Sunday, 18 April 2021: our temperature is -1C (windchill -6C) at 11:00 am. Sunrise is at 6:35 am, and sunset is at 8:36 pm. Winter is back! It has been snowing heavily all morning. More snow is forecast for Thursday and next Sunday. Guess I will be clearing snow off my car tomorrow morning, as I have to go and get my very welcome 2nd COVID shot. This weather has come at a bad time, just when all the siding has been removed from my building and either one, or two, layers of 'paper' are now all that covers the outside walls. I wonder how wet they are now - not good, and more snow coming.
The day before yesterday, 16 April 2021, was a beautiful, sunny day within the city. I joined nine friends to go for a birding walk in Fish Creek Park. Because of the pandemic, groups can only have a maximum of 10 people outdoors and, of course, everyone has to wear a mask and social-distance. The area we covered was Lafarge Meadows, starting from the south end. It had been a long time since I last visited this area, partly because most birds are so, so far away.
One bird I managed to photograph was a handsome Red-winged Blackbird, as well as a distant Northern Flicker. I had never noticed the two thin, black lines near the Flicker's beak before. After checking Google Images, I discovered that some photos showed these lines clearly; others were more filled in with red. I wonder if it has anything to do with male/female, age, etc..
Talking of birds, I hope I won't flood my photostream with House Sparrow photos in the next little while. The pair that have nested maybe 3 or 4 feet from my front door, but out of sight, came back again this year. I keep forgetting to check and see what has happened to their nest, if anything, with the workmen repairing woodwork and stripping off all the siding. The birds are still here and they seem to be enjoying briefly landing on the scaffolding.
It did amuse me when our leader, Anne B, 'admitted' when we all first arrived at the meeting place, that what she was really hoping to find was a Prairie Crocus. Anne is a very keen, excellent birder and photographer, so her words made me smile. Well done, Anne, for finding two for us to enjoy. So glad you got your wish. These were the first ones I had seen this spring. Yesterday morning, I created a Flickr album for this wildflower species and found that the earliest Prairie Crocus I had seen (or at least photographed and posted on Flickr) was on 26 March 2008. I always remember a friend telling me years ago that he had found them on either 10 or 12 March one year.
After our enjoyable walk, I knew that I did not want to return home while the workmen were busy working, so I decided to drive southwards and call in at the Saskatoon Farm for lunch and then drive some backroads while the weather was still good, though very hazy out of the city. Our weather forecast showed snow on four days in the coming week.
From the Farm, I drove to Frank Lake, but there were so many people there, I quickly drove the gravel loop and left. The last couple of times I had been SE of the city, I tried to find a tiny, country church that I had seen a few years ago. I thought I knew where it was, but no luck. Yesterday, success, at last, but talk about getting lost!
