Your Correspondent

 

From the frozen North Pole Upstate NY..

It isn't quite down to zero yet, but it sure is cold. (Apologies to friends in other regions who might be reading this, where it is warming up to zero and they are rejoicing...I am a puppy about cold weather...what can I say?)

When I walked the dog I added some extra leashes to his long rope so I didn't have to step out on the crust and ice. The stars were little frozen dots in the sky, all glittery and pretty and about as warm as the devil's heart.

I haven't seen or heard the Carolina Wrens in three days even though I made this stuff just to feed them and they had been eating it. I hope they are just hiding.

We have refrained from birding the last few days. Our county was under a state of emergency...no unnecessary driving...and conditions on the north-south roads were ugly. The wind was strong enough to twist the house and certainly able to pick up all the lake effect snow and stack it between the snowbanks.

I know I will sound like a typical old fart "back in my day, sonny" but this is a winter reminiscent of the 70s when I was new to driving and the streets in Gloversville were all one lane because of the huge snowbanks. Actually, this is milder than that, but it is bad enough.

Anyhow, in a twist of cabin fever yesterday we ventured out for a short bird expedition. Complete waste of time. I got some pretty pictures of snow, which looked good from inside the warm car, and we saw some turkeys. Pretty bleak and barren and not in any way birdy.

But wait! What birdsong breaks in yonder snowy bush? A Northern Cardinal is singing in the hedgerow by the old horse pasture, the first of the year.

And now the House Finches are singing too. The American Goldfinches are just beginning to subtly molt into their brilliant summer finery. A yellow feather here, a yellow feather there.

Is there hope on the horizon?

Maybe.