Xmas Bird Count 2007

December has been a snowy month and the temperature has stayed below freezing the whole half month. Perhaps that accounts for the poor birding that was had by all in the area... as well as the snow and wind that was prevalent on the Sunday the 16th of the count. There were a lot of the regular chickadee, nuthatch and woodpecker occupants at the feeding station but when Muir and i went down to the Pilgrim river in the snowstorm, we only saw a lone bald eagle and a couple of chickadees. The eagle was flying with regular wing beats along the Pilgrim River course and was then gone. Nothing else was moving as we snowshoed a round-about course through gullies and woods. Noticed that Aholas have added a new plywood enclosed deer stand to their farm complete with a Cabela's timed feeder that meters out a bit of corn each day as bait. I wondered if the fat spike buck that I've seen eating apples by the garden goes there to feed.
After our snowshoe cruise Lynn, Muir and I drove over to Nara Nature Trails and snowshoed down the boardwalks and across the ice a couple of times and out to Princess point and around the sewage plant and then back to the car without seeing anything living nor even tracks... except at Pilgrim Terrace there was a man and his dog out for a walk.

Lynn bundled against the elements at the entrance to the nara Trails boardwalk that goes down along the Pilgrim River and sloughs at it's outlet into Portage Lake.

Lynn, Don and Dixie out at Princess Point. Dixie gamely accompanied us on the whole jaunt with a badly split toe nail for her efforts. Her arthritis seems to be better this year and she has put on a bit more weight to help insulate her from the cold. Her favorite spot this time of year is by the wood heater.

Muir, talking to his girlfriend with his cell phone; on the trail of the elusive rare bird, that have become more common (witness the Northern Cardinals that we were too far north for until recently) in these days of global warming.