thegreatconnection.com - Photo Archives March 2022

4 March 2022
One degree this morning! No way was I going outside to see what my camera might find. As I gazed out the south window, I discovered an opportunity in the making. Unlike the Starling-Sharp-shinned Hawk incident of the 17th of February, this time it was the Starling as the agresser. However, neither bird lost his life and the Woodpecker soon returned and continued to eat. Believe this was the female Red-bellied Woodpecker. Featured in Photo 1 below is the male Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Photo 1 - Woodpecker
Photo 2 - Bird Encounter
Photo 3 - Bird Encounter
Photo 4 - Bird Encounter

5 March 2022
Five degrees this morning! Rising to 40º this afternoon. Shooting through the kitchen windows, the female Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Carolina Wren and Hairy Woodpecker all volunteered for having their pictures taken. I did go outside to get the two photos of crossing tracks in the night.

Photo 1 - Female Cardinal
Photo 2 - Mourning Dove
Photo 3 - Carolina Wren
Photo 4 - Hairy Woodpecker
Photo 5 - Animal tracks
Photo 6 - Animal tracks

7 March 2022
Thirty-six degrees and raining. Huge portion of our snow evaporated yesterday and much of it is now in the form of soft ice, slush and puddles mixed with mud in many places. One of our favorite little birds, the Goldfinch, sat very still in the rain on a convenient branch and looked me in the eye as if to say haven't you taken enough pics of me already ?

Photo 1 - Goldfinch

9 March 2022
We had gale force winds in the night of the 7th into morning of the 8th with accompanying power outage. So, being busy with other things, no photo taking until today during a snowfall of around four inches. However, none of it seemed to slow down our bird visitors.

Photo 1 - Goldfinch
Photo 2 - Sparrow
Photo 3 - Chickadee
Photo 4 - Tufted-titmouse
Photo 5 - Woodpecker
Photo 6 - Woodpecker

11 March 2022
For a change of pace, we left our own back yard this morning and drove to Vischer Ferry. Temperature was running around 32 degrees and sky was a flat dark gray. Caught sight of a pair of Hooded Mergansers in an open area of the old Canal. I grabbed a couple shots before they sited me and took off.

Photo 1 - Hooded-mergansers
Photo 2- Hooded-mergansers

12 March 2022
These will probably be the last two shots of birds through our kitchen window this winter. It has been interesting to see how each bird has had their favorite spot to alight. Some stayed put for a fraction of a second, and others were very cooperative. I'm pleased that finally the Junco looked me right in the eye and as you can see, the Finches were huddling against the snowstorm.

Photo 1 - Dark-eyed Junco
Photo 2 - House Finch Pair

13 March 2022
We hiked to the bottom of Minekill Falls this afternoon. Although it was quite cold and windy, once we started down through the wooded area, it wasn't bad at all. Trail was fluffy snow over-laying roots and a bit of ice. Trekking poles and cleats were once again advisable. At the bottom of the Falls today, nature was going all out with a display of exquisite beauty as seen in photo 2 below.

Photo 1 - Minekill Trail
Photo 2 - Base of Falls
Photo 3 - Base of Falls
Photo 4 - Vernal Falls

16 March 2022
Winter is being washed away by this splashing creek at the Galway Nature Preserve today. Spring can't be far behind!

Photo 1 - Washing winter away

22 March 2022
After doing some yard pickup today, we went over to the Galway Nature Preserve. The pond still has most of its ice while the creeks are undergoing a melting to re-freezing action. The receding ice reveals the remnants of autumn. And, I do love how little images seem to appear in ice sometimes, like the little fish surfacing in today's image.

Photo 1 - Remnants of winter

25 March 2022
Around two weeks ago, I wrote that probably that would be the last day I would be shooting through the kitchen window. Well, I was wrong. As my husband was preparing breakfast this morning, I took a quick peek outside and saw that the Female-Red-bellied Woodpecker had landed in the birch tree. Then I saw our Leucistic Robin on the ground quite near our bay window. Included in photo three below is also one shot the day before. After we had eaten, we drove to Amsterdam to do a bit of grocery shopping, and decided to drive a bit further to Schoharie Crossing. Since I'm soft on reflections, I couldn't resist the ice softening in the old canal.

Photo 1 - Red-bellied Woodpecker
Photo 2 - Old canal vision
Photo 3 - Leucistic Robin

26 March 2022
This morning, I had a sudden thought, why is it that I am not seeing the female red-bellied woodpecker while all the while the male is showing up? I checked out Common Feeder Birds at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and down-loaded their mini-poster. What I had been calling the Golden-fronted Woodpecker was actually the Female Red-bellied Woodpecker. So, this afternoon, I went through my site and made those corrections.

29 March 2022
We took our daily walk at the Galway Nature Preserve today. Blue sky and nice fresh air. In the more shaded areas of the brook, there was still a good mixture of snow covered ice and various stages of melt. Just love gazing into these fleeting scenes.

Photo 1 - Wonderous Waters