Chiff and Fipple Forums

AaronFW wrote:I was scrapping solid frost off the car and we had a little snow (didn't stick) on Monday and yesterday was 75F

75F? I've almost forgotten what that's like. Here it is already mid-April, but it won't get to above freezing until Monday; it is snowing and blustery as I type this - might as well be January - and tonight we stand to get as much as yet another 5" of snow dumped on us. Nights will be as low as 19F (!), and those won't be above freezing in general until a week from now. At this rate, who knows how much of a reprieve that'll be. Never in my life would I have dreamt that I would still need my overcoat, to say nothing of the snowblower, at this time of year. I'm pretty sure the poor animals are having a very rough time of it with much-needed food resources so unseasonably out of reach.

AaronFW wrote:For example... one part I didn't do well on the Mourning Dove was some of the feathers: They've got this crazy set of under-feathers that almost looks like paper-marbling with a solid dark with very light borders:


(image credit: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/bird ... rning-dove)

Those are simply the wings folded, and you're looking at the tips of the primaries. An attractive coloration, to be sure.

Here's a challenge for you:

Nanohedron wrote:

AaronFW wrote:I was scraping solid frost off the car and we had a little snow (didn't stick) on Monday and yesterday was 75F

75F? I've almost forgotten what that's like. Here it is already mid-April, but it won't get to above freezing until Monday; it is snowing and blustery as I type this - might as well be January - and tonight we stand to get as much as yet another 5" of snow dumped on us. Nights will be as low as 19F (!), and those won't be above freezing in general until a week from now. At this rate, who knows how much of a reprieve that'll be. Never in my life would I have dreamt that I would still need my overcoat, to say nothing of the snowblower, at this time of year. I'm pretty sure the poor animals are having a very rough time of it with much-needed food resources so unseasonably out of reach.

Today, we got ice pellets. Tomorrow, the weather report promises 10 hours of freezing rain. I can hardly wait.

Tunborough wrote:Today, we got ice pellets. Tomorrow, the weather report promises 10 hours of freezing rain. I can hardly wait.

Hard to say which would be worse, right? TBH, I think I'd really rather have the snow than the ice.

On my end, it turns out I've underestimated the snowfall: We've already had 5" or more, with yet more to come after a short break. We could be looking at 12", easily, when it's over.

Would've stayed in but I had compelling reasons to at least hit the convenience store despite the very real risk of getting stuck, as some drivers had already done. While I was clearing off the car (just the windows and lights, because I couldn't compete with the heavy snowfall), a new tenant - from Georgia! - showed up with a bunch of friends, and in an admirable show of spirit he cheerfully called out, "It's spring!". "This isn't Minnesota," I groused. But I am happy to report that thanks to my mad skillz from years of driving thru exactly such conditions, my jaunt went without a hitch, and topping it off with the real challenge - punching my grocery-getter back up into the parking lot - I finished feeling quite pleased with myself. That's in chassis-high "greasy" snow with no 4-wheel drive, mind you. I hope someone was watching, because frankly, it was awesome to behold.

Oops: here comes the snow again.

13" so far. Another break, so I thought we were done, but now it's snowing - yet again.

Nanohedron wrote:
Here's a challenge for you:

That is quite a bit of color.

Currently, I am limiting myself to birds that I spot locally. I often use a reference photo once I identify them, but I like to identify them. I can't find that duck in my birding book. (I'm kidding, I know it isn't a duck. It is a pigeon. [I'm still joking, lest someone takes me seriously.])

AaronFW wrote:Currently, I am limiting myself to birds that I spot locally. I often use a reference photo once I identify them, but I like to identify them. I can't find that duck in my birding book. (I'm kidding, I know it isn't a duck. It is a pigeon. [I'm still joking, lest someone takes me seriously.])

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a duck!

Oh wait ...

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a pigeon!

Oh wait ...

It's a pheasant, isn't it?

benhall.1 wrote:

AaronFW wrote:Currently, I am limiting myself to birds that I spot locally. I often use a reference photo once I identify them, but I like to identify them. I can't find that duck in my birding book. (I'm kidding, I know it isn't a duck. It is a pigeon. [I'm still joking, lest someone takes me seriously.])

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a duck!

Oh wait ...

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a pigeon!

Oh wait ...

It's a pheasant, isn't it?

Yes. American pheasants have had to start beefing up in order to survive the winters.

AaronFW wrote:

benhall.1 wrote:

AaronFW wrote:Currently, I am limiting myself to birds that I spot locally. I often use a reference photo once I identify them, but I like to identify them. I can't find that duck in my birding book. (I'm kidding, I know it isn't a duck. It is a pigeon. [I'm still joking, lest someone takes me seriously.])

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a duck!

Oh wait ...

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a pigeon!

Oh wait ...

It's a pheasant, isn't it?

Yes. American pheasants have had to start beefing up in order to survive the winters.

It's a Norwegian Blue pheasant. Beautiful plumage, the Norwegian Blue.....

An Draighean wrote:

AaronFW wrote:

benhall.1 wrote: Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a duck!

Oh wait ...

Oh fer goodness' sake. Of course it isn't a pigeon!

Oh wait ...

It's a pheasant, isn't it?

Yes. American pheasants have had to start beefing up in order to survive the winters.

It's a Norwegian Blue pheasant. Beautiful plumage, the Norwegian Blue.....

Pining for the fjords, it is.

Okay, I know you all have been waiting breathlessly on the edge of your seats, so here's the local final snowfall tally: 15.5 inches.

Look, I realize full well that this is nothing compared to what piles up in the East Coast. But just to restate, it's mid-April, so take that into perspective. We have to have broken some kind of record for seasonal perversity. We're all shellshocked.

It's sunny now, though, and temps are expected to get above freezing in the day hours, so I really want to just say "Screw it" and let Mother Nature do the job, but the cupboard is bare (unless you count milk and pickled mushrooms), so I'll just have to man up and dig out the car. That alone should take about an hour...

The smaller birds like sparrows and such have been flying up from the shrubs to take pecks at the buildings. It's behavior I haven't seen before, so I assume they're hoping to find something to eat. That's pretty desperate. If I see any Norwegian Blue pheasants I'll let you know.

AaronFW wrote:That is quite a bit of color.

Try this:

Most of yesterday was more ice pellets, several cm so far, and 80 km/h wind gusts. For us, the freezing rain didn't start until late evening. It changed to rain, and most of the accumulated ice is melting now. We had it easy. We still have hydro, but across the province the distributor is dealing with about 700 outages at times affecting over 100,000 customers.

For the record, it just occurred to me to run both unidentified bird pictures from Nano through the Merlin App Photo ID. ...They both came up as Ring-Necked Pheasants as the top match.

I have found the weather reports interesting.

And, I have started drawing the 2nd pheasant. Hopefully, I'll finish it soon.

AaronFW wrote:I have found the weather reports interesting.

And, I have started drawing the 2nd pheasant. Hopefully, I'll finish it soon.

Monty Python jokes aside, the second one looks like an Araucana or Americana (chicken breeds) rooster. Mrs. Blackthorn has some of those in her chicken run. The hens lay blue-green eggs, which freaks some people out.