36 degrees F Snowing Wind NNE 10mph
Sunrise 6:29am CDT Sunset 7:58pm CDT
What is wrong with this picture?!
As I sit here writing this, there is snow coming down heavily.
I cannot see the other side of the lake. Only a wall of white. The cold north wind picks up speed as it crosses the lake and blows the snow sideways.
Birds huddle at the bird feeders - finches, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, sparrows, juncos, cardinals and others. There is a traffic jam at the feeders and on the ground. Birds jockey for position, determined to get their share of the seeds just in case this snow is going to cover them. Noticeably absent are robins and redwing blackbirds - although I have heard them around last week.
Icicles once again hang from the eaves of buildings.
If I did not know better, I would believe that I was late in getting the Christmas lights and Christmas tree and other decorations put up!
The forecast is not for us to get a lot of snow from this storm, but we have heard that before! Farther to the north and west, the forecast is for accumulations of a foot to a foot-and-a-half with no travel advised!
We got over 6 inches of snow just this last Wednesday which turn everything white again.
Another storm has its sights set on us for Wednesday or Thursday of this coming week. Predictions are once again for measurable snow from that storm.
So, what does all of this have to do with loons?
Our loons will not be able to return here to the lake anytime soon. Most, if not all, of the lakes in the area are still solidly covered with ice. I would have to look back through my records but I think that it is safe to say that this will be one of the latest ice-out dates that we have seen for many, many years.
And until there is open water, the loons will not return. They may be able to return to some open rivers in the area but they will not be able to return to their beloved northern lakes.
Last week I was almost able to start working on the nesting platform. It had reappeared from under the ice and snow that had covered it all winter.
Now, it is once again covered with snow!
Even while I have been typing this, we have gone from heavy snow to ice pellets to freezing rain to rain to snow again and all the other combinations possible.
The forecast for the next week or more is for more snow and unseasonably cold temperatures for this time of year. Nights are predicted to be in the 20s and most high temperatures only in the 30s or low 40s.
The good people from Broadband Minnesota were going to come out this week so that we could start to hookup and trouble shoot the camera and everything else that must be done from a technical standpoint. All of that may also now be in question and on hold as everything is once again under a blanket of snow.
So, from the Great White North, Seasons Greetings to you!
We are just not sure "what" season it is!
Copyright 2013 Larry R Backlund