!
New York City is in the midst of winter weather as well, though they seem to be dealing with a good bit of ice. So far I've received no new update today on how things are going for Pale Male and the possible Pearl. I imagine that they are snugged up together in a nice spruce for the evening waiting out the weather and looking forward to a nice warm breakfast.
And for those of you who still need a raptor fix, Robin of Illinois sent in an email about checking out James O'Brien's blog, The Origin of the Species--
| AND CHECK OUT FRANCOIS' GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF THE PREVIOUS SNOW IN NYC Hey Donna, WE had a nice storm and Cleopatra¹s birds came alive in the morning: http://www.fotoportmann.com/birdblog/2011/01/27/cleopatras-falcons-central-park-nyc Greets Francois |
Donegal Browne
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