The Early Bird Gets The....Snow

     I was surprised a couple of weeks ago when a friend told me she had seen a robin at her place.   This seemed really early for a robin to be showing up in the Robson Valley.  Then yesterday, I happened to look out of the kitchen window and also saw a robin.  It was hopping down the snow-sided sidewalk.   What are they doing here, it is way too early. 

    I am always on the lookout for Signs of Spring, and in that sense, I am happy to spot a robin, but at the same time, I worry.   What in the world are they going to eat this time of year, with snow covering  the ground.  I always think of robins eating earthworms, but there are certainly none of them available  this time of year.

    Joining the robin on the sidewalk was a Varied Thrush.  They are about the same size as robins, and are in the same Family, but while they also have the reddish breast, the varied thrush are more distinct, sporting a black “V” starting at their shoulders and down their breast.  I generally see them early in the spring, and normally, before I see any robins.

    I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised at seeing the robin, this has been a very confusing and very mild winter, with long periods with no snow on the ground.  I guess that prompted the male robins to begin their migration to the Valley, earlier than usual.

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A New View

     Every time I looked out of the upstair’s bedroom window, most of what I saw were the thick branches of the willow trees that grew at the end of the carport.  During the summer they created a wall of green foliage, and during the winter, it was a thick tangle of naked branches.  Both views were not very photogenic, but now, since I had the tops of the willows lowered to 10 feet (you can see the trunks sticking up from the roof in the foreground), I can now look out and see our road and the treed slope on the other side of the road.  

    It is still not really a spectacular view, but I am finding it interesting because it is so different from what it was.  I get the same feeling when we drive down our driveway, now that the willows have been cut back.  We can see so much more of our house, and there is so much more light illuminating the scene.

    I am very looking forward to watching the willows start to branch out from their tops again, once the summer season is upon us.

Take a look at my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Bird Communication?

     I feed the birds all winter long.  Back on February 6th, I was surprised to see a couple of shy Pine Grosbeaks (photo above) at the feeder.  Forty years ago, occasionally through the winter, we would see a cluster of Evening Grosbeaks (a yellow cousin of the Pine Grosbeaks) feeding at the feeder, but over the decade, they have completely disappeared.  

    I don’t remember ever seeing any Pine Grosbeaks coming to the feeder, so I was quite excited to see  them.  The pair of Pine Grosbeaks, appreciated a good thing when they saw it, and so the two would visit the feeder almost daily for sunflower seeds.   Grosbeaks have a well designed beak for sunflower seeds.

    I was very surprised a couple of days ago after our snowfall, when I walked out to feed the birds, to see a group of about ten Pine Grosbeaks all fluttering around, snatching the sunflower seeds out of the feeder.  Seeing all of the Grosbeaks made me wonder about why they all suddenly appeared.  Did the original two, somehow tell them about the availability of sunflower seeds at our house?   How did the others find out about them?

    I have noticed the same sort of sudden appearance happen with other birds. Maybe it is just a fluke, but it always seems to me that they are somehow communicating the location of food to others of their species.

    Below is a photo taken of the latest gathering of Pine Grosbeaks.  There are six of them in the photo, can you see them all?   The one with the reddish head is a male.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Morning Photos

     This morning was one of those rare days when there seemed to be a photo-worthy view everywhere I looked.  Across the mountains, the sun was illuminating the Cariboo Mountains, while our side of the valley was still in the blue shadow of the Park Range of the Canadian Rockies.  

    Both photos were taken from the balcony, but thirty minutes apart.   They show how the lighting had changed during that lapse of time.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

I Am Certainly Glad I Cancelled Our Prince George Appointment

     I blogged yesterday about cancelling our long awaited optometrist appointment in Prince George because of a forecast of snow, which would have made for a dangerous highway.  This morning when I looked outside at all the snow on the ground, I was glad that I did.  It snowed all day yesterday and overnight, leaving a nine inch (23 cm) blanket of snow on the ground.  A long drive to Prince George today, would have been horrible and dangerous.

    Last night at square dancing, I learned that Highway 16 had been closed for most of the afternoon because there was an accident with a semi by Goat River that left the freight truck sideways across the highway, blocking it.   I don’t know if there were any injuries.

    It had been a month or so since I last used my snowblower this winter, but fortunately, it started right up and allowed me to clear my driveway. I was happy to have the snowblower today because this snowfall is a damp, heavy one, not like the light powdery snow we usually get.  It would have been a lot of work to shovel it.  The snow is still falling day, but now that I have the driveway cleared, it should not present a problem.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Depending On The Weather

     Living in a small isolated village, we are lucky to have a local hospital, but we still have to travel up to Prince George, the distant (two and a half hour drive) big urban center, for a lot of specific medical needs.  Since we don’t have a local dentist, all of our dental appointments are also in Prince George.

    The long drive to “PG” with all of its curves and hills, through the mountains (not to mention the unexpected wildlife on the highway) is long, but tolerable during the summer, but during the winter months, the drive can become very dangerous.  We have known people who were killed and crippled in accidents while making the drive to Prince George, during the winter.

    White-outs caused by blowing snow and passing big trucks, icy road conditions, and thick snow accumulations all make for a long, slow, white-knuckle drive.  Winter also means shorter days, and driving in the dark with today’s ultra-bright oncoming headlights blinding you, means we try to avoid having to go to PG during the winter, if we can.

    We had a long set optometrist appointment in Prince George tomorrow, but today’s and tomorrow’s weather forecast shows periods of snow, so  I just called and cancelled tomorrow’s appointment because of the predicted snow.  Fortunately, the medical and dental facilities understand the regional weather, and don’t make a big deal about cancelations for people who live outside of Prince George.   

    The only downside to canceling an appointment, is that it often means another long wait until our next one.  Our next optometrist appointment is not set for the middle of July.  At least in July, the driving conditions will be a lot safer.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Disappearing: Paperback Books

     I am an avid reader.  I start getting nervous upon finishing a book and not having another novel to start on, so I found it distressing yesterday when I read a news article in the Guardian, saying that paperback books are on the way out.  The biggest book distributor in the US is going to stop distributing mass-market paperbacks.  The decision was made because of plummeting sales.  In 2004, sales numbered 130 million, by 2024, sales had dropped to just 21 million.

   While it is troubling that paperbacks will be disappearing, I guess I am part of the problem.  Although I read a lot of paperbacks, I have not actually bought one in a decade.  Most of paperbacks that I read are used, and recycled paperbacks.  One of the major benefits with used paperbacks is that here in the Robson Valley, we have several sources where I can get the the books for free.  There is a shed at the dump, where people donate and recycle their books, same thing happens at the train station, and our library often has discarded books, for a donation.

    I had to hunt around for some paperbacks for the photo above.  After reading most paperbacks I turn them in for others to read.  The paperbacks shown are all ones that I enjoyed so much that I wanted to keep them for a second reading.

    I have also recently read that the reading of all books has fallen 40% in the last 20 years.  It seems that people are just not reading books anymore, preferring instead to spend their time browsing on the internet.  This is particularly true with young people.  Because of their internet habit, their attention span is so short and in need of so much generated excitement, that they no longer have the patience to read a whole book.  In an interview by Katty Kay with author John Grisham, both admitted that they have paid their grandchildren to read whole books.

    I gotten so much enjoyment in reading books over the years, and it makes me sad that so many others are missing out on something that can give a person so much satisfaction and understanding.

 

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca