Yesterday morning it was in the 50 degree range with a thunderstorm. The rain was thorough and it was just chilly enough to feel like it was 30 degrees when you were wet. This morning it was in the 20s and tonight at some point it’s supposed to get down to 6 degrees. Br.
But that kind of cold weather means that it’s time to turn the park near our building into an ice rink. Yes, in warm weather it’s a place for Cinnamon to frolic:
And in cold weather the parks people bring out the sprinkers:
Which gradually begins to create a layer of ice…
..to make our park an ice rink. This is the very early stages of our ice rink being formed. Every year I keep meaning to learn to ice skate and take advantage of it. Maybe this winter I will finally take up that challenge. It is fun to watch hokey games from our kitchen window.
In looking through my mountainous blog potential file, I did find this interesting vacation you can take. It’s very unique and good compromise for the couple that is one half birder and one half fisherman:
Like falconry with fish! How very cool!
Well, I don’t know… I have seen a few documentaries about the cormorant fishers and the birds don’t look particularly happy. The way it works is that they get a ring tied around their neck so that any fish they catch and try to swallow gets stuck in their throat. On returning onto the boat, the fisherman then squeezes the fish out of the cormorant’s neck. It might really be not too bad for the cormorant but it doesn’t look very nice.
But then again, this might be a potential solution for all the fishermen around the Great Lakes who claim to suffer from a supposedly too large population of Double-crested Cormorants (or German fishermen for that matter, complaining about “too many” Great Cormorants): fraternise!
Cheers and good birding,
Jochen
When I move to Rhode Island, I plan to capture one of the plentiful Turkey Vultures, and use them for Turkey Vulture Hunting. Similar to the cormorant thing, but they fly off and bring back rotting meat to me. You just have to cook it real good before you eatr it.