The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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Feb 3-5, 2019
Pacific Northwest
We usually get a cold snap at some point in winter, in January or February. Cold snaps are good for knocking back pests and resetting vegetation dormancy. I was wondering if we’d get one this year considering how unusually warm it’s been all winter, with not even a frost.
Our cold snap arrived a couple days ago, as it often does with a Fraser River outflow: cold air from the Canadian interior blasting down into the maritime lowlands of western Washington through a gap in the mountains due to a pressure differential. We had some snow flurries on the island but not enough to stick around, unlike much of the rest of western Washington. News reports indicated 6” or so.
On the 3rd the temp started dropping through the day and by nightfall was below freezing. The wind also started blowing strongly. We set up the heat tape on the hummer feeder. On awakening yesterday morning the temp was 21° and the hummer feeder was frozen solid except where the heat tape was. We rushed around in a panic setting up another feeder and thawing out the frozen one. I worried for a while until our local three Anna’s showed up. Whew!
Meanwhile a flock of robins were chowing down on the cotoneaster berries. They seem to leave those until late in winter. The cotoneaster bushes, like most of my landscaping choices, are for wildlife food and habitat.
The local lbb’s were crowded at the seed feeder, coming and going from the nearby trees which act as staging spots. All the birds are super fluffed up.
On my walk around the neighborhood yesterday once the wind died down a bit, I saw a few more signs of the cold snap:
All the marshy spots and shallow wetlands are frozen solid right now. The swans have decamped from their usual wetlands and are foraging in fields, both nearby and elsewhere on the island.
Frozen puddles — pretty ice patterns.
Downed trees.
The gale winds out of the north are not where our strong winds usually come from. Prevailing storms are westerly, off the ocean, and winds blow Southwest or Southeasterly. The trees are adapted to winds from the south so when we get a Northeasterly blow they tend to uproot or break off. Lots of trees are down on roads. Along the dirt road in my neighborhood I saw signs of the storm where folks had been out with chainsaws to clear the way.
Part of the big flock of Canada geese that’s been on a field down at a nearby north facing bay had moved over to a southeastern facing bay. Not much forage on the cliffside but at least the wind wasn’t blowing so hard.
The local oystercatchers were still out in the wind though. That’s where the food is, so they just manage anyway. They’ve been there all along, Northeasterly or Southwesterly.
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By yesterday afternoon the clouds had blown away to the south and the sun came out. Clear last night, a brilliantly starry night. Sunny today and not quite as cold. Currently 25° so everything is still frozen, but the wind has moderated.
What’s the nature news in your neighborhood?
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