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All photos © Barbara Logan 2007
Spring has to be right around the corner! With the bright sunshine this week the snow has started melting and the streets have water in the gutters - although the storm drains are still frozen.... it freezes up each night and melts and evaporates during the day. You can see what it looks like in downtown Fairbanks any time of the day or night by visiting the Arctic Webcam located on Cushman Street, just north of the Chena River at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner office.
The Redpoll numbers are down now, from the one hundred plus we were seeing on the coldest days of winter. Gone are most of the pigeons. The birds are all courting - the male pigeons very aggressively at times. The Redpolls are pairing off and fighting at the feeders now. Only a few Black Capped Chickadees have been around all winter.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a Boreal Chickadee at the peanut butter log feeder the other day. It is the first time I ever saw one in the neighborhood. I have also seen the female Hairy Woodpecker. We saw (and heard!) a Downy Woodpecker on the telephone pole next door. It hammered away for quite a while. We occasionally hear a Pine Grosbeak that has been in the area this year - I have only seen it once, but we hear it out there frequently. "Weee Weeee Weeeee"
We are looking forward to the Spring songbird migration. Soon Robins, Warblers, Juncos and Sparrows will be singing in the trees! The "Goose Watch" is over! The contest to spot the first Canada Goose on the ground at Creamer's Field was won yesterday when the first four geese arrived. Last year they arrived April 7, so they are a bit later this year. The "Sandhill Crane Festival" is at the end of the month, when migration should be in full swing. Snow Buntings have already been seen in the area on their northern migration. In past years I have seen some of the birds that normally pass over Fairbanks on their way to the North Slope to breed. A pair of Rosy Crowned Gray Finches visited one Spring when I had birdseed on the deck. Somewhere I have a video of them. Another year a sleet storm grounded a flock of over 300 Lapland Longspurs in our yard. Somewhere I have a tape of them singing. Wish I had the chance to take pictures of those birds now! (SMILE)
The days are much longer now, as we are past the Spring Equinox. It's amazing to still have daylight-twilight after a late Sunset!
Grace and I stopped by Creamer's today to see the geese. There were about a dozen out there today, along with at least one pair of Mallard ducks. There is still quite a bit of snow in berms they plowed to help clear the ground for the migration. They also spread barley for the birds to eat after their long migration to Fairbanks. Most of our migratory visitors will fly to their final destinations on the coast and the north slope tundra within a month.
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I hope you enjoyed reading about my world! Thanks for visiting. (SMILE)
Barbara Logan
My background picture on this page is a cloudy April sky.
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This page was created 14 April 2007 © Barbara Logan
URL is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~soakbear/year/4-14-2007.htm
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