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vaneramosI need to catch up on pictures from earlier this week, but that will have to wait. I still have one more post from earlier in the day. The girls and I went for a walk Saturday afternoon. The weather was incredibly mild: about 10°C (50°F). We always seem to get a January thaw, when most of the snow melts, but this is no thaw. We have hardly had any snow since before Christmas.
My New Years gift from the river was a belted kingfisher flying in circles over the pond with an indignant rattle. It's a beautiful bird to spot at any time but somehow a special delight in winter. In the shallow water near an effluent pipe Brenna spotted this dead crayfish, about 8 cm (3.25") long. A live one stirred up silt, disappearing under nearby rocks as I leaned over to get a closer look. This fellow likely died in battle. I was impressed by its morphological resemblance to the lobster I had for lunch on Monday.
On the pond was a flock of 20 mallards. They thought we might have some food to offer, but didn't risk approaching too closely.
My New Years gift from the river was a belted kingfisher flying in circles over the pond with an indignant rattle. It's a beautiful bird to spot at any time but somehow a special delight in winter. In the shallow water near an effluent pipe Brenna spotted this dead crayfish, about 8 cm (3.25") long. A live one stirred up silt, disappearing under nearby rocks as I leaned over to get a closer look. This fellow likely died in battle. I was impressed by its morphological resemblance to the lobster I had for lunch on Monday.
On the pond was a flock of 20 mallards. They thought we might have some food to offer, but didn't risk approaching too closely.
