Posted by HisHughness on 2/21/05 12:10am
Msg #21582

Goodbye winter

Drove down into a riverside park today. Saw the first robins of the year (for me) foraging, along with meadowlarks. I assume they were eastern meadowlarks, rather than western, though unless you bird by ear, the only way you can tell the difference is in the laboratory with a dead bird in hand. We're right on the cusp of the geographical division between the two species. Forty miles west of Austin, you got one species; 40 miles east, you've got the other. I don't bird by ear, but I was 50 miles east.

Spring's coming. Now I've got to start scratching around for excuses not to make those hikes I've been complaining all winter that I was aching for but it was too cold to make. Life: Just one damned thing after another.

Reply by Slarty_FL on 2/21/05 12:14am
Msg #21583

Of course, we don't have much in the way of seasons down here in Florida, so we've been seeing robins for some time now. But I have noticed a proliferation of them this year. Maybe I just never noticed them before and they've been here all along, but they just seem to be THRIVING this year.

Reply by MarleneM/USNA on 2/21/05 8:45am
Msg #21596

Re: Goodbye winter - Robins

I took a bird walk with the Audubon Society a few years ago, which was when I learned that Northern robins don't "go South" for the winter (I live in PA). They go into the woods and eat nuts and berries. I was shocked to learn that I have lived so long and not known that, but there you have it. My brother, a year-round woods walker, confirmed it.

Reply by John_NorCal on 2/21/05 12:23am
Msg #21585

Are you trying to make us west coasters jealous or something?

Reply by Slarty_FL on 2/21/05 12:32am
Msg #21586

Hey, I'll trade summers with you any day.

We have to have some kind of trade off for the hurricanes you know.

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/21/05 3:51am
Msg #21588

Well we are floating away here in s california. And talking of birds. anyone want pigions? They have taking over my neighborhood, what a mess.

Reply by Dogmonger, Ca on 2/21/05 10:40am
Msg #21609

Might I suggest a trusty 12 gauge with some 7 1/2 shot

The French call it squab, us Okies just called it pigeon. Get rid of your mess and have something for the grill:-)

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/21/05 11:41am
Msg #21614

Re: Might I suggest a trusty 12 gauge with some 7 1/2 shot

HAHA. Well not a bad idie considering. Might be able to subsitude my megar income by doing same for neighbors, include a french resipie for squab that might get them intrested.

Reply by Ted_MI on 2/21/05 12:00pm
Msg #21619

C'mon, you west coasters don't have winter; you just have perpetual rain.

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/21/05 12:05pm
Msg #21621

You are not wrong there Ted, and it is still raining. I emptied the spa just in case as there are not many boats around, not a priority in the desert on a normal day, just trying to figur out what i can use for oars.

Reply by Kat/CA on 2/21/05 10:47pm
Msg #21751

You could always use your neighbor's fence boards as oars in a pinch.

BTW, I'm in Victorville too. The sand bars on Bear Valley are rather amazing right now.

Kat

Reply by Gerry_VT on 2/21/05 6:01am
Msg #21591

I've mentioned before that I am primarily a school teacher, and only perform notary duties now and then. Today is a snow day here.

Reply by Ted_MI on 2/21/05 11:51am
Msg #21616

Hugh,

Ok, Ok winter is still here big time in Michigan (seven inches of snow last night). But just keep in mind that in Texas spring is merely the harbinger of the dog days of summer.

I have been in Houston twice (luckily only for about three days each time) and it was horrible!! And that was in March!! I know, I know - all you good ole Texas boys (and girls) are saying " Ted, you ain't seen nothing".

Reply by HisHughness on 2/21/05 12:03pm
Msg #21620

The Terlingua Chamber of Commerce once mounted a campaign to annex Hell, just so they could advertise lower average temperatures as a tourist attraction. The Devil refused; said he was damned if he was going to have anything to do with a place where the rattlesnakes wear sweatbands.

It is a slander, though, that West Texas does not have four seasons. That's far from the truth: they have hot, hotter, hottest, and "Pour me a glass from that teakettle, too; I need to cool off."

Reply by Ernest_CT on 2/21/05 1:53pm
Msg #21637

Goodbye winter? Ha!

We've had four inches of snow (so far) today. The robins have been shivering.

In Connecticut we have two seasons: Winter and construction.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 2/21/05 2:32pm
Msg #21649

Re: Goodbye winter? Ha!

>>> In Connecticut we have two seasons: Winter and construction. <<<

And in Central and South Florida, we don't have winter! Just one long construction season.

Reply by Tess/ME on 2/21/05 5:48pm
Msg #21704

Re: Goodbye winter? Ha!

Well, we have, as of 6:00 PM a foot of new snow on our deck. It is supposed to snow another few inches tomorrow and tomorrow night. Here we have, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter & Mud Season. So once Winter does finally leave the "fun" begins. However, I wouldn't trade it for the rains that CA have. I'll just keep the snow and mud and keep complaining and thank God we aren't sliding down the hills in our house. OR...blowing away in the Summer with the hurricanes of Florida. And then there is the tornados in Oklahoma. Boy, the more I think about it the better off I think I am up here in Maine.

Reply by Dorothy/MI on 2/21/05 2:58pm
Msg #21659

Hugh, we have four seasons in Michigan too. However, ours are, Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and 4th of July (even had a few of those where we had to wear jackets in the middle of the day)! This is said as I'm sitting here looking out my window at the SEVEN inches of snow that fell yesterday and last night.