Can it really be, the last gasp of Winter?
Am I the only person in the northern hemisphere who will miss Winter? It’s not that I don’t like the change as that is what makes it so special.
It’s just this Winter has seemed so short.
One more day of invigorating cold. Then Spring will begin to arrive.
Unless someone’s got things seriously wrong.
The Canada geese were happy to have a clear expanse of water on the Hudson recently.
We stopped, coming back from Clifton Park, at the Stilwater Blockhouse so we could enjoy the sounds of the waterfowl..
We had passed this same place on February 1st, noticing flocks of geese clustered in and around the big tree. At that time the river was mostly frozen over.
Just 8 days later, here we were again and Grant surprised me by pulling in to the parking area.
The birds were mostly concealed by shrubbery.
But they were all along the riverbank and in the still, cold air we listened to their contented clucking.
It reminded me so of Sir Peter Scott’s wonderful Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, England. One of my favourite places.
On the Severn estuary, Slimbridge is home to a wide variety of wetlands wildlife, including one that Sir Peter was successful in rescuing from extinction, the very sweet Nene or Hawaiian goose:
It is possible to feed these gentle birds from your hand, something that filled me with delight.
The Stilwater Blockhouse has a tiny park, empty on such a cold day. It felt good to drink in the fresh air and enjoy the dazzling sky. Even the moon showed up.
Ah, Winter.
Your Ode To Winter and the pictures are lovely, Thank you. As you know I wrote about Sir Peter Scott and Slimbridge in a post, I don’t know if you read it…
Joanna
Yes, I saw it recently. What a wonderful place it is.
There can be no denying global warming when the seasons are changing so rapidly. Whether it is entirely man made, or a natural event, or a combination of the two, does not matter anymore. It is happening, and it will affect everyone in due course.
No sign of Winter leaving here in Beetley. Although we didn’t get your harsh conditions, we are now getting rainstorms and gale-force winds.
Best wishes, Pete.
No!! Don’t tell me your winter is over … that means then the end of our summer 😯. We were in the mountains for a couple of days and temperatures were high up in the 30 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) – and although it was a touch too hot for hiking (which we’ve done anyway), I love the blue sky and warm sun!