January 2024
Tuesday January 2 Coming back from a walk, I noticed snowdrop shoots starting by my driveway. We haven't had any snow (apart from one dusting which disappeared within a few hours) yet this winter.
Meanwhile, Susan was in the Galapagos for four days, seeing all sorts of great wildlife, including this blue-footed booby and Galapagos penguin.
Tuesday January 9 Saw these Canada geese at the pond this morning with Maddie. If you look carefully, you can see they have a little frost or snow on their backs/wings. I love this - it's a demonstration of both the water repellency of their outer contour feathers and the thermal insulation of their down.
Wednesday January 10 Walking around Ward's Pond, a golden-crowned kinglet landed on a branch right at eye height, just a few feet from me. Got a great look at it, even without binoculars, before it took off again and flew into some bare shrubs by the pond. They are teeny tiny, just 3 or 4 inches long, weighing about a quarter of an ounce, but hardy, living year round as far north as Maine, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The Cornell All About Birds website says that "Adult males flash their orange crown when excited." Check out the photos of them flashing their crown on the Cornell website under "ID info".
Also saw four downy woodpeckers at different places along my walk, pecking away. And a couple of male wood ducks, looking their usual handsome selves, and some ring-necked ducks at Leverett Pond.
Tuesday January 23 After several days of bitter cold, with wind chills in the single digits, Jamaica Pond froze over for the first time this winter. It started warming up yesterday afternoon and today it's in the mid-30s. Walking around the pond this afternoon, there were tons of ducks and geese in the only open water, a fairly narrow but long area near Perkins Street. About 20 common mergansers, mostly males; hooded mergansers; ring-necked ducks; a couple of ruddy ducks; a single coot; and a couple of mute swans. Fun to see them all crowded together.
Wednesday January 24 Walking along the Charles River in Newton, Susan was impressed by the high volume of water going over this weir, fast and shallow before the weir, and then abruptly getting deeper and slower below the weir - in fluid mechanics parlance, this is called a hydraulic jump.
You can see a baby version of it by just running water in your sink - the water abruptly goes from shallow to deeper at a certain point.
Monday January 29 Driving home from grocery shopping, I spotted a bald eagle perched high up in a tall tree overlooking the pond. I managed to pull over and get out of the car for a good look - really wonderful!
Susan has been following a webcam of a pair of bald eagles nesting at Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino mountains in southern California. The female, Jackie, laid her first egg last Thursday and a second egg yesterday. You can follow them here.
Tuesday January 30 On Susan's walk around Fresh Pond in Cambridge this morning, she saw common mergansers, hooded mergansers, pied bill grebes, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads and mute swans. Also this black raspberry bush with its purple branches.
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