the Way of the Turtle

LOTS OF WILDLIFE ON A SUNNY WINTER MORNING
1.1 Mile Walk at Tinker Nature Park
Friday, January 4, 2013

Gorgeous morning (despite the wind, which was gusting well above 30 mph at times) so Ann and I went to Tinker Park for a short walk before I hit the Thruway for the drive back to Albany. As I expected, the snow was stomped down enough that we didn't need snowshoes. We spotted a number of deer hunkered down in the woods - the cold and snow over the past week and a bit must have made life more difficult for them! - and numerous birds, including both pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, the usual chickadees, juncos, and cardinals, and - surprise- several bluebirds!

There was also a lot of activity in the fields near the park, with a regualr stream of geese descending from the sky to join flocks of crows already on the ground. My guess is that the wind had blown enough snow off  the fields that it was fairly easy for them to find food. A little later a small group landed in the snowy field between the road and the woods, pretty much the same place we saw geese the other night on the way to Mendon.

All too quickly, though, it was time to get back in the car and head east...

JMH