March 1st, -2 Degrees, -20 Degree Wind Chill!

Well here we are, the first day of March and this relentlessly cold winter just wont let up. Our weather is pretty much the main topic of all the news that I hear or read lately. Yesterday I heard that our temps are a good 30 degrees below average for this time of year. Meaning that we'd typically be hovering around the freezing mark of 32 degrees, yet we are still dealing with temperatures near 0 or lower! Predictions for our next chance at even 30º are another 5 days away. As I hiked around the park today the temp was -2º below zero and a moderate wind made it feel like -20º below zero! But to my surprise I ended up seeing a fair amount of good wildlife today. In fact I'd say it was one of the best visits I've had in months. One of the first birds I spotted was this male Northern Cardinal. He was perched in a Buckthorn tree not too far off the trail. Cardinals are kind of easily spook-able in my experience –unless they're busy eating something. But this one let me walk right up to him. I wondered if maybe he just didn't want to exert the energy to fly away due to the cold temperature. One thing I noticed today was that a few Cardinals were singing loudly. And the song was so distinctly out of place on a day like today. I realized it was something I'm more used to hearing in the springtime which made me think that even the birds are longing for a warm up! Not long after, I had a good shot at this Hairy Woodpecker also not far off the paved trail. I also spotted a Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadees and a small group of Cedar Waxwings today. The Waxwing were eating from a clump of snow that was clinging to the branches. This is a common behavior for them which I've witness multiple times before. Later on when I came to the foot bridge over Shingle Creek I noticed some movement upstream. There was a group of four Deer walking straight down the creek towards me. I got excited at the good photo opportunity but as they came closer the lead Deer sensed my presence though I was holding perfectly still. Eventually the group turned back around and climbed up the creek bank. I sat on a park bench and watched for a while. More Deer joined them from across the field near the town homes. Then even more. Another hiker coming down the trail along the creek must have scared the entire group and they all high tailed it back across the creek. There were 10 in that group, followed shortly by another 4. Add that to one I spotted earlier makes 15 Deer I spotted today! I think that is more than I've seen in the past 4 months combined. As I was heading back to my vehicle, I heard a deep "whoo whoo" coming from behind me. It sounded not too far away and I decided to follow it as best I could. It continued just long enough for me to get into the general area and then it stopped. With my binoculars I scanned the trees looking at any kind of dark clump. In only the second clump I looked at, I noticed a pair of dark, pointy vertical shapes. The view was difficult and blocked by a lot of branches but I knew right away that it was Great Horned Owl on her nest! This is only the second time I've ever seen one in a nest and again I'm shocked by how small and crude of a nest they use. The reason is that Great Horned Owl's don't build their own nest. Instead they re-use one –typically built by Squirrels! As in my last encounter, the mother was right up next to the tree trunk with her tail poking over the side. I stayed a fair distance away as to not disturb her too much and risk endangering the productivity of the nest.